I came across a report from NESTA at the weekend which suggested strategies to help the UK remain at the top of global video games development. It makes for interesting reading in light of last week’s announcement on tax relief for the industry.
We’re in the money
As you probably saw, the Chancellor has awarded the games industry its much deserved tax break. Following Wednesday’s budget, game developers that create profitable games will be able to use the relief to pay less tax on profits, while unsuccessful games will be awarded a cash tax credit to reduce losses – which must be a nice surprise for all you developers out there.
Escape Studios Competition - 500 on Facebook
Fusion Master Class – Dates Announced!
We have good news for all Fusion users out there. We are going to be hosting an exclusive three-day Fusion master class, which will be delivered by eyeon’s expert trainer, Eric Westphal.
Escape Studios Helps Havendale Deck out a start-up Arch Vis Studio
A while back we helped kit out a start-up arch vis studio set-up up by an arch vis artist Jon Yates. Jon came to us wanting to set up his very own studio, and needed to recreate the performance and scalability he was used to, but this time on a tighter budget and within a more restricted space.
Become a Phoenix Fluid Dynamics Beta Tester
Our friends at Chaos have developed a new product called Phoenix Fluid Dynamics which is designed to simulate fluids in a quicker and more realistic way. Apparently, it simplifies and speeds up the process of simulating things like fire, smoke and haze.
This month's Free Tutorial - Reflections, Raytracing and Render Settings
Make sure you don't miss out on this month's free tutorial - Reflections, Raytracing and Render Settings. This month we've focused on the skills that graduates need when looking for work. This free professional-level tutorial concentrates on developing those key skills as well as understanding reflectivity, material attributes & render settings. Here's a quick breakdown of what's included:
Featured Artist - VFX Graduate Diego Pastor
It's proving to be a very busy month for the recruitment team at Escape Studios. Lots of our students are going straight from our classroom courses into paid work, proving it's an ideal time for Junior Artists to make that break into the post production industry.
Last seats on the Games Course
Just to let you budding games artists know, we've a few seats remaining on our 12 week Games course starting April 6th, so if you are interested in attending you should book your place as soon as possible. We're also offering a one-off chance to attend the first six weeks of the course which is completely Maya focused. It's perfect for anyone wanting to grasp the foundation skills required to become a 3D artist.
New online courses for next generation of bedroom CG enthusiasts
We’re launching a brand new set of online courses – Self Directed Learning. These low-cost distance learning courses are aimed at students, aspiring 3D artists and computer graphics (CG) hobbyists across the world, and cover CG industry staples Maya, ZBrush and Nuke in detail.
Weta's making of Avatar – Inside Scoop
Our friends at Science D Visions have released an insightful interview with Weta Digital, the Studio credited with delivering over 300 stereoscopic matchmoves for Avatar.
New Skillset course open for applications
We're pleased to announce that we’re running a ‘3D for Visual Effects’ classroom course, which runs for 12 weeks and includes hands-on practical training using the latest industry standard software and techniques.
Animation Course: Life Drawing Class
I thought I’d give you all a sneak peek at what’s currently happening on our Animation course. The students have just completed a day of life drawing lessons to help with their understanding of composition, staging, silhouetting and several other traditional art skills vital for 3D animators.
Autodesk and Epic Games Team Up to Streamline Autodesk-to-Unreal Workflow with FBX
This is hot off the press from Autodesk at the Games Developers Conference in San Fran... Rather than paraphrase their release, I thought you'd like to see it in its entirety. So here it is:
Autodesk Unveils 2011 Versions of Digital Entertainment Creation Software
We have some exciting news from Autodesk today. They have just unveiled the 2011 versions of its Digital Entertainment Creation software with the promise of increased production efficiency, especially in terms of interaction, workflow, interface design and interoperability. The release dates are yet to be announced, but from what we've seen the new versions promise great value and some avant-garde technology developed with the likes of Sony Pictures Imageworks.
CG Workflows with Avatar
On Wednesday we were at the Apollo cinema in Picadilly, for our CG Workflows event with Framestore, looking at some of the extremely difficult shots they were asked to tackle on Avatar.
The Growth of Social Gaming
How many of you play social games? I knew it was popular but I caught some figures on CNN’s website last week that really brought it home just how big it’s become. The FarmVille Facebook game is apparently being played by a staggering 27 million social gamers ever day, adding up to more monthly active users than the population of France.
