We have good news for all users of Zbrush: the new ZBrush 3.5 update for Windows has just been released. It’s called R3, and it has loads of new features and enhancements as well as a better toolset. If you are a registered user of Zbrush, you can download it for free here.
Some of the new features you can look out for include ZSpheres II, ZSketch, Quick Sketch, Surface Noise and Planar brushes. It also has a new welcome step into mechanical sculpting: a nice little feature.
You can check it all out on Pixologic’s demonstration video. Its definitely worth a peak.
Thanks to everyone who attended my “Becoming a World-Class Animator” webinar last night – it was great to get a chance to speak to all of you! We’re going to make the presentation available in the Escape Studios Free Resources section of our website soon – so make sure that you keep an eye out for it.
If you didn’t catch this week’s webinar don’t worry, we are running another two sessions before Christmas. You can sign up for them here:
Wednesday 18th November – Sign up now
Wednesday 2nd December – Sign up now
If you were in yesterday’s webinar, we’d love to know what you thought. Posts your comments here and do let us know what other topics you’d like us to cover in future webinars.
Towelling for grass, cotton balls for smoke and cling film for water – Wes Anderson has reverted to traditional forms of animation in his new film Fantastic Mr Fox.
I’ve spoken a lot about the future of 3D animation on this blog, but I’d like to highlight a great piece of stop-motion animation in Wes Anderson’s take on Roald Dahl’s Fantastic Mr Fox – starring George Clooney, Bill Murray and Meryl Streep.
In a recent interview, director Anderson discusses the effort he went to, relying on old techniques, and it really pays off. The animation was created here in London, where he steered clear of digital animation and used material to create effects – like towelling for grass, cotton balls for smoke and cling film for water where possible. I must say, while I’m one of the first to sing the praises of developments in film creation like advances in 3D cinema – it’s great to see a picture going back to basics and producing fantastic results.
The movie does look adorable and I agree with the opinion expressed on thepeoplesmovies’s blog that it was a bold move for a director to create animation in classic stop-motion style in the days of computer generated effects – however, it’s bound to be a hit. On top of the great production, the film boasts an impressive voice cast that is sure to be a pull with the audience.
There are very few other companies who are embracing stop-motion animation. Aardman is another company which is still producing that quirky old-school feel when generating animations.
If you haven’t seen it yet check out the Fantastic Mr Fox trailer on our YouTube channel. What do you think? Is there still a place for old-school animation in today’s film industry?
Enter our YouTube Competition and Win a Course at Escape and a Placement at The Mill
Here at Escape Studios, we’ve been working with The Mill, Beam TV, 3D Artist Magazine and Shots magazine on something rather special to help make your autumn a lot more exciting…
If you’re a recent graduate or self-starter in the world of CG and 3D animation looking for a leg-up into the world of films and visual effects, our new online competition will be music to your ears (and effects to your eyes): we’re giving away a place on one of our fantastic Visual Effects training courses, plus a work placement with those amazing folks over at The Mill.
If that wasn’t enough, for the runners up we’ve got two 12 month online Maya courses, a behind-the-scenes tour of The Mill, plus 10 one year subscriptions to industry magazines 3D Artist and Shots.
To get involved and enter, all you need to do is post your animation or graphic illustration portfolio as a video response to this YouTube video by the 30th October 2009. That’s it!
If you aren’t doing so already, make sure you follow @Escape_Studios on Twitter for all the latest news and views, and use the #CGWhiz hashtag to tweet about the competition.
For full details, see the competition homepage at: www.escapestudios.com/CGWhiz
We can’t wait to see your entries. Good luck.
