At the end of every one of our intensive classroom courses, we get our students to present their finished work to their classmates and to our Training Development Director Lee Danskin. Last Friday, it was the turn of the escapees from our latest Visual Effects Production Course.
Escapee Jacob Flint Lands First VFX Job at The Mill
VFX escapee, Jacob Flint has just bagged a job at The Mill which as you can imagine he's pretty pleased about. The truth is, we are too. Having studied with us for 12 weeks on our VFX Production course, Jacob learned all of the vital skills that he needed to get started in the industry right away. He was pretty nervous during his interview but ultimately his skills shone through.
Mandelbrot on roughness
Judging by the high number of re-tweets and Facebook shares of the story I posted on October 19th about Mandelbrot, I figured this was a subject that interested many of you. I am glad I am not the only one!
Salvador Dali and Disney: An Unlikely Collaboration
I came across a tidbit of trivia the other day about Salvador Dali that set me on a little 'surf fest' on this incredible artist.
Two New Online Courses: ZBrush for 3D Artists & Character Animation Foundation
Today, we are launching two brand new online courses. One is an advanced ZBrush course for professionals; the other is a Character Animation course for 3D novices.
Movember = facial hair for Escape Studios' Men!
Dear friends of Escape Studios... We have decided to take part in Movember this year.... OK, let me explain...
AutoCAD for the Mac
Autodesk have released AutoCAD for the Mac after its announcement back in August.
Celebrating Mandelbrot: Beautiful 3D Images
Those of you into weird mathematical equations will probably have heard of Benoît Mandelbrot - who is famous for being the father of fractal geometry. Sadly he died a few days ago, but not without leaving us with the most amazing body of work.
CG Whiz update
We’re eight days into this year’s CG Whiz competition, and we’ve been amazed by the quality and number of entries through the door so far. It’s going to be a tough one to judge and to think we’ve still got three weeks to go to see what talent’s out there.
CVMP 2010 Amazing speaker line-up
CVMP is a unique opportunity to network with production and post-production specialists from the worlds of film, broadcast, games and imaging and graphics researchers. If you register on or before 17th October 2010 you can save yourself £100 on full registration!
CityEngine 2010.2 Available Now
There seems to be some momentum growing behind CityEngine and out of all of the new products in the market it certainly seems one to keep an eye on!
Great Animation by Plato Art Space
Here is another great piece of animation, created by Plato Art Space. It could almost have been created for Escape!
October Free Tutorials
I find it really annoying when I find freebies that are ‘for a limited time only’, and it’s something we’ve been guilty of with our free tutorials. We’ve had some great feedback about them, and with that in mind we've decided to revamp the way our freebies work.
Portrait of an escapee: How Nick Illingworth Became TD at MPC
When Nik Illingworth came to an Open Day last year, he was brimming with CG enthusiasm. He knew that he wanted a career in VFX but didn't really know how he was going to make it happen. After studying for 12 weeks with us, Nik was up and running. He finished his course, was offered his first job at Frametore and accepted it, then a short while later he decided to come back to us for 6 weeks of final professional training. He's now Effects Technical Director at MPC and still has the same love for the industry that he started off with. Nik's is one of many stories of CG enthusiasts who come to study with us and that's why we wanted to share his case study with you - getting a career in VFX off the ground really is easier than you think.
Balloons & Zeppelins: Fresh VFX escapee work
Here's my final post showing some work from the courses which have just finished. These clips are from escapees who were on the Visual Effects Production course taught by Dan Shutt. Again these are 'work in progress' and need a little more polishing but you can see they are both great ideas that have been really well executed.
Amazing Physics Engine
Check out this amazing physics engine created by Thiago Costa, he's 23 and never even got a high school diploma! Life's not fair!
Autodesk Subscription Advantage Packs arrive
Autodesk have started something new for those on support: it's called Subscription Advantage Packs. This is a way for those that pay the price of subscription to get new features dropped in, fast... One of the most awaited 'drops' is Mudbox on Linux!
Neil Thompson of Bizarre Creations to present at Autodesk’s Manchester Event
Autodesk have announced that Neil Thompson, the Studio Art Director at Bizarre Creations will be taking the guest speaker spot at this year’s Manchester event.
Junior Artists - Keep that VFX Shot Simple
A common misconception amongst Junior Artists when preparing their first reel is that they have to come up with some overly elaborate and complex VFX shot to wow future employees. These usually feature exotic spaceships, massive explosions and weapons of mass destruction. It doesn't have to be like that. So, what makes a good CG shot? I had a chat with our Training Development Director and Maya Guru Lee Danskin to find out.
CG Whiz 2010 is coming! Adam Droy our 2009 winner tells all
When Adam Droy entered the CG Whiz competition, he didn't believe he'd even make it to the runners up stage. Like many, knowing that the competition was tough, he submitted his showreel and forgot all about it. When he got the call asking him to come along to the CG Whiz reveal event he was astounded, and when we called his name as winner, he just about managed to find his feet to collect the prize. 3D Artist caught up with Adam to find out what life has been like in the aftermath of winning the competition. As a judge of this year's CG Whiz, we're excited to know what he's going to be looking for.