Do you remember when The Buggles were the first video on MTV? Me neither. I wasn’t born!
Digging For Bones with Christian Cardona
I will happily admit that my taste in what I watch on television has always been teetering on the edge of strange.
The return of Softimage Creatives!
Escape Studios Technology are happy to announce the return of Softimage Creatives London – the only user group in the UK to celebrate everything Softimage.
The VFX Festival's tutor-led workshops
Last week saw the UK’s very first VFX Festival, hosted by Escape Studios—a four-day spectacular exploring the breath-taking world of visual effects. Our industry pals and we celebrated the last decade of VFX with a jam-packed schedule of exclusive events, and it was our tutor-led workshops at Escape HQ that seemed to particularly whet the appetites of all those budding VFX artists out there.
Scalability, Stability & Simplicity with Qube! 6.4
PipelineFX, makers of Qube! have announced the release of render farm management tool Qube! 6.4. With additional features including new tools for smart farming, MobileView access for supervisors via a free smartphone app, the ability to set priorities limits and control of how much of your workstation is available to the render farm with QBLocker, all with a single click of a mouse.
Get Involved with Thinkbox
Thinkbox Software will be in London on the 3rd, 4th and 5th of September and will be working alongside Escape Studios to organise meetings and demos of their product line up.
Autodesk Scaleform
SIGGRAPH Round Up...
Another year another SIGGRAPH and what a packed in week it was. This year, LA didn't just give us earthquakes, heat waves and the biggest burritos known to man but also a full week of presentations from some of the biggest and newest studios plus an exhibition hall packed with the latest technology from around the world.
Here is a quick summary and a few favourites from last week. These are just some of the things to check out:
Online Academy - Free Trial!
Is your mind a whirling dervish of creativity? Do your Ideas formulate out of the blue, and evolve from non-existence to an intrinsically detailed vision, in a matter of minutes?
Maybe you need to apply the reins to such skills, and materialise your ideas in an industry where the boundaries are near limitless…
There is a universal rule for all occupations, and whether you’re a butcher, baker, or a candlestick maker, the only way to get to the top of your game, Is to learn from the best in the business. Escape studios is a testament to such a statement. Coupled with a healthy dose of hard work, our experienced professional tutors can keep you on the straight and narrow path towards VFX success.
We understand though, that in the bustling 21st century one of our classroom courses is not the most ideal option for everyone. Which is why we’ve invested a lot of time making our online VFX academy as close to our classroom course as possible.
Mentored by one of our expert tutors on a weekly basis, you’ll be guided personally through each project, all the while receiving feedback on your progress. Our virtual classroom also allows you to meet, chat and see critiques of other students work. Isn’t technology marvellous?
We’re so pleased with our online set up in fact, that we’re inviting you to take part in a one week free trial of it! You’ll be taken on a tour of our online academy by one of our fantastically helpful training advisors, after which you’ll proceed swiftly onto your costless one week trial.
Don’t pass up the chance to get stuck into a piping hot, plentiful serving of VFX expertise. It really is an opportunity not to be missed!
Is your mind a whirling dervish of creativity? Do your ideas formulate out of the blue, and evolve from non-existence to intrinsically detailed visions, in a matter of minutes? Channeling these skills can be an adventure, especially if you enter an industry where the boundaries are seemingly limitless…
Eye-Eye!
These Autodesk eyeball sweets are causing quite a storm at Escape Studios—not least because a trail of Chinese whispers has led some students to believe we're giving away 'free Autodesk suites' ... awkward!
Also awkward: the look visitors give as you sit casually munching eyeballs, whilst taking a phone call.
IKinema LiveAction
SIGGRAPH is going to be bursting at the seams with new releases, with UK based IKinema set to unveil IKinema LiveAction at the LA conference next week.
Introducing the BOXX renderPRO
BOXX Technologies present the BOXX renderPRO, the first personal, dedicated, rendering solution for animation, VFX, engineering and architectural visualisation. The renderPRO is designed for desk-side rendering with easy configuring and a compact design for professional performance in minimal space.
Mark Spevick VS. Indiana Jones... Bridge
Don’t you all just love it when our resident VFX tutor Mark Spevick shares his knowledge with us? And don’t you just love watching, with bated breath, Indiana Jones conquering new feats as he crosses a rope bridge that appears to be on it’s last tethers above a dangerous gorge? And of course we know you'll just love to know that we've put the two together.
Full of E.Motion
On Tuesday, a lucky few of us got to go on a trip that ventured outside of the confines of the Shepherds West building. Drinking more coffee than one body ever needs, we went to do some film and games grade motion capture at the impressive facility at E.Motion.
mocha Pro Mini-Series... Part Two
Last week we posted part one of our mocha Pro miniseries and as promised here is part two of four.
Launched: Softimage Creatives Are Go!
The Softimage Creatives launch event went ahead on May 29th as planned, and it was nothing short of amazing. There was an incredible turn out of XSI enthusiasts, which confirms to us all that the community of users is still very much alive. Over 150 people squeezed into Jerusalem Bar on Rathbone Place to celebrate the launch of the London Softimage user group, and among those were visitors who travelled from Ireland and the continent. It’s this dedication to the cause that will undoubtedly help make the independent Softimage user group a real success, and I’m sure it has proved to the SiC founders that their efforts have not been in vain.
GTC 2012 NUKE spotlight
The GPU Technology Conference (GTC) took place in San Jose California from May 14th to May 17th. The conference is the brainchild of GPU giant NVidia and looks to celebrate global awareness of GPU computing and visualisation as well as the importance of the future of science and innovation.
Krazy for IKinema
IKinema has been the go to plug-in for Autodesk Maya when it comes to creature and model animation especially after their performance on smash hit films like Wrath of the Titans and X-Men: First Class. With the release of IKinema Action 2 in April there was a bit of a buzz around the newest features included in the latest version (check out my previous blog for more details!)
Autodesk and Adobe: The Start of a Beautiful Relationship
Softimage Creatives: Launch Event Line-Up Released!
Great news Softimage users out there… the line-up for the launch Softimage Creatives user group meeting has been released. And for those of you who are hoping to attend, I think you’ll agree this is a programme to get excited about.
Here’s the list of speakers and topics for May 29th 2012: