Here I am, sat in the airport with some time to kill – so I start reading the papers and the front pages are all covered with reviews of last night’s premiere of Harry Potter (The Deathly Hallows Part 1) in London. That’s lucky, because I really like Harry Potter and I am quite looking forward to seeing the film.
Pixar's RenderMan amazing 40% price reduction!
Yesterday, Pixar announced an unprecedented price drop in their flagship product RenderMan® Pro Server. The 40% reduction will allow studios and freelancers that were previously unable to buy into the technology, to get a slice of the Film / VFX industry standard renderer. With the global CG expansion, Pixar appreciate that the growth of renderfarms is real and happening now, this move allows existing customers to ramp up their rendering capabilities in a more cost effective manner whilst allowing smaller shops and freelancers access to the toolset.
Escape Studios' Mo progress
The team here at Escape are on day 12 of the Mo' growing, for some of us it's more like no growing... But it's all for The Prostate Cancer Charity so we don't care!
We have some updated pictures, please laugh, we are every day!
Please sponsor us, any amount really appreciated!
CG Whiz is closing
We’ve had some fantastic entries for CG Whiz 2010, but the deadline is fast approaching. Any entries submitted after midnight tonight (Pacific Time – 8 am GMT or 7 pm in Sydney, Australia) will not be counted, so you’ve only got a few more hours to get your reel in. You can do this via Twitter, Vimeo, YouTube or Facebook, but remember to email CGWhiz@escapestudios.com with your contact details too.
The Pitfalls of Digital Perfection
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!
CG Whiz competition reaches the half-way mark.
We’ve just blown the half time whistle on the CG Whiz competition and thought it might be time for a team talk; a chance to touch base with everyone and let you know how it’s all going.
What’s Your Favourite CG Film or Scene of all Time?
Our CG Whiz competition got us thinking about what our favourite CG films and scenes of all time are. One thing led to another, much "debating" took place around the office and then we thought it would be best to let our Twitter followers have the last say. After being inundated with many great suggestions from them, here are the top five.
CG Whiz : 3 Weeks to Go
I have been checking out all the entries received so far into our CG Whiz competition, and it's been a lot of fun watching all the work submitted. Thanks to everyone who has entered so far.
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...
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.
Pixar's RenderMan Studio 3 is out!
RenderMan Studio 3 has arrived and it packs some punch! Speed and lots of features and enhancements, including support for Maya 2011.
RenderMan Studio is Pixar's advanced suite of tools for shading and lighting TD's.
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!
Free Webinar: The Art of Creating Great Animated Characters
I will be holding a free live webinar on November 4th. Here's a quick outline of what I will be discussing.
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!
CG Whiz 2010: The search is on…
Calling all aspiring artists and CG wannabes! Here’s your opportunity to build your dream career. Today we launched CG Whiz 2010 our annual search for the hottest amateur computer graphics talent. We’re offering over £15,000 or $24,000 worth of prizes for the winners, thanks to our co-sponsors, The Mill, CG Society and 3D Artist.
Escape Studios Awarded Pixar's RenderMan International Reseller of the Year 2010!
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.