We’re always pleased when our students start work in the industry working for their dream company or in their dream job. That dream recently became reality for Ben Cantor.
Double Negative, The Mill and Framestore Mentor Escape Studios Students
Just want to say a Big Thank You to Double Negative, Framestore and The Mill for the fantastic help you've given our students on the first stage of our industry mentored classroom courses here at Escape Studios.
Escape Studios Launches New Search Function in its eLearning Platform
Over the past couple of weeks we've been busy working on our online learning system. "Really? I haven't noticed any difference", I hear you say... Well, it is true that most of the work carried out has been "under the bonnet", so you might not have noticed anything. The reason for sharing this with you today though, is that this work is enabling us to bring to you a number of new features and enhancements.
Autodesk Media 2012 Announcements!
So Autodesk are at it again with a complete update of all their product line for Media and Entertainment. The update for Maya looks very good, with multi-threading in nucleus - a big plus! Check out the video at the top of this page - it shows the work being done on liquids . The viewport technology begun with viewport 2.0 in 2011. Obviously it was not that great in 2011 but it's a different story with this new 2012 version. All the good stuff is now in there: screen based ambient occlusion, motion blur, depth of field, they are all in the viewport.
Nvidia Cleans up at the Oscars
There may have been only one winner for the Best Visual Effects award at the Oscars, but it was the top line-up of nominees that gave NVidia a real cause to celebrate.
BBC to Broadcast New Dinosaurs Documentaries
The BBC have announced that they are to broadcast a new series of famous dinosaurs documentaries. This will be a much shorter series than the original Walking with Dinasaurs - only 3 programs - but will feature all the 3D and visual effects wizardry you would expect from this program. According to Broadcasting News, it will feature photo-realistic fight scenes to give a "whole new perspective on dinosaurs".
Winners of our Satisfaction Survey Announced
First of all, I want to take the time to thank you all for taking part in our recent satisfaction survey. More than 2,400 of you took part, and over the course of the following weeks, I will be sharing the results of our findings with you.
Skillset TV Fund Bursaries available for Training
If you are a freelancer or a professional working in post-production, you can save on our courses with funding from Skillset. The level of funding you receive depends on whether you're employed or work as a freelancer, and could see you save as much as 80% on our online self-directed courses.
HeyUGuys speaks to Union VFX’s Special Effects Guru, Tim Caplan
Have you seen the interview with our friends at Union VFX (the company behind the visual effects for 127 Hours) on HeyUGuys? With the Oscars around the corner, it’s good to get an insider’s view on one film that’s up for a few gongs.
New 18 Week composting course launched
I'm really pleased to announce a new addition to our full-time classroom courses - Compositing Professional. This course builds on the amazing success of our 12 week compositing for production course and adds an additional 6 weeks of advanced training. This extra time will give students the opportunity to develop skills to really set them apart from other juniors looking to enter the industry - covering subjects such as compositing for stereoscopic and the advanced techniques needed to work with high end 3D visual effects. Part of the course includes a dedicated project week where you'll be able to work on your showreel and make sure that it really stands out from the crowd.
Please getting in touch with training team or come along to one of our open days to find out more.
A New VFX Outfit to Watch
Currently wowing audiences everywhere, and hot off the back of its Oscar nominations, Danny Boyle’s latest film 127 Hours is something we’ve been keeping a particular close eye on. Obviously we’re fans of Mr Boyle’s work (personally, I can’t wait to see the Olympic opening ceremony), but in this case we’re more interested in a small team of people working behind the scenes.
Escapees make it to Autodesk's Education Showreel
We're never prouder than when our escapees get the recognition they deserve. This usually comes in the form of a first job with a top post house or commendation from the professional community for a perfectly executed shot, so when we found out that some of our escapees made it to the Autodesk 2010 Education showreel, we were beaming.
Online versus classroom
Escapees to work on Halo Fan Film
Escape Studios has been approached to help with some of the CG and VFX work on an exciting new, non-profit project called Operation Chastity.
Amazing Showreel from Displace Studios
Here's a link to a fantastic reel from our friends at Displace Studios, they worked with us earlier this year to create some eye popping 3D brand furniture for our new website and other collateral. They did an amazing job for us and I wish them every luck with this new venture.
Thank you technology customers!
Last night we had some of the finest brains and talent in Soho out for our Technology Christmas drinks.
We just want to really thank all those who came along and hope you enjoyed the evening.. We certainly did and it was great to see so many new and familiar faces!
The wait’s finally over – CG Whiz 2010 shortlist
We said it was going to be tough to judge and we were right. The entries for this year’s CG Whiz competition blew us away (quite literally!) and the quality of the reels overall impressed each and every judge.
The Amazing Flying Festo Manta Ray
Have any of you been watching Wallace and Gromit’s new program on BBC1? It’s basically like a new version of Tomorrow’s World with Wallace acting as the presenter and Gromit taking the role of the funny side-kick.
First Look: Costumes of 'Tron'
Disney’s Tron Legacy is due out on December 17th, and I have no doubt that many of you will be eagerly waiting for that date.
Escapee Alumni Company Roll Call
I was just looking over some of the people in our alumni group on LinkedIn and it was great to see the amazing list of companies Escapees are working at. To the have the CG industries peppered with so many people from our courses is a great feeling and we'd love to hear from anyone who isn't in the group so we can see where you are and what you've been up to.