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Welcome to the family...Phoenix FD for Maya!

Welcome to the family...Phoenix FD for Maya!

It has been well known that The Chaos Group would be releasing Phoenix FD, their grid based fluid dynamics simulation tool for 3ds Max, for Autodesk Maya.  

0 Comments Tim Flett

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Tim Flett
Wed 7 Nov 2012: 5:40pm

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Robin Squires VFX Course Diary - WEEK 1

Robin Squires VFX Course Diary - WEEK 1

Having just started the VFX for Production course here at Escape Studios, I've been keeping a diary to share how the course is going for me so far. And here's the first week.

0 Comments Robin Squires

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Robin Squires
Tue 30 Oct 2012: 12:44pm

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October’s FREE Tutorial: Bring a Photo to Life with Camera Mapping

October’s FREE Tutorial: Bring a Photo to Life with Camera Mapping

This month’s free tutorial is a sneak peak of a workshop presented at the VIEW conference in Turin, Italy. Earlier this month one of our VFX tutors, Daniel Shutt, led a 6-hour workshop to demonstrate camera mapping, transforming a still photograph into a photo realistic animated shot. A technique used in film, commercials and broadcast television, it’s now time to apply this process to your own projects.

0 Comments Ellen Payne

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Ellen Payne
Fri 26 Oct 2012: 4:00pm

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The Online Academy: Meet VFX online tutor Paul Harrison

The Online Academy: Meet VFX online tutor Paul Harrison

Having the opportunity to learn over the web has been hugely beneficial for many aspiring CG artists. The perfect solution to fit around busy schedules, it has allowed students worldwide to take advantage of the comprehensive VFX and Compositing training we offer. But of course, the success of this tuition is very much down to our fantastic Escape tutors.

0 Comments Ellen Payne

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Ellen Payne
Thu 25 Oct 2012: 11:20am

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The VFX Festival, a storming success!

The VFX Festival, a storming success!

With the help of some top class industry speakers, cinemas in a handful of the world’s most prolific post houses, a dedicated team of Escape staff and some fantastically helpful VFX Marshalls, it is no surprise the UK’s first ever VFX Festival, was a storming success.

0 Comments Robert Broadbent

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Robert Broadbent
Tue 23 Oct 2012: 10:49am

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Maya Core Evening Course – Class of September 2012

Maya Core Evening Course – Class of September 2012

You’ve got to take your hat off to the people who do the part-time evening courses at Escape. This is the course that people choose when they need to schedule their learning around other life commitments… and those life commitments usually involve full-time work. 

3 Comments Ellen Payne

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Ellen Payne
Fri 5 Oct 2012: 5:00pm

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The VFX Festival 2012 - Get your tickets now!

The VFX Festival 2012 - Get your tickets now!

Step into the mind-blowing world of VFX with The VFX Festival! Escape Studios has created the first ever four-day festival exploring the breathtaking world of visual effects, held in London on 10th-13th October.

Celebrating a decade of UK visual effects, the festival will be packed with the most respected VFX talent, visionaries and companies who have helped shape the industry. Offering inspirational insight behind the clever trickery in this booming VFX industry, with an exciting four-day programme packed with insider knowledge and information, showreel demos, hands-on workshops and exclusive premieres, it's perfect for those with a creative talent or thirst to develop their VFX Career.

19 Comments Bethan Lofthouse

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Bethan Lofthouse
Mon 17 Sep 2012: 1:30pm

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September’s Free Tutorial: "Hellboy" Inspired Maya Animation

September’s Free Tutorial: "Hellboy" Inspired Maya Animation

For those of you looking to get more adventurous in Maya, September’s free tutorial is a must see. This is the perfect opportunity to spice up your showreel with something a little different, while learning a diverse range of new skills in the process.

3 Comments Ellen Payne

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Ellen Payne
Thu 13 Sep 2012: 4:50pm

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VFX for TD's – Going the distance!

VFX for TD's – Going the distance!

How much can you learn over 12 weeks? Well hopefully after seeing some student work in yesterday’s blog you’ve realised, quite a lot actually! Learning the tools that create impressive 3D visuals is the hard part. After that, it’s a process of applying what you’ve learnt to more ambitious projects and making sure you push yourself to continue learning.

0 Comments Ellen Payne

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Ellen Payne
Wed 12 Sep 2012: 1:23pm

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Making VFX magic in a matter of weeks!

Making VFX magic in a matter of weeks!

Want to know what can be achieved in just 12 weeks of a VFX for Production course? Take a look at some of the work by the students who graduated last month.

0 Comments Ellen Payne

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Ellen Payne
Tue 11 Sep 2012: 10:28am

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Taking the next step into VFX wizardry!

Taking the next step into VFX wizardry!

Before becoming a mighty VFX warrior, you need to become a master of Maya. That is why our VFX courses are designed so you dedicate significant time to mastering the tools inside Maya before taking the next step into more advanced visual effects. And of course, it’s only when you know the limitations of any creative tool, that you know how far to push it.

0 Comments Ellen Payne

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Ellen Payne
Fri 7 Sep 2012: 11:52am

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IKinema LiveAction

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.

0 Comments Tim Flett

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Tim Flett
Fri 3 Aug 2012: 11:30am

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Ever Wanted To See Your Name In Lights?

Ever Wanted To See Your Name In Lights?

Or wanted to be able to say, ‘I did that’, when watching a film and seeing a huge, breath taking explosion? Then maybe you should start to think about pursuing a career in Visual Effects. At Escape Studios, we want to make those first steps into the industry as easy as possible whilst providing you with the tools to succeed. Our Visual Effects Production course will not only give you the skills to progress in the exciting world of Film Visual Effects, but will also show you how to make an impressive show reel (which results in many of our students securing jobs once they have finished.)

0 Comments Flora Ho

Posted by
Flora Ho
Wed 1 Aug 2012: 10:00am

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Introducing the BOXX renderPRO

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.

3 Comments richard mcguinnesss

Posted by
richard mcguinnesss
Tue 31 Jul 2012: 12:00pm

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50% Off!

50% Off!

Sometimes it’s difficult to take time out of an already busy schedule to work on something you love. You might not be able to take days off work, or have an entire evening taken up with travelling as well as learning in order to pursue your dream career.

1 Comments Sophie Collier

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Sophie Collier
Mon 16 Jul 2012: 2:55pm

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Mark Spevick VS. Indiana Jones... Bridge

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.

0 Comments Sophie Collier

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Sophie Collier
Fri 13 Jul 2012: 9:30am

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Happy 10th Birthday V-Ray!

Happy 10th Birthday V-Ray!

Some of you may, or may not, know that V-ray is currently celebrating it’s 10 year anniversary. So, to mark the occasion, what could they be doing? Are they throwing a week long wild party? A massive shopping spree for all employees? Or maybe a month's extra holiday time to all...

0 Comments Tim Flett

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Tim Flett
Wed 11 Jul 2012: 4:00pm

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The Alenka Abraham Success Story

The Alenka Abraham Success Story

We’ve been catching up with lots of the escapees from over the years, and one story in particular has been hugely inspiring to us. Having studied a ten week Maya comprehensive course at Escape Studios back in 2003, Alenka Abraham has paved a very exciting career for herself. Taking on an R&D software project at Glassworks, Alenka met her future business partner, Adam Cubitt. Together they set up Existential Ltd., a company that develops both real-time and off-line computer visualisation and animation technology. Collaborating with leading post-production companies like MPC, and many others across the UK, they’ve been involved in pioneering projects and are making quite a name for themselves.

0 Comments Ellen Payne

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Ellen Payne
Wed 4 Jul 2012: 12:05pm

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GTC 2012 NUKE spotlight

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.

0 Comments Tim Flett

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Tim Flett
Wed 6 Jun 2012: 11:00am

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Compositing: Creating the Illusion

Compositing: Creating the Illusion

Want to introduce yourself to some of the fundamental techniques of compositing? Well now you can. The lovely Simon Richardson, compositing escapee and one of our esteemed Studio Assistants here at Escape, has put together a free NUKE tutorial that will demonstrate exactly that. This short video will walk you through a basic CG rebuild inside NUKE, using Maya’s Mental Ray passes. For anyone starting out using this software, it’s a great insight into the processes behind building a shot ready for edit.

0 Comments Ellen Payne

Posted by
Ellen Payne
Fri 1 Jun 2012: 5:00pm

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