Escape Blog

We’re almost at the end! The CG Whiz competition ends at midnight tonight, so if you’re going to enter act now. We’ve had a tremendous response so far, with over 125 entries posted here.

To enter, all you need to do is post your portfolio as a response to our video. As a reminder, the winner of CG Whiz will get a place on one of Escape’s world class 3D training courses, plus a much-coveted work placement at Oscar-winning visual effects company The Mill. There are also two 12 month online Maya courses and a behind-the-scenes tour of The Mill on offer for the runners up, plus subscriptions to leading industry magazines 3D Artist and Shots.

What are you waiting for? Get your entries in now! We won’t count any entries posted after 00:00 31^st October, so don’t waste any more time.

We’ve got a couple of exciting new online courses coming up for slightly more experienced CGers.  The Advanced Lighting and Advanced Shading modules are aimed at people with a bit of Maya knowledge, having completed the Maya Core program.

Derived from classroom modules, these courses are ideal for shading and lighting professionals looking to expand their skills and take their career to the next level. Slightly longer than our usual online courses to reflect the added detail, the courses allow people to work at their own pace, without impacting the quality of the teaching. They’ve been created by the same guys that create and teach our classroom courses, so you’re guaranteed our highest standards.

The Advanced Lighting course combines both production level tutorials with artist and technical perspective explanations, covering lighting theory, the art of lighting, night and artificial lighting, image based lighting, photographic lighting and gobos and cookies.

The Advanced Shading course is the perfect partner to the lighting course, helping people to build realistic shading networks and teach them how to use utility nodes to create rendering effects. It also contains 12 different Maya scenes.

Want to know more? Drop us a line.

We’re delighted to announce the winner of our competition with Computer Arts Project: Matt Long. We received many applications to this competition, and the overall quality of the entries was very high, but Matt impressed the judges with an original and well-executed character design. He wins a copy of Maya, access to the online Maya Core course, and a 6 weeks intensive Characters Course with us at Escape HQ in London.

Matt says “I often enter competitions to keep my skill levels up, and winning always feels fantastic. The great thing about this competition is the prize. The opportunity to have access to Escape’s courses is the icing on the cake.”

Matt Long’s Competition Entry

A late comer to CG, Matt is currently a part-time lecturer and student mentor in Wales. “I’ve tried my hand at almost everything to do with CG and design, from graphic design to website building to 3D design. My passion is for character design, and my dream would be to work in the industry. Winning the Computer Arts Project competition and getting to go on an Escape Studios course can only help fulfil that goal.”

Thaddeus Maharaj and Habib Niazi were runners up in the competition. Thaddeus came second with a well executed idea that has potential but the judges felt needed refining. Habib was third with an entry that impressed with the basis anatomy, although some areas needed further development. Each received an online Maya Core course.

Matt’s work can be viewed on his blog, Sinzalot.

Thaddeus Maharaj’s Competition Entry

Habib Niazi’s Competition Entry

Top college places students on the path to employment with Escape Studios

Uxbridge College has become the first further education institute in the country to invest in Escape Studios’ Maya courseware. The college, a Beacon establishment and one of the top ten performing colleges in London, is incorporating units of the Escape course into its own teaching, ensuring its students benefit from the expertise of Escape’s world class tutors.

Whilst other further and higher education institutes have paid for their students to access Escape’s online courses in their spare time, Uxbridge College is the first in the UK to structure the teaching of over a third of its weekly contact time around Escape’s courseware. Awarded an ‘Outstanding’ report by Ofsted, the college has a reputation for offering the best teaching methods and facilities possible to its students, and this new partnership supports Uxbridge College’s position as a centre of excellence.

Zulfiqar Choudhry, course developer at Uxbridge College said “We’re always looking to ensure our students are receiving the most innovative, high quality education and training. Partnering with Escape Studios allows us to tailor our courses to maximise the opportunities available to graduating students and means that our courses are always up to date. Uxbridge College is working to close the gap between vocational training and the academic education system, and our partnership with Escape Studios is a fundamental step towards achieving this.”

Demonstrating Uxbridge College’s approach to securing the best teaching methods, Zulfiqar has already completed an Escape course in Maya, and plans to enrol in the VFX course when it begins in November. “Computer graphics isn’t like teaching English, or Maths, where the basic components are the same whether you’re learning it now or ten years ago. What I learnt as a student and what I’m teaching now are worlds apart, and to maintain our high education standards we need to stay at the forefront of what the industry needs. We would be doing our students a disservice if we didn’t strive to be as close to cutting edge as possible.”

Mark Cass, Commercial Director at Escape Studios said “One of the key issues with vocational education is relevance and usability. Uxbridge College is completely committed to providing its students with the right skill set to enter their chosen industry, not just an education. That’s what makes this partnership so attractive to both Escape Studios and Uxbridge College, that our two philosophies are so closely aligned when it comes to the goal of these courses. The end result is not graduation, or the completion of a module, it’s when students take their skills and use them to secure future employment.”

As a Beacon college, Uxbridge College not only educates its own students, but also works with other colleges and organisations to share its expertise. Beacon status is awarded by the Government’s Learning and Skills Improvement Service (LSIS).

Students on the BTEC National Diploma in Games Development and Higher National Diploma (HND) in Interactive Media will all be taught modules incorporating the Maya core bundle, whilst the latter course will also have the VFX bundle taught in its second year.