Student Showcase - Planet Mars

Many congratulations to our second year undergraduate animation students who have just put the finishing touches on their second group project, a documentary short titled "Planet Mars".  Directed by animation undergraduate student Sebastian Kuder, Planet Mars was completed as part of the second year of animation studies at Escape Studios. To find out what really happened to life on Mars, a planet now entirely devoid of life, watch this short film.

Emily Lim at MPC Academy

Emily Lim Animation Reel from Emily Lim on Vimeo.

Many congratulations to Emily Lim-Sarrias, who has recently been offered a place at the MPC Academy in Montreal, on the strength of her demo reel above.  Emily has just completed her second year of studies as an undergraduate student on our 3D animation course, and will soon be heading to Canada to work for one of the world's largest and most successful animation and VFX companies.

Last Call for Animation on May 29

Animation by Chan Sagoo

We still have a couple of seats left on our upcoming animation short course - three months of intensive training in 3D animation - starting on 29 May 2018, and running until the end of August.

We are also delighted to welcome Royce Wesley, a Pixar animator who will be visiting us in London to mentor our trainee animators.

Animation Taster Day Sat 26th May 2018

Learn to animate a bird in flight in just one day

We're running another Animation Taster Day here at Escape Studios on Saturday 26th May.

Taster Days are a great chance to learn about character and creature animation, and find out what an animator's job is all about.

You will learn how to use Autodesk Maya and get a hands-on introduction to 3D Animation techniques, all for just £25.

By the end of the day you'll have your own piece of creature animation - a bird in flight - uploaded to your YouTube channel. No prior knowledge of Maya - or any software - is required.  So, how do you sign up?

Mike Davies Character Creation Starts 16 July

Michael Davies

3D Artist and rigging specialist Michael Davies, who has worked on VFX blockbusters such as Batman vs Superman, Doctor Strange and Thor Ragnarok, is teaching our new character creation course this summer.

Character Creation is part of our new Summer School, and is an intensive 6 week course that starts on Monday 16 July and runs for six weeks until Friday 24 August.

Character creation is all about designing, modeling, rigging and breathing life into your own characters.

Chan Sagoo at MPC Academy

Many congratulations to Chan Sagoo, who has recently been offered a place at the MPC Academy in Montreal, Canada.

Chan took our recent short course in 3D animation, and is now taking advantage of the global opportunities in the animation and VFX industry.

We asked Chan a few questions about how she managed to land this highly competitive position. 

Escape Studios 2018 Showcase on 24th May

Another academic year has slipped through our fingers, and it’s time to show off what our talented and industrious students have produced.

The 2018 Escape Studios Showcase is taking place on Thursday 24th May, from 5.30pm to 9pm at our High Holborn campus.

Rogue Trooper: The Quartz Massacre

Congratulations to all our students and Escapees who successfully collaborated on this awesome short fan-film "The Quartz Massacre", based on the 1980s comic series Rogue Trooper from the stable of 2000AD. The film is a great example of students and graduates of Escape Studios working together on a successful group project, honing their skills and learning how VFX projects get put together. Congratulations to them all on a highly successful outcome.

Character Creation Starts Wednesday 16th May

Last call to sign up for our new evening class in Character Creation, which is coming to Escape Studios on Wednesday 16th May 2018.

This unique evening course will teach students how to create their own character designs and bring them to life. Over 12 weeks you will design, model, texture, rig and animate your own character.

The course is taught by Philip Meredith, veteran of Playstation's Overlord Minions and the Silent Hill franchise from Climax Studios.

Last Call for Character Design on Monday

Character Designs by Andrea Torrejon

Last call for our Character Design Evening Class, which is returning to Escape Studios on Monday 14th May

Character Design is an 8 week evening class, running until 9th July, taught primarily by Andrea Torrejon, veteran of Angry Birds, and in-house designer at one of London's leading boutique animation houses, Passion Pictures.

Like all of our courses, this class is taught by a working industry professional; Andrea will guide students through the principles of character design, building up to a live industry brief.

Mike Davies Rigging Class Starts on 14 May

Michael Davies

3D Artist and rigging specialist Michael Davies starts a new evening class in rigging at our Shepherd's Bush campus.

Mike has worked on many VFX blockbusters such as Batman vs Superman, Doctor Strange and Thor Ragnarok.

There are still a couple of seats available, and you can sign up by following the link here.

Carine Ong Prod'n Coordinator at One of Us

Many congratulations to Carine Ong, an Escapee who studied 3D VFX and also animation back in 2010.

Carine is currently working as a production co-ordinator at London VFX pioneer One of Us, and recently gave an excellent talk at Escape Studios about her work on many VFX projects, including the most recent Star Wars release - The Last Jedi.

The latest Star Wars film was just the most recent of a number of VFX projects Carine has worked on.

Prior to working at One of Us, Carine worked at Double Negative, Method Studios, and also at Rushes.

Francesco and Emma on Paddington 2

Paddington 2

Many congratulations to Escapees Francesco Nevi and Emma Riddell, who both worked as Creature FX TDs  on Paddington 2. That means, in plain English, doing technical animation - hair, fur, and the interactions with the 3D characters and their environments.

Being a technical animator is a highly skilled job that employs traditional animation skills - and technical skills - as part of the overall 3D pipeline.

Congratulations to both Francesco and Emma, who took our animation short course back in 2016, for launching their careers at one of London's top animation and VFX houses.

Saturday Club End of Year Show June 9-17

The Escape Studios Saturday Club End of Year Show will be on display at Somerset House from 9th-17th June. In addition, private viewings for VIPs, family and friends will take place on 9th/10th and 16th/17th June.

The Saturday Club show is the culmination of all the hard work that has been created as part of the Escape Studios Saturday Club Campaign, launched as part of Escape's 15th anniversary celebrations, and part of our committment to making animation, games and VFX training more diverse and more widely accessible.