Character Creation Returns on 3 June 2019

We're delighted to announce a new 18 week evening class in Character Creation, which is returning to Escape Studios on Monday 3 June 2019.

This unique evening course will teach students how to create their own character designs and bring them to life. Over 18 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.

Phil Meredith worked on "Silent Hill"

What's this course all about?
Creating original and unique characters from scratch. You’ll explore different design techniques, create 3D models using Maya and then paint and texture your character.

You’ll create a structure for your creation by rigging it(building a skeleton), skinning it and - finally - breathing life into it through animation.

The process
This course is designed for beginners, to take you through every stage of the process. We will use automated processes within Autodesk Maya (and related software) to simplify the workflow so that everyone is able to create their own character within 12 weeks.

Tutor - Philip Meredith
The tutor for this course is the versatile and talented Philip Meredith, an excellent all-round 3D artist with a broad skillset, capable of tackling all the aspects of the pipeline.

Philips's software skills include: Maya, Substance Designer, Substance Painter, Mari, Zbrush, Mudbox, 3DE, Nuke, Silhouette and Photoshop. In addition, he teaches the following VFX skills: modelling, texturing, lighting, rigging, animation, rendering, plus comp and prep and also Concept Art.

Tutor: Philip Meredith

Phil also gets excellent reviews from our students as a capable teacher who unpacks digital challenges slowly and clearly, so that everyone can keep up. 

When
Character Creation starts on 3 June 2019 and runs for 18 weeks.

Where
The course will be taught at our Mid Town Campus, 190 High Holborn.

Fee
The course fee is £1,495

Mode of study
This is a part time course, designed to fit around jobs and families.

Programme Duration
18 weeks (Wednesday Evenings: 7pm - 10pm)

Course Breakdown

• Week 1: Introduction to course – photo-bashing/concept art for characters
• Week 2: Introduction to ZBrush – sculpting/basics – how to use brushes, interface
• Week 3: Sculpting in ZBrush – dragon head
• Week 4: Blocking out a character’s pose – using Zspheres
• Week 5: Rigging a character for posing in ZBrush
• Week 6: Sculpting cloth, cloths, hair, fur 
• Week 7: Hard surface sculpting in ZBrush – making an armour
• Week 8: Hard surface sculpting continues – making assets and an armour
• Week 9: Introduction to Maya – modelling basics
• Week 10: Maya modelling continued – modelling assets for characters, import assets to ZBrush
• Week 11: Blend shapes for facial expression
• Week 12: UVs – exporting models and maps from Zbrush, UVing in ZBrush, Zremesher, Retopo in Maya
• Week 13: Making high and low poly in ZBrush continued – importing and baking in Substance Painter
• Week 14: Introduction to Substance Painter and texturing painting
• Week 15: Procedural texturing
• Week 16: Projection mapping for characters
• Weeks 17 & 18: Finalise projects

Entry Requirements
Applicants should be aged 18 or over, with a good understanding of written and spoken English. Some familiarity with the basics of Autodesk Maya will be a plus.

The Escape Studios Animation Blog offers a personal view on the art of animation and visual effects. To apply for our BA/MArt in 3D Animation, follow this link. To apply for our storyboarding evening class, visit this page here. For the next 12 week animation course, click here. And to apply for the next evening class in Producing Animation, see this page.