Last Call for Storyboarding 31st October

Digby Dragon storyboard using PanelForge

Last call to sign up for our storyboarding evening class, starting on 31st October.

The class starts at our central London campus at 190 High Holborn on Wednesday 31st October, and is an introduction to the art and craft of storyboarding.

This 8 week evening class is led by Francesca "Chess" Adams,  a story board artist at Blue Zoo, one of London's leading animation houses.

Concept Art with Jonathan McFall 20th March

Concept Art by Escapee Xu Xing

Concept Art is returning to Escape Studios on Wednesday 20th March 2019, taught by industry veteran Jonathan McFall.

Concept Art is a part-time evening class, designed to fit around jobs and families, and is taught one night a week, running for eight weeks.

Concept Art introduces students to the many techniques and skills that go up to make a well-rounded concept artist, including 3d and 2d software.

Portfolio Advice at Skwigly

We're in Skwigly again, the online animation magazine, this time with some portfolio tips for applicants for our undergraduate and MA courses. the question "what should go in my portfolio"? is one which gets asked a lot. So, here are our top ten tips.

Chan and Melissa Animators at MPC

Escapees Chan and Melissa celebrate

Many congratulations to Escapees Chan Sagoo and Melissa Coarezza, who are celebrating graduating from the Technicolour Academy, and becoming junior animators at MPC in London, following completion of the animation short course at Escape Studioes earlier this year.

Technicolour Academy describes itself as a "learning and development program supporting VFX talent ready to step into a career at one of the world’s leading VFX Studios for feature and episodic content".

We are thrilled that Melissa and Chan are well on their way to becoming professional animators.

Maria Robertson Reports From The Mill

The Mill

Third year undergraduate animator Maria Robertson has recently completed a summer internship animating at London VFX and animation powerhouse The Mill.

Maria interned at the Mill for 12 weeks over the summer, working on live client briefs and honing her skills as an animator.

 We asked her a few questions about her work, what the experience was like, and what advice she might offer students looking for summer internships.

What Kind of Laptop Should You Buy?

"What kind of laptop should I buy?" is a question that gets asked at the beginning of every new academic year.

It's a tricky question to answer, because computer specifications change all the time and - of course - it all depends on exactly what you want to use the laptop for.

But, let's say you want to buy a decent laptop capable of running Maya well, for doing computer animation and rendering out your shots.

What sort of laptop should you buy, and how much do you need to spend? Our new animation tutor Amedeo Beretta offers some advice to new students.

What's in the 2nd Year at Escape Studios?

In the second year of studies our animators develop their animation skills, start to specialise in their chosen field and also tackle their first group projects.

For our animation students, there are four modules in the second year: AN5001 (character animation), AN5002 (creature animation), CR5001 (specialism) and PR5001 (Studio Project). 

BYOA Monday Sept 17th

BYOA (Bring Your Own Animation) is back - taking place on Monday 17th September.

BYOA is an animation event that takes place every month at a pub in London, generally on a Monday night. This month the event is taking place at a new location - the Smugglers Tavern in London's Fitzrovia.

If you are a student who is working on a shot or an updated reel, bring your work on a USB or hard drive and get feedback from professional animators. You'll also hear the local gossip and find out who is hiring animators.

BAFTA Guru Live Sat 15th and 16th September

BAFTA Guru Live is taking place on Saturday 15th and 16th September.

We strongly encourage our students to apply - tickets are very inexpensive (just £6 for each masterclass) and are aimed at students and rising talent.

Escape Studios' Vimeo & Panopto Tutorial Libraries

The Escape Studios Tutorial Libraries (Vimeo and Panopto) are our main hubs for our animation and VFX video tutorials, making it easy for our students to find tutorials to support their classroom studies. 

Our tutorials cover Animation, 3D VFX,  Compositing, Rigging, Motion Graphics, Storyboarding & Character Design, Unreal Engine and Cinematography.  Many hundreds of tutorials can be found at our Vimeo and Panopto Libraries. 

Demo Reel Advice at Skwigly

This week we're at Skwigly, the online animation magazine, with our top 12 tips on how to make a great animation Demo Reel.

 "What should go in my demo reel?" is one of the most common questions asked by students.

Tracy Chung Senior Layout Artist at Axis

Many congratulations to Escapee Tracy Chung who has been promoted to Senior Layout Artist at Axis Animation.

Tracey Chung is a talented animator and storyboard artist who took our 3 month animation course at Escape Studios.

Axis animation is a Glasgow-based animation company creating animation content across multiple platforms including games, TV, film and online.

Reel Talk Live at Escape Studios on 12 Sept

We're hosting Reel Talk Live on Wednesday, September 12 at 6:30 pm.

For one night only we are welcoming professional artists from three of the biggest VFX, Animation and Games studios in England to review some of our Escapees' work.

Our guests are Jan Jinda from DNEG, Will Cook from Blue Zoo and Rob Watkins from Creative Assembly, who will join us to give live comments on showreels and portfolios.

Rich Jeffrey Directs "Bluey" Down Under

Many congratulations to Escapee Rich Jeffrey, who is directing a new TV series "Bluey", launching on ABC KIDS in Australia on Monday 1st October. Bluey is the story of a "loveable and inexhaustible six-year-old Australian Blue Heeler dog", and is made by a team of artists in Brisbane, Australia. Rich took our animation short course at Escape Studios, and has since developed a stellar career in the industry. Rich said of Bluey: "We built it from the ground up, training all our crew. It's the result of loads of hard work and dedication from an amazing team of over 40 people. I'm proud to be a part of it and can say it is an honor to be the animation director on this series. "

Amedeo Beretta Joins Escape Studios

Amedeo Beretta

We're welcoming our newest animation tutor, Amedeo Beretta, who has just joined the animation team at Escape Studios this week.

Amedeo has worked on many major animation and VFX projects including Paul, John Carter and Planet 51, and combines extensive industry credits with plenty of teaching experience.

Amedeo has been a regular guest tutor at our Shepherd's Bush and High Holborn campuses, and he brings a very versatile skillset to the animation classroom.

Animation Masterclass at VIEW Turin 24 Oct

Escape Studios are running an animation masterclass at VIEW, the 20th International VFX & Computer Graphics Conference that takes place every year in the beautiful Italian town of Torino (Turin).

VIEW is a week long event showcasing the best of animation, games and visual effects.

Speakers this year include Paramount Head Mireille Soria, and music legend Hans Zimmer. 

We'll be there running a one-day workshop in Maya on Wednesday 24th October, demonstrating some sophisticated but very simple animation techniques.

The class is aimed at complete beginners and requires no prior experience with Maya.