Character Creation is Back on 3 Feb 2020

3D artwork by Jonathan McFall

Character Creation is back; our 18 week evening class in Character Creation returns to Escape Studios on Monday 3rd February 2020.

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 Jonathan McFall, an experienced 3D artist and veteran of many VFX hits including the Harry Potter series, Men in Black 3, and Immortals.

Jonathan worked on "Potter"

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 (ie building a skeleton), texturing it, skinning it and - finally - breathing life into it through animation.

Character Creation 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.

Jonathan McFall

Tutor - Jonathan McFall
The course is taught by Jonathan McFall, veteran of the Harry Potter series, Men in Black 3, and Immortals. You can see his IMDB page here, and also see his personal website here, along with samples of his excellent work.

When
Character Creation starts on Monday 3rd February 2020 and runs for 18 weeks from 7-10pm on Monday evenings.

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

Fee
The course fee is £1,495

Orc by Jonathan McFall

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

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

3D art by Jonathan McFall

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.