"The Wrong Trousers" at the Cartoon Museum

"Wallace & Gromit: The Wrong Trousers Turns 30"

Opening on the 12th of September, "Wallace &Gromit: The Wrong Trousers Turns 30" will arrive at London's Cartoon Museum just in time for the thirtieth anniversary of Aardman Animation's classic animated film. 

Animation Trainee Finder Applications Now Open

Apply at Screen Skills' official site

Screen Skills has launched a new paid placement scheme for graduates, the "Animation Trainee Finder". Applications for the scheme opened on August 28 and close on Monday 25th September.

"Animation Trainee Finder" places trainees on animation productions and aims to ensure a steady supply of talent for the UK animation industry.

"Wake:Up!" Wins Best Editing at HEI Film Fest

"Wake:Up!" wins "Best Editing" at HEI Film Fest

Congratulations to the makers of "Wake:Up!", which has won "Best Editing" at the Heart of Europe International Film Festival. 

Wake:Up! was written, co-edited and directed by David Martin Lanuza and co-edited and produced by Luis Yarroll.  Rajun Madahar was the Animation Lead.

This is the third festival award for Wake:Up! 

Animate a Run Cycle with "Monty"

Monty runs for the bus

In this tutorial we show how to animate a simple, basic run cycle with "Monty".  The tutorial uses the excellent "Monty" rig - which you can read about here - and which you can download for free from highend3d.com.  

This tutorial is part of our large and growing library of animation and vfx tutorials at our Vimeo Channel - free for all our students. 

"Roupell St" Wins "Best Trailer" at Tekka Film Fest

Curiosities of The Ruthless Roupell St  wins "Best Trailer"

Congratulations to the makers of the short VFX film "Curiosities of The Ruthless Roupell St", which has won "Best Trailer" at the Tekka Film Festival.   

Directed by Oliver Chenery and produced by Victoria Arraez, "Curiosities of The Ruthless Roupell St" was a collaboration between 2D and 3D VFX Students, working together to create a short film.  

This is its second festival award. 

"Papercut" Wins Hon Mention at Castel Lagopesole

"Papercut" wins Honourable Mention at Castel Lagopesole

Many congratulations to makers of "Papercut", which has been awarded an Honourable Mention for "Best Student Short Film" at the Castel Lagopesole International Short Film Festival.
  

Directed by Giorgos Konstantinou and produced by Victoria Arraez, Papercut was a collaboration between 3rd year undergraduate animation and vfx students, working together to create a short film.  

Papercut has won many festival awards. 

Lights & Render in Unreal Engine with Paul Harrison

Lighting & Rendering in Unreal Engine with Paul Harrison

Escape Studios' Head of Animation Paul Harrison has prepared a new series of tutorials on Lighting and Rendering in Unreal Engine, available to our students at our Vimeo Tutorial Channel.

Unreal Engine renders shots in real time, allowing our students to focus their energy on animation and character performance. https://vimeo.com/showcase/10581878

"Queerbaiting" Wins "Best Production" at HEI Fest

Queerbaiting" wins "Best Production" at HEI fest

Congratulations to the makers of "Queerbaiting", which has won "Best Production" at the The Heart of Europe Film Festival. 

Directed by Ellen Hughes and produced by Wiktoria Swierk, "Queerbaiting" was animated in Maya, edited in Adobe Premiere Pro, and rendered in Unreal Engine.  Textures were created in Substance Painter.  This is Queerbaiting's second festival award.

150 Animation Exercises to Boost Your Skill

150 Exercises to boost your skills

We're loving this list of 150 animation exercises created by Escapee David Mattock at his website Animator Artist Life. 

Escapee David Mattock took our short course in 3D animation at Escape Studios, and has now created a wide variety of exercises for any animator to tackle, from simple tasks like animating a vibrating telephone or a falling leaf, to complex character animation.  It's a great list, super useful for any animator who might need a little practice or inspiration for what to animate next. 

"The Descent" Wins "Best Anim" at Int'l Gold Awards

"The Descent" wins Best Animated Short at Int'l Gold Awards

Congratulations to the makers of "The Descent", the short film created by our second year animation students at Escape Studios, which has won Best Animated Short at the International Gold Awards.

The Descent was directed Sirisha Mutty and produced by Belle Leuschke, and was completed as part of Studio Module PR5001, a collaborative module in which second-year animation students work together on short film projects.

Animate a Run Cycle with "Heavy"

Human run by Edward Muybridge

In this tutorial we show how to animate a simple, basic run cycle with a human biped.  

The tutorial uses the "Heavy" Rig which you can download for free at HighEnd3D.com. 

Animators must master the art and craft of basic locomotion, including walks, runs and jumps.  These are the "scales" of animation, and should be on every animator's demo reel, demonstrating that the student has mastered these basic steps.

"Lux Mediae Noctis" Wins "Best VFX" at EEFF

"Lux Mediae Noctis" wins "Best VFX" at EEFF

Congratulations to the makers of "Lux Mediae Noctis", the VFX short film created at Escape Studios by our graduating class of VFX artists, which has won "Best VFX" at the Eastern Europe Film Festival.

Produced and directed by Henry Claud N'Guetta and Enrico Vaccari, Lux Mediae Noctis was a collaboration between 2D and 3D VFX Students, working together to create a short film.  

This is its second festival award. 

"Lumi" Wins Best Animation at London Movie Awards

"Lumi" wins Best Super Short Film at London Awards

Congratulations to the makers of "Lumi", which has won Best Super Short Film at the London Movie Awards. 

Lumi is a short animated film created by our second year animation students at Escape Studios.  Lumi was directed by Maye Liu, co-directed by Sirisha Mutty, and produced by Amy Little.  

Lumi was completed as part of Studio Module PR5001, a collaborative module in which second-year animation students work together on short film projects. This is its second festival award. 

Maya to Unreal Engine Pipeline with Paul Harrison

https://vimeo.com/showcase/10558978

Escape Studios' Head of Animation Paul Harrison has prepared a series of six tutorials on the Autodesk Maya to Unreal Engine pipeline, available to our students at our Vimeo Tutorial Channel.

Unreal Engine renders shots in real time, allowing our students to focus their energy on animation and character performance.

Realtime rendering is a growing part of the animation production pipeline. Whether our students are studying VFX, animation, or games, Unreal Engine offers big savings in render times.

Escape Studios 2023 Official Demo Reel

We're proud to release the official 2023 Escape Studios Reel.  This latest edit of the very best Animation, VFX and Games created by our students Escape Studios includes work by our most recent graduating class, as well as clips from many of our award-winning short films.  Congratulations to all our students on their remarkable work, once again raising the bar even higher.

"Lux Mediae Noctis" Wins "Best VFX" in India

"Lux Mediae Noctis" wins "Best VFX" in India

Congratulations to the makers of "Lux Mediae Noctis", the VFX short film created at Escape Studios by our graduating class of VFX artists, which has won "Best VFX" at the Makihzmithran International Film Festival in India.

Produced and directed by Henry Claud N'Guetta and Enrico Vaccari, Lux Mediae Noctis was a collaboration between 2D and 3D VFX Students, working together to create a short film.  

This is its first festival award.

FaceWare MoCap Visits Escape Studios

Jess Hiles tests out theFaceware Mark IV helmet system

Last week we had the pleasure of a studio visit from motion capture experts Faceware.  Faceware are specialists in Facial Motion Capture technology, widely used in Games, Films, TV, Commercials, and live performances. Their clients include Rockstar, EA Games, Kojima, Disney, and DreamWorks. 

Faceware provided us with an overview of the Facial MoCap workflow and their latest tech, including the cutting-edge Mark IV helmet system.

"Green Friend" Wins "Best Score" in Hollywood

"Green Friend" wins "Best Original Score" in Hollywood

Congratulations to the makers of "Green Friend", which has won "Best Original Score" at the Hollywood Gold Awards. 

Green Friend is a short animated film created by our second year animation students at Escape Studios. Green Friend was directed and produced by Hugo Whitworth.  It was completed as part of Studio Module PR5001, a collaborative module in which second-year animation students work together on short film projects. This is its first festival award. 

Character Creation Evening Class 8th Jan 2024

Goblin by Paul Strachan

Our 18 week evening class in Character Creation returns to Escape Studios on 8 January 2024.

This evening course teaches students how to design and create their own character designs, and bring them to life. Over 18 weeks you will design, model, texture, and rig your own original character.

The Character Creation evening class course teaches a complete approach to the creation of original 3D characters.

"Good Soup" Animation Film-Maker Q&A

In this short "making of" video,  Jessa Timog-Santiago, director of the multi-award-winning short film "Good Soup", explains how the film was created.  Good Soup was completed by our graduating class of animation students at Escape Studios.  Directed by Jessa Timog-Santiago and produced by Iulineia Filip,  Good Soup was made using Maya, Substance Painter, and Unreal Engine.  The editor was Rohnak Sharma.  Good Soup has won many festival awards. 

Manos Zervoudakis Production Coordinator at Axis

Manos Zervoudakis

Congratulations to Escapee Manos Zervoudakis who has joined Axis Studios as a Production Coordinator.  Axis is one of the UK's leading animation studios, specialising in animation, games and vfx.

Manos Zervoudakis studied the Art of Computer Animation at Escape Studios, and produced no less than six short animated films, including Threaded Together, Alma, Sweet Heart, Mafia Mix-Up, Candlewick and Pet Shop. 

Manos has already won over 30 industry awards for his many short film productions. 

"The Descent" Wins "Best Super Short" at NY Awards

The Descent wins "Best Super Short Film" in NYC  

Congratulations to the makers of "The Descent", the short film created by our second year animation students at Escape Studios, which has won "Best Super Short Film" at the New York Movie Awards.  

The Descent was directed Sirisha Mutty and produced by Belle Leuschke, and was completed as part of Studio Module PR5001, a collaborative module in which second-year animation students work together on short film projects.

PR4001 – Creative Foundations Project

Storyboard for The Alpha Lighthouse at Whale's End

Our undergraduate students' first group project takes place in the First Year of Studies at Escape Studios. PR4001 – Creative Foundations Project - is a two week group project worth 30 Credits.  In PR4001, students take the skills they have learned in CR4002 - Creative Foundations - Craft, and complete a team project.  

Their task is to create a filmed storyboard, also known as an animatic, for an animated TV or web series.  

Meet "Green Friend"

 

Meet "Green Friend", the latest short animated film from Escape Studios. Green Friend is the latest short film created by our second year animation students at Escape Studios. Green Friend was directed and produced by Hugo Whitworth.  It was completed as part of Studio Module PR5001, a collaborative module in which second-year animation students work together on short film projects.

Ross Green "Prehistoric Planet" Demo Reel

Ross Green Prehistoric Planet Animation Showreel from Ross Green on Vimeo.

Congratulation to Escapee Ross Green on his excellent work on "Prehistoric Planet" Seasons 1 and 2, created at MPC in London.  MPC is one of the UK's leading VFX houses, responsible for hits such as The Lion King and The Jungle Book.  Ross Green studied the Art of Computer Animation at Escape Studios.

"Luciferin" Wins Best Trailer at Dreamachine Fest

Luciferin wins Best Trailer at Dreamachine Festival

Congratulations to the makers of Luciferin, the VFX short created at Escape Studios by our graduating class of VFX artists, which has won "Best Trailer" at the Dreamachine Film Festival.

Directed by Jake Roberts and produced by Bruno Urzi,  Luciferin was a collaboration between 2D and 3D VFX Students, working together to create a short film.  Luciferin tells the story of a marine biologist working in a deep sea biosphere.  This is its fourth festival award.  

Animate a Jump with "Monty"

 

In this Locomotion and Mechanics tutorial we show how to animate a jump with a simple character, using the marvellous "Monty" rig, free for download at HighEnd3D.com.  The idea is to get a basic jump working, that feels fluid and believable, with weight and balance. You can read more about the Monty rig and how to use it here.

"Risen" Wins Hon Mention for VFX at FOFA

 "Risen" Hon Mention for "Best VFX" at FoFA

Congratulations to the makers of the short film "Risen", which has an Honourable Mention for "Best VFX" at the Future of Film Awards.

"Risen" was directed by Jane Williams and produced by Muhadissa Hasham.  Emma Richards was the 2D Lead and Oguzhan "Oz" Arisoy was the 3D Lead.

In Risen, a mysterious demonic force emerges from a ruined churchyard.  

This is its second festival award. 

"Lumi" Wins Hon Mention Best Super Short at FOFA

"Lumi" Hon Mention Best Super Short Film at FOFA

Congratulations to the makers of "Lumi", which has won an Honourable Mention in the category of Best Super Short Film at the Future of Film Awards. 

the latest short film created by our second year animation students at Escape Studios.  Lumi was directed by Maye Liu, co-directed by Sirisha Mutty, and produced by Amy Little.  

Lumi was completed as part of Studio Module PR5001, a collaborative module in which second-year animation students work together on short film projects. This is its first festival award. 

Escapee Elliot King at Buck Motion Design

Elliot King: https://www.elliotmotion.com/

Many congratulations to Escapee Elliot King who has been freelancing as a motion graphics artist at Buck, one of the world's leading motion design companies. 

Buck is a global creative company that brings brands, stories, and experiences to life through art, design, and technology.

Elliot King took our Motion Graphics course at Escape Studios, and has assembled an excellent demo reel, which you can find at this official website. https://www.elliotmotion.com/

Graduation Day 3 November 2023

Queen Elizabeth II Centre in Westminster.

Save the Date! Graduation Day is back - this year's Graduation Ceremony will take place on Friday 3rd November 2023 at the Queen Elizabeth II Centre in Westminster.

We look forward to welcoming all our graduating students from for the graduation ceremony and reception afterwards. 

The graduation ceremony is a formal occasion for our Escapees to receive their degrees from Escape Studios and to celebrate their achievements after many years of hard work.