Sunday, 31 March 2024

"Theseus" Wins "Best VFX" at the EE Film Fest

Theseus and The Minotaur "Best VFX" at the EEFF 
Congratulations to the makers of Theseus and The Minotaur, which has won "Best VFX" at the Eastern Europe Film Festival. 

Theseus and The Minotaur tells the story of the Greek hero's entry into the Labyrinth, and was directed by Mitchell Wright and produced by Ayesha-Ria Jina. The 3D lead was Xavier Barker, and the 2D Lead was Ethan Mainwaring-Taylor.  Industry feedback and support was provided by Industrial Light & Magic

Saturday, 30 March 2024

The VFX Festival Returns 3-4 June 2024

2024 VFX Festival
Save the Date! The VFX Festival is back - returning to London on 3-4 June 2024 at the BFI IMAX on London's South Bank at Waterloo.  The  2024 VFX Festival will be a hybrid event, both online and in person.  

The 2024 VFX Festival at Escape Studios celebrates the latest developments in Animation, VFX and Interactive Media - come along and find out about the latest tech, the latest jobs, and how to break into the thriving - but rapidly evolving - creative industries.   

To book your tickets either in-person or online, follow this link.  

Friday, 29 March 2024

Introducing "The Hunter"

The_Hunter from Naarah on Vimeo.

Introducing "The Hunter", the latest short animated film from Escape Studios. It was completed as part of Studio Module PR5001, a collaborative module in which second-year animation students work together on short film projects.  The Hunter was written by Nishana Paul, directed by Rhea Ilanthirayan and produced by Naarah Bonti Asmarah.  It is currently being entered into film festivals. 

Thursday, 28 March 2024

Escapee Ben Gardener Storyboard Artist at Wild Child

Ben Gardener
Escapee Ben Gardener has started work as a storyboard artist at Wild Child Animation.

Ben Gardener took our evening class in storyboarding with Blue Zoo Board Artist and Director Francesca "Chess" Adams - and built up a storyboard portfolio over the duration of the course.

Storyboarding is a growing part of the UK animation industry, as studios develop more in-house content for the expanding creative industries.

Many Escapees have gone on to find work storyboarding on animated films and TV series.

Wednesday, 27 March 2024

New Copies of the "ASK" for the Animation Library

Animator's Survival Kit
We have new copies of Animator's Survival Kit - our most popular book on animation - for the Animation & VFX Library on the 11th Floor at 6 Mitre Passage.

The ASK is now the standard textbook for animators and the most comprehensive book available for learning animation.  

We have many copies of the Animator's Survival Kit in the 11th Floor Library at 6 Mitre Passage. The ASK can also be bought as an eBook download for the iPad.  

For all our students learning animation, we recommend this book as the principal animation textbook.  And don't forget to make use of our Tutorial Channel - with many hundreds of video tutorials on animation and VFX.

Tuesday, 26 March 2024

CMC Wants Animation Series Pitches

Children's Media Conference 9-10-11 July 2024 
The Children's Media Conference (CMC) in Sheffield wants your animation pitches.  

In the "Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is" pitch sessions, animation creatives pitch to the animation industry, much like on the BBC's "Dragon's Den".   The CMC takes place from 9-10-11 July 2024. The deadline for submissions is 13 June 2024. 

Monday, 25 March 2024

Blend From a Walk to a Run with Marc Stevenson


In this tutorial students learn how to blend animation From a walk to a run with undergraduate Programme Leader  Marc Stevenson, veteran animator on multiple animated feature films.  Marc's tutorial explains how to take a walk cycle with "Monty" the Green Pea, and also a run cycle, and blend from one to the other effectively. 

Sunday, 24 March 2024

Foundry Educational Showreel 2024



We're delighted to be included in the latest Educational Showreel from Foundry, makers of compositing software Nuke, showcasing the best work done by students using their software. Foundry are among our leading industry partners, supporting our students' work, including live industry projects such as "Dead Shot" - a Sky original feature film directed by The Guard Bros. - to which our students contributed around a dozen shots last year. 

Saturday, 23 March 2024

Animate a Telephone Ringing in Maya

Animate a telephone ringing in Maya
In this very short (just ten minutes long) beginner animation tutorial we show how to do some very simple animation - animate a Telephone Ringing.  This tutorial is aimed at animation beginners in Autodesk Maya.

Simple exercises are a great way to gain confidence in animation, starting with the basics to gradually build up your confidence and skills.

Friday, 22 March 2024

George Caton-Coult Introduces "Pop Paper City"

George Caton-CoultKevin Richards and students
This week we welcomed Love Love Films Studio Manager George Caton-Coult to visit us on Thursday 21 March. The event was hosted by Escape Studios animation tutor Kevin Richards. 

George Caton-Coult is the Studio Manager at Love Love Films, responsible for the TV hit "Pop Paper City"  developed in partnership with Aardman Animation.  Many Escapees worked on "Pop Paper City".  In this in-person visit, George explained how the series came about, and how Escapees might find work at the studio.

Thursday, 21 March 2024

"Sea of Madness" Wins Milan Gold Award

Sea Of Madness wins Best Animated Short in Milan
Congratulations to the makers of Sea Of Madness, which has won "Best Animated Film" at the Milan Gold awards.

Sea Of Madness was directed by Maria Freitas  and produced by Ivy Wang.  Jake Hines was the editor and 2D Lead, and Sebastian McKernan was the 3D Lead.  Ian Chavez Zarate stars as The Pirate.  

This is the film's second festival award.

Time to Enter the 2024 Rookies

The Rookies Awards 2024
It's time for our students to enter The Rookies Awards 2024, the international competition for young creatives. The competition is now open and the deadline is 1st June 2024.

However, it's always a good idea to enter early - make a great first impression and get more eyes on your work. 

Wednesday, 20 March 2024

Lock To World Tool Stops Feet From Sliding

We're recommending this new animation script "Lock to World", available for download at Gumroad

The Lock to World tool does the same job as the Anchor Transform Tool - which no longer works in newer versions of Maya (since the upgrade to Python 3). 

Sliding feet can be a problem when animating a walk cycle.  Fortunately for us, the Lock to World tool created by Framestore Animator Jesse Ong Pho offers a solution. 

The Lock to World script lets you anchor a transform for any given time range in your animation. You can find it in UG Shares in UG Animation under assets.

Tuesday, 19 March 2024

Lipsync Tutorial with Marc Stevenson

Undergraduate Programme Leader Marc Stevenson has created a series of Lipsync Tutorials for our students working on character animation. 

The tutorial uses the free "Twigs the Cowboy" rig which you can download here.  You can also find a copy of Twigs in UG Shares.  This tutorial is aimed at our animation students learning the art of dialogue and lipsync. 

Monday, 18 March 2024

Kinetic Type Tutorial with Forge Dynamics in Cavalry


We're delighted to offer a new free tutorial in Motion Graphics from our Motion Graphics tutor Adam Bennett. Adam's latest tutorial is on how to create Kinetic Type with Forge Dynamics using Cavalry, a free animation software package available for both Mac and Windows.  You can download it here.

"Roupell St" Wins Hon Mention in Athens Fest

Congratulations to the makers of the short VFX film "Curiosities of The Ruthless Roupell St", which has won an Honourable Mention for Best VFX at the Athens Film Festival. 

Directed by Oliver Chenery and produced by Victoria Arraez"Curiosities of The Ruthless Roupell St"  was created by our undergraduate VFX students at Escape Studios. 

Milo Marshall was the 2D Lead, and cinematography was by Clement Gharini.

The film has won many festival awards. 

Sunday, 17 March 2024

Why Animators Need a Clear Silhouette

Animator need to create great poses.  Part of a great pose is a great silhouette, one that "reads" clearly. 

The image on the left is taken from Eric Goldberg's book "Character Animation Crash Course", (we have a copy in the library), one of the best books on character animation.

Eric shows how a single pose can get an instant "read" from the audience. Even though the images are shown blacked out in silhouette, we still know exactly what the character is thinking and doing.

Always make sure your poses, whether drawn or digital, communicate exactly what the character is thinking, feeling and doing. 

Saturday, 16 March 2024

Escapee Daria Zadecka Animator at ILM

Daria Zadecka
Congratulations to Escapee Daria Zadecka who has joined Industrial Light and Magic (ILM) as an animator.

Daria Zadecka took our Master's Degree in Computer Animation at Escape Studios, taught by veteran animator Lee Caller.  During the course Daria put together a strong demo reel to apply for positions in the animation industry. 

ILM is one of the world's leading animation and VFX houses, responsible for ground-breaking work such as Star Wars and Jurassic Park. 

Friday, 15 March 2024

"Theseus" Wins "Best Super Short" in London

Congratulations to the makers of Theseus and The Minotaur, which has won "Best Super Short Film" at the London Movie Awards, held at the Close-Up Theatre in London's Shoreditch. 

Theseus and The Minotaur was directed by Mitchell Wright and produced by Ayesha-Ria Jina.  This is the film's first festival award. 

Animate a UFO on a Motion Path

In this brief tutorial we show how to animate a UFO on a motion path - an important technique for animating anything moving through space - UFOs, aircraft, birds, and even fish.  

Motion Path animation is a simple animation technique, and can be learned in a few minutes.  The tutorial starts by searching for a free set and a UFO at Turbosquid - free assets anyone can download.  For Maya beginners. 

Thursday, 14 March 2024

Giada Carnevaletti Animator at Brown Bag Films

Giada Carnevaletti
Congratulations to Escapee Giada Carnevaletti who has started work as an animator at Brown Bag Films in Dublin.

Brown Bag Films is a leading animation studio, responsible for award-winning children's TV content. 

While at Escape Studios, Giada worked on two award-winning films: CandleWick and Moon Rockz, both of which have enjoyed considerable festival success.  Giada also worked at Escape Studios as a Studio Assistant.

Wednesday, 13 March 2024

"Outpatient" Wins "Best Short" at Int'l Gold Awards

"Outpatient" wins "Best Short" at the Int'l Gold Awards
Congratulations to the makers of the VFX short film "Outpatient", which has won "Best Short Film" at the International Gold Awards. 

"Outpatientwas directed by Charlie Wilson, co-directed by Idris Driver, produced by Harry Symonds, and co-produced by Emmanuel Rahman.  "Outpatient" tells the story of a hospital patient on the edge of survival. Abdoulah M Jones stars as The Patient.  This is the film's first festival award. 

Tuesday, 12 March 2024

"Ghosting" Wins Best Anim at Makihzmithran Fest

Congratulations to the makers of Ghosting, the animated short created by our third year animation students at Escape Studios, which has won the award for Best Animation at the Makhizmithran Film Festival.

Directed by Caroline Geddis and produced by Marc Montebon, Ghosting tells the story of a boy who enters a mysterious mansion on a dark night.  

This is its first festival award. 

Monday, 11 March 2024

Pop Paper City's George Caton-Coult Visits Escape

George Caton-Coult
Escape Studios is delighted to welcome Love Love Films Studio Manager George Caton-Coult to visit our students on Thursday 21 March.

George Caton-Coult is the Studio Manager at Love Love Films, responsible for the TV hit "Pop Paper City"  developed in partnership with Aardman Animation.  

Many Escapees worked on and helped to contribute to the success of "Pop Paper City"

Escapees at the 2024 Oscars

48 Escapees at the 2024 Academy Awards
Escape Studios is delighted to congratulate the 48 Escapees who contributed to Oscar-nominated movies this year, including Poor Things, Guardians of the Galaxy, and The Zone of Interest. 

Congratulations to all our Escapees whose work contributed so much to the success of these amazing films - we are proud of you all. 

Sunday, 10 March 2024

"Sea of Madness" wins "Best VFX" at 1st Fest

Sea Of Madness wins Best VFX at 1st Fest
Congratulations to the makers of Sea Of Madness, which has won "Best VFX" at the First Film Festival.

Sea Of Madness was directed by Maria Freitas  and produced by Ivy Wang.  Jake Hines was the editor and 2D Lead, and Sebastian McKernan was the 3D Lead.  Ian Chavez Zarate stars as The Pirate. 

Industry feedback and support was provided by Industrial Light & Magic.  

This is the film's first festival award.

Saturday, 9 March 2024

Why Animators Should Tell a Story

Animators need an idea
Every Shot Needs an Idea. Animators should always imagine clearly what their shot is about before they start to animate. 

Animators are actors, with a pencil, or a mouse. Like stage or screen actors, animators must always think about what the character is thinking and feeling. Who is the character talking to, and what is the scene about? What do they want, and what do they fear?

Unless these questions are asked, and answered, the scene will tend to feel empty of meaning, and lack compelling interest.  Start by writing out your scene as a short story. 

Friday, 8 March 2024

Escape Studios at the 2024 BAA Awards

2024 BAA Awards
Last night the UK animation industry celebrated the winners at the biennial British Animation (BAA) Awards at London's South Bank.

A number of Escapees and current students at Escape Studios volunteered to help out on the night.  Many thanks to current students Alfie Williams, Yusuf Uddin and Escapee Oliver Gallagher, whose hard work helped make the evening a success.  

Thursday, 7 March 2024

Animate a Military Walk with Monty

Every animator needs to learn how to animate a character walk.  

In this latest tutorial, we show how to take a basic walk cycle using the "Monty" rig (free for download from highend3d.com) and make Monty march like a goose-stepping soldier on a parade ground.  

The video tutorial is recorded in Autodesk Maya, and is aimed at animation beginners. 

Wednesday, 6 March 2024

"Roupell St" Wins "Best Trailer" at VIZ Fest

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

Directed by Oliver Chenery and produced by Victoria Arraez"Curiosities of The Ruthless Roupell St"  has won many festival awards. 

Milo Marshall was the 2D Lead, and cinematography was by Clement Gharini.

Tuesday, 5 March 2024

Animate a Cowboy Walk with Monty

Cowboy walk with Monty
One thing every animator needs to learn is how to animate a character walk. In our latest tutorial, we show how to take a basic walk using the "Monty" rig (free for download from Creative Crash) and make Monty walk in a masculine way - with just a few clicks.

The video tutorial is recorded in Autodesk Maya, and is aimed at animation beginners. 

Monday, 4 March 2024

Escape Studios Undergraduate Prospectus Online

We're delighted to announce that our new undergraduate study prospectus is now live on our official website:https://www.escapestudios.ac.uk/prospectus/.

To find out more about what's in our undergraduate and post graduate courses at Escape Studios, follow this link

The prospectus is free to download. 

The Escape Studios Animation Blog offers a personal view on the art of animation and visual effects. To apply for one of our courses, follow this link

Sunday, 3 March 2024

"Void" Wins Hon Mention at Future of Film Fest

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

Void is one of the latest short films from our third year undergraduate animation students at Escape Studios.  

"Void" was directed by Kaya Akinci, edited and produced by Luis Yarroll.  

This is its second festival award.

Saturday, 2 March 2024

Animate a Slow Sad Walk with Monty

Animate a sad walk with Monty
Every animator needs to learn how to animate a character walk; fortunately we have 100s of animation tutorials for our students at our Vimeo Channel

In the tutorial below, we show how to take a basic walk cycle using the marvellous "Monty" rig - and then make Monty sad and depressed - with just a few clicks.  The video tutorial is recorded in Autodesk Maya, and is aimed at animation beginners. 

Friday, 1 March 2024

Using Infinity Curves with Offset in Maya


In this very short tutorial (just two minutes long) we show how to use "Infinity Curves with Offset" in Maya.  Let's say you animate a character taking two steps across the screen, and you want to replicate the action. By using Infinity Curves with Offset, you can replicate the motion automatically, and have the character take as many steps as you like.  Once you're done, you can bake your curves, and then edit the shot.  We also have many animation tutorials at our Vimeo Channel, available for all our students and recent Escapees.