Introducing the 3D VFX Team at Escape Studios

3D VFX Team at Escape Studios

Meet the 3D VFX Team at Escape Studios. VFX is at the heart of Escape Studios; it's where we began 20 years ago - when the industry was just starting to expand and grow.

Back in the early 2000s there were few places in the UK where students could learn the necessary skills to land that crucial first job in the VFX industry.  Below are our talented tutors who teach the art and craft of VFX at Escape Studios, helping to ensure we remain the UK's leading centre for the study of VFX.

Dan Shutt

Dan Shutt

Dan Shutt is one of our most experienced VFX tutors, with over 25 years experience in a wide variety of 3D fields, from feature film effects and games graphics, to TV commercials and architectural rendering.  Dan Shutt has been with Escape Studios since 2009. 

Dan Shutt’s early work in architecture included rendering the Sega World amusement attraction in Piccadilly Circus, before moving on to roles within the games industry at Sierra and Divide By Zero.  Daniel worked in post-production for Lost in Space, on projects for clients such as the BBC, Discovery Channel, National Geographic, Channel 4 and ITV.  

Dan teaches our short course and MA in 3D VFX, and is also an expert in Houdini.  You can listen to Dan's VFX Podcast here. 

Carlos Poon

Carlos Poon

Carlos Poon has worked across all major 3D industries for 14 years, starting in industrial design, then working as Assistant Technical Supervisor on the BAFTA winning TV series 'Tiny Planets'.  

Carlos worked as FMV supervisor for five games titles including "Lego Bionicles", and worked as a VFX Artist on the HBO series "Rome" and on the Oscar-winning "Inception". Carlos Poon has worked at VFX studios including Double Negative and Cinesite.

Federico Arculeo

Federico Arculeo is a 3D tutor at Escape Studios with experience in higher education and also in industry.

Federico's film credits include "Thor: Love and Thunder" on which Federico worked as a matchmove artist.

Federico Arculeo teaches 3D VFX in Autodesk Maya to our first year undergraduate animation and vfx students. 

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Ilaria Colavito

Ilaria Colavito

Ilaria Colavito teaches 3D VFX to our "Level 6" (ie third year) undergraduate students this year.

Ilaria Colavito joined us from the London VFX house Freefolk where she worked as a 3D Generalist on a number of TV series including Anansi Boys and Kaos.  Ilaria is an Escapee who took our 3D VFX MA with industry veteran Dan Shutt.  While at Escape Studios Ilaria directed the multi-award-winning short film Mechamorphosis, utilising a variety of digital techniques.

Tutorials

We have hundreds of tutorials in all aspects of VFX at our Vimeo Channel. To find them, follow the links below:

FX Animation (Houdini, Maya and After Effects)

• FX Animation in Houdini
• FX Animation in Maya (includes nCloth and Muscle Systems)

VFX

• 3D VFX Tutorials (includes Modelling, UV Mapping, Texturing, Lighting and Rendering)
• Rigging Tutorials in Maya with Michael Davies
• Real-Time Rendering with Unreal Engine

2D VFX (Compositing)

• 2D VFX - Compositing in Nuke

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.