Animator Giacomo Autili Joins Escape Studios

Giacomo Autili joins Escape Studios

We're extending a warm welcome to veteran animator and character designer Giacomo Autili who joins us in September to teach the 3rd year animation students at Escape Studios, studying the Art of 2D Computer Animation.  

Giacomo Autili joins us from Studio AKA where he has worked on hit series such as "Hey Dugee".

Giacomo is proficient in 2D animation software such as TV Paint and Toonboom Harmony, as well as Unity, Adobe Animate, Photoshop, After Effects, Premiere, InDesign and Illustrator.   Giacomo also has extensive experience working as a character designer.

Open Toonz Free Open Source 2D Animation Software

OpenToonz Software

2D animation can be done in a variety of different software packages.  One interesting option is the "OpenToonz" Software, free software for the production of 2D animation.

Based on the software "Toonz", developed by Digital Video S.p.A. in Italy,  OpenToonz has been customized by Studio Ghibli, and used for the creation of its films for many years.  Dwango has launched the OpenToonz project in cooperation with Digital Video and Studio Ghibli. 

"An Evening With..." Neil Boyle & "Kensuke's Kingdom" on 19 May 2026 at 5.30pm

Join us on Tuesday 19th May at 5.30pm for our latest "An Evening With..." event - with Neil Boyle, director of the BAFTA-nominated 2D animated feature film "Kensuke's Kingdom" released in 2023. 

Neil Boyle will talk about the making of Kensuke's Kingdom, and also discuss the state of 2D animation in the UK and - as always - explore the latest opportunities for Escapees and recent graduates.  Note that this in-person event is open to our currently enrolled students only. 

Toonboom Harmony Evening Class Returns 5 Oct 2026

Evening class in Toonboom Harmony returns 26 March 2026

Our 2D Animation Online Evening class in Toonboom Harmony returns to Escape Studios on 5 October 2026.

Learn the fundamentals of 2D animation over 20 weeks, two evenings a week (Mondays & Thursdays 7-10pm GMT) using Toonboom Harmony, one of the leading software packages for the creation of 2D animation.

The class is taught by experienced industry professionals.

Cintiq: New Hardware for Our 2D Animators

Wacom Cintiq tablets

Escape Studios has recently acquired new Wacom Cintiq tablets for our 2D animation students, enabling them to draw directly onto the screen rather than onto a traditional tablet. 

The new Wacom Cintiq drawing pads are available to our 2D animation students in the main 2D animation studio, "PalletTown", on the 11th floor at 6 Mitre Passage.

The Wacom Cintiq tablets enable our students to draw directly onto the screen, as is now standard practice across the industry.  

BA/MArt 2D Animation Returns Sept 2026

2D Animation by Clarence Tamakloe

Our BA/MArt in 2D Animation is now recruiting for September 2026.  

In recent years 2D Animation has experienced a significant revival, both in the UK and overseas, as Studios such as Blue Zoo, Aardman Animation, and Brown Bag Films adopt new software such as ToonBoom Harmony.

Taught by seasoned industry professionals, this degree prepares students for work in the 2D animation industry. 

Alex Williams 2D Animation Demo Reel

2D Animation has been expanding at Escape Studios, with a growing student body, many new short films - and many festival awards.  Our 2D animation tutors include Shane Woodson, Rebecca Perrone, Kevin Richards, Steve Lall and Iliana Franklin - all have many years of experience working on 2D animated projects.  Above is a selection of 2D animation on various films by our Dean of Animation & VFX Alexander Williams.  Edit by Escapee Miguel Teixeira, music by Pixabay.  

Escape Studios Top 12 at Rookies for 2D Animation

Ranked 12 for Production Excellence in 2D Animation

We’re proud to announce that Escape Studios has been ranked 12th in the world for Production Excellence in 2D Animation by The Rookies.  

This recognition underlines our commitment to giving our students an education that mirrors real-studio pipelines, fosters creative risk, and prepares them for the animation industry.

Escape Studios Gets TV Paint - and a Student Discount

We’re excited to announce that Escape Studios has added TV Paint to our software toolkit, giving our 2D animation students even more opportunities to develop professional 2D animation skills. 

Our 2D animation programmes have been running Toonboom Harmony as our principal animation platform, but we've decided to go for broke and add TV Paint as well.  So, from the start of this academic year (2025), our animation students will have a choice of 2D animation platforms to work on.  Plus, we've secured a special deal for our students to get themselves a license for home use if they need the extra flexibility.

2025 2D Animation Demo Reel

We're proud to present the 2025 Escape Studios 2D Animation Demo Reel, a selection of the best animation completed at Escape Studios over the past year.  This year Animation Career Review ranked us #5 for Animation in the UK, #12 for Animation in Europe and #17 for Animation Internationally.  To see more student work at Escape Studios, follow this link. 

Meet The 2D Animation Team at Escape Studios

2D Animation Team at Escape Studios

Who Teaches 2D Animation at Escape Studios? Meet our talented 2D Animation team, the folks who are delivering our 2D Animation BA at Escape Studios as well as our Evening class in 2D Animation in Toonboom Harmony.

In recent years 2D Animation has experienced a significant revival both in the UK and overseas, as Studios such as Blue Zoo, Aardman Animation, and Brown Bag Films adopt new software such as ToonBoom Harmony.

Escapee Rich Jeffery To Co-Direct "Bluey" The Movie

Coming soon - in 2027

Many congratulations to Escapee Rich Jeffery who 
will co-direct the new Bluey Movie, a co-production between Disney and the BBC - due for a 2027 release.

Rich Jeffery has been directing The Australian animated TV series "Bluey" for several years.   "Bluey" has become a global success story, one of the most popular shows on Netflix.  Rich said "it’s been an epic ride for last few years and I’m over the moon to be co-directing on my first feature film".

Escape Studios 2024 2D Animation Reel

We're proud to present our 2024 2D Animation Reel.  Here at Escape Studios we've been expanding our 2D animation capacity for some years, starting with our Evening Classes in Toonboom Harmony, and now offering our undergraduate animation students a new 2D Animation Pathway, focusing on digital tools such as Toonboom Harmony, Adobe Animate and Blender.  The 2D Animation industry has been going through a renaissance, and we're proud to offer our students a chance to be a part of it.  This month we also became a formally accredited Toonboom Harmony Authorised Training Centre (ATC). 

Escape Studios Toonboom Harmony ATC

Toonboom Harmony ATC Certificate

We're delighted to announce that Escape Studios has been confirmed as an ATC (Authorised Training Centre) for Toonboom Harmony, one of the leading software packages for the creation of 2D animation.

2D Animation has been experiencing a revival, with many 2D productions being animated in the UK. 

In particular, Blue Zoo, Aardman Animation, Passion Pictures and others have chosen Toonboom Harmony as their principal 2D animation platform.

Animator Rebecca Perrone Joins Escape Studios

Rebecca Perrone

We're extending a warm welcome to Rebecca Perrone, an experienced 2D animator who will be teaching our "Level Six" 2D animation students in their third and final year of undergraduate studies at Escape Studios.

Rebecca Perrone is an accomplished animation artist whose screen credits include Mog's Christmas and the acclaimed TV Series Love Death and Robots - on which Rebecca was a lead animator.  2D animation is a large and growing part of the animation pipeline at Escape Studios.

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. 

Last Call for ToonBoom Harmony on 6 Feb 2024

Our 2D Animation part-time online evening class in Toonboom Harmony returns to Escape Studios on 6th February 2024.

Learn the fundamentals of 2D animation over 10 weeks, one evening a week using Toonboom Harmony, one of the leading software packages for the creation of 2D animation.

Merry Christmas from Escape Studios

If you've got a few minutes this Christmas Eve, why not watch Richard Williams' 1972 Oscar-winning version of The Christmas Carol.  It has all the atmosphere of 19th Century London and none of the sentimentality.  It's just twenty minutes long, and was completed at Williams' London studio at 13 Soho Square - a Grade II* listed building which still stands today (it's even painted the same colour).

AN4001 Starts on January 8 2024

 

For our first year undergraduate students, our core animation module - Animation 1 - starts in the New Year, with our first group beginning on Monday 8 January.  AN4001 is a 15 Credit module that teaches all our first year students the fundamentals of character and creature animation. AN4001 lasts four weeks, and covers all the basic principles of animation. To see some of the best work done by our first year undergraduate animators, watch the short video above, cut together by Escape Studios' animation tutor Marc Stevenson.

Using Cadmium AI to Colour 2D Animation

Cadmium App

Artificial intelligence offers new ways to speed up the animation pipeline and boost the productivity of animators. One new breakthrough comes from the Cadmium App, a new tool which automates the process of colouring 2D animation.

Cadmium is a creative tool for hand drawn animation. Using machine intelligence, animators can now colour their entire animation sequence from just a few keyframes.