Animator's Survival Kit in The Animation Library

Animator's Survival Kit in the Animation Library

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

The Animator's Survival Kit is the standard textbook for animators and the most comprehensive book available for learning animation.  

We now have over a dozen copies of the Animator's Survival Kit (with more on the way) in the 11th Floor Animation & VFX Library at 6 Mitre Passage.  The ASK can also be bought as an eBook download for the iPad.  

"Producing 2D Animation" for the Animation Library

We've acquired a copy of Producing Independent 2D Character Animation by Mark Simon for the Animation Library at Escape Studios.   

Producing Independent 2D Character Animation is an important resource for any of our students interested in the production side of creating 2D animation.

Producing animation is an increasingly important part of what we teach at Escape Studios, as our students collaborate on short film projects, entering festivals and winning awards.

Being a successful animator isn't just about being good at animation; you also need to understand how group projects work, and learn how to collaborate with other artists in a studio environment.

Many Escapees have gone on to fill production roles at animation, games and VFX studios in recent years. 

"Prepare To Board" for the Animation Library

We've acquired new copies of the storyboarding classic Prepare to Board! by Nancy Beiman  - the main book we recommend to our students studying the art of storyboarding here at Escape Studios.  

Prepare to Board! is an excellent book from a master animator and Disney Animation veteran.  We now have several copies in the Animation and VFX Library at Escape Studios. 

Nancy Beiman was a supervising animator at Disney (most notably on Hercules) and (like many 2D animators) she does storyboards and character design as well as animation.

Storyboarding is the vital starting point for all our students' short films; without a solid story few films will enjoy a successful festival career.  

New Copies of the Animator's Survival Kit

Animator's Survival Kit

We have three 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 Animator's Survival Kit 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 Animation & VFX 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.

The Animator's Survival Kit - Still Relevant Today?

Richard Williams’ Animator's Survival Kit was first published over 20 years ago, before today’s digital workflows, AI-assisted tools, and real-time rendering.  

And yet, it remains one of the most essential resources for anyone learning animation. Why? Because the fundamental principles of animation don’t change. Great animation is still all about timing, spacing - and giving a memorable performance. 

Five Best Books To Learn Animation

The Animator's Survival Kit

What are the key books that our new animation students need to learn the craft of animation?

Books may be a bit old school these days, but a good book is still a great place to start learning about and exploring the world of character animation.

The best books will teach you, immerse you - and inspire you to do your very best work.  Books on animation can be found in the 11th Floor Animation & VFX Library. 

The Art of Walt Disney in the Animation Library

The Art of Disney Animation

We're delighted to add a new book on the Art of Disney Animation in the Animation & VFX Library.

This classic book, donated by animation tutor Kevin Richards, features some of the best artwork created for the Disney studio on classic films such as Snow White, Pinocchio, Mary Poppins and Bedknobs and Broomsticks, showing just how important a strong sense of design was to the Disney Studio during its first golden age.

Our students at Escape Studios grew up with the Pixar movies in the modern digital age, but it's still important to study the classical Disney era, and learn from the masters who designed and created the medium that we work in today.

Thanks to animation tutor Kevin Richards for the kind donation.

Adventures in Animation for the Anim & VFX Library

Adventures in Animation

We're delighted to add Richard Williams' new book "Adventures in Animation" to the Animation & VFX Library at Escape Studios. 

"Adventures in Animation" is Richard Williams' autobiography, a work-in-progress completed five years after his death by his wife and long-term collaborator Imogen Sutton.  The book fills in many of the gaps in The Animator's Survival Kit, especially the early influences on Williams' work, animators like Grim Natwick and Milt Kahl. 

At Escape Studios we recommend one key textbook for learning animation - The Animator's Survival Kit, arguably the only book you need to learn the art and craft of animation.  We have many copies in the 11th Floor Library for loan. 

"British Newspaper Strips" by Adam Twycross

Students at Escape Studios may know Adam Twycross as our External Examiner for Visual Effects; they may be less familiar with his published work.  Adam Twycross has just published a new book titled "British Newspaper Strips - A Contextual History", a scholarly deep dive into the history of newspaper cartoon strips over the last century. 

Newspapers cartoons are fascinating from a historical perspective because they show clearly and simply how much the world has changed since their publication, documenting the rapid changes in attitudes and values that have taken place in modern Britain.  

For most of us though, it's just a huge pleasure to read old comics from previous decades.   

VFX Books for The Animation & VFX Library

VFX Books at Escape Studios Animation & VFX Library

We have lots of new VFX Books for The Animation & VFX Library to support our students studying the Art of Visual Effects.  

VFX textbooks include The VFX Handbook, Sculpting with ZBrush, The Visual Effects Producer and many books on Digital Compositing.  We also have hundreds of video tutorials for 3D VFX which can be found here, and 2D VFX (compositing) which can be found here.

To see some of the many learning resources that students have at Escape Studios, see this blog post. 

Writing and Directing Books For the Library

New Books: On Directing Film and Save the Cat

We have new books for the Animation & VFX Library on the 11th Floor at 6 Mitre Passage. 

New books include "Save The Cat" by Blake Snyder on Screenwriting, and "On Directing Film" by Oscar-winning writer David Mamet.  Both books offer important insights into visual storytelling. 

And don't forget to make use of our Tutorial Channel - we have many hundreds of video tutorials on animation and VFX.

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.

New Books for The Animation & VFX Library

New books on Storyboarding in the Anim & VFX Library

We have more new books for the Animation & VFX Library on the 11th Floor at 6 Mitre Passage, Escape Studios' new home in North Greenwich.

New books include The Storyboard Design Course: The Ultimate Guide by Guiseppe Cristiano, a collection of Wallace & Gromit storyboards from Aardman Animation, and a new copy of Richard Williams' Animator's Survival Kit "Minis" - on Animating Walks. 

New Books for the Animation & VFX Library

The Visual Story by Bruce Block

We have more new books for the Animation & VFX Library on the 11th Floor at 6 Mitre Passage, our new home in North Greenwich.

New books include the The Visual Story by Bruce Block, an important work on the visual language of film, and a compendium of British Illustrations from the last century, - inspiration for the visual style of animated films. 

New Animation Books for the Anim & VFX Library

We have more new books for the Animation & VFX Library on the 11th Floor at 6 Mitre Passage, our new home in North Greenwich.

New books include the Hue Book of Animation - a great guide for getting started if you've never animated before - and Cracking Animation by Aardman Animation, the team behind Wallace & Gromit (and the new Chicken Run movie, released on Netflix on 15 December).  We also have two new copies of "Producing Animation", by Katherine Winder and Zahra Dowlatabadi. 

New Books for The Animation Library

The Animator's Survival Kit

We have new books for the Animation & VFX Library at 6 Mitre Passage, our new home in North Greenwich.

The new books include "Sketching for Animation" by Peter Parr, and a new copy of our most popular textbook (the one book every animator should own)  The Animator's Survival Kit by Richard Williams.  

These books were donated by Escape Studios' student Sabrina Caspers-Frankel - many thanks to Sabrina for her generous donation to the library. 

New Books for the Animation & VFX Library

 Cartooning Animation & Hero With a Thousand Faces

We have new books for our shiny new Animation & VFX Library at 6 Mitre Passage, our new home in North Greenwich.

New books include animation classics such as Cartooning Animation 1 by Preston Blair, and The Hero With a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell - both classic texts on animation and storytelling respectively.  

The Animation & VFX Library is located on the 11th Floor outside Toontown - and is free for all our students.

The Animation Library is Back at 6 Mitre Passage

Escape Studios Animation & VFX Library

The Escape Studios Animation & VFX Library is Back. Located on the 11th Floor outside Toontown at 6 Mitre Passage, our new home in North Greenwich, we have many books available to be checked out on animation, games and visual effects. 

As always, make sure you check the books out in the orange Library Book, leaving your name, the name of the book checked out (and the author's name), your email address, and the date you checked it out.  

The animation library is free, but please don't keep books for more than two weeks. We also have an online library, where books can be accessed digitally.  To login in to the online library at Escape Studios, follow this link.

How to Use Escape Studios' Online Library

For all our students at Escape Studios - don't forget about the Online Animation Library. The Online Library is where we keep digital copies of our books on animation and film-making.  Of course, we also have hard copies in the traditional animation library (ie actual physical books) on the Third Floor at 190 High Holborn, but the digital copies are arguably more useful as they can be accessed from anywhere at any time.  To find the Online Library, follow this link.

Producing Animation by Zahra Dowlatabadi

Producing Animation by Zahra Dowlatabadi

We're recommending "Producing Animation" by Katherine Winder and Zahra Dowlatabadi, an important resource for any of our students interested in the production side of creating animation.

Producing animation is an increasingly important part of what we teach at Escape Studios, as our students collaborate on short film projects, entering festivals and winning awards.

Being a successful animator isn't just about being good at animation; you also need to understand how group projects work, and learn how to collaborate with other artists in a studio environment.

Many Escapees have gone on to fill production roles at animation, games and VFX studios in recent years, as studios ramp up production in the UK.