Marc Stevenson 3D Animation Programme Leader

Marc Stevenson 3D Animation Programme Leader

Many congratulations to Escape Studios animation tutor Marc Stevenson, who has been appointed 3D Animation Programme Leader at Escape Studios.  

Marc teaches our Third Year Animation Students this year as they start their Specialism Module CR6001 and the other Third Year animation modules. 

Marc Stevenson is a veteran animator with multiple credits on Hollywood VFX hits including Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire, Fast & Furious 6, Avengers, Age of Ultron, Moon, and Victor Frankenstein. 

Escape Studios' "Portfolio Power Up" 30 Oct at 6pm

Join us on 30th October at 6pm for a "Portfolio Power Up" with Head of Animation Marc Stevenson and Escape Studios' Principal Ian Palmer at 6pm UK time. 

Preparing an industry-ready portfolio is at the heart of what we do at Escape Studios; it's how we prepare "Studio Ready Talent" for the world of employment in the creative industries. 

Join us on October 30th for demo reel advice, insider tips, and a live Q&A. 

To sign up for this free event, follow this link.

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.

Marc Stevenson Head of Animation at Escape Studios

Marc Stevenson

Many congratulations to Escape Studios animation tutor Marc Stevenson, who has been appointed Head of Animation at Escape Studios.  

Marc teaches our Second Year Undergraduate Animation students the art of animal & creature animation (module AN5002) and also the Art of Character Animation (Module AN5001).  Marc also teaches our Third Year Animation Students this year as they start their Specialism Module CR6001 and also the combined Animation & VFX Project. 

 

"Stop Motion Effect" Animation Tutorial in Maya

"Stop Motion Effect" Tutorial at YouTube

In this new animation tutorial students learn how to produce a "Stop Motion Effect" in Maya with undergraduate Programme Leader Marc Stevenson.  

Marc's tutorial, hosted at his Animation YouTube Channel, explains how to take a piece of digital animation created in Maya and simulate the look and feel of traditional hand-made stop motion animation. 

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. 

Fish Animation Tutorial from Marc Stevenson

Escape Studios' UG Animation Programme Leader Marc Stevenson has recorded a new animal and creature animation tutorial - showing how to animate fish in motion.  This latest tutorial joins Marc's Animation YouTube Channel and is based on the concept of offset curves - animating a single motion curve and then copying and pasting it along the spine of the fish, to create the characteristic swaying motion of the fins and tail. 

Marc Stevenson Animation Programme Leader

Marc Stevenson

Many congratulations to Escape Studios animation tutor Marc Stevenson, who is our new Program Leader for Undergraduate Animation at Escape Studios.  

Marc is currently teaching our second year undergraduate students the art of animal & creature animation (module AN5002) and also the Art of Character Animation (Module AN5001).

Marc Stevenson is a very experienced animator with credits on multiple Hollywood VFX hits including Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire, Fast & Furious 6, Avengers, Age of Ultron, Moon, and Victor Frankenstein.

How to Animate Cameras with Marc Stevenson

In this latest video, Escape Studios' animation tutor Marc Stevenson explains the use of cameras in animation film-making, exploring different kinds of cameras and how to use them.  Marc Stevenson has built up a comprehensive library of animation video tutorials, which can be found at his personal YouTube Channel here.  Marc’s animation tutorials are all completely free, and can be used at any time by any of our students to catch up on classroom exercises or develop their animation skills.

AN5002 Creature Animation Returns 18 Sept 2023

Snake by Bonnie Duncan

On Monday 18 September 2023 our 2nd year undergraduate animators return to Escape Studios to start their next module: AN5002: Advanced Computer Animation, in which students learn to animate animals and creatures.  

AN5002 starts on Monday 18 September 2023 and finishes on Friday 20 October 2023.  The Portfolio assignment, a 7-11 second animal or creature animation, is due on Wednesday 18 October 2023. The Retrospective assignment is due on Monday 23rd October 2023 at 11.59pm.

Understanding Scale When Animating

In this short video, animation tutor Marc Stevenson explains the importance of scale when making choices in animation.  Why do big monsters appear to move more slowly than small ones?  Do big things fall slower than small ones? (answer: no).  In the end, it's all to do with perception. Watch this intriguing video to find out. 

Marc Stevenson Ranks No 4 in 11 Second Club

Congratulations to Escape Studios' tutor Marc Stevenson on his successful entry into the March 11 Second Club - you can watch his animation "Horsin' Around" above.  Marc's entry was ranked no 4 in this month's 11 Second Club (out of 126 entries) - a very impressive result.  "The 11 Second Club" competition is a monthly contest in which animators compete to animate the most inventive and entertaining take on a piece of dialogue.

Baseball Pitch Tutorial with Marc Stevenson

Learn to animate a baseball throw with Marc Stevenson in the free video tutorial above.  This new tutorial is part of our series of animation tutorials hosted at our Vimeo Tutorial Channel; our central hub for our animation and VFX video tutorials, making it easy for our students to find tutorials to support their classroom studies. In this tutorial, Marc shows how to animate a baseball pitch using live action reference, and also how to attach and un-attach the ball from the pitcher's glove.

Meet the 2nd Year Tutors at Escape Studios

Who teaches the second year undergraduate animation and vfx students at Escape Studios? The second year of studies is where our students begin to specialise in their chosen field - whether animation, visual effects or games.  

For animators, there are four modules in the second year: AN5001 (character animation), AN5002 (creature animation), CR5001 (specialism) and PR5001 (Studio Project).

For VFX artists, the modules are similar, with VFX students choosing between 3D VFX and 2D VFX (compositing)

Below are the tutors who help our students embark on their professional animation and VFX journey.

Marc Stevenson Splash and Wave Effect Tutorial

 

Escape Studios' animation tutor Marc Stevenson has created a new tutorial on how to animate a splash and wave effect - quickly and easily.  You can find the tutorial at Marc's YouTube channel here.  Marc has built up a comprehensive library of animation video tutorials, which can be found at his personal YouTube Channel: Marc has created dozens of animation tutorials, mostly aimed at animation beginners.

Animation Tutorials with Marc Stevenson

Marc Stevenson YouTube Channel

Escape Studios' tutor Marc Stevenson 

has built up a comprehensive library of animation video tutorials, which can be found at his personal YouTube Channel here.  

Marc’s animation tutorials are all completely free, and can be used at any time by any of our students to catch up on classroom exercises or develop their animation skills. 

Animating Transitions: Walk to Run Tutorial

Learn how to animate Locomotion Transitions with Escape Studios' tutor Marc Stevenson - How to Blend from a Walk to a Run.  This tutorial is especially useful for any of our students studying locomotion and mechanics. It is also useful for a demo reel to show that you can successfully blend from one gait to another. 

Gun Flare and Smoke in After Effects Tutorial

Veteran animator and VFX tutor Marc Stevenson has recorded a new animation tutorial - "How to Animate Gun Flare and Smoke in After Effects". The tutorial explains how to use Adobe After Effects (part of the Adobe Suite, and available to all our students in our classrooms at Escape Studios) to create gun flare and smoke.  So, if you're animating a character Maya firing a gun - you might want to add the FX work in After Effects, rather than try to run a simulation in Maya. The video tutorial is aimed at beginners and runs for 20 minutes.  You can see more of Marc's excellent animation tutorials at his YouTube Channel. 

Spider Locomotion Tutorial with Marc Stevenson

We're delighted to announce a new free animation tutorial from Escape Studios' animation tutor Marc Stevenson, who has added an "arachnid animation" tutorial to our Vimeo Channel - you can see the introduction above.  Marc's tutorial demonstrates how to animate spiders using Autodesk Maya - showing how to break down complex motion into simple parts to get a sophisticated result.  

AN5002 "Animals & Creatures" Starts 19 Sept 2022

animation by Zoe Walker

On Monday 19 September 2022 our 2nd year undergraduate animators return to Escape Studios to start their next module: AN5002: Advanced Computer Animation, in which students learn to animate animals and creatures.  

AN5002 starts on Monday 19 September 2022 and finishes on Friday 21 October 2022.  The Portfolio assignment, a 7-11 second animal or creature animation, is due on Wednesday 19 October 2022. The Retrospective assignment is due on Monday 24th October 2022 at 11.59pm.

Meet Escape Studios' Animation Dept

At Escape Studios we are fortunate to have many talented tutors in our large and growing animation department.  

We have a depth of talent and skills among our staff that ensures we can teach all aspects of the animation pipeline, from concept art through storyboarding, animation and final render. 

Below (in no particular order) are some of our talented tutors you will find teaching animation in our classrooms at Escape Studios.