Creature Animation Workshop: VIEW 19 Oct

I'll be hosting a creature animation workshop at this year's VIEW Conference again this year.  The two-hour animation workshop takes place online on Monday, 19 October from 11am to 1pm Italian time.

I'll be teaching students how to tackle some creature animation using Autodesk Maya.  We'll be animating spiders - demonstrating how to break down an apparently complex motion - an eight-legged walk - into simple parts to get a sophisticated result.

So if you fancy animating some creepy crawlies, join me on Monday, 19th October from 11am to 1pm Italian Time.  To sign up, follow this link.

Simone Giampaolo: How Cartoons are Born

Simone Giampaolo at VIEW conference

Escape Studios animation tutor Simone Giampaolo was at the View Conference in Turin this past week, talking to a packed audience about How Cartoons are Born.

Simone explained the basics of animation, including the Twelve Principles, such as the importance of strong poses and silhouettes. He also explained some of the basics of design; such as the use of circles, triangles and squares to express basic contrasts between animated characters.

We're Going to VIEW 21-25 October

We're going to VIEW, the 20th International VFX & Computer Graphics Conference that takes place every year in Turin.

This year the VIEW conference runs from Monday 21st October until Friday 25th October.

On Wednesday October 23 at 2.30pm I'll be on a panel with SVA titled "Starting Your Animation Career: How to Get Noticed and Get Hired".

And on Thursday October 24th I'll be teaching a one-day masterclass in Maya demonstrating how to animate dinosaurs, from 9.30am at Piazza Mestiere.

The class is aimed at complete beginners and requires no prior experience with Maya.

VIEW Conference in Turin 21-25 October 2019

VIEW Conference 2019

Escape Studios is going to VIEW, the 20th International VFX & Computer Graphics Conference that takes place every year in Turin. This year the conference runs from Monday 21st October until Friday 25th October.

We'll be there, participating in panel talks and also running a series of one-day masterclasses in Maya demonstrating character and creature animation techniques.

Our classes are aimed at complete beginners and require no prior experience with Maya.

Animation Masterclass at VIEW Turin 24 Oct

Escape Studios are running an animation masterclass at VIEW, the 20th International VFX & Computer Graphics Conference that takes place every year in the beautiful Italian town of Torino (Turin).

VIEW is a week long event showcasing the best of animation, games and visual effects.

Speakers this year include Paramount Head Mireille Soria, and music legend Hans Zimmer. 

We'll be there running a one-day workshop in Maya on Wednesday 24th October, demonstrating some sophisticated but very simple animation techniques.

The class is aimed at complete beginners and requires no prior experience with Maya.

Why Animation Recruiters Live at LinkedIn

VIEW panel. From left: Amy Smith, Giorgio Xhaxho, Alex Williams, Tiffany Feeney, Angie Wojak

What do Animation recruiters look for from recent graduates?  How do they find fresh talent? At last week's VIEW conference in Turin I sat on a recruitment panel hosted by New York's School of Visual Arts (SVA) with two recruiters, Amy Smith from Framestore and Tiffany Feeney of Talent Outpost, an independent recruitment agency based in Switzerland.  Both of them had a lot to say on the subject of student demo reels, websites and how to be easy to find online. But most of all, recruiters want just one thing from animation graduates:

ILM, Star Wars, & Virtual Reality

Vikki Dobbs of ILMxLAB

At the Turin VIEW conference this week, Vikki Dobbs Beck from Industrial Light and Magic (ILM) talked  about her company's newest venture - ILMxLab - a virtual reality pioneer that "invites audiences to step inside the world of our stories".

ILMxLab is all about "immersive experiences". Their challenge as a startup venture within ILM was to "leverage their in-house talent and create new experiences".

As Vikki put it, we are "entering an age of experiential storytelling". To create this new reality, ILMxLab needed to "take risks, to learn, explore and discover new ideas".

Escape Studios at VIEW Wed 25th October

Escape Studios is going to VIEW, the 18th International VFX & Computer Graphics Conference that takes place every year in the beautiful Italian town of Torino (Turin).

We'll be there running a one-day workshop in Maya on Wednesday 25th October, demonstrating some cool creature animation techniques. The class is aimed at complete beginners and requires no prior experience with Maya.