Learn Blender with Escape Animator Thomas Potter

Create Low Poly Characters in Blender with Thomas Potter

Many congratulations to Escape Studios' animation student Thomas Potter whose Blender Modeling Channel now has over 30,000 subscribers at YouTube. 

Thomas Potter has created his own YouTube channel which teaches students how to model low poly 3d characters step by step.  All of Thomas's Blender content is completely free. 

Escape Studios' Jobs & Careers Playlist at YouTube

Jobs & Careers at our Animation & VFX YouTube Channel

Calling all Escapees: Don't forget our Our Jobs & Careers Playlist at our Animation & VFX YouTube Channel - a key resource for Escapees and graduates seeking their first job in the industry. 

Some of the videos are long form but most are shorts - around one minute long - exploring themes like how to cut a great demo reel, how to manage a job interview, and how to apply for jobs at animation and vfx houses.  It's a useful resource and one that is constantly growing as the needs of industry shifts and changes over time.   

Escape Studios' Animation & VFX YouTube Channel

Animation & VFX YouTube Channel

Thinking of applying to Escape Studios to study animation or visual effects? To see what kind of work our students do, check out our Animation & VFX YouTube Channel.

You can see examples of our latest demo reels, samples of character animation, locomotion and mechanics, motion graphics, VFX, and even find a playlist of advice and resources for finding work in the animation industry.

Escapeverse Live 2025 - Now at YouTube

 

For anyone who missed the EscapeVerse Live Festival at the end of February, we've now uploaded the full schedule of talks, panels and webinars to our YouTube channel.  Above is the Teamwork Panel I hosted on 25 February, with Escapees Adam Dewhirst, Ricardo Ferreira, Stefano Ferron and Harry Symonds.  They were all great guests and had many entertaining insights into the importance of good teamwork - as well as some horror stories about teamwork gone wrong (such as Adam's fishy tale at 31:31).  You can find the full EscapeVerse 2025 playlist here. 

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. 

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. 

Free After Effects Tutorial With Adam Bennett

Many thanks to Motion Graphics tutor Adam Bennett for our latest free tutorial in the art of Motion Graphics in After Effects.  In the video above, Adam walks motion graphics animators through "Five Tips for Animating Physics in After Effects".

Motion Graphics Tutorials at Our Vimeo Channel

Motion Graphics is a large and growing part of the animation industry, and encompasses a range of skills including design, animation and technology.

Our Motion Graphics tutorial playlist covers the art of motion graphics in After Effects and also in Mash (Maya).  You can find the rest of our Animation and VFX Tutorials at our Vimeo Channel here. 

Animal & Creature Animation at YouTube

Leopard by Daniel Amor

For all our students currently studying Module AN5002 (the art and craft of animal and creature animation), don't forget to check our students' excellent work at our YouTube channel, the best place to see recent animal and creature work done by our student animators.

Escape Studios has a dedicated YouTube channel especially for animation content - the channel showcases some of the best work done by our students here at Escape. 

QC Animations Webinar

On Tuesday 26 January we hosted a webinar with Escape Studios' animation student Charlotte Gimbird, about her YouTube Channel QC Animations.  QC Animations is a YouTube Channel based around the world of Minecraft, with over 80,000 subscribers, and hundreds of thousands of views every month.  In this 60 minute webinar Charlotte talks about what inspired her to create QC Animations, and how she turned it into a creative and commercial success. 

Webinar with Charlotte Gimbird 26 Jan 2021

QC Animations at YouTube - the future of animation?

On Tuesday 26 January at 11.30am we are hosting a webinar with Escape Studios undergraduate animation student Charlotte Gimbird, creator of QC Animations.

QC Animations is a YouTube Channel with over 80,000 subscribers, and hundreds of thousands of views every month. 

QC Animations is built about the world of Minecraft - the world's most popular video game.   In this webinar we will be talking to Charlotte about how she created QC Animations, what success at YouTube means, and how our students can get involved in this rapidly expanding part of the animation business.  You can sign up for the free webinar here. 

Charlotte Gimbird QC Animations at YouTube

QC Animations

QC Animations is a YouTube Channel created by Charlotte Ann Gimbird, a second year undergraduate student at Escape Studios, studying the Art of Computer Animation. 

QC Animations has over 80,000 subscribers, with hundreds of thousands of views every month. 

Charlotte has found critical and commercial success in one of the biggest-growing parts of the animation industry - YouTube video animation.  In the case of QC Animations, Charlotte's universe is built about the world of Minecraft - the world's most popular video game.  

Animation Webinar with Michael Morgan

Recently we uploaded a Character Animation Webinar with Escape Studios animation tutor Michael Morgan to our Animation YouTube Channel. In this webinar, Michael talks about his approach to character animation, and how he approaches the blocking and execution of a shot. Michael teaches our 20 week evening class in animation, and brings a wealth of experience to teaching, including films such as Guardians of the Galaxy, Beauty and the Beast, and Black Panther.

Why Animators Need Colour Grading

What is colour grading, and why do animators need it? In film-making, colour grading - sometimes called colour balancing, or colour timing - is the process of adjusting the colour of every shot in a film to harmonise the overall look and feel of the film, and make sure that each shot flows seamlessly into the next. Colour Grading is an essential final step in the post-production of a short film, ensuring that every shot has the right colour balance. We're recommending this short video above which shows how to do successful colour grading in Adobe Premiere.

12 Principles of Animation

We're recommending this introductory video outlining the 12 Principles of Animation.  If you're studying animation for the first time, and starting to learn the basics, then this video is a very helpful introduction to the medium.  Unlock the secrets of Squash and stretch, Anticipation, Staging, Straight ahead action & pose to pose, Follow through & overlapping action, Slow in and slow out, Arcs & Paths of Action, Secondary action, Timing, Exaggeration, Solid drawing and Appeal.  Sounds like a long list? You don't have to memorise them all. Just be aware of the principles, and then gradually start to apply them in your animation.

Free JellyFish Animation Tutorial at YouTube

For anyone looking to learn 3D animation, don't forget we have lots of free tutorials at the official Escape Studios YouTube channel. In the animation tutorial above, Escape Studios Head of 3D Mark Spevick shows you how to use nHair and procedural tools to create - from scratch - some excellent jellyfish animation.

Escapee Animation Demo Reels

At Escape Studios we often asked by prospective employers to provide a selection of student animation reels: producers are always on the look-out for animation talent, and we do our best to connect our graduates with the right job opportunities, something that matches their skillset and looks like being a good fit. The best place by far to check out our Escapee demo reels is our YouTube channel, where we showcase a growing selection of student work. Some of the students are recent Escapees, others are still studying at Escape Studios, still honing and polishing their skills. If you're a producer looking for the next generation of animation talent, check out our student demo reel playlist.

100 Ways to Walk by Kevin Parry

100 Ways to Walk is a series of walks acted out by Kevin Parry, and intended as inspiration for animators. The key point of the video is that the way we walk says a lot about who we are, how we are feeling, how our day has been. A great walk cycle is the entry point for character animation - can the animator describe a character simply by the way he or she moves? It's one of the first things we teach at Escape Studios, but a good walk cycle can remain elusive even for an experienced animator. Acting one out yourself, and filming yourself doing it, is a great way to get started.

Endless Reference for Animators

Using live action reference to inform your animation can be one of the best ways to get started as an animator.

I have used live action reference many times on many films, especially movies with human characters, such as The Road to El Dorado and Spirit - Stallion of the Cimarron, and especially on action shots where the motion was complex and hard to get right.

Escape Studios Animation YouTube Channel

Check our students' excellent work at our YouTube channel, the best place to see recent work done by our student animators.

Escape Studios has a dedicated YouTube channel especially for animation content -  the channel showcases some of the best work done by our students here at Escape.  To see what our animators are up to, and the kind of quality work they are capable of, take a look at some of the playlists, such as this Playlist of Escapee demo reels.