Maria Robertson Animation Intern at The Mill

The Mill

Many congratulations to 2nd year animator Maria Robertson, who has just started a summer internship animating at London VFX and animation powerhouse The Mill on Monday 18th June.

Maria is interning at the Mill for 12 weeks over the summer, working on live client briefs and honing her skills as an animator.

Character Design Returns on 29 October

Character Designs by Andrea Torrejon

Our popular Character Design Evening Class is returning to Escape Studios on Monday 29th October 2018.

Character Design is an 8 week evening class, running until 17th December, taught by Andrea Torrejon, veteran of Angry Birds, and in-house designer at one of London's leading boutique animation houses, Passion Pictures.

Like all of our courses, this class is taught by a working industry professional; Andrea will guide students through the principles of character design, building up to a live industry brief.

Introducing "Working With Dinosaurs"

Many congratulations to our second year animators on their short film "Working with Dinosaurs". Working with Dinosaurs is a mockumentary short film completed by our second year undergraduate animation students at Escape Studios, working alongside industry mentors from Framestore animation studio.  Directed by Daniel Dutton and Harry Pearson, Produced by Velvet Brandon, Storyboards and Art Direction by Sarah Andrews, Effects Animation by Adam Scrivener, CG supervision by Piotr Noworyta. Well done to our students on their excellent work, and many thanks to Framestore for their patience and support.

Rigging in Maya is Back on 7 Jan 2019

Michael Davies

We're delighted to welcome back 3D Artist and rigging specialist Michael Davies to teach a new evening class in rigging in Maya, starting Monday 7th January 2019.

Michael has worked on many VFX blockbusters such as Batman vs Superman, Doctor Strange and Thor Ragnarok.

He also rigged Smaug (The Hobbit) and The Minions for Illumination-McGuff.

Concept Art Returns on 5 September

Art by Jonathan McFall

Concept Art is returning to Escape Studios on Wednesday 5th September 2018, taught by industry veteran Jonathan McFall.

Concept Art is a part-time evening class, designed to fit around jobs and families, and is taught one night a week, running for eight weeks from Wednesday 5th September.

Concept Art aims to introduce students to the many techniques and skills that go up to make a well-rounded concept artist, including 3d and 2d software.

Producing Animation is Back on 16 October

Learn from the producer of Ultramarines

Producing Animation is returning to Escape Studios on 16th October 2018. Our 8 week evening class will take place at our 190 High Holborn campus.

This unique class is taught by Ultramarines producer Bob Thompson, an experienced industry veteran with a long and successful track record of producing animated feature films, commercials and VFX projects.

The course is designed to prepare producers to the challenges of pitches, budgets, spreadsheets and all the commercial knowledge that underpins our industry. And, of course, the creative side of the business - because every blockbuster project starts with a great idea.

So, what can students expect?

Animal & Creature Animation at Annecy

Annecy, France

Escape Studios will be heading over to the Annecy Animation Festival next week, checking out the latest developments in our industry at what has become the world's biggest animation festival.

I'll be on a panel tomorrow, Tuesday 12th June, talking about how to animate non-human characters, sitting alongside my fellow panelists Alonso Martinez from Pixar, Joeri Christiaen from Thuristar, and independent animator Nicolas Deveaux.

An Evening With Royce Wesley on 28 June

Incredibles 2 - coming soon

We're excited to host Pixar animator Royce Wesley, fresh from working on Incredibles 2, as part of our next "Evening With..." series of events at Escape Studios.

Royce Wesley is a skilled animator who will be visiting London in June, when he will be mentoring our student animators.

Our "Evening With..." events are an opportunity for our graduates, students and soon-to-be-graduates to meet working professionals in person, listen to their experiences, and find out more about how the industry actually works.

MA 3D Animation Starts 1st October

Get your MA at Escape Studios

Our new MA (Master of Arts) in 3D Animation has now been formally validated and approved by the University of Kent.

The course will be taught at our mid-town campus in central London, and we look forward to welcoming our first cohort of students on 1st October 2018.

If you're looking for an animation course that teaches you how to animate, and leads to a formal qualification in the field, this could be the right choice for you. 

Free Rigging Tutorial from Michael Davies

Escape Studios' rigging expert Michael Davies has recorded this free tutorial; an introduction to rigging human and humanoid characters.  Mike's impressive film credits include The Hobbit, where he rigged Smaug, and also Despicable Me, where he rigged The Minions.  Mike gets great reviews from our students for his well-paced methodical style of delivery, breaking down complex processes into simple parts in a clear and transparent way. To find out more about Mike's evening class at Escape in rigging, follow this link. And to find out about his summer class in character creation, click here.

Last Call for Storyboarding on June 6th

Chess Adams boards on Digby Dragon at Blue Zoo

Storyboarding is back...our next evening class in storyboarding starts at our Shepherd's Bush campus tomorrow, wednesday 6th June, and we still have one or two seats left.

This 8 week evening class is led by the very talented Francesca "Chess" Adams,  a story board artist at Blue Zoo, one of London's leading animation houses.

Chess brings her experience of working on shows like Digby Dragon and The Go Jetters, reflecting the huge increase in animated content being created right here in London in recent years. If you'd like to sign up, there is still time to book a seat.

The Last of London

Check out the video walk-through above of "The Last of London", excellent work completed by our second year undergraduate games students. This 12 week group project was part of a studio collaboration module, designed to replicate (as far as possible) the realities of working at a games company on a live brief. The brief was to create a game environment based in London, and styled as if it was part of Naughty Dog's Last of Us universe. You can see more about the project here. 

Student Showcase - Planet Mars

Many congratulations to our second year undergraduate animation students who have just put the finishing touches on their second group project, a documentary short titled "Planet Mars".  Directed by animation undergraduate student Sebastian Kuder, Planet Mars was completed as part of the second year of animation studies at Escape Studios. To find out what really happened to life on Mars, a planet now entirely devoid of life, watch this short film.

Emily Lim at MPC Academy

Emily Lim Animation Reel from Emily Lim on Vimeo.

Many congratulations to Emily Lim-Sarrias, who has recently been offered a place at the MPC Academy in Montreal, on the strength of her demo reel above.  Emily has just completed her second year of studies as an undergraduate student on our 3D animation course, and will soon be heading to Canada to work for one of the world's largest and most successful animation and VFX companies.

Last Call for Animation on May 29

Animation by Chan Sagoo

We still have a couple of seats left on our upcoming animation short course - three months of intensive training in 3D animation - starting on 29 May 2018, and running until the end of August.

We are also delighted to welcome Royce Wesley, a Pixar animator who will be visiting us in London to mentor our trainee animators.

Animation Taster Day Sat 26th May 2018

Learn to animate a bird in flight in just one day

We're running another Animation Taster Day here at Escape Studios on Saturday 26th May.

Taster Days are a great chance to learn about character and creature animation, and find out what an animator's job is all about.

You will learn how to use Autodesk Maya and get a hands-on introduction to 3D Animation techniques, all for just £25.

By the end of the day you'll have your own piece of creature animation - a bird in flight - uploaded to your YouTube channel. No prior knowledge of Maya - or any software - is required.  So, how do you sign up?

Mike Davies Character Creation Starts 16 July

Michael Davies

3D Artist and rigging specialist Michael Davies, who has worked on VFX blockbusters such as Batman vs Superman, Doctor Strange and Thor Ragnarok, is teaching our new character creation course this summer.

Character Creation is part of our new Summer School, and is an intensive 6 week course that starts on Monday 16 July and runs for six weeks until Friday 24 August.

Character creation is all about designing, modeling, rigging and breathing life into your own characters.

Chan Sagoo at MPC Academy

Many congratulations to Chan Sagoo, who has recently been offered a place at the MPC Academy in Montreal, Canada.

Chan took our recent short course in 3D animation, and is now taking advantage of the global opportunities in the animation and VFX industry.

We asked Chan a few questions about how she managed to land this highly competitive position. 

Escape Studios 2018 Showcase on 24th May

Another academic year has slipped through our fingers, and it’s time to show off what our talented and industrious students have produced.

The 2018 Escape Studios Showcase is taking place on Thursday 24th May, from 5.30pm to 9pm at our High Holborn campus.

Rogue Trooper: The Quartz Massacre

Congratulations to all our students and Escapees who successfully collaborated on this awesome short fan-film "The Quartz Massacre", based on the 1980s comic series Rogue Trooper from the stable of 2000AD. The film is a great example of students and graduates of Escape Studios working together on a successful group project, honing their skills and learning how VFX projects get put together. Congratulations to them all on a highly successful outcome.