For me the best movie so far this year has to be Christopher Nolan's Inception. it will be interesting come Oscar time to see if the Academy and the world at large agree. It is a fantastic combination of amazing direction and cinematography, a gripping script and amazing VFX. The best VFX are the ones you don't see and only afterwards do you think "How did they do that?".
Escapees work on Rooney
Now almost as hyped an event as the World Cup itself, the Nike ad this year starred a host of big names, from our own Wayne Rooney through to Franck Ribiery of France, Italy’s Fabio Cannavaro and even shiny Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal. Most people will have seen at least one of the shorter clips, if not the full thing, and the eagle eyed among you will know that the guys at the Mill were on hand to provide the VFX wizardry.
New mentored courses for long distance learners
Today we’ve launched a brand new set of online mentored learning courses to offer a helping hand to international grads and drive the next wave of computer graphics talent. The twelve-month course offers the same high quality, interactive training experience as our flagship Visual Effects classroom course.
Heard the hype about CityEngine? Free trial now available!
There has been lots of talk about CityEngine recently... and until now you couldn't easily try it out.
VFX Showreel: Part 2
Last month, we showcased some fantastic work which came off the back of our Visual Effects Course. Seems that everyone really enjoyed it so we thought we'd treat you to another. The quality of work from these guys, especially as it's after just 12 weeks of training, is pretty amazing. Hat's off to them!
V-Ray for Maya 1.50 SP1 release
Chaos Group have just announced the availability of the new V-Ray for Maya 1.50 SP1, fully compatible with Maya 2011 a free of charge release for all existing customers.
Maya Entertainment Creation Suite 2011 Review
If you have not had time to check out the fresh looking Maya 2011, maybe you would like to read a quick review from our friends at AWN.
US VFX industry in strife?
I don’t know how many of you caught this, but there was an interesting article on the Time Magazine's website last week looking at the state of the VFX industry in the US.
Latest VFX Graduate Showreels
Check out some of the latest work from the VFX Course that's just finished. The work is really imaginative and demonstrates real technical ability - all pretty cool considereing they were here for just 12 weeks. If you're interested in VFX now is the time to get in touch so you can take advantage of our early bird discount.
Pixels – a must see piece of work
If you haven’t seen this already from our tweet a while back, you must check out this awesome piece of work from Patrick Jean.
Interview with our CG Whiz – Adam Droy
Back in December, Adam Droy became the first winner of our CG Whiz competition for his fantastic showreel. Part of his prize was a 12 week classroom course here, which Adam started last Monday. We caught up with him to see how his first week had gone.
Facebook fan page competition winner
We're delighted to announce that Alida Serrano has won our competition for three months' free access to one of our online courses. Alida, from New Jersey, US, was one of our fans on Facebook, and was selected at random from our followers on Thursday 1st April.
Escape Studios Competition - 500 on Facebook
This month's Free Tutorial - Reflections, Raytracing and Render Settings
Make sure you don't miss out on this month's free tutorial - Reflections, Raytracing and Render Settings. This month we've focused on the skills that graduates need when looking for work. This free professional-level tutorial concentrates on developing those key skills as well as understanding reflectivity, material attributes & render settings. Here's a quick breakdown of what's included:
Featured Artist - VFX Graduate Diego Pastor
It's proving to be a very busy month for the recruitment team at Escape Studios. Lots of our students are going straight from our classroom courses into paid work, proving it's an ideal time for Junior Artists to make that break into the post production industry.
New online courses for next generation of bedroom CG enthusiasts
We’re launching a brand new set of online courses – Self Directed Learning. These low-cost distance learning courses are aimed at students, aspiring 3D artists and computer graphics (CG) hobbyists across the world, and cover CG industry staples Maya, ZBrush and Nuke in detail.
New dates for short courses announced
Escape this Spring!
Birds Eye View Training Course
Are you a woman trying to break into the film industry? If so, this training course could be just what you’re looking for.
Stereoscopic: A "Suite" Solution!
So I've promised details previously, and details you shall have!
Avatar and the art of motion capture
I came across the following Avatar making of-video and I thought I would spread the word and share it here for you to check out. It provides a good overview of the basics of motion capture and how this technology was used to create Avatar. Enjoy!
