VFX Festival Starts 21 February 2023

2023 VFX Festival is Coming Soon

The VFX Festival is back in London from 21-23 February 2023. 

The 2023 VFX Festival returns to Escape Studios in Central London and, like last year,  will run as a hybrid event, both online and also in person. The event runs from 21-23 February. 

The 2023 VFX Festival will be hosted at Escape Studios at their midTown Campus at 190 High Holborn, and also online. To book your tickets, follow this link to thevfxfestival.com.

VFX Festival in London 9-10 March 2022

VFX Festival 2022

Escape Studios' VFX Festival is back in March 2022, this year taking place as a hybrid event, both online and also in person.

Escape Studios will host the event at their midTown Campus at 190 High Holborn, also streaming the events for a live online audience.

To book your tickets, follow this link to thevfxfestival.com.

Toonboom Harmony Free Demo 30 Sept at 5pm

Toonboom Harmony with Andy Wyatt and Harry R

Tomorrow Thursday 30 September at 5pm Escape Studios in London is hosting a free Toonboom Harmony Event with Harmony experts Andy Wyatt and Harry Ravelomananstsoa. 

Andy Wyatt is Director of Animation Associates & Toon Boom UK; he will discuss what skills the 2D animation industry is looking for, offer portfolio advice and insights into the Harmony pipeline. 

To sign up, follow this link.

Free Animation Careers Event 5 August

We're recommending that all our animation students and recent graduates sign up for this Animation and Careers Event on 5th August at 4.30pm.

Hosted by Escape Studios, this free online Animation Careers Evening includes animation industry leaders Blue Zoo and Jellyfish Pictures.   To sign up for this free event, follow this link.

James Baxter Animation Webinar 30 June at 6pm

James Baxter

On 30 June at 6pm Escape Studios is hosting a live animation webinar with legendary Disney and DreamWorks animator James Baxter.  

The event is free, and we are recommending that all our students register and sign up. 

James began his animation career on Who Framed Roger Rabbit? and has since worked on dozens of animated films.  

What Do Recruiters Want? Find out on 25 May

Tiffany Feeney

What Do Animation Recruiters Want? What are studios looking for? Find out on Tuesday 25 May at 12:30pm, when veteran animation recruiter Tiffany Feeney will offer her perspective on what exactly recruiters are looking for in animation talent.

Having recruited for Dreamworks, Reel FX and Blue Sky Studios, Tiffany Feeney knows what studios want and need.  

The event is taking place on 25 May at 1.30pm, with a Q&A to follow. This is especially recommended for all our students graduating this summer, or for any students looking for jobs and internships in animation and vfx.

Webinar with VFX Legend Scott Ross 30 April

Scott Ross

VFX Legend Scott Ross is taking part in a free webinar on Thursday 30th April at 5pm; this is a great opportunity to hear the insights of one of the legendary pioneers of digital media and entertainment.

With a career spanning three decades, Ross was involved in the birth of the compositing software NUKE, was part of leading George Lucas’ ILM, and helped to found the digital production company Digital Domain along with James Cameron and Stan Winston. In addition, Scott Ross has worked on a number of Academy Award winning films.

Animation Career Webinar with Max Howard

Max Howard

Veteran animation producer and Hollywood studio executive Max Howard, will be appearing in a webinar on Tuesday 19th May from 11am -1pm.

In this free event Max Howard, who last visited our animation students at Bucks back in 2014, will talk about some of the most important ingredients for a successful career in animation, such as the importance of understanding story, and the art of the pitch.

To enroll in this free event, which is highly recommended,  you can sign up here.

Framestore's Andrew Schlussel: Future of VFX

Framestore's Andrew Schlussel

We're recommending this free webinar tomorrow to all our animation students at Bucks.

Tomorrow, Wednesday 15th April from 11:00am until 11:30am, London's Escape Studios are hosting a free webinar with Andrew Schlussel, Director of Global Talent Development at Framestore, one of the world's leading animation and VFX houses.

Covid-19 is causing a lot of trouble for us all these days, but during tomorrow's webinar "The Schlussel Show", Andrew will explain that "Crisis Creates Opportunity".  Registration is free.

Unlike live action shoots, which have effectively ended entirely pending the lifting of the lockdown in the UK and Los Angeles, animation continues to thrive and flourish, even in dark times.

Webinar with Kevin McDowell on April 16th

Kevin McDowell

For our students at Bucks interested in entering the games industry, there are still many online ways of connecting with the industry.

On April 16th, London-based Escape Studios is hosting an "Evening With... " the leading games designer Kevin McDowell.

Kevin McDowell has been the Art Director for SEGA’s Massive PC strategy game series “Total War” for the past 20 years and has been working in video games for 23 years.

Kevin's games have sold over 27 million copies, and in 2012 he won a BAFTA for Total War: Shogun 2.

Free Motion Graphics Webinar on April 1st

Learn to animate client storyboards

Now that our students are studying and learning from home, it's important to take advantage of all the opportunities available for online study.

Next week, Escape Studios is hosting a free Motion Graphics Webinar on April 1st.  In this free webinar, students will learn how to animate client-approved storyboards; Adam will explain how to import storyboards into Adobe After Effects and create a rough animatic, before moving onto final animation.

VFX Festival 2020 Lineup

One of the many benefits for our undergraduate animation students at Bucks is our proximity to London, and the many animation events which take place in the capital.

The annual VFX festival, hosted by Escape Studios, is returning from 16-18 March.  As in previous years, they have excellent speakers coming to talk about the latest developments in Animation, Games and VFX.

VFX Taster Online Just £25

Online 3D VFX Taster Course

We're recommening this new online 3D VFX taster course, recently launched by London's Escape Studios.

The online taster was developed by Escape Studios' Head of 3D, Mark Spevick, and is delivered through the Smashcut platform.

Best of all, it costs just £25, and takes under 6 hours to complete. It's a great way to find out if 3D Animation and VFX is for you.

The VFX Festival is Back: 16-18 March 2020

The VFX Festival is back. The annual festival hosted by Escape Studios is returning to London from 16-18 March 2020.  As in previous years, the festival hosts industry speakers to come and talk about the latest developments in Animation, Games and VFX.  In 2020, the festival will focus on discovering and developing new and emerging talent.  Two parts of The VFX Festival 2020 - EDU and Emerging Talent - will take place on 16 - 18 March at the Southbank Centre - the UK’s largest arts centre on the South Bank of the Thames.

El Suliman on The Making of The Lion King

El Suliman

Recently MPC lead animator El Suliman was in London talking about his work on the Disney blockbuster "The Lion King".

El was speaking at Escape Studios, at one of their regular "Evening With" events.  El Suliman was an animation lead on The Lion King, and he animated many of the key shots on the film.

El explained how the animators approached the animation on this hugely complex and ground-breaking movie, which raises the bar for creature animation. 

Making of Lion King in London Tonight - Free

Tonight in Central London MPC artist Gabriel Arnold is giving a talk about the making of The Lion King, the recent Disney blockbuster that has become one of the most successful animated films of all time.

The event is one of a series of "Evening with..." events hosted by Escape Studios at their Central London campus.  As ever, we recommend that any of our students who can attend, do so, as this is a great opportunity to meet in person a lead artist from one of London's leading animation studios, and find out about the reality of the industry pipeline.

Lion King's El Suliman in London on 27 August

El Suliman, animation lead on The Lion King, is giving a talk in London on 27th August about his work on the film.

El works for MPC, the VFX powerhouse that did all the animation on the smash hit movie.

As ever, we recommend that all our students attend events like this one; they are a window into the animation production process and also great opportunities for industry networking. 

Animation Taster Day in London on 7th August

Eagle by Lee Caller

Interested in learning 3D animation, but not sure you want to commit to an entire course of study? I'm running an Animation Taster Day in London on 7th August, hosted at Escape Studios in Central London, for anyone who wants to try out the software and see if it's for them.

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; the full day costs just £25, and by the end of the day you'll have your own piece of creature animation uploaded to your YouTube channel.  No prior knowledge of Maya - or any software - is required.

Free Animation Summer School 8-10 August

Getting experience in learning 3D animation for younger students can be tricky.

Fortunately, London VFX training facility Escape Studios is running a free 3 day Animation Summer School from 8-10 August to help get youngsters hands-on experience of 3D animation.

The Making of Detective Pikachu

Detective Pikachu

At last week's VFX festival in London, Framestore's Jonathan Fawkner gave a talk on the Making of Detective Pikachu, a movie which was filmed in London and which used the talents of two of the UK's top VFX houses, Framestore and MPC.

It's the kind of talk that we encourage all our students to attend, because of the insights to be gained from understanding the challenges of the animation pipeline within a big VFX project.

One of the big challenges on the film was the take the original Pokemon 2D artwork, and create characters which could be fitted into a photoreal VFX environment.