BAFTA Scholarship for Post-Graduate Study

Want to do an MA in animation - but short on cash? Why not apply for a a BAFTA scholarship?

BAFTA has opened applications for its scholarship programmes, worth up to £12,000. So what's stopping you? Apply now!

Rory Marchant Studio Assistant at Escape Studios

Animation Reel 2016 from Rory B Marchant on Vimeo.

Rory Marchant will shortly start a new animation job at London's Escape Studios as a studio assistant, helping to support students learning 3D animation in Maya. Rory took the Animation Apprentice online course, and since then he has been working as a freelance animator, doing superb work - such as this excellent commercial for a French client. We congratulate Rory on this next stage of his animation career.

London Animation Club Meetup 4th April 2017

Calling all animators at Animation Apprentice in the London area - why not come to the next London Animation Club meetup tonight - 4th April 2017?

The LAC will be screening a little known animated film titled "Know Your Europeans", in honour (or not) of the UK triggering Article 50 on Wednesday 29 March and announcing its intention to leave the European Union.

More importantly, informal societies like LAC offer the opportunity to meet other London-based animators and find out the latest news and gossip. There isn't a better place to find out who is hiring animators than in the pub over a pint of London Pride.

Meet Willy!

Willy is an excellent free rig, created by Matthew Moore, and free to download for use by Maya animators.

Willy is a broad, flexible and cartoony rig, very simple to use and great for the early stages of learning animation - especially lip-sync.

Like all rigs, Willy has his quirks. So, how can our animation students get the most out of Willy?

Phil Loeffler Animator at Discovery

Congratulations to Animation Apprentice graduate Phil Loeffler who has just accepted an offer as a motion graphics animator and editor at Discovery.

Phil has been successfully working as a freelance animator, illustrator and designer for some time, building on the skills he has learned at Animation Apprentice.

2017 has been a fantastic year for our students finding work in the animation industry. To see some of our recent success stories, follow this link.

Enter the Character Design Challenge!

Character Design Challenge!

Calling All Character Designers! There are just two days left to enter this month's Character Design Challenge!

The CDC is a bit like the Eleven Second Club, but for character designers. It launched in 2015 and already has over 25,000 thousand members.

This month's design challenge is .....Carnival of Venice! So what are you waiting for? Let's get designing!

Escape Studios Seeks Animation Tutor

Escape Studios in London is looking for a new animation tutor.

Escape is searching for "a skilled animator with good industry credits, someone who is a good communicator - and ideally with a fair bit of teaching experience."

Raphael Obaro Animator at Muslim TV

Congratulations to Raphael Obaro who has started a new animation job as an animator at British Muslim TV.

Muslim TV is a new channel, which describes itself as "a fresh and exciting TV channel, bursting with a range of educational and entertaining content".

The channel is starting up a new animated TV Series that revolves around a family - an animated comedy,  aimed at the UK Muslim community.

Apply Now For Our Online MA in 3D Animation

The world's first online MA in animation

We're currently taking applications for our online MA in animation, launched here at Animation Apprentice in partnership with Buckinghamshire New University in September 2015.

We are currently looking at portfolios for the September 2017 intake.

This is a unique degree (the first of its kind) which can be undertaken by students anywhere in the world, leading to a formal qualification in the field.

Kevin Richards Animator with Cloth Cat

Congratulations to Escapee Kevin Richards who has just started a new job as an animator with Cloth Cat animation in Cardiff.  Kevin is a traditional animator who took the three-month intensive animation course at Escape Studios last summer, which included access to the Animation Apprentice videos and other course materials. Kevin converted his 2D skills to digital 3D animation in Maya.  working hard on his demo reel, and getting regular feedback to make his reel, website and CV job-ready.

Gesture Drawing by Proko

Gesture drawing is an important skill for animators - it helps us learn how to capture a pose, and to master the art of visual storytelling. After all, planning your animation with quick thumbnail sketches that tell a story is still one of the core skills of the 3D animator - it's why we still need to know how to draw - at least just a little bit.  Here at Escape Studios we're recommending this series of videos by Proko, all hosted for free at his YouTube channel. There are lots of great videos but the particular playlist we're interested in is titled "Figure Drawing - How to Draw People". You can find it here.

How to Stop Feet Sliding in a Walk Cycle.

How do you stop the feet sliding when you animate a walk cycle? It's a question often asked by students starting out at Animation Apprentice.  The answer is a little technical, so here is a video which explains how to tackle the problem. It runs about 10 minutes, and should help explain how to get it right first time, and stop those feet from slipping around.  Also check out the free Lock To World Tool to stop feet from sliding. 

Anna Laura Zielinska Animator at King Bee

Congratulations to Anna Zielinska, one of our online MA students, who has recently landed an animation internship with King Bee animation, based at the historic Elstree Studios in Borehamwood, just outside of London.

King Bee have worked on many animation projects, including music videos and TV series. They use Maya, Flash and Photoshop to do much of their work. To see the King Bee reel, watch the video below.

Great Free Maya Rigs by Truong CG Artist

Chameleon by Truong 3D. Animation by Dave Novis

Here is a great 3D artist's website with some lovely rigs that we're recommending here at Animation Apprentice.

The author is a Vietnamese CG artist and short film maker, who has released a lot of rigs that are free for student use.

We're particularly enjoying seeing some very nice results from students using the chameleon and leopard rigs.

StoryBoarding is Back at Escape Studios

Storyboarding is back! I'm running a class in storyboarding at Escape Studios in Shepherd's Bush, West London, starting on 21 March 2017. It costs £995 and it's a part-time evening class, designed to fit around jobs and families.

The class is taught by me and (most likely) by Francesca Adams, a very talented Blue Zoo storyboard artist who helped us out last year.  Also like last year, we'll have a live industry brief to give our students experience of what an industry storyboard test is actually like.

The Industry Panel at the VFX Festival - What Does the Future Hold?

Industry Panel discussion at the Escape Studios VFX Festival

The Industry Panel at the recent VFX Festival included panel members (from left) Hector MacLeod (Glassworks), Kevin McDowell (Creative Assembly), Anna Hollinrake (Climax Studios), Dave Throssell (fluid Pictures and Rob Holmes (The Mill) - all about the future of our industry.

So, where is the industry going, what skills are demand, and what does the future hold?

Anna Zielinska and Giuseppe Candido Junior Animators at Touch Surgery

Many congratulations to Anna Laura Zielinska and Giuseppe Candido on their new jobs as animators at Touch Surgery, a London (and New York City) based company that specialises in medical animation - bringing surgical procedures to life, helping to teach the next generation of surgeons their life-saving skills.

MPC Reveals The Secrets of the Jungle Book

The Jungle Book was one of the most impressive films of 2016, and its secrets were recently revealed at the Escape Studios VFX Festival, with MPC's Ben Jones (CG Supervisor) explaining how the London VFX house brought the characters and creatures of this classic tale to life, re-imagining one of the best-loved of the Walt Disney Studio's animated films.

So, how did MPC create this most extraordinarily ambitious movie?

Get Ready For our March 6th Animation Class!

What kind of preparation should students do before starting with us  at Animation Apprentice on March 6th?   It's always good to do a little preparation and get a bit of a head start.

Below is a brief list of stuff to get you under way. It's not a comprehensive list, and you don't have to do all of it, but tick off a few of the things on this list and you will be a making a great start on your animation career.

How Do You Get an Animated TV Series Launched? Giles Pilbrow Reveals All

On Wednesday 1st March Escape Studios is hosting an evening with Giles Pilbrow: cartoonist, animator and one of the writers of the UK's longest-running satirical magazine, Private Eye.

Giles also brought the Horrible Histories to TV, and is the creator of the CBBC series Scream Street.

So for any of our students in the London area, come along on March 1st - it's a free event - and find out how you could get your own animated TV series off the ground.

Animation Jobs - Where Are They?

Careers and Recruitment Panel 2017

The Careers & Recruitment Panel at the recent Escape Studios VFX Festival was a packed house.

Where are the jobs in our industry? Who is hiring? What skills are in demand right now?

This year the panel was hosted by Andy Brassington. Guests included (from left) Harriet Finney from the Creative Industries Federation, Amy Smith from Framestore, Tom Box from Blue Zoo, Paul Wilkes, recruiter for MPC advertising, Jill Wallace from Axis, Henry Bull from The Mill, and Clare Norman from Milk FX.

So, where are the jobs in the animation industry today, and who is hiring?