A Career in Visual Effects? - More Than Computer Graphics With Escape Studios

“What is Escape Studios? It’s a source of expertise supporting the creation of high-end digital visualisation.” says Escape’s CEO Dominic Davenport. This simple statement does in fact explain the underlying purpose behind the various services the company provides. These include a world-famous training arm that provides full and part-time courses for beginners and professionals;  a software and hardware provider that boasts the four largest Maya studios in Europe amongst it’s clients; and a recruitment pipeline that prepares Escape Studios’ graduates for jobs with ‘live’ production work.

As a result, what Escape Studios has to offer is as appealing to an eighteen year old with aspirations of a career in visual effects or games, as it is to a professional studio. In truth, the critical elements that are required to produce digital content at any level are the same and they are people, skills and technology.

As the seemingly insatiable demand for computer graphics continues a successful career in the industry is now more viable than ever – but getting started isn’t easy. With the ever increasing number of digital media related courses on offer it has become very difficult to decide which route is the most effective. Unfortunately there are all too many cases of students not taking the time to assess their options more thoroughly and losing out as a result.

Escape Studios launched a brand new range of courses in January 2007 that vary in length from 6 to 30 weeks. Designed in partnership with some of the most famous studios in the world including Rare and MPC, they offer the students a more focused and direct alternative to college and university. The course options allow students to choose between visual effects, games and 3D character-based work.

Escape Studios’ courses were created with the aim of equipping students with the essential practical skills necessary to break into the world of computer graphics. They’re now one of the world’s prolific sources of new talent with countless graduates, who they affectionately refer to as ‘Escapees’, launching their careers with companies such as Electronic Arts, Sony and Pixar.

The curriculum is rigorously evaluated by an impressive advisory board made up of representatives from countless studios. This coupled with a strict policy of only using industry professionals as instructors means that the courses are accurately tuned to industry requirements.

The area that really distinguishes Escape Studios from many other course providers is the after-course support for students. Anyone who has trained at Escape is admitted to the ‘Escapee’ community and consequently joins an extensive network of like-minded individuals. This network spans the globe with ‘Escapees’ currently being employed by visual effects, animation and game development studios from London to New Zealand and San Francisco.

In this industry, like most others, contacts and connections are paramount in forging a career. It simply isn’t enough to have the talent because you also need a way of demonstrating that talent to the right people. It would appear that unlike many training establishments Escape Studios understand that the work its graduates need to do after their training is over in order to find work is just as important as the course itself. Access to this resource is a unique advantage held by ‘Escapees’ and is undoubtedly a key ingredient in their success.

This philosophy is something that CEO Davenport firmly subscribes to. “Success isn’t about having all the answers but knowing where to get them.”

For more information on Escape Studios visit www.escapestudiuos.co.uk or text ‘Escape’ plus your name to 80010.