Friday 17 November 2017

Character Creation at Escape Studios 16 May

Tutor: Philip Meredith
Character Creation is coming to Escape Studios on 16th May 2018.

This unique evening course will teach students how to create their own character designs and bring them to life.

Over 12 weeks you will design, model, texture, rig and animate your own character.  It's a lot to learn in a short amount of time, but we'll be using smart short-cuts wherever possible to make the process of creating a character from scratch as smooth and automated as it can be.

What's this course all about?
Creating original and unique characters from scratch - your characters. You’ll explore different design techniques, create 3D models using Maya and then paint and texture your character to give it a unique and personal look.  You’ll give structure to your creation through rigging (building a skeleton), skinning and - finally - breathing life into it through the medium of animation.

The process
This course is jam-packed, with a lot to learn, but it is designed for beginners - to take you through every stage of the process. We will use automated processes within Autodesk Maya (and related software) to simplify the workflow so that everyone is able to create their own character within 12 weeks.

Tutor - Philip Meredith
The tutor for this course is the supremely versatile and talented Philip Meredith, an excellent all-round 3D artist with a very broad skillset, capable of tackling all the aspects of the design pipeline.

Philips's software skills include: Maya, Substance Designer, Substance Painter, Mari, Zbrush, Mudbox, 3DE, Nuke, Silhouette and Photoshop. In addition, he teaches the following VFX skills: modelling, texturing, lighting, rigging, animation, rendering, plus comp and prep and also Concept Art.

We're excited to see what kind of work our students can come come up with under his guidance.

Where
The course will be taught at our West campus. Shepherd's West Building, Rockley Road, Shepherd's Bush.

When
The course begins on 16th May 2018 from 7pm-10pm and lasts 12 weeks.

Fee
The course fee is £1,500 for the full 12 weeks.

Mode of study
This is a part time course, designed to fit around jobs and families.

Programme Duration
12 weeks (Wednesday Evenings: 7pm - 10pm)

Course Breakdown
Week 1
Intro to Maya, nodes, User Interface
Show basics of modelling in Maya
Start modelling eyes and nose from reference using orthodox graphic views.

Week 2
Continue to model the eyes, nose and mouth.

Week 3
Finish modelling the head.
If we finish early we can model some extra pieces for the head.

Week 4
Intro to Zbrush.
Intro to UI and sculpting tools.
Look at character references and start sculpting the face.

Week 5
Looking at transpose tools, e.g. translate, rotate and scale. Continue to sculpt the face.

Week 6.
Sculpting details, wrinkles, using alphas
Downloading custom alphas for skin.
Create maps in Zbrush: displacement, normals, bump and cavity.
Import maps to Maya

Week 7
Sculpt the hair in zbrush

Week 8
Import model with Mari
Start to paint and project textures

Week 9
Continue to paint textures in Mari

Week 10
Continue texturing inside Mari

Week 11
Import model to zbrush to make blend shapes

Week 12
Import blend shapes with Maya
Import a sound track and animate the character speaking.

Entry Requirements
Applicants should be aged 18 or over, with a good understanding of written and spoken English. Some familiarity with the basics of Autodesk Maya will be a plus.

The Escape Studios Animation Blog offers a personal view on the art of animation and visual effects.




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