If you’re applying for our BA/MArt in the Art of Visual Effects, you might be wondering what should go in your portfolio. The short answer is – a bit of everything: drawings, painting, sketches, scribbles, 3D digital artwork – whatever you have to
hand – ideally uploaded to your own website or blog. In particular, it helps if you have tried some basic VFX work, in whatever software package you have available to you.
Blender – free 3D software
At Escape Studios, we teach VFX on computers using a variety of software packages, including Maya, Houdini and Nuke, so it’s a good idea to try out some software. There are many free software packages for VFX work; you might download a free copy of Blender and try it out.
There are plenty of free Blender tutorials at YouTube, and the open source software is completely free to download.
Blender Coffee Cup
If you’d like to do a free Blender test, follow this link to the Blender coffee cup tutorials at YouTube, and see how you like it. If you enjoy doing it, a career in the digital arts might be for you.
Autodesk Maya
Students can also download a free copy of Autodesk Maya. It’s the main software we use to teach animation, and it’s free for students.
Maya is big and complex (and confusing at first), but it’s a good idea to take a look, as you’ll be spending a lot of time with Maya at Escape Studios.
Drawings & Sketches
Traditional drawing skills are still useful for VFX work, to plan out the effect your are seeking to achieve.
Online portfolio
The best kind of portfolio is a website or blog showcasing your work. Check out our post here on how to create a free blog and/or website,
and start uploading your work today.
It’s never too early to have your
own online showcase, and it’s completely free to build a blog at Blogger (you only need a Gmail account to get started) or build a website at
wix.com. You can also upload your work to Tumbler, which is very simple to use.
Guidelines, not Rules
Finally, note that the list above is just a list of suggestions. We don’t suggest that you need all or even most of these things; these are just ideas to get you started.
The Escape Studios VFX Blog offers a personal view on the art of visual effects. To apply for our BA/MArt, follow this link.
THE ART OF VISUAL EFFECTS AT ESCAPE STUDIOS 
