Teaching starts next week on Monday 21st September – you can find the full 2026-27 Term Dates here.
Classes take place in person at our North Greenwich Campus at 6 Mitre Passage.
In addition to classroom teaching, we have plenty of other resources (especially online) to help our students to learn the art and craft of animation, games, visual effects, concept art, character creation and motion graphics.
We also have a Vimeo and Panopto Tutorial Channel which is exclusively for our students and recent Escapees.
Welcome to Escape Studios
To see some of our students’ recent work, watch our latest demo reel below:
Library at 6 Mitre Passage
We have plenty of copies in the animation library on the 11th Floor at Escape Studios (we also have dozens of other books on animation and digital film-making), but it’s also a good idea to get your own copy.
Access to a Home Laptop
We recommend that all our students have access to a laptop computer; this will enable you to work from home and make it easier to for you to work outside studio hours. Computer specs change all the time but here is a useful guide to buying your own machine. Ideally, you would also have a second monitor, so that you can watch a tutorial on one screen and follow along on the other. We also recommend using a tablet rather than a mouse.
Install Maya
The next thing to do is install your free copy of Autodesk Maya. Maya is the main software we animate with, nowadays it’s the industry standard. You can download a free educational license here.
Start Watching Our Tutorials
Start to learn the Maya interface. We offer our students a free playlist that introduces students to the basics of the Maya tools, to get you started.
It’s a good idea to get familiar with Maya early on.
We also have a Vimeo and Panopto Tutorial Channel which is exclusively for our students and recent Escapees. The Vimeo and Panopto Tutorial Channel is password protected – email me for the password and you can access hundreds of videos on animation, games and VFX. Start with animation basics, and keep going.
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| “Jerich0” – BAFTA shortlisted |
Understand the Course Structure
Familiarise yourself with how the course works. To get started, check out the links below:
- What’s in the First Year Year at Escape Studios?
- Second year at Escape Studios
- Third year at Escape Studios
- Fourth and final year, (integrated MArt)
- What is the “Escape Method”?
- Learning Resources at Escape Studios
- How feedback works at Escape Studios
The Escape Studios VFX Blog offers a personal view on the art of VFX. To apply for one of our courses, follow this link.
THE ART OF VISUAL EFFECTS AT ESCAPE STUDIOS 
