Course description
Advanced Character & Creature Creation
Learn how to master the art of characters and creature creation.
With this advanced course, you will learn how to design, model, texture and present your creations to a portfolio-ready standard. The practical course will also cover the technical character pipeline, including rigging, Python scripting and the simulation of cloth, fur and muscles, ready for a diverse range of technical roles in production.
By the end of the course, you will have a developed a portfolio of character and creature creation work, as well as the skills and connections to kick-start your creative career, with help from our Talent Development Team and industry-experienced tutors whose credits include The Lion King, Godzilla and Doctor Strange.
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Upcoming start dates
Suitability - Who should attend?
To study this short course, you must:
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Be over 18
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Have a good understanding of written and spoken English
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Feel comfortable using a computer.
Outcome / Qualification etc.
Some of the opportunities you can consider once you’ve finished your studies include:
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CG Generalist
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Character Artist
Training Course Content
Module 1 - Character and creature design
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Character and creature design theory
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Moodboards
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The importance of research, body language and expressions
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Tools and techniques for creating character and creature concepts
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Colour and background
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Beat boards
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Light and shadow
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Using anatomy of characters and creatures in design choices
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Analysing an established style to create character and creature concepts
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Functional fashion in character and creature concepts
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Costume design
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Costume language
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Establishing new styles
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How to prepare a character or creature design bible for animation, outsourcing and videogames, and a pitch for comic publishing
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Module 2 - Character and creature modelling
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Introduction to ZBrush
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Character and creature anatomy
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High-detail sculpting
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Introduction to Maya
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How Maya works
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Retopology
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Anatomy
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Asset setup
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Introduction to texturing
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Introduction to Substance Painter and Mari
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VFX and games pipelines
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Differences and similarities
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Lighting and rendering
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Rendering in Arnold and Unreal Engine
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Presenting characters and creatures for portfolios
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Introduction to rigging for creating character poses
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Directed project time
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Module 3 - Character and creature technical direction
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Character rigging in Maya
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Creating advanced character rig setups
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Introduction to python
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How Maya really works
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Creating cloth and soft surface simulations in
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Maya and Houdini
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FEM and Vellum workflows
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Creating muscle systems in Maya
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Advanced anatomy
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Character FX pipelines
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Fur and hair groom
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Long and short hair/fur with dynamics
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Creating character cycles for presentation
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Walks and runs ready for final showreel presentation
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Project catch-up week
Why choose Escape Studios
Top 6% of Institutions for Graduate Employability -- by Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA)
First Unreal Authorised Training Center in the UK
Expenses
Fees
London campus: £16,850
Live online: £13,200