Escape Studios has been commissioned by Epic Games to deliver the Summer of Unreal, a free pan-European Unreal Engine training course for 1,000 animators and CGI artists, in collaboration with a range of academic institutions and skills development organisations from across the continent.
The Summer of Unreal will commence on 26 July 2021 and will run across four weeks in partnership with the following European institutions:
- Denmark/Scandinavia – The Animation Workshop
- France – ARTFX
- Germany – Hochschule der Medien
- Ireland – Screen Skills Ireland
- Serbia/South-eastern Europe – Crater Training Center
- Spain – La Salle-URL
- UK – Escape Studios
Epic Games education partner manager Mark Flanagan said, “The Summer of Unreal is an incredible opportunity that is open to professionals in animation and VFX all across Europe, and we couldn’t be happier to invite the industry to participate. Escape Studios is a wonderful partner who, along with a number of Europe’s best animation schools, are running this programme, which is set to be the biggest Unreal Engine training that we’ve undertaken to date. We’re excited to help all learners find new ways to tell awesome stories and express their creativity using Unreal Engine.”
Escape Studios deputy dean Saint Walker commented, “The Summer of Unreal is a fantastic opportunity for animation and 3D CGI professionals across Europe to discover more about the cutting-edge technology on offer with Unreal Engine. We’ve worked with top animation companies to create a novel animation-centric way of teaching Unreal Engine, in one of the most ambitious training programmes that Escape Studios has been involved with – our vision of a pan-European festival of learning in Unreal Engine has gained us amazing academic partners in the form of some of the best animation schools in the world. We invite learners across Europe to join us. Make your summer staycation Unreal!”
The Summer of Unreal will be taught online in English and is free-of-charge to professionals working in the animation, motion graphics and VFX industry who want an informal group experience of learning Unreal Engine over the holiday period. The course will feature daily workshops covering all the major aspects of using Unreal Engine interspersed with practice time, teamwork, as well as demonstrations and masterclasses from some of Europe’s premiere companies and artists showing how they use the platform in their work.
Escape Studios head of 3D VFX Mark Spevick will be the main ‘showrunner’ for the Summer of Unreal. The unique role used in Escapes’ larger courses ensures that tutors get to hear and address the most important questions from the online shop floor through Mark’s advocacy. Spevick combines teaching and programme design with senior industry experience, having worked at Peerless Camera, the production house co-owned by Terry Gilliam.