Sarasota, Florida-based Ringling School of Art and Design has released its continuing studies and special programs for summer 2004.

As part of its continuing series, the Gnomon Workshop released three new training DVDs by sculptor John Brown (A BEAUTIFUL MIND, PLANET OF THE APES, SPY KIDS). These titles focus on sculpting, casting and molding the full-size head and character maquette.

Gnomon School of Visual Effects begins registration for the spring 2004 term, which runs from April 5 through June 13. Registrations may be submitted through the mail, via fax, in person or online at www.gnomon3d.com.

Oregon3D, The Academy for Digital Arts & Sciences, and Discreet will sponsor upcoming "Storytelling and Animation" seminars at the Game Developers Conference (GDC) in San Jose, California. Scheduled for March 25, 2004, this two-part class will explore the world of animation from a general overview to the current state of animation as a career.

Ex'pression College for Digital Arts' students from its 3D animation and visual effects program created a film short to be honoring George Lucas for his Lifetime Achievement Award at this year's Visual Effects Society (VES) Awards on February 18, 2004 in Hollywood.

Capilano College animation department in North Vancouver, Canada is holding an Open House on Feb. 21, 2004, from 1:00-5:00 pm. Students and faculty will be on hand to give tours, workshops and portfolio reviews. Animation from the students in the 2D and 3D programs will be presented. Student work may also be viewed on the department Website: www.gradshow.com. For more information, contact animation@gradshow.com.

The Gnomon Workshop of Hollywood, in collaboration with Design Studio Press, has released seven new training DVDs by concept designers Feng Zhu (STAR WARS: EPISODE III), Harald Belker (SPIDER-MAN) and Carlos Huante (VAN HELSING). These titles focus on design process, ideation, digital rendering and client presentation.

Gnomon alumnus, Dave Pascuito has designed a new Website for Gnomon School of Visual Effects. The new site features one-click navigation, lots of student images, expanded instructor information and very clear descriptions of the numerous training options available through Gnomon, which is located in Hollywood. Check out www.gnomon3d.com.

High school seniors and international students interested in education for a career in animation are now invited to apply for scholarships from The Art Institute of California - San Francisco (www.aicasf.aii.edu). Students may apply the scholarships toward tuition in the school's bachelor degree in Media Arts & Animation.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has produced its fifth high school teaching kit to promote understanding and appreciate the art of animation. The kit is being mailed to 18,000 high schools throughout the United States will all production and distribution-related costs to be paid by the Academy.

Celebrating its 10th anniversary year, Video Symphony, a TV & Film College and Career Center in Burbank, California has been awarded National Accreditation by Washington, D.C.'s ACCET (The Accrediting Council for Continuing Education and Training.)

The Gnomon Workshop has partnered with Design Studio Press in the production of analog training DVDs. Leading concept designers from the film, game and industrial design industries will share their techniques in an effort to inspire and educate artists around the world.

The Gnomon Workshop has released three new training DVDs by feature animator Cameron Hood (lead character animator on DreamWorks' SHARKTALE). Focused on both the aesthetic and technical art of digital character animation with Maya, these four titles contain more than six hours of instruction, lecture notes and project scene files. Students new to animation, or artists transitioning from 2D to 3D, will benefit from these titles.

The Gnomon Workshop has released five new training DVDs by Ryan Church, one of the industry's leading concept designers and a conceptual art supervisor for STAR WARS EPISODE III. On each DVD, Church masterfully executes a digital painting, while sharing his insights into his own creative and technical process. The focus of these lectures is not on software, but on the fundamentals of design, composition, lighting, material indication, storytelling and workflow.

Toonz Animation India (TAI), with its 2D Animation Academy at Technopark in Thiruvanathapuram and the Animation School in Kolkata, will start a state-of-the-art 3D Animation Academy at its Technopark premises, it was reported by the BUSINESS STANDARD. The proposed academy will offer a six-month 3D animation course.

Kaydara and Mexico's EuNoia Animation School announced the successful completion of the facility's first 10-month course specifically dedicated to teaching professional animation software. Driven by MOTIONBUILDER, Kaydara's award-winning character animation software, EuNoia is Mexico's only certified training center to offer artistic and technical courses on the industry's leading animation and effects software.

Alias Systems announced the release of another learning tool in its popular education series. StudioTools Techniques| Exploring StudioTools examines the integrated 2D/3D sketching and modeling features and many other design workflow enhancements found in the latest release of its computer-aided industrial design (CAD) software, Alias StudioTools 11.

The Art Institute of California – San Francisco has expanded its Game Art & Design degree program, hiring Marc Sherrod as its new full-time Academic Director. Sherrod will be involved in curriculum and faculty development, coordination of the school‚s Program Advisory Committee from the game industry, student guidance and other aspects of game education at the school in for its game-related degree programs, designed to provide entry-level talent for the $10.3 billion computer and video game industry.

dvGarage teams up with the Gnomon School of Visual Effects up to make Maya more accessible to new users. THE MAYA LAB: VOLUME 1 provides a visual step-by-step introduction to the powerful but sometimes complicated application.

"We get requests for step-by-step training," explained Gnomon founder Alex Alvarez, "but we wouldn't be able to cover everything that we do if we built this kind of training day to day. It's really a daunting task to get it right."

Video Symphony, a TV, Film and DVD Digital College and Career Center, has launched another in a series of year-long 3D Animation and Visual Effects course programs.

"Today, nearly every movie, TV show and commercial turns to 3D magic and visual effects for everything from dueling spaceships, fiery explosions, and slime-dripping aliens, to animated breakfast cereal, and cars that drive on water,” said Video Symphony's president Mike Flanagan.