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Foundations of Real-Time 3D & Virtual Production

Online real-time 3D technical art course for beginners taught by Unreal artists

Overview

Learn real-time 3D & virtual production

Take the first step towards your career as a real-time artist with career training & mentorship at an Unreal Authorized Training Center.

Enter the exciting world of Unreal Engine with our introductory course! Go from simply installing the engine to creating a fully animated playable character. Mentored by a professional real-time artist, you'll develop a broad knowledge of the engine and surrounding pipelines including basic rigging and motion capture.

Benefits of studying at CG Spectrum:

Unreal Academic Partner & Unreal Authorized Training Center
Mentorship from industry pros
Job-focused curriculum and 100% online
Private 1-on-1 or small group classes (max 4 students)

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CG Spectrum–one of the Top 50 Best Creative Media & Entertainment Art Schools in the World–has partnered with Epic Games and industry professionals to develop a job-focused study pathway to ensure you are well-positioned to enter the real-time 3D and virtual production field and make a productive contribution from day one on the job.

Expect highly personalized training with mentorship from industry experts on the cutting edge of this field. After completing this beginners course, continue along the study pathway with the more advanced Real-Time 3D Technical Art and Virtual Production Course.

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Qualification

Certificate

Study duration

3 months

Commitment

20 hrs weekly

Skill level

Intermediate

Prerequisites

Basic computer skill and a passion for film and games

Delivery

Weekly online classes, feedback and support

Software

Unreal Engine, MotionBuilder

Start date

Mar 6, 2023

Why study with us

Learn real-time 3D from industry pros who have worked at well-known studios

Our expert-led programs prepare you for an exciting career in the industry. Unleash your creative potential while building practical job skills.

Flexible Scheduling

Plan your studies around your work and family commitments

Industry Mentors

Learn from industry experts who have worked at top studios

Job-Ready Skills

Build practical and relevant job skills that studios are looking for

Payment Plans

Pursue your passion and start working sooner with flexible payments

Curriculum

Progress faster with industry-approved career training and personalized mentorship

Term 1: 12 weeks

Introduction to Real-Time 3D & Virtual Production

In this introductory course, you'll start with the fundamentals of Unreal Engine, learning how to set up animated characters in the engine, along with a wide variety of features, plus rigging and motion basics. Developing a good foundation in this area is essential for moving on to the more advanced Real-Time 3D & Virtual Production Course where you'll apply your new skills to creating a film-quality cinematic shot.

How to use a wide range of Unreal Engine features
Basic animation and rigging skills
Working with motion capture
An overview of real-time and virtual production pipelines

*This short course (or equivalent experience) is a prerequisite to the full Real-Time 3D and Virtual Production Course.

Learning Game Editors & Industry Workflows
Exporting and Importing
Working with Materials
Setting Up Characters
Implementing Animation
Whiteboxing
Introduction to Rigging
Character Rigging Basics
Motion Capture Fundamentals
Sequencer and Character Animation
Unreal Control Rig
Facial Performance Capture Workflow and Media Reference

Course structure

Your pathway to the industry

Dive right into the full study pathway and be industry ready in 1 year.

Pathway illustration for Virtual Production (Full pathway)

Mentors

Get direct access to industry professionals with years of experience

Learn from passionate industry veterans with years of real-world experience at major film and game studios. More mentors to be announced soon!

Simon Warwick's Work

Simon Warwick

Simon has been working in the game industry since 2005, and was credited as the only technical cinematic animator for Batman: Arkham City at Rocksteady Studios.

Read full bio

Dept. Head of Real-Time 3D

Known for Batman: Arkham Knight

Deepak Chetty's Work

Deepak Chetty

Deepak is the Producer for film, TV, and virtual production at Epic Games' Unreal Online Learning platform and is sharing his real time production expertise with students at CG Spectrum.

Read full bio

Mentor of Virtual Production

Known for Gen: Lock

Jon Robins's Work

Jon Robins

Jon currently works as a Lead Character Technical Artist at Striking Distance Studios where he loves solving problems and helping teams in as many ways as he can.

Read full bio

Mentor of Real-Time 3D

Known for Marvel's Avengers

Nida Arshia's Work

Nida Arshia

Mentor of Real-Time 3D

Known for Visual storytelling

Shaun Foster's Work

Shaun Foster

Shaun is a Professor at the Rochester Institute of Technology. He has worked on award-winning projects and received multiple grants including an Epic MegaGrant to develop a real-time training program.

Mentor of Real-Time 3D

Known for Real-time innovation

Brighton Gardiner's Work

Brighton Gardiner

Brighton is a Sr Tech Animator at Final Strike Games, working with game designers and artists to bring characters to life and create compelling gameplay. His credits include The Sims and Rocket Arena.

Mentor of Real-Time 3D

Known for Rocket Arena

Stefaan Sorensen's Work

Stefaan Sorensen

Mentor of Real-Time 3D

Known for Max Payne 3

Tamir Diab's Work

Tamir Diab

Tamir is a CG Supe at Pixomondo who works with Unreal Engine developers and artists to create CG environments for ads, TV, and film. He’s worked on multiple Oscar-nominated and Oscar-winning films.

Mentor of Real-Time 3D

Known for Halo (TV series)

Jack Brown's Work

Jack Brown

Mentor of Real-Time 3D

Known for Avengers: Age of Ultron

Iacopo Antonelli's Work

Iacopo Antonelli

Mentor of Real-Time 3D

Known for The Division 2

Study Options

Small Class

The most affordable way to learn from top industry mentors in a fun, collaborative environment, while still getting plenty of personalized feedback.

Max. 4 students per course
Affordable high-quality education
Network while you learn

Study Options

1-on-1 Private

Progress faster and enjoy more flexiblity with private mentorship. Ideal for busy schedules, career-changers, or artists upgrading skills or changing specialties.

Maximum level of mentor interaction
Greater flexibility to schedule classes
Customized learning experience

Monthly

$1,185 USD

(3 x payments)

Most Popular

Save 10%

Upfront

$3,199 USD

(1 x payment)

Monthly

$1,485 USD

(3 x payments)

Most Popular

Save 10%

Upfront

$3,999 USD

(1 x payment)

Frequently asked questions

Foundations of Real-Time 3D & Virtual Production FAQs

Before entering the introduction to real-time 3D we recommend that the student has the following basic skills:

Polygonal modeling principles and workflows
UV unwrapping workflows
Animation timeline and graph editing workflows
3D Rendering workflows

You will also need a computer that meets the minimum specifications (see next question).

Note: This introduction course is also embedded in the Foundations of Game Art & Animation course. Students who complete the game art course will have a good foundation in modeling and animation and can continue straight to the 9-month Real-Time 3D Technical Art & Virtual Production course.

Software:

Students can sign up for an educational license for Substance Painter, Motionbuilder, and Maya.

Unreal Engine is free to download and use.

Hardware:

Students will need a dedicated graphics card, and a computer that meets the minimum requirements for Unreal Engine, Substance Painter, Motionbuilder, and Maya.

If you choose the 1-on-1 private mentorship option, then yes, you can decide to skip and adjust the week pacing with your mentor.

This short course will get you started on your journey as a real-time 3D technical artist, but in a competitive industry, continuing your studies with the more advanced 9-month Real-Time 3D Technical Art & Virtual Production course will better prepare you for a job in the industry and help increase your employment opportunities.

The 9-month course covers far more complex techniques and includes personalized career services and 1-on-1 time with our Career Development Manager which can help when applying for junior virtual production jobs such as:

Real-time Artist for Film
Real-time Artist for Games
Real-time Artist for Commercial Industries (e.g. Arch-viz, Broadcasting, Architecture, Automotive, Engineering, Marketing etc).

Discover more about these jobs, tips, and salary expectations on our careers page:

EXPLORE VIRTUAL PRODUCTION JOBS

Student Showcase

See what our students are creating!

With a focus on portfolio preparation, we help students build their competitive edge with high quality work that gets noticed.

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Studios that hire our students

I enrolled looking for a career change...

I didn't have any knowledge about digital arts. Now I can accomplish my dream of creating cinematics within fantasy worlds to tell stories or apply any artistic idea and make it happen with all the new tools under my belt. If you have passion, and need time flexibility, consider joining the amazing community and start your new journey exploring, exchanging, sharing and, most importantly, learning.

Marc C
Real-Time 3D & Virtual Production

I left every session feeling inspired.

Having studied on my own before CG Spectrum, I realized that there are a lot of things you just can’t get from Google. My mentor was very generous in sharing his own experience and lessons learned along the way. I was able to gather so much knowledge on light theory, post-production workflows, tips to add realism to a scene, and more.

Aurora C
Virtual Production

I can't speak highly enough about the school.

When I came to CG Spectrum I had 20 years of live entertainment experience, and they seamlessly transferred me from physical to virtual production.

Chris F
Real-Time 3D & Virtual Production

I can't stress enough how much I'm enjoying studying here!

I started the course out of curiosity, I was brand new to this world but I feel like I got all the answers that I needed and even more.

Antonino C
Real-Time 3D & Virtual Production

Currently halfway through real-time world building with William Faucher, and I cannot recommend it enough.

The ability to have your level gauged and directed as to where it needs to be by someone within the industry in real-time is priceless. The personal feedback is also second to none.

Matt C
Real-Time 3D & Virtual Production

CG Spectrum offers unconditional support.

I want to thank the entire CG Spectrum staff and mentors for their unconditional support, for sharing beyond the course syllabus, and for always giving 100% in everything.

Jorge R
Real-Time 3D & Virtual Production