Made in UE by: Oliver Rotter
Become a real-time 3D technical artist with training from an Unreal Academic Partner. Learn how to tell compelling stories through film-quality cinematics using the world building, lighting, and camera skills you'll learn directly from industry experts.
Why study virtual production with us:
Gain speed and confidence using Epic's Unreal Engine, learn cutting-edge real-time 3d techniques and learn how to build high-quality scenes that you can add to your professional portfolio to show prospective employers.
Industry Certificate
9 months
20 hrs weekly
Beginner to
Intermediate
November 4th, 2024
December 2nd, 2024
January 6th, 2025
Weekly live online classes
Video lectures
Mentor feedback
Access to vibrant community
Our expert-led courses prepare you for a fulfilling career as a realtime 3D technical artist. Learn virtual production techniques and build practical job skills studios are looking for.
Plan your studies around your work and family commitments
Learn from mentors who have worked in the film and games industry
Build practical, relevant job skills that studios are looking for
Options to help you pursue your passion and start working sooner
In this term, you'll start with the fundamentals of 3D, learning how to set up models, scenes, rigs, and animation to set the stage from which all other 3D skills be built. Developing a good foundation in this area is essential for moving on to the more advanced terms where you'll apply your new skills to the world of Unreal Engine to bring your visions to life.
In this subject 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 topics where you'll apply your new skills to creating a film-quality cinematic shot.
Discover what it takes to build a believable virtual world. You'll start by learning different methods of creating landscapes within Unreal Engine, and QuadSpinner Gaea before moving on to advanced texture blending, auto materials, and water systems. Next, you'll look at all lighting, VFX, and the post process volume to bring your scene to life. Finally, you'll work to set up a basic camera shot to take your scene to a final film quality render.
Portfolio project: A cinematic ready real-time environment scene.
The 9-month Foundations Course is the first half of our Career Track, helping you pave your pathway into the creative industries. Gain foundational skills and knowledge that will prepare you for advanced industry training.
Our real-time 3D and virtual production courses are taught by industry pros. You'll receive expert guidance from a new mentor each term!
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.
Dept. Head of Real-Time 3D
Known for Batman: Arkham Knight
Mentor of Real-Time 3D
Known for Visual storytelling
Mentor of Real-time 3D
Known for Gwent: The Witcher Card Game
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.
Mentor of Real-Time 3D
Known for Marvel's Avengers
Mentor of Real-time 3D
Known for Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare
Mentor of Foundations
Known for Bleeding Edge
Mentor of Real-Time 3D
Known for Avatar: The Way of Water
Mentor of Real-Time 3D
Known for Marvel v Capcom: Infinite
Mentor of Real-Time 3D
Known for Technical Art
Mentor of Real-Time 3D
Known for Immortals of Aveum
We help students build their competitive edge by learning the tools and techniques used in the industry. This helps them produce impressive content that stands out. See some examples below!
Age Minimum
The minimum age to be able to enrol in our career track courses is 16. We require parent or guardian consent during the enrollment process for applicants under 18.
English Proficiency
We expect our students to have a good understanding of written and spoken English. There’s no specific ’level'; however, you must be able to understand video tutorials in English (no subtitles) and speak with your mentor in English during your live Q&A session.
Computer Literacy
To be successful in this program, you will need basic computer skills and a computer that meets the minimum specifications (see next question).
Preparation
If you would like to prepare before starting the this course, you could work on the following basic skills:
Software:
This course requires you to purchase/download the following software:
Instructions for how to obtain an educational license for this software will be provided upon enrollment.
Hardware:
Students will need a dedicated graphics card and a computer that meets the minimum requirements for Unreal Engine, Gaea, RealityCapture, and DaVinci Resolve.
Please note: as the software we use is regularly updated, please check the specs against the latest available version at the time of enroling.
No, we do not currently plan to support physical hands-on training. Our focus is more on storytelling through Unreal Engine.
It can be if it's specifically using Unreal Engine to build a more immersive experience.
3D animation is explored within Term 1 ("Essentials of 3D"), using Maya, and again in Term 2 ("Core Real-time 3D Principles"), using Unreal Engine, including general 3D animation rigging principles. For those who want to learn animation in more detail, we recommend exploring our 3D animation courses.
Real-time 3D students will also study elements of visual effects using Niagara, Unreal Engine's next-generation VFX system. There is one lesson on Niagara in Foundations Term 2 ("Core Real-time 3D Principles"); however, the Real-time 3D Specialization course covers it in much more detail, dedicating a full term (six weeks) to it.
FX is a broad discipline, so besides the fire and power-ups covered in this course, those seeking a deeper understanding of FX and simulation are encouraged to explore our FX courses.
Basic post-production concepts are included within Foundations Term 3 ("Professional Worldbuilding"), however, to continue understanding professional compositing workflows using Nuke, we offer compositing courses that can be explored further.
Matchmoving is not part of the virtual production curriculum but is introduced in our Digital Compositing Foundations course.
Contact the student admissions team about possibly accommodating this within the course.
This real-time 3D course would provide excellent technical knowledge required for the architectural presentation of characters, lighting, camerawork, and rendering.
It doesn't specifically focus on the architectural industry, so topics related to the design, layout, and material matching standards required for architectural visualizations might be missed.
For those interested in architectural development, explore 3D Visualization courses.
This course gives you an excellent understanding of real-time 3D and virtual production fundamentals, and depending on your level of commitment, skills, and portfolio pieces, you may be ready to start applying for entry-level artist positions.
To further hone your skills and increase your hiring potential, the Real-time 3D Artist Specialization course (available early 2025) is recommended. It covers more complex techniques and includes an entire term dedicated to career development and building your portfolio to prepare you for junior real-time 3D jobs such as:
Skilled real-time artists are in demand across the film and game industries and beyond. Read more about the role of a real-time 3D technical artist and how real-time workflows are being adopted by a wide range of industries.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Study options for all skill levels, from short introduction courses to industry career tracks and accredited degrees and diplomas.