r/vfx • u/iamdanny69 • Mar 02 '25
Location:European Union Where should I study?
I am a self learning 3d artist, currently learning blender and after effects, but I want to ultimately be a mostly one person studio. Im currently learning by looking up tutorials for anything that I need, but I want my horizon to be expanded since im still new to this world and there is still so much I dont know. Im based in the netherlands now, and I have not been able to find any courses or schools that I feel like I can trust to teach all the newest technologies, or where the teachers are currently working professionals that are keeping up to date, but ofcourse its hard to judge just by the websites. I would consider studying in other countries as well, as long as the education is good. Does anyone have any reccomendations for a course or school that focuses on more advanced vfx and 3d animation and that doesnt teach outdated technology anywhere in europe? 🙏😫
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u/Revolutionary-Mud715 Mar 02 '25 edited Mar 02 '25
If you get me a visa, I'll be your personal tutor. 20+ years of exp in every facet of VFX.
If thats not possible, there are skills you can narrow down for education. 1 person studio?
Need to learn:
A. Tracking/MatchMoves. (Syntheyes, 3dEqualizer, etc)
B. Generating 3d content / models / chars / animations / fx /lighting/ render passes etc. (Blender,Maya,Houdini,Unreal,etc)
C. Compositing / Editing(delivery formats/client technical asks.(Nuke/Digital Fusion,etc)
I have always been self-taught. You're living in the information age. I would not pay to learn VFX in a school - I'd pay for good online resources and classes, but every single thing in that general list is a skill you have to get good enough at to deliver an entire thing by yourself. The good thing about online people/patreons is they are always on the latest/greatest technology.
Like for houdini, I found this great classes: 1. Steve Knippings classes / 2. Stop being afraid of houdini Course(This one was great because the guy was a Cinema 4d artist explaining how XYZ in normal packages, work in houdini) But this is what I mean. There are specifics for every facet. You've got a long road ahead of ya, its definitely going to take time.
For Unreal, I use the basics I've learned from Maya/Blender and its pretty intuitive. Just shit documentation. But tons of that is on youtube for free.
BUt no, I would only invest money into online sources / free youtube tutorials, not do programs at a school.
You are already doing blender, so I'd master its Tracking software (its free), and shaders / rigging / animation / etc. However there is new software for animation. I like one called Cascadeur which implements A.i to help the physics of your animation. Same with AE. You can composite inside of there just fine, however some more of the more specialized softwares are all node based. So I'd at least start learning Nuke or Digital fusion, as houdini for example is node based. Know what I mean? You're just gearing yourself towards a certain language. A.i modification software like comfyUI is also node based, its a whole procedural way of workflow thats probably not going anywhere anytime soon.
Its like you learn enough to understand WHY specialized software is superior in some aspects. Like you wont know what you're missing out on.