Environment online course with UDK

[therydanworkshop]

Hi guys,
We are an online school that offers real-time lectures and feedback to our students. We're devoted to providing the best online education experience to students who want to be able to learn from home and still have real-time interactions with teachers and fellow students.

We think the UDK community would be really interested in hearing about our latest course: Real-Time Environments with Unreal Engine. It will be taught by Chiyo Lai, a game industry veteran whose credits includes Def Jam: Fight for NY, Turok and Tron: Evolution.

Course overview: This course will focus on the creation of environments for modern videogames. The goal is a fully modeled, textured section of an environment in the Unreal 3 Engine using industry standard techniques. This will include covering the technical requirements for world assets to be utilized in game engines, as well as building the best looking worlds within budget. Basic Maya modeling skills are expected. The focus will be on the techniques to build world assets for next-gen games and introducing the Unreal Development Kit application.

Don’t forget seats are limited!

The course will start on February 19th, so sign up soon!

Please visit http://www.therydanworkshop.com for more information on this course and our other digital art courses.

[aZzy]

Yes please!!! I am sooooo in! I have always wanted to be taught this kind of stuff because i simply cant pick it up on my own :P

Thankyou so much!

My tummy has gone all tingely o.O

[aZzy]

I will definately look into it! I have very limited money at the moment because i recently bought a car, but hopefully i can get in before Feb 19th!!

I was wandering, would you guys provide a getting started video tutorial? on using the basics of Maya, Or the other programs that you use.

I say this because the opportunity that you have given to us is great, but it would be spoiled for those who cannot use the programs efficiently in order to me the standards needed your video tutorials. It wouldnt have to be in depth, just long enough for people to grasp the basic ideas of the programs.

I can use maya myself, but i am terrible at designing things, thats why i am hoping to get in. My question for you is, If i was to miss a lesson (I am at school and doing a traineeship) would i be able to catch up by downloading a recording of the video?

[marksmerchek]

Will this include UDK mobile?

[therydanworkshop]

Hi guys, to answer your questions:

aZzy: We currently do not have video tutorials for getting started on basics of Maya. It's something we're considering for the future however. We're aware of the audience out there who are just getting started and we're already working on material that will cater to their needs.

You will absolutely be able to catch up, our lectures will be recorded.

marksmerchek: Currently UDK mobile is not on the curriculum. If you'd like to see more about our course's curriculum please visit the course's website.

Thanks for your questions guys, feel free to ask if you have any more!

[bravery]

Hello therydanworkshop,

I really wonder that the course of UDK will depend on maya, personally I have 3dsmax and I'm not interesting to have Maya, so how this course will be helpful for me?

[therydanworkshop]

Hi bravery,

You are absolutely right. This course is not about learning Maya, 3DSMax
or any other 3d "modelling" software. Essentially the only dependant software is UDK for this course. The rest of the content is mainly the principals of modelling and texturing. So regardless of which modeling package you use, the general principals behind the techniques will be applicable. The main focus of this course is to create UDK friendly environment assets
which will be imported into the UDK engine. These assets will be polished and tuned to showcase your work for prospective companies and clients. What's great about this class is you will see industry proven techniques used on games like Tron and Turok.

So in summary, if you have 3dsMax, you can still benefit greatly from the class. But just be conscious that our instructors are more experienced in Maya. We will have teaching assistants available during the class to support you. Also during the week, in our private forum, you can submit work in progress captures of your work and receive support there if you need it.
Thanks for your question and let me know if there's any else I can help you with!

[therydanworkshop]

News




Last call for Open House

For those who were not able to be at our last open house, this your last chance to join us for our final open house before our courses start at February 19th. Take a look at our virtual online classroom and see for yourself where and how our content will be delivered directly to you at home. You will also have the opportunity to talk to our instructors, who will be available for a full hour of live Q&A, ask them questions directly related to their courses or you can just chat a bit and get to know them. If you’d like to participate, please contact us.

Just like the previous Open House, a live draw will be held. Entry into these draws are free, and there will be the following prizes:

* 1st place - Free course of your choice from The Rydan Workshop
* 2nd place - 2 for 1 enrollment on courses from The Rydan Workshop. Receive a free course enrollment with the purchase of one course enrollment. The free course enrollment can be used by the same student or be given to a friend.

The Open House will be held Sunday, February 13th, 2011 from 11:00 AM until 2:00 PM Pacific Standard time. Some of the instructors will be available from 12:00 PM up to 1:00 PM. The draw will be held at around 1:30 PM. So let us know if you’d like to join us, we hope to see you there.



Interviews with our instructors

We’re kicking off a new series of interviews in anticipation of our course lineup launch February 19th. We are excited to have this excellent lineup of talented professionals and hope you will be too!

Interview with Game Character Pipeline Instructor, David Lam



David Lam has been working with CG characters since 1999. He has shipped eleven titles in the course of his career, from the creative characters on SSX to hyperreal characters on NBA Street. David has worked as a character lead on the past four titles at Electronic Arts; building strong pipelines, mentoring junior staff and setting art targets for each game. He has also worked at Radical Entertainment and Electric Crayon Productions where he developed projects for commercials.

David has four years of teaching experience at the Vancouver Institute of Media Arts and currently works as an mentor at the Think Tank Training Centre.

Get to know a little more about David and what to expect in his course...

Read more



Interview with Matte Painting Instructor, Geoff Taylor



Geoff’s artistic skills range from traditional painting and sculpting to computer-based modeling and illustration. He previously worked at Propaganda Games on the title Tron: Evolution. He has also done concept art for the redesign of the stadium home to Vancouver Canucks hockey franchise. Additionally, Geoff’s diverse career as a freelance artist has led him to work in fields including clothing design, editorial illustration and vinyl toy design. He is also the author of the book “How to Draw and Paint: Science Fiction” for Barron’s publishing.

Geoff has also been an experienced photoshop and matte painting instructor at the Vancouver Institute of Media arts.

We had a chance to talk to Geoff and discuss his interests and diverse career.

Read more



Last but not least, read our interview with Chiyo Lai, our instructor for Real-Time Environments with Unreal Engine.



Chiyo Lai has built worlds ranging from lush jungles, gritty military compounds, to fantastic futuristic cities. He studied at the Art Institute of Vancouver, and shortfly afterwards began his professional career work at Radical Entertainment. Afterwards he made a stop at Electronic Arts, where he worked on multiple titles including Def Jam: Fight for NY and SSX on Tour. Chiyo then moved on to become a environment artist at Propaganda Games, where he helped create the worlds seen in the titles Turok and Tron: Evolution. In the past, Chiyo has also lent his talents as a student mentor at Vancouver Film School.

In our exclusive interview, Chiyo talks about his career, the unique challenges of being an Environment Artist and much more.

Read more



Don't forget that course seats are limited and there are just a few left for the February 19th start date.

[Brexer]

For me it just sounds way to expensive, i mean, 399$.. you can buy ALOT of pro tutorials in HD for that, assets creation (maya, 3dsmax), enviroment (both in 3d programs, udk), ect.

Anyways, hope it will be released later as downloadable hd video for less, then i might buy it, if not, its okay too.

[UnspoiledWalnut]

Yeah there's no way I would pay 400 dollars for environment designs, especially if they are seriously using those three games as their credentials.

[therydanworkshop]

Thanks guys for the feedback. We appreciate your honesty and the time you've taken to post. However there's a few points I'd like to make.

Brexer: Many people learn in different ways. If you can get the same value out of a good tutorial then have at it. There's plenty out there. We offer live demos and lecture with 1 on 1 critique to your work. Eight classes, three hours each at $399 equals to $16.63 per hour. Guitar lessons cost at least $25 per hour. I don't see how this could get cheaper. Regarding downloadable videos, there are no plans at this time to release videos as I said earlier there are plenty out there. We want to keep our focus on quality live instruction for a fair value.
UnspoiledWalnut: I'm not sure which instructor you are referring to. However I can assure you all of the instructors are top notch and know their stuff. Just because our line up doesn't include instructors from your favorite titles doesn't mean their teaching doesn't offer merit.

I encourage you both to come to our next open house to see for yourself what we are about. I think we'll surprise you. Again, we appreciate the feedback.

[Blade[UG]]

Having a "free" engine sure has devalued the price of things to you guys, hasn't it?

I don't know anything about Rydan, or their classes, but professional personal instruction in any topic is worth probably way more than what they are asking.

[Brexer]

Having a "free" engine sure has devalued the price of things to you guys, hasn't it?

And what's wrong with that Blade[UG] ?
Fact is the tutorials is made on a free engine, and not a 1 million$ engine they have to make money back on.

I think its okay he wants 399$ for a class (its his choice of course), i just (notice >I<) think its way overpriced, and maybe its a good class, who knows, but its not for the common man for sure, and i think its just a waste if it will not at least it will be offered for lower price in a HD download later on.

I mean, why learn 15 people and not 1500 people something, maybe its just me though, i just think, well, this famous quote comes in-handy for this.. "the needs of the many, must outweigh the needs of the few", who could not use some tutorials

Anyway, it seems like a fair "session" tutorial wise, and i did purchase a lot of awesome tutorials from all around, but who could not use some more (i personally need some more really good environment tutorials) but o well, guess ill wait until some more comes out