Check out 5 courses that will help you upgrade your FX workflow whether you want to focus on destruction simulations, use of VEX, magical FX, or would like to dive into the basics of FX and maths topics used in the production.
1. Introduction to FX
Check out a course where Rebelway founder and FX supervisor Saber Jlassi will give you a first walkthrough in the world of VFX.
During the course, you’ll focus on:
- creating various FX elements using POPs and working with them
- Houdini Volumes workflow
- Intro to mantra and learning shading techniques
- Smoke simulation and FLIP fluids production approaches
- Water rendering, and more
The course takes 10 weeks to complete starting on October 30, 2020. Please, note that for this course it’s required to have a basic understanding of Houdini. If you’re completely new to VFX, the Rebelway team suggests you take the Houdini Fundamentals course.
2. Mastering Destruction and FX in Houdini
Learn new workflows to upgrade your destruction workflow with Saber Jlassi.
Course details:
- analyzing possible challenges and ways to solve them
- working on otls and a sufficient layering system
- crafting the destruction and creating a system for handling collision with high-res geometry
- tweaking the destruction simulation
- smoke and dust simulation
- tips and tricks on an advanced approach
For this course, you have to have a solid CG background in lighting and shading. The course goes 10 weeks and will begin on October 30, 2020.
3. Mastering Magical FX in Houdini
FX supervisor Jayden Paterson will guide you through the creating process of magical FX in Houdini. You’ll learn how to create shields, portals, shockwaves, starting from gathering references, using SOP tools and setting them up, and experiment with simulations and possible fall-offs. The course also includes a bonus part covering compositing in Nuke.
The course will go 9 weeks starting October 30, 2020, and it’s required to have an intermediate skill level to complete it.
4. VEX for Houdini Artists
Dive into VEX production with FX supervisor Corbin Mayne.
The details:
- Intro to VEX
- Advanced VEX: blocks, geometry manipulation, points clouds, strings, noise, and more
- A detailed guide on how to create an Ichor Slime effect
- Shading and rendering techniques
The course starts on October 30, 2020 and will go for 8 weeks. Intermediate skill level is required.
5. Math for FX Artists
Corbyn Mayne will give you an overview of essential maths topics needed for FX production. In this course, you’ll dive into the basics of maths, learn or get back to vectors, trigonometry, and quaternions, and finish the course by studying matrices.
This course is available now and includes over 8 hours of video content. The required skill level is intermediate.
Don't forget to check the Rebelway website to find the full list of courses given at school.