Short Courses
Learn film and game industry essentials led by professional artists
Start your creative journey with our expert-led short courses
Learn industry essentials in your chosen discipline, including commonly used techniques and how to navigate relevant industry-used software and tools.
Why Choose Our Short Courses:
- Designed for beginners, these courses are the perfect introduction to your area of interest within film, games, and 3D visualization.
- Our mentors focus on providing hands-on training based on industry practices and procedures.
- With access to film and games experts, you'll gain unique insights into the industry.
- Completing an Essentials course will allow you to progress seamlessly to its corresponding Foundations course.
Why study with us
Get a more hands-on education with mentorship from top film and game experts, an industry-approved curriculum, and a thriving creative community cheering you on.
By giving you access to the most talented artists in the industry, we help you to become well-connected, trained, and prepared for life beyond your studies.
What you get when you study with us:
- Gain access to job-focused training and career services
- Learn directly from film and game artists and academics
- Receive personalized feedback from your industry mentor
- Join a supportive active community of peers, alumni, and mentors
- Study with more flexibility (100% online)
As an online training center with students and mentors in 90+ countries, we're proud to bring the industry to you – wherever you are in the world!
Tyler James
Award-winning artist Tyler has worked with major clients like Cryptozoic and Blizzard on titles including Heroes of the Storm, Warhammer, Rift, Star Wars, Hex, Warcraft, and RWBY.
Mentor of Concept Art & Illustration
Known for Hearthstone
Troy Dunniway
Troy is an award-winning game designer and executive with over 25 yrs of game development experience at major companies like Microsoft, Ubisoft, Insomniac, EA, Disney, and Samsung.
Curriculum Manager of Game Design
Known for Resistance: Fall of Man
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.
Dept. Head of Real-Time 3D
Known for Batman: Arkham Knight
Sean Amlaner
Sean's worked at Walt Disney Animation, Technicolor VFX, and Sony on 100+ films and TV projects. Credits: Star Trek: Picard, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Avengers: Infinity War.
Dept. Head of Nuke Compositing
Known for Thor: Ragnarok
Scott Claus
While at Disney and DreamWorks Scott animated classics like Pocahontas, Hunchback of Notre Dame and Road to El Dorado. He later won an Oscar for best special effects for Life of Pi.
Manager of Animation
Known for Hercules
Mark Pullyblank
Mark has held lead positions at Rainmaker, Sony and Weta Digital working on films like Avatar, The Adventures of Tintin, and Night at the Museum.
Dept. Head of 3D Animation
Known for Avatar
Josh Parks
Based in London, Josh has worked at MPC, ILM, and Double Negative on films like Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, Ready Player One, The Jungle Book, The Martian, and Spectre.
Mentor of Nuke Compositing
Known for Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom
Firas Hosn
While at Ubisoft, AAA programmer Firas released almost a game a year including Far Cry 3, 4, 5, Assassin's Creed 3, Your Shape, Splinter Cell: Blacklist and Watchdogs 2 and 3.
Dept. Head of Game Programming
Known for Assassin's Creed 3
Brandon Reimchen
Brandon brings almost 20 years of experience as a video game concept artist with a long client list that includes EA, Activision, Capcom, Gree, and Disney Interactive.
Manager of Digital Painting
Known for Resident Evil
Ben Fox
Ben's worked on high-profile commercials and Unreal Engine VR experiences for projects like Game of Thrones, Interstellar and Ready Player One.
Mentor of Houdini FX
Known for Interstellar VR
Bryan Bentley
Bryan's award winning experience includes lead positions at ILM and Rhythm & Hues working films like The Golden Compass, Rango, Pacific Rim, and Transformers 2 and 3.
Curriculum Manager of 3D Modeling
Known for Pacific Rim
Spectra
Spectra has been animating for almost a decade at Playstation, Digital Domain and Ubisoft on projects such as Far Cry 6, Uncharted 4: A Thief's End, and Advantageous.
Mentor of 3D Animation
Known for Uncharted 4: A Thief's End
Kate Xagoraris
Kate is a VFX artist in the motion picture industry. She primarily works with Houdini, and in her spare time runs a blog based on incorporating scientific ideas in VFX, and general Houdini tips.
Mentor of Houdini FXhoudini
Known for The Boys
Sykosan
Sykosan is a 2D animation filmmaker with expertise covering all stages of the animation process and a unique style of modern western and Japanese influences.
Mentor of 2D Animation
Known for Katy Perry's Cry About it Later
Nicklas Byriel
Mentor of Visualization
Known for Founder of Chaos Theory
Ioanna Ivanova
Mentor of Visualization
Known for Product Visualization
Eric Wilkerson
Eric is an illustrator/concept artist for film, TV, advertising, publishing, comics and games. Clients include Wizards of the Coast (Magic: The Gathering), Weta Workshop, Marvel, Upper Deck, Scholastic and Disney.
Mentor of Illustration
Known for Magic: The Gathering
Fiona Wong
Fiona is a Lead Environment Artist at Framestore in Canada, working in feature films and TV with over 7 years of experience in the industry and most recently, on Thor: Love and Thunder.
Mentor of 3D Modeling
Known for Thor: Love and Thunder
I went from knowing nothing about FX, to receiving job offers within 6 months of study with CG Spectrum!
I was blown away by the level of personal interaction the 1-on-1 mentorship provides. Having a direct line to an industry veteran as my mentor has been an invaluable resource and has taken my rate of learning to the next level.
CG Spectrum seemed too good to be true. Looking back, it was the best decision.
Every mentor and staff member has been so hands-on and directly involved in my learning. Co-Directors of top box office movies and supervisors of major Netflix TV shows are giving me feedback on my projects. Students also have access to a strong community, and an awesome career class to prepare you for your dream job.
Studying concept art and illustration through CG Spectrum has been wonderful!
From helping me in achieving a better workflow to improving on designing things out of my comfort zone, the course has given me more confidence as an artist. You can tell the mentors really put a lot of thought and care into helping you create your best work, as well as preparing you for success in the industry.
It's been extremely helpful for my portfolio and my confidence as an artist!
I've learned so much about not only animation, but the thought process an artist goes through when creating a piece.
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.
CG Spectrum is the perfect place to gain focus, understanding, an encouragement for your journey.
If you are looking for a supportive place to gain or hone skills in game design or other verticals, CGS is a fantastic and worthy place to dive in.
