Unreal Engine Foundations
Offered By: Rochester Institute of Technology via edX
Course Description
Overview
The demand for interactive 3D skills is rapidly growing. The accelerating technologies of real-time graphics, machine learning, and interactive tools inside the Unreal Engine made by Epic Games (world leaders in VR/AR and the makers of popular games such as the international hit Fortnite) have emerged as some of the most high-growth and in-demand skill sets.
This Professional Certificate program provides the core skills and resources needed for rapidly expanding career opportunities which require Unreal Engine competencies. Learners new to this technology will gain fluency in the subject matter and be able to put their skills into practice immediately.
Interactive or real-time 3D skills are the fastest growing set of skills within 3D graphics, particularly in the field of video games, automotive and architectural visualization, virtual production, and previsualization. Jobs that require real-time skills have grown nearly five times faster than demand for 3D graphics skills overall and over seven times faster than the overall job market. Demand for job candidates with Unreal Engine skills is projected to grow 122% over the next ten years.
This growth is being driven by applications of real-time 3D in fields including industrial design, architecture, engineering, construction, extended reality (XR) for IT, design and media, and manufacturing and production.
Learners will gain a solid foundation in the fundamentals of interactive 3D, including game development. Skill building will involve all the core areas including: the Unreal editor, 3D asset preparation, lighting, materials, physics simulations and visual effects, visual scripting using Blueprints, Interface building (HUDs), cinematography and cameras with the sequencer, teams, pipelines and collaboration using scrum, and version control (github).
The course will conclude by discussing optimization and publishing a playable interactive simulation. We will also look toward connecting next steps with virtual reality (example: oculus and HTC Vive) as well as other output hardware platforms.
This Professional Certificate will be valuable for professionals who wish to leverage the growth of real-time 3D skills to advance their career.
Syllabus
Course 1: Getting Started with Unreal Engine
Learn about Unreal Engine, made by Epic Games --world leaders in VR/AR and the makers of international hit Fortnite
Course 2: Unreal Engine Interactive 3D: Blueprints, Animation, Audio, & Environments
Expand your interactive Unreal Engine 3D skills with Blueprints, Landscapes, Audio and AI
Course 3: Unreal Engine Interactive 3D: Sequencer-Cinematography, Interfaces, Visual Effects, Pipelines, and Production
Learn techniques in cinematography, Interface design, visual effects, collaboration and organization, basic optimization and publishing, as well as exciting emerging connections.
Courses
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In this course, you’ll build on your knowledge from UNRL 101 by learning visual scripting using Blueprints. This node-based system based on C++ enables powerful programming without the syntax typically involved in coding. You will gain basic coding skills to use multiple tools for accelerating work and building immersive interactive functionality.
We will build a large environment with materials and foliage, discuss emerging open world tools, and add ecosystem, wind, and water to environments.
Next, you’ll learn how to use the tools for integrating skeletal meshes which allow for animations, morphs and cloth simulation. We will import skeletal meshes and keyframes in Unreal Engine, as well as using them for rag doll simulation.
We will conclude this course by discussing basic Artificial Intelligence (AI) decision trees, (blackboard and EQS basics). We will also discuss the use and application for interactive audio. Techniques will include: elements of ambient, event-driven interactive, and randomized, attenuated and spatialized audio (very useful for VR).
You will be able to customize your work by importing 3D models from your choice of 3rd party digital content creation (DCC) programs such as 3DS Max, Maya, Blender or Cinema 4D. This work builds a foundation in interactive 3D development, providing a natural flow into virtual reality (Oculus or HTC Vive), augmented reality, and vfx (visual effects).
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In this course, you will learn about the Unreal Sequencer as we focus on cinematography. We will set up cameras, lenses, track and jibs to frame shots and create cinematics.
You will learn the Unreal Motion Graphics (UMG) for user interface design, and together we will build a Heads Up Display (HUD) as well as an “in-game” interface (useful for VR and AR).
You’ll get an overview of visual effects, building on content from UNRL 101 and 102, plus adding new simulations and effects with the Unreal Chaos Engine and Niagara Particles.
You’ll learn best practices for virtual and in-person collaboration with an introduction to SCRUM quality production workflow, including discussion around various source control asset and animation pipelines. You’ll see a showcase of technology including a virtual reality (VR) template and Quixel mixer tools. Finally, you’ll review optimization strategies and package your interactive work into a runtime executable.
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In this course, you’ll be introduced to the Unreal Engine 4, a popular platform for game development and creation of cutting-edge 3D environments in real-time, video games, VR/AR, training, architectural visualization, and many other growing fields.
Through a step-by-step process with videos as quick-start guides, you will become familiar with the core interface and learn how to import objects and set them up in the unreal engine. Next, you’ll dive into the key skill areas of lighting, materials, and physics simulations. The course will conclude with a discussion of post processing. You’ll apply these skills for everything from color grading (next-gen film making), vfx (visual effects) or interface design (creating lines around 3D objects).
The content in this course will prepare you for the exciting work of interactive 3D development, covered in the next course.
Taught by
Shaun Foster
Tags
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