The Rydan Workshop
Welcome Everyone,
Through collaboration with leading industry professionals, the Rydan Workshop provides
quality online training for careers in digital arts for the entertainment industry.
Course Overview: This course is a general overview of how to develop skills in order to produce concept art at a professional level.
The class format will involve live demos and feedback through one on one communication and paintovers. Homework will be given after
each class and students are expected to have the homework complete for review by the next class.
Course Overview: This course will quickly cover process and best practices for creating a character for realtime game development. Class format
will involve live demos, feedback will be given via paintovers, modeling over students work etc. Some class time maybe given inorder to help solidify
lesson plan. Homework will be given after each class and students are expected to have progress to show for a weekly review. Final deliverable is
a game resolution character shown in a real time viewer (Marmoset).
Course Overview: Students will undergo a 8 week process to create a high quality environmental production sketch/ 2d matte painting. Students
will be provided with weekly feedback and demonstrations of each stage of production- starting with reference gathering and basic thumbnail
sketches, and building towards a highly detailed photo realistic visualization of their concept.
Important Note:
All classes will have a limited capacity of 15 students so be sure to enroll early to ensure a spot. If you find that a class you are interested is full
please contact us and give us your contact information and the course you are interested in so you can be informed about any open positions or
later offerings of the course.
ABOUT THE ONLINE EDUCATION
Live streaming video: Instructors demos and lectures are shown in real-time.
Live Chatroom: Students can write their questions or if they can use their microphone to ask a question directly to the instructor.
Real-time Recording: All classes can be replayed at your convenience.
Whiteboard: This is used for document presentations and making critiques on student models.
Application sharing: This allows instructors to go onto your machine, helping with technical issues or for demoing directly on your machine.
Forum: A community where artists and teachers meet exchange thoughts, art and learn.
Labs: Support Classes for Students who need an extra hand on assignments.
ABOUT THE INSTRUCTORS
Real professionals: Our instructors are working industry veterans who bring their passion and experience to the classroom. Not only are they great
communicators and teachers, our instructors know the importance of current production pipelines and what it takes to become a working professional.
Real projects: Assignments and lectures are based on industry relevant tasks. Our class sizes are kept relatively small and instructors will provide
live on going feedback on each assignment you complete.
Real results: Our goal at the Rydan Workshop is to prepare you for the industry and take you to the next level. Whether youve taken some classes
before and need to tighten up your work or youre a hobbyist learning for the first time, we guarantee you will see tangible results.
or visit us at: www.therydanworkshop.com
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Replies
I'm just chiming in to ask if anyone would like to take a course with me?
I ask because as luck would have it I was a beta tester for TheRydanWorkshop and as such the beta testers were offered a Discount coupon. The class was pretty cool, David Lam was very nice and informative, so I had a pleasant experience.
So the discount is like a two for one deal, I bring a friend along for a class and we both pay half of the original price of the class. So Would anyone like to join me?
I'll keep an eye on this..If anyone wants to take this with me. For one this is what I am having a serious problem with.
Its either this or AOD after Graduation.
But thanks for posting
I'm interested in the concept class. Sent you a pm.
JMYoung: Pm recieved!
http://www.aodt.ca/video_game_design.asp
It is the only institute of arts close to my house along with some colleges such as Sheridan, Humber, Seneca and there are few others that I've been looking in to. This will benefit me to get that piece of paper you require to find work in Game Arts Globally and it will help me learn stuff live.
I would try for an internship at that new Ubisoft office in Toronto.
Easy for you to say xD You almost made it sound like I'll have to spend only one month of effort in making a portfolio, walk-in to the Ubisoft and they'll take me as an intern lol. They wouldn't consider anyone who does not have at least at least 3 year minimum industrial experience in gaming. I checked.
That and Capcom. So according to that sort of experience, I think every other game studio around GTA is pretty much expecting the same thing from their interns (forget employees). If not that, I'll be looking at approximately 5 years of personal studies including 2 years give or take depending on the pace of my learning, and 2-3 years of getting involved with the projects.
So its approximately 10 years I am looking at before and after I graduate with my degree program. =\
Ya I know Humber sucks but I am trying out possibilities based on the program course outline(s), not by the reviews.
never let that put you off
I'll give it a serious thought before start applying or ask people around for a group project.
Meh, I am kinda used to it. It wouldnt bother me if they dont take me in just because I dont have any 3 year minimum industrial experience or 3 solid refs of someone whoz in their good books. And. It wouldnt bother me if they would hire me blindly. All I need is to know how things work and get my drawings right so I am ready for it.
And yes part of the deal is that it has many applicants who are not soo up for it but just wanna get in.
Though I did see Microsoft and IBM hiring people who had no idea what coding really was and those people could barely speak English. So you are possibly right about they'd hire or let you work with them to gain experience for less.
But thats just me, I would probably debate on how mad they are to deny free labor, then get them some timmies (timbits? on nom nom).
No Canadian can deny timbits, NO CANADIAN!
But seriously, consider Seneca College. I went through them, and loved it. Go through the animation program, and take gaming as your final for third year. When you leave that program, you will know how to draw, and as long as you work hard, will have a good portfolio. Lots of great teachers, great facilities, and a timmies just down the stairs...
There IS a drawing test to get in, and it's quite competitive to get in, so you actually already have to be decent at drawing. If you don't get in, I'd also highly suggest their Art Fundamentals program. It was a lot of fun for me, and helped improve my art a lot, enough to get me into animation.
... Sorry to derail from the OP! We can get back on topic now...
Finally we are able to announce another great 8 week workshop real-time environments with unreal engine with instructor Chiyo Lai.
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 shortly 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.
Course overview: This course will focus on the creation of environments for modern videogames. The goal is a fully modelled, 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 modelling 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.
Dont forget seats are limited!
Any fellow PolyCounters sign up as well?
We will have two open houses, and we invite you to come and join us in our online environment. Come and see for yourself where and how our content will be delivered and meet some of our amazing instructors.
We will have a Zbrush sketch day with teaching assistant Daniel and an open Q&A with a few of our instructors. Come and take a look around, ask questions or just sit and watch our artists experimenting with Zbrush.
A live draw will be held during the open houses. Entry into these draws are free, and there will be multiple prizes:
The first open house will be held on Sunday, January 30th from 10:00 AM until 3:00 PM Pacific Standard time. Some of the instructors will be available from 12pm up to 1pm The draw will be held at 1:30 PM.
To enter the open house, send us an email at info@therydanworkshop.com and get your invitation link.
Hope to see you there!
Dont forget our limited time offer of becoming a facebook fan.
This offer ends February 6th.
@disanski thanks for the email! We look forward to see you on sunday!!! The invitation email will be send shortly.
@JMYoung Sorry for the email problem! It was good that you messaged us here so we were able to get aware of this. Looking forward to see you in class!
We have some more awesome events coming up soon! Keep an eye on our website or just become a facebook fan and you will receive the news directly to you.
Friends,
This is an exciting time for us here at the Rydan Workshop. What started out as an idea between artist friends over a year ago has finally become realized. Our goal was and still is to provide quality teaching with skilled instructors at a reasonable cost accessible to all. We really believe in the value we are providing to the community and sincerely believe that you will too.
Upon launching our school, we've set ourselves into motion and have had a wonderful response and support from the community. However, timing and competition have been hindering us from achieving our goals. Drawing on feedback we have received, we have decided to course correct and revise our pricing to reflect what artists are asking for.
All classes have now been reduced to $399 (anyone who has already paid our previous pricing will be refunded the difference).
We are hoping that this will motivate anyone who is sitting on the fence to give us an opportunity. By setting this pricing, we are investing in you so that you will invest in us. We see this as an opportunity to solidify our place among you as a high quality and high value institution.
We look forward to meeting you all and as always welcome your feedback and comments.
Contact us at info@therydanworkshop.com
All the best,
Daniel, Ryan and Dave.
Owners
The Rydan Workshop.
What Rydan offers:
We are provide a unique educational platform where our instructors lecture and perform demos in real-time. Our students have the ability to ask the instructor questions and receive answers immediately. We keep small class sizes, to ensure every student gets the enough time to talk with the teacher directly. This is so that one-on-one interactions between students and teachers can be accommodated during the three-hour class times. There will also be live critiques where students can view suggestions and changes made by instructors on their work, as well as ask questions, in real-time. All our classes are recorded and made available to students in case a live lecture was missed or if our students need to re-watch any of our content.
To deliver the most engaging experience to our students, we are open to student feedback and suggestions throughout the classes. For example, our students can choose their own projects as long as they fit the theme of the courses. If you would like to create a character you have designed, or build one from a concept, the choice is yours.
There will be homework assigned after each lecture, and we encourage students to post their work in progress (WIP) daily on our forum. Our staff of instructors and teaching assistants, as well as fellow students, will be there to give critiques during the week. At the end of each course, there will be final evaluations of the student's work to accurately assess whether they are ready to break into the professional art industry or they still need that last extra push in a certain area.
Our goal is to give the student the knowledge and ability to produce an outstanding portfolio piece that is ready for prospective clients.
I think the biggest thing you guys have going is a combination of great instructors, the virtual classroom, and pricing.
Our facebook fan promotional offer will end in 24 hours. It is still not too late to save on tuition.
Sign up now before it's too late!
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 youd 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 youd like to join us, we hope to see you there.
Interviews with our instructors
Were 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
Geoffs 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, Geoffs 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 Barrons 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.
Lots of good vibes inside the classroom. Keep it up guys!