PUATC stands for Premier Unreal Authorized Training Center.  Epic has given this status to a handful of schools that meet their exacting standards for teaching Unreal Engine and Virtual Production, and has outstanding instructors with years of film industry experience. CG Pro is proud to be one of 5 Premier Authorized Training Centers in the world, and the only one in North America. Also, CG Pro is the only US based school offering fully live remote classes.

What is the Connectors Program?

Epic Games has created an official Connector's Program to continue to the legacy of The Unreal Fellowship and helping its Authorized Training Centers to offer micro-credentials for completing the program and turning in a final project.  

"The new program will provide a shortened version of the Unreal Fellowship which was first launched in July of 2020 being designed to help industry specialists in film, animation, and VFX learn Unreal Engine."  -80.LV

Why Study with Us?

CG Pro’s classes are taught 100% live, face to face with two Unreal Authorized Instructors alongside some of the best creative tech artists in the world. In addition, you will receive:

• Ongoing support in the CG PRO private community group from the instructors and Teaching Assistants.
• Ask questions during office hours.
• Meet & greet LIVE with leading industry guests and ask questions.
• Placement support after the course is completed.
• Micro-accreditation from Epic Games after you turn in your final project.
• Qualify to become a member of the Alumni Group for year round community support and access to guest speakers such as William Faucher and others of his caliber.
• Access to ALL the Connectors Program videos from Epic Games
• Access to ALL CG PRO Masterclasses.
• Access to ALL class recordings.
• Relationship and network building with other artists.
• Teaching in Unreal Engine 5 with support videos for UE4 if you are using the previous version of Unreal. 

The CG Pro Difference:

Before you enroll in another course, ask yourself this question. Will you be learning from generic pre-recorded videos, or will you be learning live in a supportive community setting? CG Pro has the edge over other schools, as we carry the torch of the Unreal Fellowship experience, with our live personalized training.

Class sizes vary, with advanced classes typically having fewer participants.  We gear the number of teaching assistants and mentors who offer individual and small group tutoring, and the number of in-class instructors, to the size of each cohort.

Recommended Hardware

• Desktop or Laptop: Laptops are portable but much less power and harder to do in camera VFX. Desktops are the best solution for Virtual Production.
• Operating Systems:  While you can use a Mac and Linux it is recommended to use a PC. If on a Mac Bootcamp will make more things work, but some additional problems can arise too.
• Hard Drive: Ideally NVMe M.2 fast SSD. Especially needed to take advantage of Nanite in Unreal 5. Have your OS and programs installed to it. Also ideally your Unreal projects, especially if Nanite. 2gb recommended min. Ideally 4gb
• CPU: Intel i9 or AMD (Ryzen or my preference Threadripper)
• RAM: 32gb min. 64gb recommended for UE5. I like 128gb+
• Graphics Card:  NVidia is king as of writing this, although AMD Ryzen cards work. Just try to use a more current card from within the last year. NVidia 20**+ series to be able to do real time Ray Tracing. Ideally a 3090, but these can be hard to find
• Puget Systems make great pre-built machines with a very reasonable turnaround time. We have a special discount for our students. Please inquire for details as you can access this as a student.

Struggling to get a machine in time?

• Consider a cloud virtual workstation!
  • AWS
    • AWS Workstation info 

    • AWS Marketplace easy link

    • AWS Activate Look into free credit
  • Azure
    • https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/data-center/virtual-workstation-cloud/
    • Look into free credit: https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/free/

For Unreal for Filmmakers I course there are no pre-requisites needed.  In the Advanced class and Cinematography and Lighting for Virtual Production, there is assumed a working knowledge of Unreal going in greater depth in specific areas of interest.

In general, those students coming from within the film industry are working at jobs such as animator, VFX specialist, character generator, and lighting specialist. Newcomers to the industry are in high demand, and the CG Pro Certificate given upon completion of the course can give job candidates added credibility in advancing their careers at their current employers or going in new directions. Our school has relationships with industry recruiters and we have helped our graduates achieve their dream jobs. 

Until 10 days prior to course start dates, full refunds are available. Once within the 10 day window prior to course start dates, no refunds are possible. However, we will accommodate students who decide not to attend a particular class within that 10 day window, by allowing them to attend a future offering of the same course (or another course) provided that there is room available for the later start date and subject to additional fees if the price has risen for that subsequent offering.

Yes we do. We understand the financial investment may be difficult for some and being that we are dedicated to your learning, we offer installment payments.

Please schedule a call to find out more.