Design detailed and explorable 3D worlds in Unreal Engine!

In this class, your instructor, Lucas Ridley, will walk you through how to create a realistic environment for any video game characters to explore and interact with in Unreal Engine. From sculpting your landscape and adding foliage and lighting to designing a navigable level layout, you’ll leave this class with the skills needed to create entire worlds for 3D video games. With Lucas by your side, you’ll: - Create a basic landscape using Unreal Engine brushes and sculpting tools - Apply textures and materials like foliage and grass both manually and procedurally - Build a navigable and challenging level within your landscape - Discover the differences between a career as an environment artist versus a level designer Plus, Lucas will show you where you can find foliage, rock and thousands of other free assets, materials and textures to add to your own landscape. Whether you want to explore a career path as an environment artist or level designer or just create a playable environment to add to your design portfolio, learning how to design a navigable landscape and fun level design will take both your video game design skills and your 3D design abilities to the next level. To take this class, you should have a basic understanding of Unreal Engine and how to navigate around it. In addition to the Unreal Engine software, you’ll also need a computer and a three button mouse. Instructor bio: Lucas Ridley is a professional animator whose work has appeared in films by directors like Steven Spielberg and Robert Zemeckis, as well as in major game studios. Originally from Kentucky, his career has taken him around the world, from Los Angeles to London, contributing to blockbuster projects while also pursuing personal creative work. Lucas brings that industry experience into teaching, where he focuses on making animation approachable and frustration-free. His goal is to give learners clear, practical guidance to help them build confidence and create with independence.

Bring your character to life with believable and customizable 3D animations.

In this class, your instructor, Lucas Ridley, shares how to animate a 3D character within Unreal Engine. You’ll follow along as Lucas shows how to use motion capture data to personalize your character’s movement and infuse your character with life. With Lucas as your teacher, you’ll: - Create your own motion capture animation - Apply any motion capture animation to your character - Customize your character’s movements through data and layer adjustments - Render out your animation within a shareable, cinematic movie file Plus, Lucas will share how he uses the Move One app to create motion capture animations on his iPhone as well as how to download pre-made animations if you don’t have access to the Apple App Store. Whether you’re an experienced animator who wants to explore character animation or you’re getting started in Unreal Engine and want to learn more advanced animation skills like applying and editing motion capture data, you’re going to gain the expertise you need to create a believable and authentic animated performance for any 3D character. To take this class, you should have a basic understanding of Unreal Engine and how to navigate around it. In addition to the Unreal Engine software, you’ll also need a computer and a three button mouse. To record your motion capture, you’ll need the Move One app, an iPhone and a tripod. Instructor bio: Lucas Ridley is a professional animator whose work has appeared in films by directors like Steven Spielberg and Robert Zemeckis, as well as in major game studios. Originally from Kentucky, his career has taken him around the world, from Los Angeles to London, contributing to blockbuster projects while also pursuing personal creative work. Lucas brings that industry experience into teaching, where he focuses on making animation approachable and frustration-free. His goal is to give learners clear, practical guidance to help them build confidence and create with independence.

Create your own custom video game that you can share and play with friends.

In this class, your instructor, Lucas Ridley, will teach you how to use Unreal Engine to make an entire video game using game logic, a timer and obstacles for any video game character to try to conquer. Created for animators who are ready to dive into the deep end of video game creation, each lesson will bring you closer to a finished video game that you can share and play with your friends in a timed obstacle course. With Lucas as your guide, you’ll: - Create a player start from scratch - Connect a custom Metahuman player to your game - Set up state machines for your character like crouching - Add an intro cinematic, timer and obstacles like rotating objects and danger areas Plus, you’ll get a behind the scenes look at how Lucas would design a short obstacle course video game as a full-time 3D animator. Whether you’ve always dreamed of creating video games for a living or just want to put your 3D animation skills to the test with an interactive and shareable project, you’ll leave this class with a customized video game that you can share in your portfolio, with a potential employer or just with your friends. To take this class, you should have intermediate knowledge of Unreal Engine so that you can navigate the software with ease. In addition to the Unreal Engine software, you’ll also need a computer and a three button mouse. Instructor bio: A popular animation teacher, Lucas Ridley first got into 3D animation when searching for a way to work on film projects with realistic characters, captivating settings and riveting storylines without needing to scout a location, get filming permits, hire actors and rent expensive equipment. Now a professional 3D animator and filmmaker, Lucas has been able to work on movies like Avengers Infinity War and Disney’s Aladdin as well as video games like The Last Of Us Part 2 and Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League—right from his desk. After building a successful career, Lucas wants to share how you can use 3D animation to create your own films or video games.