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Topic:
fxphd - New Term Starting (Now for April '08)
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DorkmanScott
Title: Manager Emeritus
Registered:
Mar '01
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Date Posted:
1/8 10:38am
Subject:
fxphd - New Term Starting (Now for April '08)
- Date Edited:
3/31 8:19pm (1 edits total)
Edited By:
DorkmanScott
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So over the years there's been a lot of talk of PixelCorps, especially given all of the tie-ins PXC/dvGarage has with fan films (Alex Lindsay is a big fan of the community, actually worked on TPM, collaborates with Dave Macomber). I'm a member, they're a great group, and this thread is not meant to imply that PXC is bad in any way.
However, I wanted to make the community aware of another training site called fxphd. fxphd is created by the same people who created fxguide, if anyone is familiar with fxguide.
There are a lot of training sites out there, like Gnomon for example. What sets fxphd apart is that, like a brick-and-mortar school, they split up their training into 10-week "terms". You sign up for a term and choose three classes (you can take up to five for an additional fee, but three is challenging enough for most), and each week you get a new video "class" 30-60 minutes long. And the professors are on their forums all the time, readily available to answer any questions you may have.
Like I said, I love PXC, but I find their buffet-style collection of tutorials disorienting. Having a directed progression in learning concepts, and using them in "real-world" type situations instead of isolated tutorials is a great help to me.
fxphd is not only about post-production, although it mostly is. I initially signed up just because I wanted to take the RED production course. You can sign up for software-specific courses or ones that are more conceptual. They have some very popular photography courses right now, and this term they're starting a motion graphics stream of courses.
If you DO sign up, make sure you put my name down as a referral. If you do, I get a free class, and there are a bunch of classes this term I'd really love to take.  My name there, as you'd expect, is DorkmanScott.
Check out the link above for more information. The new term has begun and classes start Monday. It's not for the no-budget hobbyist crowd (it's a few hundred dollars for a term), but for the many here who are serious about a career in visual effects and digital production, this is a really, really great resource with passionate, knowledgeable people who want the students ("postgrads" as they call them) to get the most out of every class. I did school all the way through a college degree, and I've never enjoyed and looked forward to "going to class" like I do with fxphd. It's really great stuff.
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 Obama/Biden 2008 Let's bring back America. http://www.ryanvsdorkman.com Check out my blog: http://dorkmanscott.blogspot.com
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Rhys
Registered:
Jun '05
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Date Posted:
1/8 10:54am
Subject:
RE: fxphd - New Term Starting
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Thanks Dorkman, i'll definitely look into this. I'm also a PXC member, PixelCorps is a great site but i can agree on the points you made. Also, i was in a fairly specific niche for a site that caters to a very wide audience.
I'll have to check this out, costs pending. I'm at university at the moment, which eats a lot of my time. But if the classes are downloadable or at least, flexible in terms of time management and so on, then it might be cool.
R.
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NateCaauwe
Registered:
May '05
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Date Posted:
1/8 10:59am
Subject:
RE: fxphd - New Term Starting
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I fully endorse this message and/or product  Is the referral thing available all the time? I'll totally put down your name when I get some time and money to take some classes, but at the moment I'm quite involved at the Pixel Corps as well as some other projects. I think fxphd would be a good way for me to pick up some 3D skills again; I saw at one time they had a "3D for Compositors" course. Plus Pixel Corps doesn't have any training on Nuke or Flame which would be nice to learn 
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http://NateCow.com http://PixelCorps.com http://twitter.com/NateCow "Never ask a man what kind of computer he uses. If he's a Mac user, he'll tell you. If he's not, why embarrass him?" -Tom Clancy
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DVeditor
Title: Evil Overlord (manager)
Fan Films & Icons
Registered:
Dec '01
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Date Posted:
1/9 9:05am
Subject:
RE: fxphd - New Term Starting
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The moment time allows I'll be looking into this site - I've had my eye on it for some time but can't free up enough time to make it worth it yet.
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DorkmanScott
Title: Manager Emeritus
Registered:
Mar '01
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Date Posted:
1/10 10:47pm
Subject:
RE: fxphd - New Term Starting
- Date Edited:
1/10 10:49pm (1 edits total)
Edited By:
DorkmanScott
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For those on the fence or who want to know more, I just got an e-mail with the link to the "0-Week" Background Fundamentals course.
Background Fundamentals is the general-information course that everyone is required to take in addition to their selected courses (so if you sign up for the three-course option, you get BKD as a fourth as part of the deal). You can get a feel for what it's like, and they talk about what's going on with the upcoming term.
By the way, the classes are listed on a page in your account, "My Schedule". You can download the classes at any time and watch them at your leisure, and you continue to have access to the downloads for about a month after the term ends. So if you have 3-4 hours anywhere in the week, you can fit in fxphd. Also, you may feel free to join at any time until Week 6 (next week is Week 1).
For those of you who do sign up, a cool thing is you don't have to decide which courses to take right away. For the first two weeks, you have access to all the courses, so you can watch through them and see which ones interest you most.
EDIT: D'oh, forgot the link.
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Obama/Biden 2008 Let's bring back America. http://www.ryanvsdorkman.com Check out my blog: http://dorkmanscott.blogspot.com
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AlanSmitheeIII
Registered:
Jan '01
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Date Posted:
1/11 9:11am
Subject:
RE: fxphd - New Term Starting
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Scott, what's the average cost of the courses?
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DorkmanScott
Title: Manager Emeritus
Registered:
Mar '01
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Date Posted:
1/11 10:05am
Subject:
RE: fxphd - New Term Starting
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The three-course basic "tuition" is $330. You can either look at it as $110 per class with Background Fundamentals "free", or $82.50 for four classes. Each additional course is $90 ($420 for 4 courses + BKD, $510 for 5). The highest number of classes you can take is 5 + BKD, so six total. That would need a lot of free time and even the professors wouldn't recommend it, but the option is available.
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Obama/Biden 2008 Let's bring back America. http://www.ryanvsdorkman.com Check out my blog: http://dorkmanscott.blogspot.com
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Rhys
Registered:
Jun '05
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Date Posted:
1/11 10:13am
Subject:
RE: fxphd - New Term Starting
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The Week 0 Background Fundamentals video looked promising (i signed up last week). My only problem right now is what 3 courses to choose - there's 5 i'm interested in. But as Dorkman says, first couple weeks you can check out different things so hopefully it'll all sort out (or i can persuade a friend into signing up and using me as a referral for a free course). Checked out some of their podcasts as well, which were pretty good.
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DorkmanScott
Title: Manager Emeritus
Registered:
Mar '01
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Date Posted:
3/31 8:19pm
Subject:
RE: fxphd - New Term Starting
- Date Edited:
3/31 8:21pm (1 edits total)
Edited By:
DorkmanScott
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Has it been 10 weeks already?
April 08 term has just been announced and registration is open. They're getting more production oriented with a Cinematography course added to the slate, as well as a Guerilla AfterFX course that I think a lot of the folks here would really get a lot of mileage from. Check out the course listing here and make sure you put down my name if you sign up -- there's five classes I want to take this term!
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Obama/Biden 2008 Let's bring back America. http://www.ryanvsdorkman.com Check out my blog: http://dorkmanscott.blogspot.com
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PixelMagic
Registered:
Oct '01
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Date Posted:
3/31 8:27pm
Subject:
RE: fxphd - New Term Starting (Now for April '08)
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I don't have the money for this now, but it really does look like a fantastic resource. Maybe someday.
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http://danielbroadway.blogspot.com " Well, I have a tendency to come unexpectedly like that." -Codepoet
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VaporTrail
Registered:
May '02
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Date Posted:
3/31 8:53pm
Subject:
RE: fxphd - New Term Starting (Now for April '08)
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PixelMagic posted:
I don't have the money for this now, but it really does look like a fantastic resource. Maybe someday.
Word, yo.
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Rhys
Registered:
Jun '05
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Date Posted:
4/1 9:25am
Subject:
RE: fxphd - New Term Starting (Now for April '08)
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It's been pretty good this term. I took two AE courses and Maya. I didn't have an incredible lot of time to check out the forums so much and only caught the occasional podcast, but i've just about managed to keep up with the lessons. All good stuff.
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DorkmanScott
Title: Manager Emeritus
Registered:
Mar '01
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Date Posted:
6/30 12:37pm
Subject:
RE: fxphd - New Term Starting (Now for April '08)
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July 08 term has just been announced and registration is open. If you hop on over to the fxphd site, you'll see some great new courses, such as Matte Painting, RED One in Production, and -- VFX and Indie Films taught by me and Ryan!
fxphd has asked us to teach a course of tips and tricks regarding how we approach low-budget filmmaking. If you're on the fence and looking for an excuse to join, this is probably a good one.
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Obama/Biden 2008 Let's bring back America. http://www.ryanvsdorkman.com Check out my blog: http://dorkmanscott.blogspot.com
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PraetorDrew
Registered:
Jun '06
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Date Posted:
6/30 1:08pm
Subject:
RE: fxphd - New Term Starting (Now for April '08)
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Well, that settles it. I'm joining no matter what now.
And major congratulations. You just keep moving on up. We're very proud of you!!
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PixelMagic
Registered:
Oct '01
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Date Posted:
6/30 4:16pm
Subject:
RE: fxphd - New Term Starting (Now for April '08)
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DorkmanScott posted:
VFX and Indie Films taught by me and Ryan!
Wow, that's cool. Rock on, man. Again I'm broke and cannot participate, but maybe someday.
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http://danielbroadway.blogspot.com " Well, I have a tendency to come unexpectedly like that." -Codepoet
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DaFireMedic
Registered:
Sep '06
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Date Posted:
6/30 5:10pm
Subject:
RE: fxphd - New Term Starting (Now for April '08)
- Date Edited:
6/30 5:27pm (2 edits total)
Edited By:
DaFireMedic
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I notice that Mark Christiansen is one of the AE professors.
Add to that yourself and Ryan, Big time stuff.....
I'd like to take the Syntheyes classes
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