At the tail end of 2019, we had laid the foundations for an extensive in-person training schedule for 2020, to be supplemented by an e-learning pathway for people unable to attend training sessions.
Then COVID-19 happened.
The Plan
Over the past few years, Notch has evolved its training courses to meet the growing demand from the community. Last year, we introduced a brand new course curriculum for both content creators and technologists, to make sure we addressed the needs of the diverse set of users from all around the world, using Notch.
Our original vision for 2020 was to greatly expand the availability of the in-person training courses, going to 14 cities and every major continent, and expanding our training network with official Notch Accredited trainers in areas we would not have the capacity to reach ourselves.
We also planned to record high-quality, interactive online training sessions for everyone who for various reasons would not be able to attend or perhaps preferred to learn on their own time, at their own pace.
The Change
In late January 2020, the World Health Organization started daily reporting of the COVID-19 (“Coronavirus”) that would end up becoming a global pandemic. This has and continues to have a significant impact on the world, including the live-events and motion graphics industries, and it would be pointless and amoral for us to proceed with our initial plans for extensive in-person training.
We are therefore putting a lot of resources into accelerating the production of material for our e-learning pathway, so everyone can have easier access to our official Notch courses. We are starting with Notch Essentials, which we hope to have online on Udemy in a few weeks’ time.
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The Pathways
Our vision for learning Notch through official training in 2020 is all about offering more flexibility; more breadth in types of training and more depth via more advanced workshops for those wanting to take their Notch skills to the next level.
Notch Essentials
This is where a new user would now start their learning journey. It is a prerequisite to the rest of the learning pathways and must be completed in order to take any of the other courses. It is a one-day course, covering essential topics to get up to speed on the must-have skills needed for Notch.
The topics covered in your essential learning are UI navigation, video compositing & VFX, lights, materials, modifiers, particles, supported file formats and exporting your projects to work with different hardware solutions.
Notch Essentials is the beginning and foundation of all training pathways. So it is important to us that you can gain access to this course, to learn the way you learn best with the time available to you. It is the first course we are bringing to our new e-learning platform on Udemy.
The next step in your journey is now covered by another 1-day session of Content Intermediate or Technologists Intermediate depending on the creative or technologists pathway you wish to follow.
Content Intermediate
After attending the Essentials skills day, your next step will most probably be into the Intermediate Content skills you need to harness more power from Notch. This is another single day of learning and sets you up with more advanced content skills covering subjects such as Deformers, Cloners, Affectors, ray-tracing and Path tracing techniques, to name a few.
Technologists Intermediate
Again, after completing Notch Essentials, your learning may need to take you in a different direction. This course is designed for media server operators/technicians and system integrators who are new to Notch. You’ll learn how to navigate your way around, create some basic effects and, importantly, learn how to utilise the Notch content in a media server or standalone setup.
The Future
A lot has been changing in Notch’s software over the past few years and to share that new knowledge, we will launch two brand new workshops in 2020, for the advanced learner who now wants to take things to the next level. These again, cover one for the Artists and one for the Technologists.
Content Advanced (2-day workshop)
Requires having attended Content Intermediate. This course is a curated workshop with multiple tutors where you learn how to use certain techniques to build your own project. The goal with this course is that you should leave it having mastered some of the more advanced Notch techniques
Interactivity & Integrations (1-day workshop)
This course is designed for creative technologists, media server operators, system integrators and Interactive Artists who already have a basic and intermediate knowledge of Notch. You’ll learn how to interface Notch to the outside world and deliver to more complex canvases such as AR and VR.
This is eagerly awaited and set to launch later in the year. We had hoped to bring these workshops out as in-person training, but at the moment, we are aiming towards first making them available as online events, as with the rest of our e-learning material. However, these will be fully interactive and live with a tutor, and not pre-recorded sessions.
The Feedback
We are eager to hear what you think about our plans for 2020, so please let us know by getting in touch!
