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Udemy3D ModelingPaid courseBeginner levelCertificate

Arnold, Maya, Nuke - Intro to 3D Rendering Live Action VFX (Udemy.com)

3D Render photorealistic CGI in Arnold with your filmed footage! Bring visual effects into the real world using Maya.

4.4
220 reviews

Created by: Alexander Hanneman

Last updated July 2025

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What you will learn

  • Lighting and Shading a CG Object to match a real scene
  • Using HDRIs to light an object
  • Creating water drips on the surface of CG
  • Using camera projections in Maya
  • Blending multiple camera projections
  • Using Arnold Physical Shaders
  • Using Arnold Shaders to capture shadows and reflections on real footage
  • Creating emission lights
  • Setting up render passes for Nuke Compositing
  • Creating ID mattes for secondary grading
  • Creating a "bash comp" in Nuke to test our renders
  • Using Arnold nodes to adjust textures
  • Dealing with real-world scene scaling
  • Rendering AOVs in Arnold / Maya

How it compares

Against the other 545 rated Udemy courses in 3D Modeling on CourseDuck:

  • Rating4.4 out of 5higher than 26% of them
  • Reviews220#292 of 546 by number of reviews
  • Length5.1 hoursshorter than 57% of them
  • Last updatedJuly 2025more recently than 80% of them

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Course Description

Render photorealistic CGI into your filmed footage!  This Maya / Arnold training course is intended for those who want to learn how to integrate CG with live action footage.

We cover aspects like camera tracking, rendering and integrating with HDRIs, blending multiple projections in Maya, creating shaders for realistic materials, and wrapping it up with rendering the correct passes out for Nuke compositing.

Why learn from this course?

This course is intended for individuals looking to have a better grasp about rendering CG into real life.  You are getting the know-how and correct processes to be able to achieve this, as well as learning the deeper techniques in order to apply it to your own projects later on.  It also builds a foundation for the CG compositing aspect, which comes after lighting and is extremely important for a great final image.


Your instructor has worked on feature films such as:

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

Avengers: Endgame
X-Men Apocalypse

The Mandalorian

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find them

....And many more.


First, what do I need to know entering this course?:
2. A beginner knowledge of Maya and Arnold

3. A beginner knowledge of how the hypershade works and materials work in Arnold

1. A beginner knowledge of Nuke and Nuke's interface [Preferred, but not absolutely necessary.  Most of the class is inside of Maya.]
Read More Beginner Beginner Level product length iconTime: 5.1h

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Instructor Details

Alexander Hanneman

Instructor and Founder of Compositing Academy

My film studio experience includes:  Sony Pictures, Weta Digital, Industrial Light and Magic, MPC, Framestore.  

These are among the top post-production visual effects studios globally, and serve clients such as Marvel, Disney, Lightstorm, Paramount, and more.

I have an educational background and Bachelor's Degree of Science in Computer Animation, with a specialty in Digital Compositing.  I am a specialist in compositing with an eye for lighting, photography, and creative look development.  I also take on freelance 3D Generalist work, from concept to completion.

My experience includes many feature films, which can be found on my IMDB page if searched for.("Alex Hanneman")

A few of these films include:
Avengers: End Game
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

The Mandalorian

Avatar 2
Doctor Strange

Alien: Covenant
X-Men Apocalypse
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them


I have also worked on high end commercial projects featuring brand / individuals such as:
-Spartan Race, Toyota, Geico, Samsung, Skrillex, Rihanna, and more.


Read More

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Reviews

4.4

220 ratings on Udemy

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By Alan Lee on 5/9/2026

This is truly a beginner-friendly class. However, the important color space setup process is missing. Also, while the advertisements feature cool red lamp effects or smoke, they are not covered at all. The approach looks a bit outdated.

By Axel Becerra on 3/15/2025

The lesson were clear and easy to follow. The experience and knowledge are also evident. Could not have found a better course.

By Max on 1/16/2025

You do learn some stuff about CG, but to me it felt more like a promotion for his Nuke courses than an actual learning course.

By Alexis Rivera on 8/15/2024

I come from Blender to migrate to Maya, and this course is what I was looking for. Alexander explains the basic fundamentals to blend a CG shot with real footage.

By Sercanagbaba on 1/17/2024

I learned a lot, especially the fact that the 3D model is scattered, I think it gives real industry experience.

By Jayanth Rayapureddi on 2/27/2023

A clear understanding of the subject, which is really necessary for making my own projects is well explained here. I liked this course.

By Arnav Pandey on 10/27/2021

I learnt a lot in the course! I always wanted to do this, thanks alex for this beautiful course!

By Wesley Pimentel on 4/29/2021

This is a pretty cool course, it's great for who want to give up your compositing and Arnold and Maya technics

By Anonymized User on 1/14/2021

This is a fantastic course to learn nuke. Thumbs up to Alex, his teaching style is efficient, deep and to the point. My second course now of his and I can highly recommend them.

By Tutomator Tutorials on 12/31/2020

VERY GOOD SIR..YOU GIVING MANY NEW KNOWLADGES IN EVERY VIDEO

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Overall Score : 88 / 100

Arnold, Maya, Nuke - Intro to 3D Rendering Live Action VFX
Visit course on Udemy Write a review
  • Video Duration: icon 5.1h
  • Price: $74.99
  • Provider: icon Udemy
  • Updated: icon July 2025
  • Level: Beginner Beginner
  • Language: icon English
  • Certificate: icon Yes
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