Blender VFX Course: From Beginner To Pro! (Udemy.com)
Everything you need to know for VFX in Blender including Camera Tracking, 3D CGI, and Multi-pass Compositing
Created by: Jacob Zirkle
Last updated February 2024
What you will learn
- The Basics of Blender
- Camera Tracking
- Render Multiple CGI Passes
- Multi-pass Compositing
- Planar Tracking
- Working with 3D Assets
- Scene Optimization
How it compares
Against the other 275 rated Udemy courses in Photography on CourseDuck:
- Rating4.3 out of 5higher than 20% of them
- Reviews362#115 of 276 by number of reviews
- Length4.2 hourslonger than 64% of them
- Last updatedFebruary 2024more recently than 62% of them
Course Description
Hello and welcome to my Blender VFX course. My name is Jacob and I'm a Visual Effects Artist based out of the United States. I currently work full time as a Visual Effects generalist and Nuke compositor in the film and advertising industry having worked with clients such as Nvidia and L'Oréal throughout my career. I have experience across multiple different mediums from music videos all the way to feature films and have grown an online community of artist across the world in learning Visual Effects using Blender.
What you will Learn:
Blender Basics
Camera Tracking
Working with 3D Assets
Masking
Animating
Creating Multiple CGI Passes
Rendering CGI
Compositing Multiple CGI Passes
Frame Composition
Lighting
Basic Modeling
Basic Texturing
Projection mapping
Modifiers
Addons
Optimizing a 3D scene
Planar Tracking
Ways to Decrease Render Time
Tips to Increase Efficiency
In this course I wanted to focus on using Blender as a tool for 3D Visual Effects so we can create captivating worlds and bring them to the big screen. We will start by learning all of Blender's tools and basics, then we will dive into the exciting world of camera tracking to where you'll be able to track any footage you want, Next we'll go over compositing in Blender and some of the amazing tools to make your renders stand out, and then finally we'll create a huge 3D scene from scratch and take you through the entire process of creating professional looking Visual Effects all inside of Blender. We will be covering 5 individual complete VFX shots with a ton more examples showcasing a multitude of different scenarios you might encounter. Of course all of the assets and footage I use will be provided for you to follow along.
I really hope you learn a lot from this course and grow in your skills. Don't hesitate to reach out to me if you have any questions and I'd more than happy to help out.
Now are you ready to get started with Visual Effects? I will see you in the first Chapter.
Instructor Details
- 4.3 Rating
362 Reviews
Jacob Zirkle
Jacob is a VFX Freelance Artist with over 3 years experience with clients such as Nvidia and LoReal using Blender full time for his career. He made a community of 3D artist on Youtube of 40K subscribers and is eager to share his knowledge. Coming from a film school background and years of industry experience in Visual Effects, Jacob is driven to make VFX more accessible and help others grown in their journey.
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Reviews
By Sandeep Proddaturi on 6/23/2026
Because he explained it in a way unique from other videos, I actually understood it. But for some controls, i had to adapt them the Blender 4.5.0, as that is the model I was using and Jacob was using 4.0 model of Blender. Otherwise, really nice!
By Anish Behera on 4/6/2026
Jacob taught well and he is providing the course with detailed video. I loved the video in which he taught us basic in blender like add shapes, change and add color and so much more. Keep Doing and i hope this course will engage the students to learn ,practice and create using their skills. Thank you so much.
By Michael Boyd on 7/23/2025
This course is challenging. Especially in the first sections with motion tracking. Once I got use to using the Motion Tracking tools then everything started falling into place. I look forward to incorporating VFX and CGI into more of my projects. The results are much more satisfying when you add the real world feel to your renders.
By Jeannine Charles on 7/12/2025
I am not even done modelling my cup and I can tell you that the tips and tricks this instructor has provided has given me so much insight in how I've been using Blender. I'm literally going to sign up for any other course he currently is instructing. Thank you!
By Isidro Moreno Reig on 7/10/2025
Curso excelente. Muy bien explicado, con ejemplos claros y útiles para aplicar en proyectos reales. He aprendido mucho sobre composición y motion tracking en Blender. Se nota el trabajo y el cariño puesto en cada lección. ¡Muchas gracias por compartir tus conocimientos de forma tan accesible y práctica!
By Badr Asi on 4/30/2025
I recommend this course for those who want to understand how to track and composite inside the Blender. I liked it How the instructor starts the course from simple example to more advanced. Section 5 is good to understand the steps he takes in his workflow to composite the scene. I know there is much more to learn but it is a good start. Thank you.
By Zak Halll on 1/27/2025
I think this is a great entry level course, and do not have any big complaints about the material itself. (The reason I only scored the course a 3.5 is due to two reasons. Firstly, the instructor will sometimes do something without fully explaining his reasoning and will only expound upon it several minutes later, after he has done several other things leading to the possibility of confusion. And secondly, despite the instructor advertising that he is open to questions, from my experience he will NOT get back to you! Not through Udemy, not via his personal email or his YouTube channel! While I do not expect every instructor to be open to Q&A, at least do not advertise otherwise!)
By Ella Senemar on 12/27/2024
It would be a great course if you didnt go through the problems that he hasnt solve.Ihad to search any problem in other youtube videso and blender community such as finding a proper origin tracker movie editing size adding a 3d object and not seeing it.He is not responsive at all.
By Morgan Collett on 4/23/2024
So far I have found that the course has not just a great structure, but also it has tiny little moments of knowledge spilling out of years of experience. As a VFX artist, I would recommend to all skill levels. Amazing, keep up the good work Jacob! Really Enjoying! :)
By Brandon Lang on 4/8/2024
Very good course for teaching fundamental concepts and techniques in Blender. If you have no idea where to start with VFX for Blender, I would highly recommend watching this course and following along step by step. The only critique I would have is that Jacob tends to be very fast with his explanations and sometimes speeds through certain processes. You'll have to pause or re-watch certain parts to really get it, but other than that, I feel like I've learned a great deal after watching this! Thank you!
Quality Score
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Overall Score : 86 / 100






