The Absolute Beginner's Guide To Unreal Engine 4 and 5! (Udemy.com)

Edit: 12/14/2022 After doing some other "beginner Unreal Engine etc." I came back to change to a 4.5 star rating. A lot of my previous comments remain such as updating, different things to add. Primary reason for the change is when comparing to the other beginner Unreal tutorials that I was able to find, a lot of them did not offer that level of comfort that yours does in taking things a bit slower. 2 of them, without some prior knowledge of Unreal I am not sure somebody could have started from the ground up with no experience and kept up. Previous comments: It would be beneficial to update this tutorial to 4.27.2 or later, maybe provide multiple options of later versions. There were some differences, settings / tools / etc. that when you were covering were different in later versions. Because of the differences in software, I did end up doing additional troubleshooting on my own which I will admit from an artists standpoint is beneficial. However, I try to think about students who have little to no 3D knowledge at all as well as the positioning of this specific tutorial being the Absolute Beginner Guide. Examples in software version differences became apparent starting in Section 5 with HDRI_Backdrop / Lighting / Light Sources and Camera Functions. I was able to work around by manually adjusting a lot of settings. It looks like this was mentioned a few times in the comments without complete resolutions. I also would call out, in Section 6 - Video 27 - The Scene we are going to create; in the clip you attached a weapon to the mannequins body but you did not display this anywhere in the tutorial. While it is not necessary for the overall effect, I think your knowledge on attaching weapons to the character and getting them to render would be beneficial to the viewer. This is something I sought out on my own for my render using one of the free packs in the marketplace. I also think spending even more time going over the basic tools at the very start of the tutorial could be helpful. Unreal can be an intimidating program the first time someone opens. All critiques aside, I would commend you on having what is arguably one of the most inviting tutorials I have experienced. Your voice is calming and reassuring, a lot of tutorials out there can be intimidating even if that is not what the instructor intended. It was supportive, even when things weren't going well. It was also impressive to see you not only recommend some random free 3rd party video editor (it is a good one), but to actually show us some of the basics. Don't see that too often. I also think the pacing was well done, it wasn't just going from step to step to step...you would take some pauses and admire the progress which does give the user a few moments to catch up and not constantly pause the video. It is obvious you enjoy what you do and helping others become better artists. Tutorials are never going to be the same experience for every user but that doesn't mean there isn't knowledge to be gained. I do have a few of your other videos, and look forward to taking them.

Really enjoying the class. It's really interesting and easy to follow. There are some random little areas where I get lost. Like turning the sky blue. It was pinkish. I figured out that for some reason I didn't have one of the features clicked. But I figured it out. When I press play to start the game the lighting is too bright. But I have to figure it out. This is a great way to establish beginning hands on lessons to help players grow and then they take it upon themselves to play around with it and learn from trial and error. Excellent beginner course!

This is a great beginner course. I found this very easy to follow as a complete beginner to Unreal Engine and the videos are short as well so you're not overwhelmed with information. It has everything you need to start doing your own cinematics, maybe having a video or two of how to move the character around and interact with stuff would be nice but I'm sure there are other tutorials and courses that can help with that. Also if you have a question he is quick to reply and you can ask about anything you're not sure about. So ye all in all it's a great course and I shall definitely be buying some of the other ones.

The course was good overall. I felt like some videos were drawn out longer than they needed to be, but I imagine it caters best to those who are learning UE specifically for animation and cinematography. What I took away from this course was a bunch of useful shortcuts within the engine, a basic understanding of how a level/map is constructed and an intro into animation, cameras etcs which I definitely will use, but I wouldn't say it's at the top of my priority list. In summary I'm glad I bought this and would happily recommend it to any UE4 green bean out there.

I have some experience with 3D modeling in Blender.Recently discovered Twinmotion from Unreal and started using it big time.But Unreal editor looked too complicated to me.This course changed my mind and now I'm in love with this software.To start with Unreal,I could not make a better pick.My favourite part is cinematic camera and soft box(rectangle) lighting.I do some DSLR photo and video so these 2 features are just gold.Will definitelly look for more courses from this instructor.

Michael Ricks course is on target for a first time UE user wannabe ... :-) His voice is an easy listen, and he is focused on presenting just what is in front of both him and his student - no trying to be extra clever, just doing / saying / being a good teacher. Pretty much on the strength of this intro I went ahead and bought his other courses, looking forward to working through those as well. Just noting: this is not a coding / blueprint intro, just a basic "get up to speed and see how easy it is to make something interesting. Exactly what I was looking for, "zero to hero" in no time (well, four hours of time) :-)

I have never used any game development software so this entire course was brand new material for me. Overall I think this was a really great course for a beginner. While the pace may seem slow to some, I actually liked that it allowed me to think a little bit on how I would use something or play around a little. Something about Michael's voice, his pace and the way he teaches actually reminded me a little of Bob Ross. I didn't give it five stars as the course is not as up to date as the software. I do understand though that software can update frequently posing a challenge for this. However, I ran into some problems with new options available around camera focusing. I was unable to duplicate as directed, even setting the exact coordinates to all objects to what Michael had in the video. Luckily I found a video from Unreal about updates to this feature. I ended up using the focus eye dropper to just easy select/focus instead. I think added notes to the video screen or in the materials would be helpful for added features to the updated versions.

I thought this was a very good introductory course. It teaches you the interface and basics and by the end you'll have a good idea of how to operate the Unreal Engine UI. This isn't a game design course, or a blueprint course, or anything like that, so if that's where you're after maybe look elsewhere. If you're an absolute beginner with Unreal Engine and don't know where to start, I'd recommend this course and then following it up with a specific game programming one after. Overall I'm happy with my purchase. Short, to the point, and covers most of the tools and UI basics.

I'm new to Udemy, and this is the second course I attempted. I started another one for absolute beginners but found that the explanation for absolute beginners was lacking and the instructor unresponsive to student questions for 4 months. However, the instructor for this course made everything the other instructor should have spelled out from the start crystal clear by his more than adequate explanation of how to properly set up a scene. I appreciate his enthusiasm and mastery of the subject and will definitely take more courses from him. If, in spite of my warning, you are thinking of taking the other absolute beginners course, which is more focused on game creation and moves rather quickly along, and you're actually an absolute beginner like me, I would suggest taking this course first. You'll be much better prepared to handle other courses covering topics related to Unreal Engine 4.23. Thank you, Mr. Ricks, you've made learning this previously obtuse subject a pleasure.

Hey Micahel, Its was really smooth and full of knowledge. Just one thing I wanted to point out hope you don't mind, I was hoping there were couple of videos about making some materials and adding different maps like normal, albedo, roughness etc...Otherwise it was an amazing journey with you. :-) It was my first ever online tutorial so I am really happy, I'll surely share with you after doing my project. Hope to get more interesting and informative videos from you. Also if you can help me out with any good from basic to intermediate level UE material tutorials I'll be really grateful. thanks again.