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The Complete Spark AR Course: Build 10 Instagram AR Effects (Udemy.com)

Become a Spark AR Developer by Building 10 Augmented Reality Camera Effects for Instagram using Spark AR Studio.

Created by: Ryan Hafner

Last updated September 2020

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What you will learn

  • Spark AR Studio - the most advanced augmented reality creation tool available
  • Create and publish your own augmented reality camera effects for Instagram (and Facebook)
  • Build augmented reality camera effects for your brand or clients
  • Be one of the first developers to join the AR revolution, an industry expected to be worth $165 billion by 2024

How it compares

Against the other 518 rated Udemy courses in Software Development on CourseDuck:

  • Rating4.5 out of 5higher than 41% of them
  • Reviews289#300 of 519 by number of reviews
  • Length7.2 hourslonger than 56% of them
  • Last updatedSeptember 2020earlier than 87% of them

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Course Description

Augmented Reality has become a foundational feature of the top social media platforms of today and is expected to be worth $165 billion by 2024. This focus on Social AR is expected to increase as Facebook/Instagram, Snapchat, and Tik Tok continue to compete for the world’s attention. This expectation has only been strengthened by Facebook/Instagram’s recent public rollout of Spark AR Studio - the only software tool available for creating Augmented Reality effects on their platforms.

Now is the time to get involved in this emerging industry, and position yourself as one of only a few people in the world capable of creating viral AR content for Facebook and Instagram. Social AR requires active participation from your audience, creating personalized content that resonates more strongly within their network. Whether you’re looking to sell effects to brands, grow your own following with more engaging content for your audience, or you just want to make fun content for your friends, Facebook and Instagram AR effects are an entirely new and exciting creative medium for you to stand out in your career, as an influencer, and as an artist.

This course is the only one of its kind, walking you all the way from learning the fundamentals of the Spark AR program to creating professional level effects, regardless of your background or prior experience. Your guide will be Ryan Hafner, an experienced industry professional who previously worked directly with Snapchat to launch new features on their AR platform.

See what some of our students are saying:

★★★★★ “After struggling through some Youtube tutorials on specific features, I went searching for an all-in-one step-by-step course. This was the only one I found and it turned out to be exactly what I was looking for.“- Hugh Osumi

★★★★★ “As a freelance graphic designer, I was looking for ways to stand out to potential clients. Once I finished this course, I started offering AR and got immediate interest from new clients.”- Tori Ratsep

★★★★★ “It really builds up quick. I started out with 0 knowledge of AR or programming but by the end of this course I was making crazy stuff.“ - Dean Krupla


Throughout our 7+ hours of course content, we’ll create 10 AR Camera Effects. In doing so, you’ll learn how to:

  • Track a user’s face in the camera feed and how to use FaceTracking to anchor 2D/3D content, like face masks and images, in your scene

  • Use Materials and Textures to create interesting visual experiences

  • Create, import, and animate 3D content, including rigged animations and BlendShapes

  • Use the Patch Editor and Javascript to program your effects to be more dynamic and interactive

  • Use Segmentation to separate your user from their background and place them in an entirely new environment

  • Create an interactive game, complete with sound effects and saved high scores

  • Manipulate user audio

  • Use the PlaneTracker to place a 3D scene in your user’s back camera view

  • Optimize, publish and promote your finished effects

2D, 3D, and other project assets will be provided for each effect. No experience with 3D modeling, image editing, or programming is required, although basic understanding of these skills and programs will help you progress more quickly.

If you want to develop a valuable new skillset in an industry poised to explode in the coming months or if you’re looking for a new creative outlet for your art, this is the course for you. Expand your digital media toolkit and level up from static 2D and 3D content to interactive and dynamic 3D experiences.

Facebook and other major companies have already confirmed they are developing AR glasses, which will allow people to see your AR creations without ever needing to hold up a phone - this is the future of digital media.


Take this course and start learning!

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Instructor Details

Ryan Hafner

Hi! I’m Ryan, a full time software and augmented reality developer and partner at Spinning Rock (formerly B3D Interactive). Spinning Rock is an internationally recognized augmented reality studio. We work with leading brands to create AR experiences and products that drive curiosity, engagement, and sales across all digital platforms. Spinning Rock is an industry leader in AR camera effects for Instagram and Snapchat, AR native applications, and web-based AR experiences/installations.


AR is the future - an infinite interactive canvas for anything you can possibly imagine, overlaid on top of our view of the the real world. It’s like VFX from movies, rendered in real-time through a smartphone camera. Through sharing our own AR content and packaging our techniques into online courses, we hope to help everyone use AR to create their own reality!

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Reviews

4.5

289 ratings on Udemy

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By Saurabh Jain on 12/2/2023

This is a superb course that covers all the features of Spark. Really Resourceful learning all the features is helping me understand where all I can apply these functions and create a unique experience different from what there is in the course. Unlike other tutorials on Youtube or Influencers which make you learn a specific feature this course is helping me understand the in-depth of Spark AR.

By Sebastian Morales Gomez on 12/29/2022

Excellent course. The practices are very useful for learning the easiest way.

By Mikolaj Tobjasz on 11/21/2021

I started my Spark AR journey with this course and now I'm Facebook Certified Spark AR Creator. Thanks a lot for it! ;) It was perfect to understand the basics and take look at a more advanced project It covers all important things in Spark AR that you can experiment with later.

By Aimee Katherine on 8/6/2020

I do not recommend this course if you're an absolute beginner. If you're a beginner and take this course, you may want to give up on Spark completely. However, if you already know all the Spark basics and how to use the templates, then this course is a nice add-on to learn about the inner workings of Spark filters.

By Jeremy Gass on 3/27/2020

This is an excellent resource and solid foundation for anyone interested in learning Spark AR. After completing this course, I have made over 40 unique effect filters with various kinds of functionality. Consider taking this course if you have skills in illustration, animation, or 3D modeling as well. *Even after the various updates to Spark AR this course remains essential learning Thank you!

By Sonya Kulyk on 2/11/2020

It's an informative course to get an overview of the program, but the way of his explanation is hard to follow. He just adds this and that, without an explanation why this particular choice works best.

By Víctor Moreno Gil on 1/20/2020

Pretty good reference material here! *I had some issues on the scripting part of lesson 75 as the transform.scale.x doesn't seems to work for me on the current spark version (v80), it works with transform.scaleX (both ways are at the spark documentation, so probably the issue is related to a bug of the current version) Hoping for a second course, maybe more examples of scripting logic for basic minigames starting with a more basic approach, I'm a little confused about how DDR game logic script part was conceived, but looks very interesting. Good job! :-)

By Bare Tree Media on 1/12/2020

I think this course will be a good match. So far it has been mostly review but I'm definitely picking up helpful hints! I think there are many spots where the video editing could be sharper. Sometimes we wait 20 seconds or so just watching a repetitive task, which could probably be skipped or sped up and explained after. Then sometimes there seem to be steps skipped without an explanation of what happened in between video cuts. Sometimes you start a train of thought and decide not to pursue it, or mention something and then deem it "not important at the moment", or try something which doesn't work quite as expected. These are all disorienting, and I'd appreciate if points like those were re-recorded on a different take so that the message of each video was more direct and seamless. You clearly know how Spark AR Studio works innately and the effects seem really creative. I am excited to keep going! Note at 50% completion: It's tough to follow sometimes because I can't read the patch names. I think the screen resolution should be improved, or perhaps some callout graphics could be implemented so it's easier to tell what the names and values of patches are.

By Douglas Vitto Gomes on 1/1/2020

The course is great so far (I completed 50%) If I had to choose one thing to improve, it would be to have more explanation about how the patches work behind the scenes - just to be easier for people to understand what is really going on. However, I understand why the instructor chose the method that he is teaching - it is easier for beginners that have 0 experience in coding.

By Pascal Monette on 10/21/2019

Great overview of the Spark AR workflow and features. The steps are easy to follow along. If you are a beginner, you will definitely be well equipped to create filters of your own and build upon what you learned through the course, and even if I did have some experience in Spark AR, I managed to learn a few things! The only thing is that I am a bit disappointed with the Section 10: DDR game. I understand scripting turns some people off, but I feel just going over the code doesn't quite cut it. Still, it is well worth the time and investment and I would definitely recommend this course!

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Overall Score : 90 / 100