CGMA, Gnomon or other online courses?

[LaleAnn]

Hi guys!

I've been wanting to take online classes for a while now and I think it's time for me to start. I'm mostly thinking about CGMA's "Foundation & Design Program" and Gnomon's "Entertainment Design" courses.

The thing is, I can't tell which one's better and i would love to have some of your insights and have the opinion of people who've previously enrolled to these classes.

Also if you have any other courses to advise me, I'de be glad to hear about it! :)

Btw, I'm mostly interested by character/entertainment design, using Photoshop.

Thank you!!

[par gin]

I'm getting ready to take some CGMA classes at the beginning of next month, but I haven't taken any yet. I picked them because of the quality of student work and professors and because of the relatively low cost, which is about what you'd pay at a junior college somewhere. The cost is low enough that, if I were you, I wouldn't be afraid of taking one and seeing how you like it. Other options are schoolism.com and the Oatley Academy on chrisoatley.com. I know Chris Oatley's "Magic Box" digital painting class is like $19 a month! I've seen a lot of people doing conceptart.org's "Level Up" thing, but I don't know much about it or what it is.

First, you might take a look at ctrlpaint.com and see what you can learn from there, since it's free. I also wouldn't be afraid of Frankenstein-ing an education together from a bunch of different resources such as these sites, books, college classes, youtube, whatever you can find.

[Psychotime]

I've taken two CGMA classes. One for character design and another for storyboarding. I enjoyed them, but you get out of it what you put into it.

[LaleAnn]

Thank you guys!

Yeah @Psychotime, that's what it is with online classes without a direct contact with the teacher..

@Par Gin: Thanks, I was subscribed to the Oatley's Magic Box last year but it didn't work well for me 'cause there's no supervision or "obligations"/deadlines to meet. I need a frame to work in.

I've been self taught for years now, went to New York for a few traditional courses and a year in a (lame) art school here in Switzerland and I keep following every useful tutorials/livestreams I can.. But it's not enough anymore, I need some education now and the online classes out there seem to me to be the best choice I can make right now. I'm finally taking this very seriously and I intend to put it the right amount of effort. :)