WHY Coaching WITH Alexander?
I will give you a straightforward, skip the nonsense, clear advice on how to grow in your creative field through technical thinking, scripting, personal development, portfolio and branding.
My experience is build through an academic background (media computer science, BSc and Technical Director, Diploma) combined with 6+ years of working with the industry leaders and countless hours of research, practice and trial&error. This is me sharing my straight up business experience to help you with your challenges as a creative entrepreneur.
Additional to my working experiences, open source pipeline, YouTube tutorials, articles and blog posts, I am also enrolled in regular speeches at events (FMX, Effects America, Siggraph Munich), Masterclasses, company and private coaching for years now. So you can feel assured that I bring the right amount of background with me to help you succeeded in your future path. Sharing knowledge and giving value are two of my core fundamentals which also means I am evolving every day to advance in the art of coaching and success.
If you’re looking to jump head past the trials and tribulations of running a creative practice, want to add to your working and personal development or feel the call of changing direction, then coaching with me is what you need.
WHY Coaching WITH Alexander?
I will give you a straightforward, skip the nonsense, clear advice on how to grow in your creative field through technical thinking, scripting, personal development, portfolio and branding.
My experience is build through an academic background (media computer science, BSc and Technical Director, Diploma) combined with 6+ years of working with the industry leaders and countless hours of research, practice and trial&error. This is me sharing my straight up business experience to help you with your challenges as a creative entrepreneur.
Additional to my working experiences, open source pipeline, YouTube tutorials, articles and blog posts, I am also enrolled in regular speeches at events (FMX, Effects America, Siggraph Munich), Masterclasses, company and private coaching for years now. So you can feel assured that I bring the right amount of background with me to help you succeeded in your future path. Sharing knowledge and giving value are two of my core fundamentals which also means I am evolving every day to advance in the art of coaching and success.
If you’re looking to jump head past the trials and tribulations of running a creative practice, want to add to your working and personal development or feel the call of changing direction, then coaching with me is what you need.
Interview & Negotiation
A rare opportunity to step up your interview and contract negotiation style and to become more successful in the final stage of the hiring process. Get a job in the Visual Effects, Animation and Games. Learn how to change your mindset, update the way you present yourself, and create a clear and successful plan to get the right contract.
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Become confidant in interviews
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Practice interviews with feedback
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Learn contract negotiation
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3 hours of personal coaching
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Establish your personal goal
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20+ pages book
Interview & Negotiation
A rare opportunity to step up your interview and contract negotiation style and to become more successful in the final stage of the hiring process. Get a job in the Visual Effects, Animation and Games. Learn how to change your mindset, update the way you present yourself, and create a clear and successful plan to get the right contract.
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Become confidant in interviews
-
Practice interviews with feedback
-
Learn contract negotiation
-
3 hours of personal coaching
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Establish your personal goal
-
20+ pages book
Coding with Style
Python Advanced
Feedback
Check out my YouTube channel for more cool content.
Python
Advanced
VFX | Animation | Games
This eight weeks masterclass teaches you how to use Python professionally in Visual Effects, Animation and Games. Advance to the next level of scripting and become a Technical Artist or Technical Director building valuable tools and applications that help you, your career and your team into the future.
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10 hours video training
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4 hours Live Q&A
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Chapter assignments
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Personal code feedback
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250+ page book
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Private Discord community
Work on Breathtaking Productions
Python is an integral part, an impactful skillset and a huge asset in any Visual Effects, Animation and Games production. Suddenly you are able to create helpful and complex tools on big budget movies and games that make your and your team's workflow faster and easier.
You will hear "Thank you! 💚" a lot.
The biggest challenge is to advance from where you are now to where you want to be. How do you get to the highest production level worthy of the best studios? How do you work on the most desirable projects in the world? Without guidance it is a hard path with a lot of twists and turns. It is easy to get lost and lose motivation in the coding jungle. What do you need to know to become a (better) Technical Artist or Technical Director?
Let me guide you to a successful career in the industry!
Python beginner or need more practice?
Check out the starter masterclasses:
Your Roadmap
MODULE 01
Advanced Tools
01
Before starting our game-changing journey, you need to prepare your environment and learn how to use it on an advanced level. We will cover familiar, unfamiliar and parts that are surprisingly essential for our progress.
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Learn the most important advanced tools and how to use them efficiently in your work
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Explore the exact workflows professionals use to get the most out of their tools
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Examine the most common and helpful plugins, shortcuts, tips and tricks
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Integrate git into your workflow to work on a higher production level
Module 2
Coding Style
02
Like a spoken language with proper pronunciations, coding style creates a better understanding of what someone else is saying. It adds a layer of clearness, collaboration, care and it can also be fun to pull off while developing a well structured codebase. Coding style is essential in production and team work.
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Understand the professional module structure and how tools are build
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Unravel the chaos of your scripts and make them collaborative and team ready
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Integrate documentations and comments into your code workflow
Module 3
Advanced Python
03
The moment your scripts start to fulfill more key tasks, are shared regularly and even worked on by multiple developers; collaboration and optimization become more and more vital. Suddenly it is a necessity to write systematic code and to structure away from the one module solution or the top to bottom approaches. To realize this you have to create interconnected, more robust but dependent modules that live as part of a system and use what is there instead of reinventing the wheel each time.
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Understand the importance of classes and how to use them in your scripts
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Learn to control your tools with configuration files and to save your data in data files
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Optimize and cultivate an advanced Python workflow using professional practices
Module 4
UI & PySide 2
04
Graphic User Interfaces (short GUI) create the bridge between the intentions of the developer and the goals of artist. It is a way to add options to the application so it can be used in different ways; according to the users needs. Creating an intuitive and easy to handle UI is an artform in itself and should be part of your time investment when developing an application which interacts with a user.
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Understand how to build software independent and beautiful User Interfaces using PySide 2
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Design UIs easily with the QtDesigner and integrate them into your Python code
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Build your app from scratch with a professional UI
👑 Assignments + Q&A + Support 👑
✍️ 1. Assignments & Personal Code Reviews
Each module has variety of assignment to practice the newly learned content. The assignments start with a simple practice and moves to more practical applications. Each assignment is followed by a review video that gives you personal feedback on what was great and what needs to be improved in the future; the best way to learn and to progress.
🛠️ 2. Create your own application
One of the goals of this masterclass is for you to finish one application on a professional level. It adds a practical element to your progress and is a great gateway into your future positions since it allows you to show (not just tell) your new Python level.
📚 3. Digital book
Over 250+ digital pages cover the most important topics in professional scripting and enhances the video recordings. The book will summarize the masterclass while adding a variety of additional topics and references for dozens of hours of new material. Like to have a peek? Click here!
🙋♂️ 4. Personal Live Q&As
Each of the Q&A calls will have ample opportunity to ask me any questions you need to know to continue your personal progress. The calls will be recorded so you can ask your questions beforehand and watch them later even if you are not able to participate.
👨👧👦 5. Community Support via private Discord
You’ll get access to our private Discord Support Community where you can ask and answer questions while connecting with fellow TAs and TDs from all around the globe. It is important to get and give feedback even after the masterclass and to work in a community to build a substantial career path.
📑 6. Masterclass Certificate
All students who successfully completed the masterclass with feedback are granted a masterclass certificate to include in your future applications.
Python
Advanced
is perfect for me if
✅
You're on your way to become a Technical Artist or Technical Director in VFX, Animation and Games.
Mentoring and guidance are key elements of learning so you know what to learn, get feedback on your progress and how it is done best.
✅
You want to earn more money ($70k+) and have a stable career in the film or games industry.
The technical departments are the most stable job positions in the industry, they have the highest status and are paid the best.
✅
Your goal is to work on amazing projects (Avatar 3, Toy Story 5) in exceptional companies (ILM, Weta Digital).
This masterclass will teach you everything you need to know on the Python side to work on mid to big productions.
✅
You want to advance your work, support your team and your company.
Writing advanced Python code adds a new level of production quality and speed; it is also a fantastic way to support your team (as a leader).
Python
Advanced
is NOT for me if
😴 1. You're not willing to put in the time and effort to successfully complete the assignments with engagement and only want to learn through watching and osmosis.
🐍 2. You're still a Python beginner or an artist who just wants to code small tools. To follow along and to get the most out of this masterclass you should have a minimum of 1 year of Python experience and starting to hit the ceiling of your progress. Check out my beginner masterclasses Python for Maya, Python for Max and Python for Nuke. If you are unsure: Send me a message with a code example and I can give you a personal assessment.
☕ 3. You're looking for a magic bullet that will shortcut your career and let incredible job offers pilling at your doorstep. There's no secret here. It's about putting in the work, doing it consistently, and following a path that is on one side yours and on the other side proven to work.
🤑 4. You're looking for a guaranteed path to financial ($100k+ income) and job stability. There are no guarantees in this industry (especially this one). If you want to earn a lot of money I would recommend to switch to the software and tech industry; though the knowledge of this masterclass will actually help you there as well.
Having said all of that, one thing I can guarantee: If you put in the hours, create helpful tools and apps, and do this consistently for 1 - 2 years, your life will upgrade. I can't put a number on it (no one can) and it will be different for everyone but if you can stick with this for 2+ years, you'll learn useful skills, others will recognize them, you'll make a good living, meet amazing people from all over the world and work on unbelievable projects. You might even get messages from your relatives about how they enjoyed the movie or game you've worked on.
My only objective for this masterclass is to give the necessary tools, perspective, options and create opportunities. If that sounds like something you'd like, I'd love to have you. If it's not what you're looking for, then sorry for wasting your time in reading this far, and I wish you the very best of luck.
Regardless, feel free to email me if you need a hand with anything. 💚
Advanced code made my career!
Suddenly I found myself looking at the screen and working on Avatar 2 at Weta Digital and was wondering how I got here in just 2 years. 2 years prior I was the only Technical Director in a small regional company, writing helpful pipeline scripts and trying to catch up with the production demands.
I didn't always work in mid to big sized studios. Originally I studied media computer science and used to work in the IT department of a small animation studio in Hamburg. Until one day an opportunity arose and a Technical Director asked me: “Do you know how to script in 3ds Max?” and I was like: “Kind of.” That was apparently enough to convince him and he took me under his wing and taught me my first share of production scripting in animation.
A year later I enrolled at the Filmakademie BW to study Technical Directing and became the pipeline TD for my whole year - no one seemed to wanted this job. It was a blast and I enjoyed being able to plan the technical workflows and make things work smoothly for the all teams. During that time I developed my own first pipeline (Plex) for the short VFX film Breaking Point and was awarded with the VES Award 2017.
My advanced Python skills opened the doors for me to work as a Technical Director for Weta Digital, Framestore and Mackevision coding for Avatar 2 and the Monsters at Work (Disney-Pixar) series while teaching Python at ArtFx and CGMA. It became clear to me that my success came from my advanced coding skills and that it opened rare opportunities for which others had to work their whole live to arrive. That is also why I created this masterclass to share what I've learned and to give the same opportunities to others as was given to me.
Pick a plan and let's start with your change today!
Alexander Richter
Alexander is a VES Award winning Technical Director and Coach with 8+ years of experiences in the Visual Effects, Animation and Games industry. I worked for Weta Digital (Avatar 2), Framestore (Pearl Quest), Mackevision, ArtFx and many more.
Technical Director (Lighting | Pipeline)
{VFX Feature} Technical Director (Pipeline)