CG Cookie was awarded an Epic MegaGrant, get ready for Unreal-tasting cookies!
Oct 22nd 2020
For years, Citizens of the Cookie have been asking us for training that brings the Unreal Engine and Blender together. Something that I've always wanted to deliver, but simply have not been able to pursue... until now.
I'm excited to share that CG Cookie is an Epic Mega Grant recipient! We’re ready to make some Unreal-tasting Cookies! 🍪
Who is Epic?
Epic is, of course, the famed gaming studio and creator of some humble titles like Gears of War or Fortnite.
Oh, and who remembers Jazz Jackrabbit?
Jazz Jackrabbit aka best game ever (non-negotiable)Epic is also the owner of Unreal, an absolute beast of a gaming engine.
Unreal pairs so well with Blender because it is free for non-commercial use, making it a low-boundary software - just like Blender.
What are Epic Mega Grants?
Simply put, Mega Grants are a pledge of financial support by Epic for projects they find inspiring and beneficial for their community.
Thanks to its massive commercial success, Epic is in the fortunate position to support other creators out there - from game development to entertainment, and, of course, education.
In Epic's own words:
Epic Games has committed $100 million to support game developers, enterprise professionals, media and entertainment creators, students, educators, and tool developers doing amazing things with Unreal Engine or enhancing open-source capabilities for the 3D graphics community.
(By the way, if you have a potentially epic project, you can apply for a Mega Grant as well).
Why did CG Cookie get an Epic Mega Grant?
In the past 12 years, CG Cookie has become known for our high-quality Blender training and of course kick-arse community that makes it all possible.
CG Cookie is funded by members who purchase a subscription; that's what pays for our instructors, our support crew, and our servers.
Our main focus is on producing inspiring edutainment to keep our members engaged and learning - and we don't have much capacity to do anything else. And while we love teaching, we are also artists at the core who have that itch to create.
The Epic Mega Grant will enable us to secure additional resources and revisit an old passion project.
How will we use the Epic Mega Grant?
It's going to be a monster undertaking: creating something amazing while documenting the process along the way.
Don't worry, we won't be sheepish about the challenges, there will be plenty to eat consume. The result should be a pretty incredible bridge between the Blender and Unreal communities.
Huge thanks to Epic Mega Grant's team & you for supporting this rolling cookie over the years. #onward!
- Wes
I guess this is never going to be a thing. After three years and no news or comments surrounding this. What a letdown. :( I need to learn unreal too for work. and this would've been great for my pipeline.
Hey mmichael57, apologies to disappoint. We did make significant progress on the project last year, though we did have to pause progress for the time being, with full intentions to pick this back up as soon as we can.
http://eatsheep.com" target="_blank">http://eatsheep.com shares more of the visuals and progress on the project.
Storyboards were 100% completed with an animatic created with Blender Grease Pencil + hero characters created and rigged, along with a few ancillary characters and environment pieces.
I'm looking forward to the day to get this completed for the community and ourselves.
is this ever going to be a thing?
So when are we going to get the results of what the megagrant culminated into. A real lack of Unreal pipeline content here unfortunately
@wesburke Whoo, glad to hear it! Thanks a ton for the quick reply too, very impressed. I've spent the past couple weeks getting my feet wet in UE4 then made a new account here (I last touched CGCookie 8 years ago!) so I was thrilled to see you guys are getting involved in the engine. Crazy timing!
Any updates on this? Or room for community contributions? (Such as a new category in the forums perhaps)
that's terrific, will there be unreal engine tutorials now?
Great, I like that.
Congratulations everyone CCGCOOKIE
Congratulations!^^
I'm happy to see this. Blender and Game engine workflow is a topic I am very interested in. I would like to see more current training in the GameDev section and this will fit in nicely along with hopefully more Unity content too. Great news.