Review of Core Materials & Shaders

I'm afraid, like others have said, I didn't think this was very good in terms of a 'course for beginners'. It reminded me of that "How to Draw an Owl" meme.

It is in essence a dry, technical glossary/reference and is not designed/delivered for beginners. It just assumes far too much and quickly jumps into complex shader node set-ups without grounding the user and building up their confidence with simple, structured exercises. 

One of the worst aspects of this course (imo) is that it is screen captured and then scripted voiceover is added in the edit. It creates a very unnatural, stilted experience - especially in places where the two aren't fully in-sync. I assume this is why many lessons are incredibly short? It also means that the tutor never uses their mouse to highlight settings etc. while explaining what they are doing and often I had no idea what was happening or where to focus my eye when the results were subtle because your eye looks to the settings being changed and doesn't focus on the result or visa versa. 

The end exercise finally provides the models that would have been much better if supplied and used as smaller individual exercises in the context of reinforcing your learning at the end of each lesson e.g. the candle, glass etc. In my view amending this course to set exercises for these 5 objects during the course and then setting a more complex still life scene as an end project to submit would be a huge win and relatively easily to implement.

I know this probably seems overly negative but as someone who's developed quite a few digital products/services I also know the value of honest user feedback.