Last week, the final participants from our Introduction to Compositing cohort finished up their work placements. Starting 22nd June, this in-house course ran for six weeks and combined lectures, hands-on demonstrations, and self-directed learning with assignments. Our lecturer Dave Thomas, a Lead Compositor at SSVFX, covered core topics such as the fundamentals of rotoscoping and effective use of Nuke. Our cohort of 15 talented individuals worked with a variety of footage on which to practise their new skills. Throughout the course, participants submitted their scripts and shots and received regular, individual feedback to support their progress. The six weeks of training was followed by a two-week paid work placement in a Dublin studio. We placed the participants across five studios: SSVFX, Outer Limits, EGG VFX, Elephant Goldfish, and First Element.
This course was run in partnership with the National Talent Academy for VFX, Cultural & Creative Industries Skillnet, VFX Ireland, Skillnet Ireland’s Skills Connect, and Amazon and was coordinated by CMAI.
“This course is a great first step into learning compositing with Nuke! The tutorials could be completed at your own pace, and being in a studio with professionals you could ask questions to was invaluable!
Caoimhe, June 2026 cohort
I would highly recommend this course to anyone considering VFX. You can go from knowing almost nothing to being at the very least a Junior in the industry.
Oscar, June 2026 cohort
Participants began their training in June and then started their work placements across the month of August, with all placements completed by the end of September. The trainees particularly noted the quality of the training and found Dave’s tutorship to be invaluable. The studios were impressed with the talent and commitment all the participants, and several were invited to extend their work contracts with their respective studios.
The structure of the course provided by Dave was really good and hands on which I really appreciated, I liked that it was a learning by doing rather than a lecture explaining things. The fact that Dave was giving continuous feedback on each submission, and different tricks and techniques that aren't as common were also really good.
Patryck, June 2026 cohort
Our aim and intention with this scheme were to equip the next generation of VFX artists with the skills and access necessary to build a successful career in the industry. There was a large number of applications and a great amount of interest in facilitating another round. Keep your eyes peeled on the National Talent Academies website or subscribe to our newsletter to see what we’ve got up our sleeve!
