From beginner to portfolio-ready: How CGI School trains future 3D artists with Chaos tools

Summary:

• CGI School is a Ukraine-based institute that teaches foundational 3D skills during its month-long CGI BootCamp.

• The school has taught over 1,000 Ukrainian students across its campuses in Kyiv and Lviv.

• CGI School uses Chaos Education licenses to introduce students to real-world tools, starting with Corona and optionally progressing to V-Ray.

• Students graduate with portfolio-ready pieces of work for their next steps onto paid projects.

Founded in 2014, CGI School has helped over 1,000 Ukrainian students take their first steps into 3D visualization. With campuses in Kyiv and Lviv, the school is known for its intensive, practical approach, going beyond theory to help students build skills quickly through real tasks, guided feedback, and a clear step-by-step path from beginner to portfolio-ready.

At the center of that approach is CGI BootCamp, a focused track that teaches 3ds Max from scratch and culminates in a final project based on a real client brief, an outcome students can confidently share with prospective employers. The mission is simple: make professional 3D learning feel achievable, even for complete beginners, while offering a pathway for students eager to push further.

To support that journey, CGI School uses Chaos tools: Corona helps beginners achieve strong results quickly, while V-Ray offers deeper control and advanced workflows. As the curriculum evolves, CGI School is expanding into animation and real-time exploration with Vantage, giving students new and interesting ways to iterate, present, and bring scenes to life.

Why the learning model works: the mentor’s take

One of the mentors for CGI BootCamp is Veronika Ukrainets, a CGI BootCamp graduate who went on to lead a team of 40 artists at a visualization studio before returning to CGI School as a mentor. For the last six years, Veronika has been teaching 3ds Max alongside Chaos tools like V-Ray and Corona.

As Veronika explains, the BootCamp is designed to remove friction for total beginners by pairing structure with momentum. It’s built as an offline, intensive, and full-immersion course, and follows a blended learning approach—combining in-person practice with mentors and independent work at home. “The focus is heavily on hands-on learning,” Veronika says. “Practical tasks make up the majority of the program, and students start working on real exercises from day one.”

That structure makes it easier for beginners to build confidence as they progress, while the in-person format creates an immediate feedback loop. “They can ask questions and get answers right away, share their progress, and stay motivated by comparing their results with classmates,” Veronika explains.

A typical day reinforces that rhythm with short, focused 54-minute tasks and consistent mentor access. Students have six of these sessions per day, with an hour-long lunch break in between. After the day’s final task, students have time to troubleshoot anything they might still be struggling with during a Q&A session. Their mentor uses this time to walk students through common challenges with step-by-step instructions for solving them. “It’s one of the most valuable parts of the day and helps students really lock in what they’ve learned.”

All of this aligns with Veronika’s teaching approach, which emphasizes principles rather than isolated topics, helping students understand how things work and how to think through a task.

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One pipeline, multiple learner levels

CGI School’s choice of tools was built around one goal: helping beginners get high-quality results quickly, without capping what advanced students can achieve later. This is why its rendering pathway is a progression, matching tools to the student’s stage.

Start simple: Corona for early wins

When CGI School first opened, the curriculum was centered on V-Ray for 3ds Max. Although it was a powerful combination, over time, the school adopted Corona as its primary renderer, finding it a better fit for newcomers. “Now, most students are learning in 3ds Max with Corona,” explains Veronika. “Corona is more accessible for beginners and makes it easier to achieve a high-quality result.”

In an education setting, accessibility matters. Corona is designed to help new users get started quickly, meaning students can focus on the creative fundamentals like lighting, materials, and composition without getting lost in the technical complexity. Chaos also provides learning resources that support students as they build their skills inside—and outside—the BootCamp curriculum.

Go deeper: V-Ray for advanced workflows

At the same time, CGI School offers options for students eager to have more control and a broader set of workflows. “Students who want to dive deeper into V-Ray absolutely can—we give them that opportunity later on in the course,” says Veronika. Providing this opportunity gives students another skillset for their transition into the workforce, especially for learners who want to specialize and push toward more technical, customizable photorealism.

Add motion: Vantage for real-time exploration

Looking ahead, CGI School is once again expanding, this time going beyond still imagery into animation and real-time scene exploration. “Now, we’re starting to incorporate animation and Vantage training more into our program.” Vantage is designed to let artists explore V-Ray and Corona scenes in real time in a 100% ray-traced environment, making it easier to test camera angles, iterate quickly, and create presentations and animations.

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Outcomes that matter to institutions

CGI BootCamp is designed to produce outcomes that extend beyond the classroom. Students graduate with work they can show, skills they can validate, and a clear next step if they want to keep growing.

First, the BootCamp is structured around a career-relevant deliverable. “By the end of the course, students complete a capstone project modeled after a real client brief—giving them not just hands-on experience, but also a standout piece to showcase in their portfolio..” That emphasis on a real-world end result is reinforced throughout the program, with students building fundamentals in modeling, then moving on to materials and lighting, and finally constructing a scene from scratch.

Second, graduates gain an added layer of credibility through certifications. “One of the key differences is that CGI School is an authorized Autodesk Certification Center,” Veronika says. “This means that graduates receive official certificates that validate their 3ds Max skills at an international level, something that can really help when applying for jobs worldwide.”

Third, the course is positioned as the start of a longer journey in 3D, not a one-and-done. “The BootCamp is just the beginning,” Veronika notes, explaining that students can continue through an advanced training program designed to help them grow into senior-level 3D artists. “There’s a strong focus on long-term development here, not just a quick crash course."

Finally, because CGI School is offline and in-person, there’s a real emphasis on community alongside the curriculum. “CGI School is more than just a place to study,” Veronika says. “Students, alumni, and mentors not only learn together but also unwind and grow together.” The school supports this through regular get-togethers, from board game nights and cooking classes to sports training, so students leave not only with skills but also with connections they can carry forward as their careers progress.

In Ukraine, students are learning under constant stress, but as Veronika notes, developing a skill like 3D visualization can help students shift focus away from the news. “It’s also a flexible profession,” she says. “All you need is your computer. You can work from anywhere, stay close to your loved ones, and still be connected to a like-minded creative community.”

A blueprint other institutions can borrow

CGI School’s approach is a useful model for any education program seeking to teach industry-ready visualization skills without overwhelming beginners.

At a high level, the path is simple:

• Design for forward momentum: Full-immersion, offline learning paired with independent practice at home keeps students moving while building autonomy.

• Make learning task-based from the start: Practical exercises do most of the teaching, so students build confidence through repeated wins.

• Build feedback into the schedule: Short, focused work tasks and a dedicated end-of-day Q&A with a mentor help students troubleshoot quickly and lock in what they learned.

• Use tool progression in line with skill level: Corona lets newcomers reach high-quality results faster, while V-Ray is an option for students ready to go deeper.

• Bring the course together with a real deliverable: Tackling a real-world brief for their final project ensures graduates finish with practical experience and a polished result ready to present to potential clients or employers.

As CGI School expands into animation and real-time exploration with Vantage, it’s demonstrating how programs can evolve beyond still imagery, adding new ways for students to iterate, present, and bring scenes to life.

Wrapping up

For CGI School, the goal was always to make 3D training achievable by helping beginners build confidence quickly and providing next steps for ambitious students. With a pipeline that scales from Corona to V-Ray, and now into real-time exploration with Vantage, the school teaches industry-aligned skills and keeps learning focused on results that graduates can take into the job market.

For education institutions looking to bring these tools to their curriculum, Chaos offers education licensing and learning resources designed to support classroom delivery, whether they’re teaching foundational visualization or building an advanced track.