Want to Create BLOCKBUSTER Films
WITHOUT the Hollywood Budget?
CREATE YOUR OWN
ACTION SCENES
Kickstart Your Filmmaking Dreams and Start Crafting Your Own Movies... Without Breaking the Bank!
Hey FILMMAKERS
and VFX ARTISTS!
I’m Josh Toonen
You might not recognize me… but you’ve probably seen my work!
Because for the last 8 years, I’ve been working as an Artist and Supervisor on Hollywood VFX for movies like Star Wars IX, Dungeons & Dragons,
and Across the Spiderverse
But THAT’s NOT Where I STARTED!
Ever felt like the odds of “making it” were stacked against you? Me too.
In fact, I grew up in a small town with zero industry connections…
and dropped out my first semester in college… sound familiar?
But, I had a burning passion for filmmaking and a love of cinema.
And I would stop at nothing until I learned how to make the films I loved watching at the movie theater.
But it wasn’t until I learned Unreal Engine 5
that I got to live my dream:
working on-set for the Virtual Production of Avatar the Last Airbender
There I was, controlling the World’s Largest LED Stage. Surrounded by studio lights, cinema-grade cameras, actors and extras. It was everything I'd dreamed of.
The massive sets. The buzz of the crew.
All working together to bring these Fantasy Worlds to life
and create the impossible!
It was like the movies I loved, but I was in them.
But HERE’S WHAT
THEY DON’T TELL YOU…
As a Filmmaker at heart,
each passing day turned into a gut punch of reality…
The state-of-the-art gear, the army behind every shot…
The scale of it all? MASSIVE. But the budget? ASTRONOMICAL.
Ever wondered how expensive it is? I didn’t want to believe it…
so I wrote down what it might cost you for just a single shoot day in LA
Let’s Budget an Average Shoot Day of an Indie Production
| Department | Breakdown | Cost per Day |
|---|---|---|
| Production Team | Director ($2,000), Producer ($2,000), Production Manager ($1,500) | $5,500 |
| Camera & Grip Team | DP ($2,000), Camera Operator ($1,200), Grips (3 x $400 each) | $4,400 |
| Equipment Rentals | Cameras, lenses, lights, grip truck, etc. | $35,000 |
| Art & Design | Production Designer ($800), Art Director ($800), Construction ($800) | $2,600 |
| Hair & Makeup | Hair Stylist ($600), Makeup Artist ($600), Wardrobe ($1,200) | $2,400 |
| Sound | Sound Mixer ($800), Boom Operator ($400) | $1,200 |
| Locations | Renting a modest location for shooting | $5,000 |
| Talent | 2 Lead Actors ($1,030 SAG-AFTRA minimum) and 5 Supporting Actors | $6,060 |
| Catering & Craft | Feeding approximately 30 crew and cast members | $2,500 |
| Miscellaneous | Insurance, permits, contingencies, transportation, etc. | $10,000 |
Total for one shoot day
$72,360
My jaw hit the floor. Maybe yours did too…
How in the world could filmmakers like us without multi-million dollar budgets
bring our epic visions to life?
So let’s go the indie route… that must be affordable, right?
What if you limit your vision, call in every favor, and hire half the crew…
Let’s BREAKDOWN
A “NO-BUDGET” SHOOT DAY
| Department | Breakdown | Cost per Day |
|---|---|---|
| Camera & Equipment | Sony FX3 Rental, Lenses, Gimbal | $1,000 |
| Director of Photography | DP and Focus Puller bringing their own gear | $1,200 |
| Grips & Electric | 2 Grips & Basic Electric (working on indie rates) | $800 |
| Sound | Sound Mixer with Equipment holding their own Boom Mic | $700 |
| Locations | Cheap rental and permit, or agreement with private owner | $500 |
| Talent | Local student actors working on indie rates | $600 |
| Catering | Wal-Mart catering for cast & crew (Cheez-Its and Pizzas) | $200 |
| Miscellaneous | Transportation, Insurance, minor unforeseen expenses | $400 |
Total for one shoot day
$5,400
So if you wanted to shoot for 10 days? Oh god…
A crushing truth hit me
To make the Blockbuster movies I had in my head,
I would need to raise thousands or even millions for a single film.
Thankfully, the answer to my problems was staring me right in the face…
UNREAL ENGINE 5
What if you could learn a completely free software
and never PAY FOR aNOTHER piece of film equipment ever again!
Never get shaky out-of-focus footage
Never rent another Camera
Never buy another Lens
What if instead you could film in any location in the world…
the Arabian Desert, Icelandic Glaciers, or a galaxy far, far away… all without leaving your room.
What if you didn't have to beg your friends to be your makeshift crew, only to deal with flaky commitments and amateur results?
You could eliminate all of it!
But more importantly…
What if you could have more creative freedom?
What if you could actually create the movies you want to watch?
would it be worth it?
GET STARTED TODAY
CREATE YOUR OWN ACTION SCENES
LEARN UNREAL 5
THE FUN WAY
A GUIDE FOR BEGINNERS TO
Create films inside of Unreal Engine 5
With 85+ video lessons and 12 hours of video training, you'll gain an in-depth, hands-on understanding of Unreal Engine's workflows and systems
We’ll cut through the confusion and focus on what matters most for
VFX and Filmmaking
YOU shouldn’t Feel Lost IN THE
COMPLEX WORLD OF UNREAL ENGINE
Maybe you’re a filmmaker wanting to take your movies and ideas to the next level
Maybe you're a VFX hobbyist, eager to level up your skills, but scattered YouTube tutorials aren’t solving your problems
Or you're an industry professional, comfortable with Maya, Cinema4D or Blender, but the transition to Unreal feels steep and intimidating
Then you’ve realized the learning path of Unreal and Virtual Production can be unclear.
Unreal Fundamentals is here to bridge the gap and guide your transformation.
100+ HAPPY STUDENTS
WHAT DO OUR STUDENTS SAY?
“I’m just halfway through the course and it's a huge difference. Very good intro to Unreal Engine for film!”
Guillaume Lebourg ★★★★★
3D Generalist at Sacrebleu Studio
“Dope! Easy to understand compared to other courses”
Tom Davis ★★★★★
Character Animator at Sony Imageworks
“I watched lessons on YouTube and tried to create my own video, But I learned a lot in this course. I have never worked with blueprints and niagara before.
Here I made 2 cool environments that I can show someone!
Mykola Levytskyy ★★★★★
CG Generalist at Heroic
What’s inside?
unreal fundamentals course
Transform Your Skills
-
FILMMAKER FOCUSED
Recreate on-set filmmaking techniques to make
films that feel true to life -
BUILD ENVIRONMENTS
We’ll break down the concepts to create your own sets by building four environments step-by-step
-
Character Workflows
Learn each module of the Character Pipeline by dissecting a real-world production case study
-
Understand Blueprints
Create artist-focused blueprints and learn an easy framework for troubleshooting
-
TECHNICAL + CREATIVE
You’ll understand the simple workflows and frameworks to create looks from your favorite Hollywood films
DON’T JUST LEARN CREATE!
Together, we’ll create four detailed environments from scratch and learn the complete Unreal Filmmaking workflow as you go!
By the end, you’ll be ready to create films complete with characters and animations
Avoid the pitfalls of troubleshooting alone and sifting through endless tutorials
Master the Fundamentals
Go from a beginner to creating your own animated films in days!
Learn where to download Characters and Environments for FREE
Learn how to “steal” existing animations and apply it to your characters
Create your own movie sets and environments along with me step-by-step
Build unbelievable Niagara and FX systems created from live-action footage
Design landscapes with advanced techniques using Landscapes and Modeling Tools
Animate characters in your own cinematic sequences
Start your career change
The tools to build a portfolio — learn the workflows to work
on-set or in-studio, giving you and future job prospects tangible evidence of your growth and new skills
YOUR JOURNEY STARTS TODAY
-
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CHAPTER 4 - Environments
Build an Environment from Scratch complete with Lighting and FX
By the end of this chapter, you’ll be ready to create environments on your own. -
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CHAPTER 5 - Characters
Master the complete Character Workflow in Unreal Engine.
Learn the workflow for indie Motion Capture. -
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CHAPTER 6 - Materials
This is the fast-track to mastering materials to turn your environments from flat, boring surfaces into cinematic sets
-
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Chapter 7 - Lighting
This is the secret ingredient. Lighting takes your work from amateur to pro.
Learn on-set techniques and how to recreate them in Unreal -
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CHAPTER 8 - NIAGARA
Create Drag and Drop VFX elements for your scenes.
Includes templates for spark hits, dust and debris, and dynamic gun tracer fire. -
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Chapter 9 - final project
Our final project built step-by-step! Create environment, assets,
and assemble a timeline for final animations and rendering. -
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CHAPTER 10 - RENDERING
Includes my Personal Nuke Render Template and 8 Rendering Presets.
Understand how to Render AOVs and comp in NukeX in ACES -
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CHAPTER 1 - GETTING STARTED
Whether you’re a VFX Artist or Filmmaker, let’s get you up and running fast in Unreal.
-
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CHAPTER 2 - THE BASICS
Create your first environment the right way.
We’ll start learning Unreal as we go. -
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CHAPTER 3 - GAME MODE
Beginners make mistakes because they skip over Game Dev.
Guess what. We’re using a Game Engine to make movies. Thankfully, you’ll create your own game in just 30 minutes and focus on what matters for VFX.
learn from A hollywood pro
MEET YOUR
NEW MENTOR
You’ll learn from me, Josh Toonen, a former Virtual Production Supervisor at Pixomondo and a Lead Unreal Operator on projects like Avatar the Last Airbender.
I’ll teach you exactly what it takes to achieve Hollywood-level VFX in Unreal Engine
because I’ve done it myself.
Learn from my 8 years of VFX experience as a Compositing Artist, Lead, and Supervisor on blockbuster movies like Star Wars IX: Rise of Skywalker, Deadpool 2, and Across the Spiderverse at studios such as ILM, MPC, and Framestore.
But CAN I BE HONEST WITH YOU?
I had a BIG decision to make when I started creating Unreal Fundamentals...
OPTION ONE
Whip up a short and cheap video course, like the countless other Unreal courses out there. They give you some of the answers but then throw you in the deep end.
It’s like paying for a puzzle with missing pieces.
Let me ask you… does a three-hour, $40 course sound like your gateway to creating Hollywood-worthy films?
Or will it just leave you with more questions than answers, sending you spiraling back into that never-ending YouTube vortex of outdated tutorials and confusing documentation?
That’s because most teachers out there haven’t actually worked in the industry, stepped on-set in Virtual Production, or even finished a film in Unreal Engine. It’s sad but true…
So I went with…
OPTION TWO
Overdeliver. Big time. I wanted to give you the FULL deck - a comprehensive filmmaking toolkit. This isn’t just any course. It’s every secret I've discovered, every template I've created, and a tried-and-true workflow that's battle-tested on real-world commercial film projects.
Why? Because I've been in your shoes. I've navigated the winding maze of Unreal, spending months connecting the dots...
And I spent years perfecting a fail-proof pipeline to churn out cinematic masterpieces
fast and efficiently.
I’m going to give you the entire roadmap. Introducing…
HERE’s EVERYTHING YOU GET BY STARTING TODAY!
UNLEASH YOUR INNER FILMMAKER
Learn the fundamental techniques by creating your own films and previs animations in this 12-hour video course. This is the core skillset needed to start working in studios or on-set in Virtual Production.
BLUEPRINTS SIMPLIFIED
We’ll demystify blueprints to create your own artist-friendly tools. No, you don’t have to learn to code, you just need to understand logic. No technical programming skills required.
$99 VALUE FREE
INSTANTLY IMPROVE YOUR RENDERS
Steal my EXACT compositing template that I use on commercial projects. This is the secret behind photorealistic VFX, and I’m giving it away completely for free in this program.
$99 VALUE FREE
but we didn’t stop there!
If you join Unreal Fundamentals today, you’ll also get…
RENDERING JUST BECAME EASY
Create lightning-fast renders with perfect color accuracy. Get full creative control with our AOV and Pathtracing presets.
$99 VALUE FREE
BECOME A MATERIAL MASTER
Two years of Unreal in a single template. Skip the guess work and start making Master Materials like a pro
$49 VALUE FREE
HOTKEYS FOR CINEMATICS
Create cinematics faster and discover Hotkeys
useful at every skill level in this handy guide!
$29 VALUE FREE
NEVER GET STUCK AGAIN
We’re still not done! We built resources so your learning never plateaus
THE FILMMAKER’S GLOSSARY
Cut through the confusion with simple, non-techy explanations of Unreal’s tools and menus. Here’s a written guide focusing on what matters most for filmmaking in Unreal
$49 Value FREE
A COMMUNITY OF FILMMAKERS
Have a question? Want feedback? Or maybe you’re trying to crew up for your next film. Join our private Unreal Fundamentals Discord and meet the next generation of filmmakers just like you.
$97/month Value FREE
WE EVEN BUILT A SEARCH ENGINE
Find any answer or technique with a simple search. We built our own AI-powered search engine so you can dig through our 12-hour video library and instantly jump to the right timecode!
PRICELESS FREE
That’s over $600 of bonuses for free
But we’re still not done! Now you have the resources, but it’s worthless if you don’t stick to it.
What if you had an Unreal Coach checking your progress
reminding you of the most important takeaways every single week?
LESSON RECAPS IN YOUR INBOX
Receive Daily Reminders to keep you on track and hold you accountable
Get Lesson Recaps of the info you don’t want to miss
Cheatsheets of key workflows like animation, materials, and rendering
Why does this help? The same reason your parents kept telling you to brush your teeth as a kid.
You need to be reminded more than you need to be taught.
Don’t get left behind! Now you’ll learn Unreal in a matter of days, not months or years.
UNREAL FUNDAMENTALS
Here’s everything you’ll get if you sign up today
- Video Course: 12-Hours and 85+ Lessons
- One-Click Compositing Template
- Lightning Fast Render Presets
- Blueprints for Beginners
- Material Cheatsheet
- Beginner's Hotkeys
- The Filmmaker's Unreal Glossary
- Private Discord Access
- Accountability & Daily Lesson Recaps
TOTAL VALUE: $1,218
But if you sign up right now you’ll get…
THIS SALE ENDS IN…
JOIN TODAY RISK-FREE
Get instant access to Unreal Fundamentals! Immerse yourself in the videos, templates, cheatsheets, and apply the techniques.
If you don't feel like you've just gained a Hollywood-grade toolkit that'll redefine your work,
just email us within 30 days. You'll get 100% of your money back.
We want to help you transform your skillset, and if this doesn’t deliver, we don't want your money. Period.
Heck, you don't even have to delete our insane templates and cheat sheets you downloaded.
That's how confident I am that Unreal Fundamentals
will be the best investment you've made in your career so far.
So go ahead. Make the leap. Because honestly, the only thing you've got to lose is staying stuck where you are, missing out on your next freelance gig, your next film, or never working on-set in Virtual Production. You’ve got 30 Days to decide if it’s right for you.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
-
YouTube is great, but for Unreal Engine, it doesn't always connect the dots for Filmmaking. They often lack the comprehensive, structured approach that is required to learn Unreal. When I first learned Unreal to create films, I got stuck constantly because I didn’t understand how the entire system worked together.
But if you value your time and want a structured, step-by-step roadmap built on years of industry experience, then this course is for you.
-
Look, it's not your fault it didn't work in the past. The VFX and game dev landscape is a maze of tools and outdated techniques. You need a roadmap built by someone who's been through it—that's where Unreal Fundamentals comes in. This is not just about tricks, it's about understanding the logic behind every step. We're not just putting a camera in your hand, we're teaching you how to be a better filmmaker.
-
Hey, even Spielberg didn't wake up one day knowing how to make blockbusters. This course is designed with filmmakers and VFX artists in mind. You don't need to be a genius or even know how to program! You just need to be committed.
-
If you've got a gaming PC, you're already set to roll. Ideally, you want a GPU with at least 8GB of VRAM.
But don't sweat it, start with what you've got and upgrade as you go. As you start landing commercial gigs with your new Unreal skills, you can reinvest and upgrade your rig. This course can literally pay for your hardware upgrades.
-
We're here for you. You’ll have access to our private Discord community, filled with animators, 3D artists, and filmmakers just like you to help troubleshoot or review your work!
Our entire course is searchable, meaning you can search for any topic or question and jump directly to the timecode of the answer.
-
Unreal Fundamentals is designed for Filmmakers new to 3D or VFX Artists comfortable with tools like Maya, Cinema4D, or Blender. You’ll learn the best practices for creating movies with characters in Unreal 5
Even if you’ve started learning Unreal, our goal is to ensure every student walks away with a deeper, practical understanding of Unreal Engine 5, tailored for high-end production in VFX, Animated Films, and Virtual Production.
-
Absolutely, click this link to view our entire syllabus with Chapters, Video Lessons, and Resources.
Start Today Risk-Free
100+ HAPPY STUDENTS
JOIN OUR Alumni of Industry Pros
“I’m just halfway through the course and it's a huge difference. Very good intro to Unreal Engine for film!”
Guillaume Lebourg ★★★★★
3D Generalist at Sacrebleu Studio
“Dope! Easy to understand compared to other courses”
Tom Davis ★★★★★
Character Animator at Sony Imageworks
“I watched lessons on YouTube and tried to create my own video, But I learned a lot in this course. I have never worked with blueprints and niagara before.
Here I made 2 cool environments that I can show someone!
Mykola Levytskyy ★★★★★
CG Generalist at Heroic
THIS SALE ENDS IN…
DON’T Get Left Behind!
We are only going to be offering all of these insane bonus materials
for a limited time.
Get started today and unlock our full filmmaking toolkit.
Still on the fence? The biggest risk isn’t your investment, it’s staying stagnant while the tech and the industry moves on without you. So get started and see if this course is right for you on the inside!
It's a no-brainer
Master the Fundamentals
Create advanced materials from start-to-finish
Construct artist-friendly blueprints, demystifying this powerful tool
Build Niagara and FX systems created from live-action footage
Animate in Sequencer for compelling cinematic sequences
Build your at-home renderfarm with Movie Render Queue, and learn the building blocks of studio-grade render pipelines
Render AOVs and composite them seamlessly inside of Nuke in ACES with perfect color accuracy