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Unreal Engine

  • Level(s) of Study: Short course
  • Course Fee:

    £495 / £585

  • Start Date(s): 12 August 2026, 9 June 2027
  • Duration: Wednesday to Friday 10 am - 4 pm, three days
  • Study Mode(s): Part-time
  • Campus: City Campus
  • Entry Requirements: More information
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Introduction:

Course dates:

12 - 14 August 2026, Wednesday to Friday 10 am - 4 pm, three days

9 - 11 June 2027, Wednesday to Friday 10 am - 4 pm, three days

Bring your virtual worlds to life with this hands on introduction to landscape creation in Unreal Engine.

This course is designed for beginners who want to master the tools and techniques used to craft beautiful, realistic environments from the ground up.

You’ll explore how to sculpt terrain, paint materials, and populate your scene with natural details like foliage, rocks, and lighting.

By the end of the course, you’ll have the confidence to design immersive digital landscapes ready for animation, film, games, or virtual experiences.

  • You’ll be part of a design community in our creative studio culture; one that promotes discussion and collaboration and encourages experimentation and the constant swapping of ideas.
  • With a limited class size, you'll have the one-to-one attention you need to ensure you leave with the skills to continue developing your designs at home or work.
  • Benefit from learning with an experienced tutor who has established links to the profession and significant experience working in varied practices.
  • On successful completion of the course you will receive a certificate of attendance.

What you’ll study

This practical course introduces you to the fundamentals of creating compelling 3D environments in Unreal Engine. You’ll start with the basics of terrain sculpting and gradually progress towards building a detailed, cinematic landscape scene.

Through guided, step-by-step exercises, you’ll explore the full landscape workflow; from shaping the terrain to applying realistic materials, adding foliage and atmospheric effects, and capturing your final environment using Unreal Engine’s powerful Sequencer tool.

During this course, you will:

  • learn the software in depth and have a solid understanding of 3D creation
  • understand the software interface
  • gain confidence navigating the software and managing your own projects
  • experiment creatively to design unique and visually stunning environments
  • develop a professional-quality scene you can showcase in your portfolio.

By the end of the course you’ll have developed a fully realised 3D landscape that demonstrates your new skills, from terrain sculpting and material painting to lighting and composition. You’ll understand how to take a project from a blank canvas to a finished, portfolio ready environment, while gaining valuable insight into professional 3D workflows used in animation, design, and virtual production.

Here’s a breakdown of what you’ll study during the course.

Begin your journey by exploring the Unreal Engine interface and essential tools for landscape creation. You’ll set up your first project, learn to navigate the workspace, and understand the principles of scale, lighting, and camera movement. You’ll also start sculpting your terrain and shaping your virtual world using a variety of landscape tools.

Develop your landscape by applying materials, textures, and foliage to give your scene visual depth and realism. You’ll learn how to paint natural surface layers such as grass, soil, and rock, and use the Foliage Tool to populate your world with trees, plants, and other natural elements. This session focuses on blending creativity with technical know-how, ensuring your environment looks authentic and performs efficiently.

In the final session, you’ll transform your scene into a visually striking environment ready for presentation. You’ll experiment with lighting, post-processing, and environmental effects to enhance mood and realism. Then, using the Sequencer, you’ll learn how to create dynamic camera movements and export a cinematic render that showcases your finished landscape in its best light. By the end, you’ll have a complete, portfolio-ready project demonstrating your new Unreal Engine skills.

How you’re taught

You’ll learn through a series of practical, project-based workshops in a small, supportive group. Each session is designed to help you achieve tangible progress and add new elements to your final environment.

This course will be delivered in person on Nottingham Trent University city campus.

Contact hours

You will receive 20 contact hours of quality tuition with an experienced tutor.

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Tutor profile

Tasneem Guendouz is a 3D specialist and a Senior Immersive Media Technician at NTU, where she combines her creative and technical skills effectively. With a First-Class Honours degree in Animation, she applies 3D animation principles to her work in motion capture, virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and 3D environment development. Tasneem is also a part of the Virtual Production team, and her role is to create 3D models and build environments.

Before her current role, Tasneem worked as an Animation Technician, helping students develop their skills in 2D, 3D, and stop-motion animation. She also established a successful freelance career, teaching Maya, Unreal and Twinmotion online, furthermore collaborating on various projects both nationally and internationally.

With over four years of experience teaching Twinmotion and Unreal Engine, she is a skilled educator dedicated to fostering student growth.

Careers and employability

This course provides a strong foundation for anyone aspiring to work in 3D design, animation, game development, architecture, or virtual production. You’ll gain practical, industry-relevant skills that can be applied across creative and technical disciplines.

Many students choose to progress to other 3D and design courses at NTU to further develop their expertise.

Certificate of attendance and digital badge

Upon successful completion of the course, you will receive a digital certificate of attendance and a digital badge powered by Accredible.

Your digital credential is more than just a certificate – it’s secure, verifiable, and protected against fraud through encryption and blockchain technology.

They also come with detailed metadata, including an overview of the skills you have achieved on the course, evidence of completion, and assessment criteria if appropriate.

Share your achievements seamlessly with friends, customers, and potential employers online, and proudly add your badge or certificate to social media platforms such as LinkedIn, so all the right people can see it.

Campus and facilities

You will be based in the School of Art & Design Building in a creative Environment on the City Campus.

You’ll work in our spacious IT suites equipped with industry standard software including Autodesk Maya, Unreal Engine, Blender, Houdini, Cinema4d, ZBRUSH, and Adobe Creative Cloud.

You will receive an email one week before the course starts with joining instructions on where to go for the first day.

You’ll also have access to our library to use outside of your short course; whilst you can’t reserve or take away books, you are welcome to use them as a resource for research and referencing.

Entry requirements

No prior experience with Unreal Engine is required, although some familiarity with 3D software can be helpful. You should have basic computer skills and be comfortable navigating Windows operating systems and file management.

You must be over the age of 18 in order to attend this course.

Fees and funding

The fee for this course is £495.

Payment is due at the time of booking - ask us if you'd prefer an invoice sent to your company.

Your course fees cover the cost of studies and include great benefits such as the use of our modern library and free use of the IT equipment and software on the campus during your course.

You will also need to bring with you a USB stick for saving your work.

You can read the terms and conditions of booking here.

Looking for accommodation?

You can read about short-stay options on the Visit Notts website:

Where to Stay - Visit Nottinghamshire

How to apply

You can book this course via the NTU online store:

12 - 14 August 2026, Wednesday to Friday 10 am - 4 pm, three days

9 - 11 June 2027, Wednesday to Friday 10 am - 4 pm, three days

Browse all our design and digital arts short courses.

Any questions?

Contact the short course team: