Tech ART TRACK
Technical Art spans a wide range of skills across art, code, and real-time systems.
At Hard Edge, you’ll be mentored by a Technical Art Director working in AAA, learning exactly what studios expect from day one.
This is the only Unreal Technical Art Course you will need.
We focus on building:
Practical, production-ready skills
Strong portfolio work
The mindset required to operate in a real team
What You’ll Get
Targeted training in Shaders, Blueprints, Performance Optimisation, and Tools Development
Personalized mentorship to build studio-ready projects
CV and portfolio reviews based on real hiring standards
Interview preparation tailored to Technical Art roles
Core Skills Covered
Shaders & VFX
Blueprints (gameplay systems and tooling)
Performance optimisation and profiling
Python and C++ for tools and pipelines
Dani Haynes
Founder - Head of Art
With experience across film and AAA games, I specialise in developing artists to a true production standard — focused on the skills, workflows, and expectations used in real studios.
My path into the industry wasn’t straightforward. Like many artists, I struggled with outdated teaching methods that didn’t translate to real-world results.
That changed when I invested in high-level mentoring — giving me a clear understanding of what studios actually expect.
That foundation led to a successful career, and now I bring that same standard into everything I teach.
This isn’t about theory or surface-level learning.
It’s about building work that holds up in a professional pipeline — structured, intentional, and aligned with industry expectations.
We will support you the entire way, until its time for you to spread your wings.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/dani-haynes/
LEARN FROM INDUSTRY VETERANS
Filipe Strazzeri
Unreal Gold Authorized Instructor Founder - Technical Art Director
With over 15 years of experience across AAA games and film, I’ve worked with studios including Guerrilla, ZeniMax, Sony, Disney, Netflix, and Epic Games — building pipelines, solving complex technical challenges, and delivering high-end content at scale.
This isn’t about surface-level tutorials.
It’s about understanding how real studios operate.
I teach Unreal Engine, C++, and Technical Art the way they’re used in production — with a focus on practical skills, problem-solving, and real workflows.
You’ll get structured, intentional training built to a professional standard. From first principles to advanced systems, everything is designed to give you the skills that actually get you hired.
If you’re serious about reaching that level, you’re in the right place.
Shaders 101
Learn a core skill for a tech artist, making art with math.
Start from the very basics to understand the building blocks of computer graphics.
From emulating blending modes found in photoshop to gerstner waves for ocean simulations, there is a lot to cover in this module !
Progress then to creating particle systems and understanding how you can integrate them with your newly found shader skills to build interactible effects.
Learn the Unreal Shader Graph
Translate it to HLSL
Implement Niagara particles and connect them to blueprints!
Modules
Student Artwork by Lemeng Shao
Blueprints / Tooling
A capable tech artist must be comfortable navigating multiple disciplines, blueprints are an incredibly important part of the Unreal Engine.
Take a step above the training you can find elsewhere, learn programming patterns and correct workflows.
Avoid common pitfalls that will endanger performance.
Build a small game prototype from scratch then optimize it !
Create UI with UMG and shaders
Enhance design speed with Editor Utility Widgets / Blueprint tools
Take advantage of Procedural Content Generation
Student Projects by Kyle Landon & Aden Thompson
Optimization & Profiling
Tech art is the first line of defence for performance and optimization issues.
A strong pipeline and validation structure is key for success.
Learn how to use Unreal Insights and how to inspect a rendered frame with PIX / Render Doc.
Take the game you’ve just created and learn the how’s and why’s of improving its performance.
Detect bottlenecks, squash spikes and eliminate hitches.
Understand Unreal’s Threading Architecture
Learn how to use Unreal Insights
PIX
Validators
Nativizing Blueprints to C++
Python
Automation is one of the most important skills to learn as a tech artist.
There is no better tool to save time and build efficient workflows than the Python programming language.
Learn how to program from scratch, build time saving tools and demonstrate to hiring manager that you know exactly what it takes to help a production run smoothly.
Automate time consuming tasks
Build tools for DCCs (Maya / Blender / Houdini)
Learn UI / UX for tooling
Implement Python in Unreal
Learn to build automated rigging systems, tools for export/import into Unreal and more !
Built Around Real Life
Hard Edge includes dedicated Break Weeks every 2 weeks.
Life happens. Projects evolve. Feedback needs time to sink in.
These weeks are designed to help you catch up, refine, ask better questions, and maintain momentum—without burnout.
Tech Art distilled into its purest form
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DURATION
12 Months
Live Classes every week (~2hrs)
Classes will be recorded
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Video Content
Every module is accompanied by pre-recorded video content to supplement your learning.
Our content covers Shaders, Tools, Python and Unreal Engine Workflows
~20+ Hours Per Module
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Career Coaching
CV and Portfolio review during the entire length of the course.
Mock Interview, Application Support.
Continued assistance after the course is finished help you land the industry job you dream of.
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Real world Skills
We teach exactly what is needed for the day to day.
We do the job and know what it takes.
No stone left unturned, speak with confidence about the topics you learn.
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Community
Join our Vibrant and helpful community on Discord, share your work get inspired and collaborate.
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Industry Speakers
Our Unreal Technical Art Course is like no other.
Get exclusive sessions and presentations from industry leading professionals to help you get an edge.
look at what our awesome students can do WITH OUR training !
Student Artwork : Melvin Wee
Student Artwork: Tassja Falcatan
Student Artwork: Kyle Landon
Student Artwork: Aden Thompson
What my students are saying:
“If you need direction, clarity, and mentorship from someone who truly understands tech art, Filipe is the person to learn from. He teaches what matters, explains it clearly, and guides you in a way that accelerates your growth. You’ll wish you joined sooner.”
— Jerry Liu : Tech Art Mentee
Filipe's level of expertise is off the charts, always willing to share and teach you, felt like and older brother you could always rely on.
— David Blasco : Vehicle Artist @ Lighthouse Games
“I just wanted to thank you, Your Class was amazing, your teaching style makes everything easy to follow, i will be signing up for the upcoming tech art Track!”
— Jonathan Ossten
“I found the bootcamp extremely helpful, and I now feel more confident working with Unreal Blueprints and building systems on my own. "
— Mohammad Zarei
“I was a complete beginner in UE5 and coding. By the end of the six weeks, I had created a project I’m genuinely proud of.
More importantly, I came away with a solid understanding of Blueprints in UE5 and a strong foundation in programming theory. ”
— Mathew Puckey : Game Dev Mentee
“I loved it and it was exactly what I was looking for:
better understanding and practice of Unreal's systems to make a modular and scalable game system. Your knowledge is really impressive and I appreciate all the attention to detail and answering of all our questions.”
— Farhan Qureshi
"It was the first time I created shaders where I genuinely understood why they worked, not just how to copy them“
Before Hard Edge, I felt stuck, like I was “faking it” technically.
Now I feel like I actually understand what I’m doing. It gave me clarity, confidence, and the ability to tackle more advanced Tech Art tasks.
I’m much more proactive, experimental, and capable.”
— Constantin Copony : Technical Artist @Deck 13
REGISTRATIONS ARE OPEN
OCT 2026
duration - 12 Months
(Next Cohorts - October 2026 - January 2027)
How does it work?
Submit your application (be detailed — we care about who you are and where you're going)
If selected, you’ll be invited to a 1:1 call
We’ll assess fit, goals, and whether we can help you achieve your objectives
Important
We take on very few students per intake.
This allows us to deliver:
Weekly direct mentorship
Tailored feedback on your work
A real production-style learning experience
How MUCH DOES IT COST?
Our 12-month Tech Art Track taught by our Director costs $7.000,00
Want to be shaped into the exact mold the industry is looking for ?
You’ll get:
Weekly sessions
Structured curriculum
Pre-recorded deep dives
Guest industry speakers
We offer payment plans - just get in touch!
This is not a mass online course — it’s a premium, selective training environment designed to get you hired.
If you prefer to email us instead, please use the form below:
Frequently asked questions
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Technical Art is a specialized discipline within game development.
This course is built for artists who already understand 3D modelling, materials, and PBR workflows, and want to take those skills further into production.
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Yes all lessons are recorded, we ask that you download the archives right away as they will get removed from our cloud after 6 months.
Our classes are delivered via Zoom and pre made videos are using vimeo.
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What careers can I apply for?
The Tech Art Track is designed to prepare you for roles such as:
Technical Artist
Shader / Materials Artist
Tools / Pipeline Developer
VFX Technical Artist
Gameplay / Systems-focused Tech Artist
We focus on building well-rounded generalists, giving you the flexibility to work across multiple areas while still allowing you to specialize over time.
Studios value technical artists who are proactive, adaptable, and comfortable across disciplines — that’s exactly what this track is built for.
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Classes run on weekdays for 2 hours - Once a week.
6PM UK Time (GMT)
11AM LA Time (PDT)
(Guest speaker sessions will be extra to this)
Our instructors work in the industry during the day, they moonlight here to provide you with expert content.
Your pod will be assigned a slot, on a weekday that best fits your schedule, we try and group students in similar timezones.
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Feedback is delivered live during each session, where we review work, answer questions, and address individual needs.
You’ll also receive additional feedback through:
Written notes on Discord
Audio messages
Private 1:1 calls when needed
If you can’t attend a live session, you won’t fall behind — we make sure everyone receives the feedback they need.
To maintain quality, classes are kept small (max 10 students).
In some cases, individual feedback may be provided separately to ensure both teaching and feedback remain focused and effective.
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Most courses teach tools.
We train production-ready technical artists.This is a mentorship-driven program, with consistent feedback and support every step of the way.
We work in the industry. We hire.
Everything we teach is based on what actually matters in production. -
Our content is taught 2 weeks on one week off.
We know life can sometimes get in the way, our training is different and accounts for that.
All video content and live lessons are available to you and so if you cannot continue the course for whatever reason it is possible for you to learn at your own pace.
We will also make sure you get all the career advice / coaching needed if you fall out of pace with the rest of your group.
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You’ll only get out what you put in.
We recommend at least 1-2 hours per day during the week to make real progress and reach industry level.
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Zoom
Unreal Engine 5
Visual Studio Code / PyCharm (Python)
Visual Studio / JetBrains Rider (C++)
Optionally your 3D application of choice (Maya/ Blender) if you wish to produce custom content during the course.
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If you aren’t able to pay in full or in 12 installements please get in touch via the contat form and let us know your situation.
We are flexible and would like to help.
Lets talk and see what we can do.