How long should it take to learn ?

The learning flows in CG Cookie are nice and beneficial. The only problem I face with them is knowing the time I should set for myself to complete them. Usually a learning flow will have a set time on it for how long you should finish it ( as shown highlighted in the image ).

I usually find them misleading and it would take longer than that to learn them. I want to finish my courses on a good rate ( not too slow that I barely learn anything and not too fast to the point it takes up so much of my time )

How long should it take me to finish a course in CG Cookie along with the exercises in it ?


  • John Sanderson(procyonlotor) replied

    I think that number is just the length of the video content of the course, not how long they expect a student to take to complete the exercises.  I think on a platform like this they don't bother trying to predict that because it will be vastly different for most people depending on several factors: their other commitments and how much time they can devote to it, how much experience they have with 3D going in, learning disabilities or language difficulties, etc.  Plus I think they like to encourage students to use the videos as a guide to do their own projects rather than copy the template, so it's hard to predict a time since they don't know how the student will apply the lesson.

  • Pavel Mazanik(nekronavt) replied

    Well. I'm here almost for a year and finished Realistic Character yesterday. But I had some breaks and live courses in between pre-recorded courses.

  • Saif Farid(saif-farid) replied


    nekronavt Nice commitment, keep it up !

  • Saif Farid(saif-farid) replied

    pprocyonlotor Fair enough


  • yukino hatake(yukinoh1989) replied

    i think this depends from person to person . 

    when i started i joined the moment we had the beginner class.
    the time you see is the time you spend watching the videos that are prerecorded.
    i got to say my first courses went pretty fast but then again i also watched livelessons during the class sessions.
    some courses takes longer to understand or to get used to the techniek while others will go really smooth. 

    the most important thing when you learning a course or flow is that you understand everything they mentioned and said.
    so that when you come to the exercise parts you know what to do or how it works. of course i used to do it sometimes along when i watched the courses .
    as well it all depends on how much time do you have and want to spend on it . like are you a busy person ? then it will take a while but if you have lots of free time i believe things can go really fast if you go for it .

    one more tip . when i started i went all out . i learned so much all thanks to Kent (our teacher here) but after a few months on my second course at the end i started to get a lot of bad problems with my health . i was so tired yet unable to fall asleep . it frustrated me so much i was not the happy person i always used to be . just because i knew in a hour i go sleep but i will probably stay awake for several hours. at a point it came so far that i ignored it and kept working on my work and still learn at full speed. this caused me to get a burn out . took a few months before i was allowed to work again , and the most worse thing was that my first month i was not allowed at my computer . got to say that was hell . so be sure that when you go for it that you lissen to youre body . sometimes taking of a day or resting several days is  ok for sure . 

    i look forward to see youre works and see you grow. (btw did you already completed courses ? kinda am curious :p hence i am a woman ya i am curious haha)

  • William Miller(williamatics) replied

    I think it varies.  Some people are more artistic or dedicated, and will therefore take less time.  I don't think anyone could complete any of the really advanced courses in less than a week, though.

  • Saif Farid(saif-farid) replied


    yyukinoh1989 Your answer was helpful, thank you

  • Saif Farid(saif-farid) replied

    williamatics Makes sense


  • CG GroundBirdie(groundbird) replied

    I suppose you could also write down tips & tricks (hotkeys etc) in on a notepad or word document. To me it really helps to have something to fall back upon. Instead of going back every course to find just that one thing you vaguely remember. No point of digging through lessons!