As much as we want to complain, the Internet has provided an invaluable amount of knowledge at ridiculous prices or directly for free. The possibility of learning to use tools such as Java or Android at zero cost, in an autonomous and well-documented way, opens the doors to the labor market in a way that we did not even know about a decade ago. The video game design and production sector is, in fact, one of the fastest growing in Spain..
The following courses and tutorials are a great first contact. Some much more than that. We summarize our 7 favorites from lowest to highest cost and we hope they serve to open that door to one of the most important sectors for job demand : design and programming.
A practical approach
First of all we are going to establish a capital point: what is Unity 3D?
Unity is a video game engine. And not just any one: it is compatible with Maya, Autodesk, Blender, Photoshop, Fireworks, Softimage and a host of other tools. It is also cross-platform, allowing development on almost any system: Xbox, PlayStation, Wii, iPad, OS X or Android. It makes simple something that just a decade ago was a terrible headache : when you're writing code on the left, changes are reflected in real time on the right. Any blogger or WordPress editor will see the simile..
And not only that: it allows you to create tags (keywords) and shortcuts on file directories. I say with this that it is not necessary to write the path by hand, just open a tab and attach the file . Something that may be easy for us users who have always lived with friendly environments, with more or less intuitive operating systems, but a true revolution - although this system already existed - for the novice programmer. Unity also has 2 different types of licenses: Professional and Personal.
Unity3D Tutorials from Youtube
Interactivity is key in these times. It is obvious, but the educational possibilities of YouTube are obvious: any teacher can turn their channel into a true masterclass and save us registration, travel or syllabus costs..
- First of all we go with a videotutorial of CodigoFacilito. From here they can access a complete course of 27 videos, of an average of 6 minutes. It is obvious that we need to possess, in addition to a PC, certain basic computer knowledge, environment, C ++ language, but it is surprising how it guides us from simply downloading the software to creating hierarchies of objects, and their behavior according to the physics that we implement. Important: this course is focused on Unity version 4.5.
- The following Unity 3D course, also in Spanish and available from YouTube, is a somewhat more complete and exhaustive video tutorial: interface, materials, resource optimization, and so on. It is made up of 17 videos with a duration of around 10 minutes. It was produced exactly 2 years ago, but the interface and the tools that we could find today are identical.
Online courses
- The programmer Danilo Giardina teaches his videogame creation course with Unity3D from the Tutellus platform. During the remainder of April we can subscribe and access all courses from 18 euros per month, although we must bear in mind that the course may take up to 3 months. If, on the other hand, we are not interested in the platform and only the course, it is completely free.
It consists of 37 video tutorials with a total of 6 hours of audiovisual material, from the basic introduction to Unityscript , exercises to consolidate knowledge, to final practices. Like the previous ones, depending on our level of knowledge, we can choose if the basic or advanced level. 
- The course proposed by Gametopia is, in turn, divided into three levels of depth: 'novice', 'soldier' and 'seasoned'. If you have a basic notions of Java or C ++, we recommend the intermediate level, which has a total cost of 180 euros. In addition to the 9 hours of video tutorials, we will have specific topics on physics - colliders , triggers , rigid bodies , etc. -, animation, audio, interface and a final project where we can, depending on our preferences, create an app or a video game.
It should be noted, however, that it is a course quite oriented to the design and programming of video games. It will be available for the next 7 months starting in April. And, from the time we enroll, we have 3 months (90 days) to finish the course.
Professional Training with Degree
- From Fictizia they propose us a complete videogame development course with Unity3D. Let's go first with the bad news: 675 euros for 45 hours of course. As you can imagine, for that price we find a Unity 5 course, the latest version, with a vast program of contents: from the basic introduction, the profiles, programming scripts in C #, and so on.
Within the development agenda we will find ourselves from the interpretation and organization of the documentation to the creation of levels, objects, dump, testing and final tests. Federico Moreno, Computer Science Engineer and Master in Video Game Development from the Complutense University of Madrid, is the professor in charge of teaching and coordinating the activity.
- From CPA Online we have another intermediate option: online course —available 24 hours a day— that offers its own degree from the University of San Jorge de Zaragoza. There are 450 hours of training in Unity3D, consisting of 9 theoretical modules, ranging from project management to physics and scripting systems . Includes its own Virtual Campus (SEAS) by registration. They do not provide the registration and training prices, but they provide the following telephone number for information without obligation: 900 922 288.
Going for the Master
If you already master Unity3D beyond the user level, if what you are looking for are professional certifications, the CICE school has just started - you are still on time if you want to sign up, for 1 more week - its' Master in Video Game Development with Official Unity from Autodesk 3Ds Max. MPV '. This is not a simple course, it is 300 teaching hours, at least 600 estimated hours of HTA dedication.
As the information itself says, it is not strictly aimed at professionals: "Designers, Programmers, 3D and 2D Artists, and gamers in general who want to make their hobby a profession for the future." If you want more information, provide the following contact telephone number: 91 435 58 43.
