Generative AI Bootcamp for Film and TV
AInVFX delivers an exceptional learning experience (...) not only highly informative but also well-structured and thoroughly engaging. As always, when Adrien is behind it, the quality, clarity, and depth of insight are second to none. Highly recommended!
— Vincent, Senior Animator
Bring a real production case. Build it live over 11 weeks, in a group of 2, with two instructors and a jury of working professionals. Take it back to your studio, or your own practice.
The Bootcamp at a glance
60 hours live
20 sessions of 3 hours, Wednesdays and Fridays, over 11 weeks
Project based
Your own production case is the course project, from session 1
Small cohorts
Maximum 12 participants, two instructors, projects in groups of 2
Jury reviews
Working professionals, never your instructors, review your project twice: midpoint and final
Prizes to win
1st place: 1,000 USD. 2nd: 500 USD. 3rd: 250 USD. In gift cards, per group member
Cloud GPU included
Credits to cover all 60 course hours, plus extra for project work between sessions
English, remote
Live over Google Meet, anchored to Toronto time (ET)
What you'll learn
By the end of the Bootcamp you can build a generative AI workflow for a real production need, run it on open models you control, and explain the choices behind it to your team.
Every cohort covers all ten themes below. The techniques named under each one are examples rather than a checklist: the order and the depth follow the projects in the room, so a technique is taught in the session where a project needs it.
How the 20 sessions usually unfold
- Sessions 1 to 4 Foundations, your environment, and the scope of your case. You produce your first working results in this block.
- Sessions 5 to 10 The core build. Session 10 is the midpoint jury review, early enough that the feedback can still change your direction.
- Sessions 11 to 19 Act on the jury feedback, go deeper on technique, and harden the build into something you can hand over.
- Session 20 The final jury review, the prizes, and where to take the work next.
Groups share what they find at every session, so you also learn from the other projects in the room.
ComfyUI is the core platform. Many projects prototype there, then rebuild as a standalone pipeline or connect to the tools you already use.
The Bootcamp in detail
Why a bootcamp, and why this one
- 60 hours of live group teaching. Every one of the 60 hours is live, with two instructors present. Recordings exist as catch-up, and that is all they are.
- Twelve seats, projects in groups of 2. A small cohort is the point: your instructors know your project, and so does everyone else in the room.
- You start from wherever you are. There is no prerequisite. The program covers its own foundations, and each concept is taught at the moment your project needs it.
- Your own production case, from session 1. A workflow your studio needs, a pipeline step you want to automate, a look you want to reach, or a proof of concept your team is waiting for. You spend 11 weeks building it, and you leave with it.
- Reviewed by people who did not teach you. A jury of working professionals sees your project twice. Fresh eyes, real deadlines, and prizes for the strongest projects.
Equivalent one-on-one consulting support for a build like this costs several times more. Here you get 60 hours of live expert guidance, cloud GPU credits for the course and your project work, and two jury reviews, for less than 50 USD per live hour.
How it works
- Your project, in a group of 2. Bring a colleague and enroll together, or we pair you with a compatible participant. Working solo needs a strong argument.
- Theory in service of the build. Each session mixes a short teaching block with supervised build time, and the order follows where the projects are.
- Two instructors, live. Every group gets real attention inside every session, not a lecture and a goodbye.
- A shared rhythm. Groups show their progress and their blockers regularly, which is also how you rehearse for the jury.
- Recordings as catch-up. Live attendance is expected: this is a hands-on program, not a video library. Recordings go to enrolled participants only and are never sold.
The jury reviews
A jury of working professionals, experts in their fields, reviews each group twice. Jurors are never your instructors, so the feedback comes with fresh eyes. Members are announced to each cohort before the midpoint review.
- Midpoint review, session 10. Feedback and direction, early enough that it can still change your project. Nothing is scored.
- Final review, session 20. Validation of the work, next steps, and the prize decision, scored on the published criteria.
What's included in your seat
One price, everything included, for $2,995 USD:
- 60 hours of live, hands-on sessions (20 x 3h)
- Your own production case as the course project
- Two instructors, up to 12 participants
- Two jury reviews of your project by working professionals
- Cloud GPU credits for all course hours plus project work
- Session recordings as catch-up, plus all course materials
- Access to our private Discord community
- Certificate of completion (live attendees)
Your instructors
Adrien is the Founding CEO of AInVFX, former Head of Effects at Wētā FX, with 30+ film credits including the Avatar series, Game of Thrones, and Terminator: Dark Fate, and a certified AWS Machine Learning Engineer. Rafael is an Effects TD and educator, co-creator of the open source Houdini ComfyUI Bridge, with studio credits at Pixomondo and Mr. X on shows such as Halo and Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities. Meet the team on our about page.
Hardware and cloud GPU
Cloud GPU credits are included in the price: enough to cover all 60 course hours if you need them, plus additional credits for your project between sessions. We provision and manage the machines for each cohort, adapting to the projects and to each participant's own hardware. You can also work on your own machine if you prefer, and we recommend an NVIDIA GPU with at least 16 GB of VRAM for the workflows we build.
One important caveat: keep it non-confidential
Your project is seen and discussed by a jury and by peers outside your company, so do not bring confidential material. Before enrolling, anonymize or generalize your production case: change the names, swap the IP for a stand-in, keep the technical problem and drop the secrets. You keep ownership of what you create. A shared classroom is simply not the place for material under NDA.
Is the Bootcamp right for you?
It is a good fit if you are:
- An artist or professional in film, animation, or content production, in a studio, in an agency, or on your own, with a concrete case to build
- A freelancer ready to invest 11 weeks in a portfolio-grade AI production project
- A team building a shared capability: enroll colleagues together and work as a group
It is not the right fit if:
- You want a passive course where you sit and listen. Expect roughly 6 hours of live work per week, and you build in every one of them.
- You cannot attend live sessions regularly. Recordings exist as catch-up, but the value is in the room.
- Your project cannot be de-confidentialized. If the case cannot be anonymized, our private consulting and custom training are the right channel instead.
Cohort 1
Cohort 1 is closed to enrollment. It ran as a private engagement for a European animation and VFX school. The next cohorts bring the same production model to open enrollment.
Prizes, and how they are judged
The three highest-scoring projects at the final review win a prize. Prizes are per group member, so both members of a winning group receive the full amount, in gift cards.
1st place
1,000 USD
per group member, in gift cards
2nd place
500 USD
per group member, in gift cards
3rd place
250 USD
per group member, in gift cards
The scoring
Every juror scores each group on the six criteria below, out of 100 points in total. Scores are averaged across the jury, and the three highest totals take the prizes. You know the scoring from day one, and so do the jurors.
-
Technical execution 25/100
How the build is put together: the design of the workflow, the control you have over it, and whether it runs reliably for someone other than you.
-
Result 25/100
The quality of what comes out: craft, consistency across shots or assets, and finish.
-
Production value 15/100
Whether it answers a real production need, and whether a studio or a client could put it to work as it stands.
-
Originality 15/100
How inventive the approach is, and what it does that an off-the-shelf tool does not.
-
Progress since the midpoint review 10/100
How far the project moved after session 10, and how well the jury's feedback was used. This is where a beginner who covers a lot of ground scores as well as an expert who started ahead.
-
Presentation 10/100
How clearly the group explains the problem, the build, and the result in the time given.
What you need to do to be in the running
- Hand in your working files by the end of session 19. The workflows, any scripts, and the results. The jury reads them before the final review, which is how technical execution gets judged on the build rather than on the demo. You keep working on your presentation between session 19 and session 20.
- Present at the final review. The jury scores what you show in session 20, and both members of the group take part.
- Show where you were at the midpoint. A before and after makes the progress criterion easy to score, and it is the clearest way to show what you learned.
- Your own work, made during the cohort. Assets you did not create yourself are fine when you name them and hold the right to use them.
- Non-confidential material only, as everywhere else on this page.
- Only the jury scores. Your instructors never score a project. If two groups finish level on points, your two instructors settle it on the progress each group has made since session 1, which is the part of the story only they have watched from the start.
The full prize rules are in our Terms & Conditions.
Upcoming cohorts
One price, everything included. Full payment at enrollment secures your seat.
Cohort 2
$2,995 USD
- Friday, October 2nd to Wednesday, December 16th, 2026
- 20 live sessions of 3 hours, on Wednesdays and Fridays, 10:00 AM - 1:00 PM Toronto (ET)
- Maximum 12 seats, projects in groups of 2
- Jury reviews: Wednesday, November 4th, 2026 and Wednesday, December 16th, 2026
- Cancel by Friday, September 18th, 2026 for a full refund
- No live sessions on Wednesday, November 25th and Friday, November 27th (US Thanksgiving week). We keep that week free for the holiday, and hand the time back as a self-directed project sprint for those who want to push their project forward.
- The sessions of October 28th and 30th land one hour earlier on UK and Central Europe clocks: Europe changes its clocks one week before North America.
- Wednesday, November 11th (Veterans Day in the US, Remembrance Day in Canada) is a regular session day.
Less than 50 USD per live hour of expert guidance, with cloud GPU credits and jury reviews included
Enroll in cohort 2Cohort 3
$2,995 USD
- Wednesday, January 6th to Friday, March 12th, 2027
- 20 live sessions of 3 hours, on Wednesdays and Fridays, 10:00 AM - 1:00 PM Toronto (ET)
- Maximum 12 seats, projects in groups of 2
- Jury reviews: Friday, February 5th, 2027 and Friday, March 12th, 2027
- Cancel by Wednesday, December 23rd, 2026 for a full refund
- Sessions run every Wednesday and Friday, with no break weeks.
- The times above hold for all 20 sessions: there are no clock changes during the run.
Less than 50 USD per live hour of expert guidance, with cloud GPU credits and jury reviews included
Enroll in cohort 3Sessions anchor to Toronto time (ET), 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM. That is 9:00 AM Central US, 8:00 AM Mountain, 7:00 AM Pacific, 3:00 PM in the UK, and 4:00 PM in Central Europe. The full session calendar is shared at enrollment.
Already took a Masterclass, a mentoring session, or bought a recording in the last 12 months? That purchase is credited toward your Bootcamp seat, up to 499 USD (one credit per enrollee). Contact us before checkout to apply it. The returning-customer discount does not apply to the Bootcamp.
Frequently asked questions
FAQ - Enrollment & policies
What payment options do you offer and is the process secure?
We've partnered with Stripe - a trusted, reliable payment platform used by millions of companies worldwide. We accept all major credit cards, including Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, Diners Club, JCB, and China UnionPay, as well as digital wallets like Apple Pay and Google Wallet.
What is your cancellation and refund policy?
Cancel 14 days or more before the first session for a full refund. Each cohort needs enough enrollments to run; if we cancel a cohort, we tell you at least one week before the start, and you choose between a full refund and a transfer of your payment to the next cohort. Full details are in our Terms & Conditions.
Can my company pay by invoice, or enroll several people?
Yes. Teams are welcome: each participant needs a seat, and colleagues can form project groups together. For invoicing or multi-seat enrollment, contact us and we'll set it up.
Is there a discount or credit?
The fee of one Masterclass, mentoring, or recording purchase made in the 12 months before enrollment is credited toward your Bootcamp seat, up to 499 USD (one credit per enrollee, not cumulative). Contact us before checkout to apply it. The 50% returning-customer discount does not apply to the Bootcamp.
Were you referred by someone?
Add their email in the referral field when you enroll. Once your enrollment is paid, they earn one free item of their choice: a session recording, a mentoring session, or a Masterclass session (Basic). Referral rewards never include the Bootcamp itself.
What happens if I miss a session?
Session recordings are available to enrolled participants as catch-up, so you can stay on track. Live attendance is expected, and certificates of completion are issued to live attendees. Bootcamp recordings are never sold or shared outside the cohort.
FAQ - Content & prerequisites
What are the prerequisites?
None. The program covers its own foundations, and theory arrives as your project needs it. Professional experience in film, animation, or content production helps you get the most out of it, because the program is built around a production case. If you want a running start, our Masterclass series is the perfect on-ramp, and its fee is creditable toward your seat.
What kind of project should I bring?
A concrete, non-confidential production case you actually care about: a look-development pipeline, a video workflow, an asset-generation step, a proof of concept for your team. You describe your case during enrollment, and we help you scope it in the first sessions. If you don't have one, we help you pick a project that matches your goals.
What is the time commitment?
About 6 hours of live sessions per week (two 3-hour sessions). Sessions include supervised build time, so if production keeps you busy, those 6 hours can be your entire weekly commitment. If you want to go further, put in as much project time between sessions as you like: the more you put in, the further the jury reviews will push you.
What tools will we use?
ComfyUI is the core platform, with the strongest current open models for generative AI. ComfyUI is also our prototyping ground: many projects prototype there, then rebuild as a standalone pipeline or integrate with other toolsets such as Unreal, Nuke, or Houdini. The exact model lineup follows the state of the art at the time of the cohort, and the techniques transfer across models.
Who is on the jury?
Working professionals, experts in their fields. Jurors are never your instructors, so every review brings fresh eyes. Jury members are announced to each cohort before the midpoint review.
Is there a certificate?
Yes, a certificate of completion is issued to live attendees at the end of the cohort.