I really believe that companies like fxphd are the future of education. The cost of a college education is getting higher and higher, and degrees are becoming less useful. Experience matters (in some fields) more than a degree. Over time, I see a trend of people looking for specific training and not wanting to pay so much that they need a loan. Also, schools are moving online, in addition to just about everything else. The format of fxphd is really pretty amazing–very detailed courses, professors who are currently working on blockbuster films, forums that are amazingly helpful, a community of users who are extremely talented, and most importantly, two owners (John Montgomery and Mike Seymour) who are in it for the long haul. To me the key ingredient is specialization. There are many free tutorials online that you can learn from, but fxphd goes even beyond the thousands of free tutorials–it teaches the highest level, most professional techniques and principles. They talk to the hottest artists in their fields. That’s why they can charge for what they teach. They are a global educational film company, and I am excited that two entrepreneurs had a vision for a company like this.
In addition, fxphd is starting to take steps that provide vocational/resume assistance. For instance, you are given a link to a page with all of the courses you’ve taken. Here’s mine: Follow this link, and enter this code – 5UDRBT52A3E3E25. Also, they are starting to offer exams for specific courses. They are moving in the right direction.
From listening to their podcasts, I’ve come to appreciate how much work it takes to run an educational website like fxphd, especially since most of the contributors are working artists.
Make sure you check out their site–they are future of education.