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I used to be a certified Adobe Expert for Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, and some others years and years ago when the training institute where I worked as a freelancer decided all their instructors had to be certified. Simply stated: these type of certifications are more often than not a cash cow for the software companies in question. Knowing which buttons to push is standard fare in these exams, but actual deep knowledge and skills how to approach real-world projects, creativity, and solutions are generally completely missing or only tangentially touched upon. But I suppose that is the point. I see no reason for this type of software certification but for bragging rights. A typical employer would only be interested in an applicant's portfolio - the quality of the work. Who cares about certification? A waste of money and time, in my experience and opinion. Besides, software can be learned in a few weeks, while modeling, animation, VFX, texturing, composition, etcetera, technical rigging, and so on, require much more time to learn. I apologize for the negative tone - based on my experience with "software certifications".

"Its a cash cow" Its good to be skeptical, but in this case it really isn't. There isn't a mountain of money to be made in certifying people at this scale compared to getting certified in MS or Adobe software. The scheme really is a response to companies wanting a quick way to know that someone they are hiring is at least competent to a certain level. Yes, portfolio is king when it comes to being hired or not, but a portfolio can have been made over an extended period of time; a timescale which just isn't commercially viable outside of a hobby. We've had this problem ourselves when hiring. Someone looks great on paper, in theory has years of experience, has some ok looking stuff to show; but when they get down to it, they're clicking around like a dolt that has never really used the software and takes 10x longer to do anything. The certification isn't there to make a load of money, or to teach the artist, its there so that someone can get a job more easily. Its in its early stages but it has to start somewhere. Regarding your specific fail reasons, obviously I don't know the details, but was it a case of not using enough shortcuts or not using shortcuts at all? If you use no keyboard shortcuts, then you will be measurably slower than somebody who does. Perhaps you know where every command is in the menu, but you've still got to navigate there. I would expect at the absolute minimum for somebody to be using the basic os commands such as copy/paste. I would sincerly hope for them to use navigation shortcuts. I know people that don't, and whilst their work is fine, watching them work is honestly quite painful. Imagine a video editor not hitting the space bar to play and pause a video, but instead click the play and pause icons every time. Or who doesn't know how to cut a video clip without a text menu. Which tools are you referring to when you say you'll fail because you don't use the tool enough? there are naturally basics which everyone need to know, im curious if there is genuinely something in the test that is too difficult. Re: rigging tools, Every character animator needs rigging tools, but not everyone who needs rigging tools is a character animator. A cable needs rigging tools for animation for example

Personally, all points being valid, I am just happy to see that slap-stick silly humor is still being made for kids. My fear is that, given the "enlightened" sensibilities of today's modern parent, there will come a time when all kids TV only contains a social message of some sort rather just trying to be funny and entertaining.

WOW!! WHAT AN AWESOME VIDEO!!! This video is just what I needed right now! Thank you so much. I never expected to get something so valuable. I struggled through most of the day yesterday trying to get your flow, without removing those two splines of course, and could only come close. I would get down to the last row or two containing tri's and find myself in a bind. No matter what I did to get 4-sided polys, I'd end up with topology that I knew didn't pass muster. Honestly, I was at the point of accepting that I'm just not meant to model. Then to see this video showing how you handled this is priceless and has inspired me to keep pushing. I'll be watching this video over and over. I'm sure I'll come back to this video even when working on other models. I think I can use it to remind myself of how to look and handle things. Thanks so much!!

I've been an Adobe Certified Expert and Certified Instructor for over twenty years - and have proctored and guided many students through their exams. My experience matches 100% with Hvanderwagen's. Like him, I had to get certified because of my associations with various universities and training centers that I freelanced with. What's the value of these certifications? Pretty much zero**. Some corporates like their in house staff to have that certification, but they are few and far between. A little while ago Adobe renamed their basic 'Adobe Certified Associate' certification to 'Adobe Certified Professional'. Really? Knowing which menu entry you need or some basic tool operation does not make you a professional. Having a wide range of technical know-how, experience, problem solving skills, people management skills, and more - that makes you a professional in my book. EDIT: ** Re-reading this it's maybe a little too harsh. Not 'zero', but on it's own it isn't going to get you a job either. Maybe two equally talented and experienced candidates, one with certification, one without - yep, it might tip the balance.

There are some people out there who are certified. I guess they found the process okay. At the Maxon Training channel they've just started a regular series that they say will tackle all the tricky bits and pieces you'd need to know to pass the certification test. They've recently done refractive materials and rigging. I guess they have enough subjects to spend the next couple of years covering the other stuff. I think the costs are fine if you know everything and don't expect to take the test five times to pass it. If you do it could get more expensive. Overall though I think the test is meant to be a test of whether you actually know the stuff they're testing you on, and if you think the test is too difficult or unfair then you should probably save your money and not take the test until you feel more confident.

Anybody want some crunchy mushrooms 👀 ? Rockshroom2.mp4