Night lighting study of a frontier town in a rocky canyon, rendered in Unreal Engine 5

Unreal Authorized
Training Center

Are you stuck guessing
Unreal lighting values?

In 6 weeks, learn PBL, exposure, and Lumen to create production-ready lighting for gameplay and cinematics.

Taught by Karim Yasser, with 8 years in game production across 13+ titles, including Dune: Awakening, Gears of War: E-Day, and Off The Grid.

Alumni Success Stories

See what our artists built, and what they say about the training behind it.

Artists we've taught have worked at

Igor Ponomarev

Cutscene Artist · Saber Interactive

Verified on Trustpilot

“I really like the way Karim presents the material...”
I really like the way Karim presents the material - it’s clear and very thorough. It’s been a few months since I completed his Top 1% Lighting Artist course, but I still go back and rewatch his lessons from time to time.
The course helped me organize all the scattered information I had learned before. It covers different approaches to lighting and, most importantly, provides a practical workflow you can actually use. It addresses both the artistic side of lighting and important optimization considerations that I hadn’t found anywhere else before.

Claudia Wang

Lighting Artist · Graduated from CapU

Verified on Trustpilot

“Throughout the course, I learned a lot…”
Throughout the course, I learned a lot of technical and artistic skills regarding lighting in Unreal Engine. The teacher Karim was really professional and patient with all the questions the students had and always giving us thoughtful feedback on our assignments!

Oleksandr Bodnar

Environment & Lighting Artist · VOLMI - A Virtuos Studio

Verified on Trustpilot

“The Best Place to Learn About Technical Lighting”
Taking a course with Karim is the best way to fill in all the gaps in your knowledge of lighting in Unreal Engine. You’ll get a very in-depth dive into this field; after the course, you’ll understand how everything works under the hood. After the course, I don’t ask “how” or “why” questions anymore, because I’ve come to understand how it works. I might just ask how to make it look visually appealing.
The course is well-structured; you’ll start with the basics and finish with very advanced techniques.
I also liked that you can ask all sorts of questions on Discord and get answers to them. Even when my questions seemed very basic to me, I still got answers.

Ready to build your own work?

View Program Plans

Your 6-Week Lighting Roadmap

From building a reliable lighting base to diagnosing Lumen, shaping stronger frames, and making your lighting hold up in gameplay.

Week 1

Build the Lighting Base

Understand what Directional, Point, Spot and Rect Lights actually contribute, how the SkyLight and indirect lighting affect the scene, and how they work together with Lumen. So when you add or change a light, you know what you expect it to change.

Meet Your Mentor

Karim bridges real production experience with clear, structured teaching, so you learn what actually works in the industry.

Myrkur Games

Karim YasserSenior Lighting Artist · Founder, CG Foundry

Unreal Authorized Instructor badge, 2026, awarded to Karim Yasser

Gold Unreal Authorized InstructorPartner for Epic Games

Karim has spent 8 years in game production, lighting Dune: Awakening, Gears of War: E-Day, Off The Grid, 1348 Ex Voto and Guns of Eschaton, among others.

8 years in game production across 13+ titles, while teaching 6,000+ artists worldwide. Karim helps you master Unreal Engine with production-proven workflows and a clear path to a professional portfolio.

Karim’s Personal Artwork

8Years in production
13+Titles
6,000+Students taught
70+Program alumni

Our Guarantee

Portfolio Piece Guarantee

Complete every session and assignment.
If you still can't create a portfolio piece,
Karim will keep working with you 1:1 for free
until you can, or return every dollar you paid.

Karim YasserFounder, CG Foundry

Choose Your Plan

Self-paced

Learn independently.

Full program, lifetime access, community and support.

You can upgrade to Hybrid later if you decide you want the personalized feedback.

What you get

Full 6-Week Lighting Program$750 value
Lifetime access to all six modules.
CG Foundry Community, 1 month$39 value
Workshops, challenges, portfolio reviews and networking.
16 hours of structured lessons
Chapters, captions and lifetime access.

Bonuses

Private program community
Dedicated space for Top 1% participants.
Ongoing support access
Get unstuck without waiting for the next lesson.

Total included value

$789

$578one-time

Choose Self-paced

I'm ready to enroll, no call needed.

Personalized mentorship

Hybrid

Get Karim's feedback on your own work.

Everything in Self-paced plus two private 1:1 sessions with Karim.

100% online, wherever you are. Hybrid means recorded lessons plus live 1:1 time with Karim, not classes you attend in person.

What you get

Everything in Self-paced$750 value
The full program, lifetime access.
Two private 1:1 sessions with Karim$500 value
30 minutes each, focused on your work. You keep notes and a recording from each.
CG Foundry Community, 3 months$117 value
Workshops, challenges, portfolio reviews and networking.
Limited seats each month
So every artist gets real 1:1 time.

Bonuses

Project files and scene assets
Private program community
Dedicated space for Top 1% participants.
Ongoing support access
Get unstuck without waiting for the next lesson.
Quarterly group session
Going through what everyone has built since applying the lessons.

Total included value

$1,367

$999one-time

Choose Hybrid

I'm ready to enroll, no call needed.

Talk it through before you decide.

15 minutes only
Free and no pressure
Clear path forward

The number of slots each week is limited.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Mainly experienced artists. If you already light professionally, weeks 2, 3 and 6 are where the gaps usually are: physically based calibration, Lumen internals, and performance. If your lighting is still basic but you are comfortable in Unreal, you can follow it too.

You need to be comfortable navigating the editor, placing assets and working in the viewport. No prior lighting specialization is required. If you have never opened Unreal, start with the free fundamentals first. This program will not help you yet.

The lessons are recorded, so you start the day you buy and work at your own pace. It runs as six weeks of lessons at the intended pace, with lifetime access and no weekly classes to attend. The Hybrid track adds two private sessions with Karim.

Included in the Hybrid track only. Every session is live and directly with Karim. You bring your questions or a scene you want feedback on, share your screen, and Karim works through it with you in the editor. Each one is 30 minutes, longer if a topic needs it. Calls are recorded and sent to you afterwards, so you can watch them again at any time.

Complete every session and assignment. If you still can't create a portfolio piece, Karim will keep working with you 1:1 for free until you can, or return every dollar you paid.

Yes. Complete the program and you receive a certificate of completion, approved by Epic Games and issued under Karim's Gold Unreal Authorized Instructor status.

Yes. Email info@cgfoundryart.com and support will arrange the upgrade for you.

A tutorial gets one scene looking right. Open your own and the same settings fall apart. This teaches why the numbers are what they are, so you can read your own scene and fix it instead of copying someone else's.

Lumen and real-time workflows only. Baked lighting is out of scope and is not covered.

Both. Module 5 is cinematic and character lighting through Sequencer. Module 6 is a full gameplay scene, interior and exterior, profiled against frame cost and taken to a shippable standard.

Most sessions were recorded across 5.5, 5.6 and 5.7. You can follow along in an earlier version or a newer one such as 5.8: the content does not change and the same techniques still apply.

Are you stuck guessing
Unreal lighting values?