Become a Mentor at cmiVFX

Becoming a Mentor at cmiVFX is one of the most satisfying and rewarding things you can do for your career. As a Mentor, you'll have the opportunity to share knowledge with students all around the globe and make a name for yourself as an expert in your field.

Perks of being a Mentor with cmiVFX...

• Get paid by percentage of sales of your training courses (see mentor agreement for more details)
• Work remotely out of your own home and office. You're your own boss and set your own schedule.
• Boost your reputation among your peers, leading to business opportunities and jobs.
• Take your training further by offering your students paid one-v-one and classroom tutoring.
• Get better at what you do. Practicing and sharing your knowledge leads to an even greater mastery.
• Create training on the products you sell in the digital asset store, and cross-promote your website.
• For each training course you produce, receive a full year of website access to all training courses published at cmiVFX.

Where to Begin?

• Read and review the specifications below.
• Email support@cmivfx.com
  • Include your proposal and idea.
  • Include a bit of information about yourself.
  • Include a link to your website, LinkedIn, or include examples of work or of other training material.

What’s Expected from Mentors?

• Determining Video Tutorial Type
  • 1 to 3 hours or less - Mini Training
    • This training is designed to be high-impact.
    • This can cover an entire topic if it requires just this much time, or it can be a mini-feature that delves into the nooks and crannies of your subject in a way that is unique to you - something not found elsewhere on the web.
  • 3 hours or more - Large Volume Training
    • Usually split into Parts to make organizing them more manageable. These can be long 5, 10, 15, 20+ hour series. (And each chapter file should be around 10 - 30 minutes.)
    • Make sure to only plan your course for this long if the content you need to cover actually requires it. If there is value in going in-depth, than do. In deciding how long to plan your course, remember that customers appreciate succinctness when possible, and depth when purposeful. Make sure that if your course is long, that it stays focused.
• Outline Creation & Submission
  • Overview - Describe what you will be training throughout the video.
  • Chapters - Breakout your video by Chapters and identify what will be covered in each.
  • Submit the Outline to your cmiVFX contact for review.
• Mentor Information
  • Provide a 1-2 paragraph Bio about yourself to be showcased with your video.
  • Provide links to your personal websites and social media pages - these will be published for all to see.
  • For example: IMDB, YouTube or Vimeo, Facebook, Website or Blog, LinkedIn, or others.
• Project Assets & Documentation for Completion
  • Overview - 1-2 paragraphs describing the overview of the tutorial and what students will learn by watching.
  • Chapter Titles - Short Descriptive Title for each Chapter.
  • Chapter Description - (1-3) sentences describing each chapter and its content/purpose.
  • 10+ Images taken throughout the tutorial to be used as thumbnails for Chapters and Main Image for site.
  • All Images should be 1920x1080 in size
  • Project Files - All files that go with the tutorial if required by the student to complete the training.
  • Links to Assets & References - Include any link to assets or references for content in your tutorial.
  • Promo & Marketing Images
    • Any images you create that can be utilized in promoting the video (widescreen & square) formats.
• Text Transcript
  • It is encouraged that you write a text transcript for your course. The transcript is used to create closed captioning.
  • If you have a thick accent, or you accidentally mumble your words (please try to avoid this!) then a transcript becomes especially important so that students can clearly follow along with you in the course without getting lost or confused.
  • If you choose to write the transcripts yourself, keep in mind that they must be manually reviewed in order to be accurate.
    • Make sure to spell check your transcript and use correct English grammar.
    • Make sure to capitalize proper nouns.
    • Provide the transcript as one large block of text. It isn't necessary for you to match the text to the video timings, as this can be done automatically.

Video Recording Guidelines

Recording a high quality training tutorial is critical, this product represents you as a professional and all of your hard work and experiences. Audio/Video quality are important to ensure that the customer can clearly understand your training and learn easily from the video. Please review these requirements below as they will ensure a successful video tutorial and ultimately help drive more sales and better reviews.

• Video Requirements Overview
  • Make sure to use a licensed copy of the software in your recordings. In most cases, cmiVFX can obtain educational licenses for you to use for training purposes.
  • Make sure that the project file assets you use in the training you have the rights to use for educational purposes. Let students know in which ways they can use these techniques and files as well, and whether for only educational purposes.
  • Any video over 2 hours in length will need to be broken into Volumes of close to equal length.
  • Record a 1-3 minute introduction, this will showcase what the student will learn, basic requirements and be used for marketing. It’s important to wow the viewer and show them the great content contained in the volume.
  • Chapters - record with the content that matches your description, generally 15-20 mins, more if needed.
  • Mention the version of the software that you are using in the introduction of your video.
• Recording Specs
  • 1080p (1920x1080)
    • If your display is smaller than 1080p, deliver the recording in as high a resolution as it supports.
    • Higher resolutions are also acceptable and will be downsized to 1080p for fast streaming on the web. If you're using a higher resolution for recording, please keep in mind the size of the text and buttons in the applications you're displaying to the students. Sometimes it's wiser to record at a smaller resolution so that these text and buttons are still readable to the student, considering that some students will be watching at a distance, or on smaller screens, such as tablets and phones.
  • Audio - Use a professional, high-quality microphone.
  • Chapters - Record each Chapter as a separate file. Aim for around 10 - 30 minutes per chapter.

Video Recording Best Practices

• !! Keep in Mind During Recording
  • Be in a quiet environment with no interruptions or background noise.
  • Avoid mumbling, echoes, feedback or other noises that could be picked up by the mic.
  • Ensure the volume is consistent throughout your recording.
  • Make sure your microphone is slightly offset from your mouth so that there are no strong breath noises in the recording. This is important even if you use a filter or pop-screen over or in-front of the microphone.
  • Please speak slow and clearly, especially if you have a strong accent. Although you may be able understand what you're saying in your recordings, not everybody else can, and if students struggle to follow along because they can't understand what you're saying, there's the risk that they'll be frustrated and may give up on you as an instructor. Knowing how important this is, please take a moment before recording to practice speaking slowly, clearly, and audibly and record a few audio tests. Play the recorded tests to your friends and colleagues for review and send them to your project manager at cmiVFX to make sure your vocal audio is clear and easily understood. This may take some practice and a few attempts before you get it sounding correct, so please be prepared to have your audio tests reviewed a few times with notes for improvement.
  • Make sure that your audio is set up correctly before you start recording! If your audio quality is poor it can significantly lower the perceived value of your training and you might be required to re-record it. Please be careful to get all of these audio quality details correct!
• Mistakes During Recording
  • Other minor mistakes are understandable, please make sure you correct them on video to inform the students.
  • Large mistakes that misdirect the training or are not easy to explain, please re-recorded properly.

Publishing

• File Transfer Instructions
  • After you're finished, your project manager will send you a Dropbox File Request Link. Send all completed files, documents, images to the link provided.
  • Email your Project Manager or Contact, notifying them the files have been transferred and complete.
• Publishing Details
  • cmi will create a poster image for your course if you don't have one already.
  • cmi will send a newsletter and social media updates to our users notifiying them about your course.
  • We release at least one new course a week, so if yours is in the queue, please be patient.
  • We configure the webpage and will let you know when it goes live.

Payment details

• Read this guide for more information about the payment process.