Guys guys guys, come ON! Do you think people here are stupid? In your second post it starts by saying:

Price ¦ $550 [WACOM Included]

Yet the small print says:

For this class you are required to provide your own laptop, WACOM and appropriate sotware required (notice the two 'required's by the way, classic rookie mistake)

Which is it? Do you provide the WACOM like you state, or does the student provide it, which you also state? Also:

These courses are designed to SUPPLEMENT your university/TAFE/schooling

However, in your previous statements you advertise that you will be looking to bridge the gap between finishing schooling and beginning work in the industry.

Let's also look at a couple of examples of the poor quality of your website's proof:

"ABOUT TO CDW STUDIOS", "have the opportunity to learn what its takes"

Finally, are you really sponsored by the people you claim you are? I googled your name on all the sites and could find NO reference to your company on either Wacom or Ballistic Publishing. I found an article on CGsociety about your company and the same stuff you posted here on cghub. As for the happyrabbit website or whatever the hell it's called, I didn't even bother searching that for your name, it's hardly a great advert for your company. It seems strange to me that multinational companies would sponsor you, yet would not even devote a single page or thread to promoting your company, so I find it hard to believe that your claims are true (I'm not saying they aren't, just that I seriously doubt it). I suppose now you've posted this thread then you can state you are sponsered by ImagineFX too.

Long story short is this: If I was studying graphic design/art etc. with a view to working in the industry, I would not pay an extra $500 to attend a course run by people who cannot even decide what it's primary aim is. Also, if I was looking to refine the art I was working on, I wouldn't rely on someone whose flagship (their website) incorporated very sloppy mistakes that could easily have been remedied by someone who is good at paying attention to detail. I CERTAINLY, CERTAINLY wouldn't be interested in paying money to someone who is more talk than anything else.

I could go ON AND ON about even more bits that irritate me about your website and business plan, but frankly I can't be bothered wasting any more time. I'm sure you know what you're doing when it comes to art, but if you want me as a potential customer to part with my money then you'd have to be far more honest and professional.

EDIT: By the way, after I posted this, I went back and proof-read it, then fixed any mistakes I made, and I'm not even trying to sell anything.

Lets look at the raw math

8 weeks at $550AUD plus a discount on any subsequent 8 week course.

Break that initial 8 week course down to 3hours per week times 8 weeks according to the website...so a total of 24 hours. Now factor in living costs, buying the right software etc etc

It seems kind of expensive for something like this.

From my own personal point of view.....Id rather faithfully pay my ifx subscription (albeit under protest because we dont get recurring subscriber goodies) and keep playing with the dvd and magazine workshops for as long as I want to for much less. Combine that with the awesome community we have on these forums and the free advice and feedback we recieve when we ask for it from top professionals at any time day or night.

I also checked out the website: www.simonscales.com.au

Some interesting work, mainly photo manipulation and collages... not my cup of tea really :)

Just some thoughts from the land down under :) 

Hey guys. 

So there seems to be a bit of confusion here. Hopefully we can clarify everything for you guys easily!

First of all, this is a live school, NOT an online school. Its based in Adelaide, Australia. We are a small school that are really trying to give students in Australia a taste of what it is like to study in a professional environment learning from industry professionals. This type of thing exists overseas but certainly not in Australia so it is a very unique opportunity.

Secondly, I guess in this day and age when you offer something for free people are skeptical and that is understandable, but yes, when you sign up for your first class you receive a free WACOM tablet. There is no catch with this, it's just an offer we have in conjunction with WACOM for people that want to attend. We are a brand new school in Australia just starting out so its just a nice little offer we have.

Yes on the course outline it says you need to provide your own WACOM, if you want to use your free WACOM for this then I would say that's what 99% of people will be doing. We just have that note there so people know they will need to use a WACOM or if they have a Cintiq bring it in to each class. Easy!

Classes are for any skill level from beginner to advanced. Due to the way the classes are structured there will be something for everyone, you receive one-on-one feedback on your work so if you are a beginner then you can happily take the classes at that level but if you are finished your degree and want to take your work to the next level then the instructors will help you with that also.

Any other questions guys, let us know!

Regards

CDW

aocdb - sorry this site only just got launched last week and the web-designer has made a few spelling mistakes, we will get this sorted out ASAP. Thanks for the heads up. Appreciate it.

www.cdwstudios.com

info@cdwstudios.com 

Well, finally a response, I'm glad. I must admit it was really getting on my nerves that you appeared to have 'dumped and run'. It's also nice to see that you've obviously taken my comments as they were meant, i.e. a constructive (although slightly frustrated) criticism, not a personal attack, and your clarifications do indeed clear up most of the points I raised.

I'm still interested though in how you secured the sponsorship of a company who don't appear (at least in their online guise) to know who you are - I refer to Wacom, not the others.

The short story of this is that I don't live anywhere near Australia, so I won't be attending your courses. However, you can see my concerns and I hope that this insight into how my mind works helps you to address them and build for the future. I do like this idea, it just needs to come over as a professional outfit, not some little _______ (insert word here) who thinks that because he's had a deviantart account for 2 years then he's the next big thing.

I hope this helps, and best of luck to you.

Not a problem at all.

To answer your question CDW Studios has stemmed from CDW (Concept Design Workshop) which are live workshops around Australia and New Zealand (our next workshop will be in Wellington NZ in September). WACOM have assisted up with these workshops a lot, and have sponsored tickets to the workshops as well as partnering up with us at some trade events (AvCon Adelaide 2012).

The offer we have for the free WACOM tablet has been sponsored/supplied by WACOM Australia for our new courses. So rather than being a monetary sponsorship (which would appear on their website) it is more of a material and support sponsorship which we have negotiated on a more regional basis. 

Have a look at their Facebook page here: http://www.facebook.com/wacomaustralia

CDW 

thanks for clearing some of this up and taking the time to come back and revisit your post.

It sounds interesting and I can see the driving force behind it but even as someone living in Australia, this seems very expensive given Adelaide is a very long way to go for 3 hours of class per week.

Consider offering some online courses? I know FZD are doing some online workshops soon which seems pretty damn exciting and appears to be generating a lot of interest globally...it might give you an edge in the Australian market to try something similar?

Good luck either way and Id be interested in the possibility to join an online class and support a 'local' school....

Hey Chantika.

At this stage we are just offering live classes. We offer digital downloads from the CDW workshop events in our online store, and host workshops around Australia and New Zealand, which are perhaps a better option for interstate and international artists.

However some of our instructors offer their own online courses/tutorials, currently through CGSociety - and are very good quality.

But looking to the future, we would love to expand into full-time courses (which would be more viable for interstate students), but are still in the draft stages of this plan.

CDW