Cliff Sharif - Gold Level Unreal Engine Instructor
We’re excited to congratulate Game Programming trainer Cliff Sharif on his promotion to Gold-level Unreal Engine Instructor!
As a Gold-level Unreal Engine Instructor, Cliff joins a leading group of professionals recognised for their in-depth knowledge and teaching expertise in Unreal Engine. The Unreal Authorized Instructor Program provides instructors with access to exclusive resources and a community of professionals, allowing them to deliver high-quality training across industries like gaming, architecture, and simulation.
Cliff’s promotion is a testament to his dedication and passion for teaching, as well as his extensive experience with Unreal Engine.
We sat down with Cliff to learn more about his journey with Unreal Engine and the challenges he faced to achieve this milestone.
Can you tell us about your journey with Unreal Engine and how you first started using it?
My first serious experience with Unreal Engine was in 2003 when Epic Games released Unreal II: The Awakening. Before that, they had released Unreal in 1998, making this the second installment in the series. The level design, magnificent graphical effects, gameplay, and smooth rendering on Windows PCs at the time immediately grabbed my attention. When Unreal Tournament 2004 was released, I completely fell in love with the engine and the company behind it.
What are the key differences between Silver and Gold-level certification?
There are three levels of this online badge: Bronze, Silver, and Gold. When individuals certify as a UAI (Unreal Authorised Instructor), they automatically receive a Bronze badge, which is valid for one year.
To upgrade to a higher-level badge, individuals must remain "active" by engaging in activities such as teaching, answering questions in the Epic Dev Community Hub, attending UAI webinars and live sessions hosted by Epic Games, conducting research, reporting bugs, and publishing tutorials. These tutorials can take the form of videos, written publications, or shared projects on platforms like Git or Fab (Marketplace).
What was the most challenging part of achieving Gold-level status?
The main challenge was creating video tutorials that had to be published on a public platform, such as YouTube or the Epic Dev Community. The most difficult part for me was using proper vocabulary and pronunciation. I find that I can learn different programming languages with relative ease, but learning human languages has always been a challenge for me.
I have attempted to learn Russian, Italian, Armenian, and Chinese, but none have yielded satisfying results. English has been the most successful so far, but I still feel there is room for improvement. Nevertheless, I completed the required tutorials, and they were well received!
Were there any specific projects or experiences that helped you reach this milestone?
My previous industry experience in virtual reality application development helped me prepare for the UAI certification exam. At that time, my team was responsible for developing a military-grade simulation that trained soldiers in tactical field medical procedures.
We developed the application within 24 weeks, and after its release, it was nominated as the best field simulation at the Land Forces International Land Defense Exposition in Australia in 2020 (link).
Most military personnel who tested the application with a virtual reality headset were impressed by its features, level of detail, realism, and procedural accuracy.
Here are some demo videos:
What do you think are the most valuable skills for students learning Unreal?
Unreal Engine is a powerful application that provides a set of tools for creating high-end interactive experiences, such as video games. It supports two programming languages: Blueprint and C++.
Students can apply their C++ knowledge to develop object-oriented programs (OOP) and manage memory efficiently, enabling the creation of real-time applications. At the same time, by learning and using Unreal Engine’s visual scripting language, Blueprint,
they can collaborate effectively with artists, game designers, and other programmers throughout the development process.
So, not only do they practice their skills in using the C++ programming language to develop games, but they also refine their teamwork skills by using Blueprint, which is much easier to understand and use.
How do you see Unreal Engine evolving in the next few years?
Epic Games provides live sessions and webinars for UAI-certified partners, where the company’s developers and designers share the latest improvements, upgrades, and tools in Unreal Engine. These sessions offer valuable insights into current developments and future milestones, showing how the engine evolves to meet industry requirements.
In my opinion, the next major upgrade will likely involve new generations of AI assistance within the engine to simplify graphic pipelines and support higher-quality real-time rendering. Additionally, Epic may introduce access to a built-in database system, similar to MySQL, to enhance data storage and management for applications developed in Unreal Engine.
Finally, there is significant demand among developers for Unreal Engine applications to run in web browsers. This feature was available in Unreal Engine 4 but was unfortunately deprecated in Unreal Engine 5. There is a possibility that Epic may reintroduce this functionality in a future UE5 update.
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