Founded in 2010, CreativeLive is one of the world’s largest education platforms for anyone who is seeking online courses in creative areas. It has over 1,500 classes which are taught by more than 650 industry-leading experts. If you are looking for a way to improve your creative skills and make yourself a more talented artist, CreativeLive could be a good place to be.
The classes that CreativeLive offers focus on five categories: photography and video, art and design, music and audio, craft and maker, or money and life.
CreativeLive, as the name suggests, offers free live broadcasts of selected online classes with 24/7 availability from their four in-house production studios. Since its launch in 2010, CreativeLive now has more than 10 million students using the platform, and over two billion minutes of course instruction have been watched.
If you think CreativeLive is only designed for creative people, you might be missing the most interesting part. The platform is great for those who want to hone their creative skills. However, even if you classify yourself as the least-creative type of person, CreativeLive can also help you lay a great base for building creativeness, and inspire you to develop a rewarding hobby.
How CreativeLive Works
The way CreativeLive works is quite similar to other online learning platforms.
CreativeLive enables electronic learning material to be accessed, whether written in-house or imported from other commercial packages. The platform enables instructors, professors, and coaches to design, organize and repurpose materials and courses that can be accessed online.
The point that sets CreativeLive apart from other platforms with the same service is the livestream classes.
On the other hand, CreativeLive courses on request for a fee are always offered. You can learn on your laptop as well as use CreativeLive apps on Android or IOS devices to watch when you aren’t enough time to learn. You can directly join in the live classes of CreativeLive On Air. The platform also offers a 30-day refund policy unless you are satisfied.
Since all CreativeLive courses are filmed in-house by qualified videographers, you have to pay to join lessons. It’s not a free site where without any consequences people can pick up and drop lessons. That said, there are a lot of free online assets offered by CreativeLive, and it is easy to see what you will be buying.
Is Online Learning a Good Fit for You?
The internet and computers have come a long way in the last decade. It is easy to make and distribute digital videos, and this is more or less what CreativeLive has done as an educational platform. Many people find online learning to be a useful tool, and it is certainly much cheaper than a university.
One of the biggest questions for any student to consider is the goal of their education. If you are after a degree, then a platform like CreativeLive isn’t going to be a good choice. Many people think they need a degree if they are going to get a job, and in some cases, this is correct.
The creative world isn’t the same as many other industries. For example, if you want to make money as a wedding photographer, having a four-year degree from a university may not be important.
As long as you have the skills and equipment, as well as samples to show prospective clients, it is likely that you could be a very successful wedding photographer with no formal ‘education’.
In fact, you could take the money that would have been spent on university and buy cameras and lighting, which will make your photography business more capable.
Online learning platforms can help motivated people to gain the skills they need and save money at the same time. Instead of having to go to a physical location to learn, as you would with the traditional university system, online platforms let you learn from anywhere you like.
Online Learning Means Lower Prices
It is easy to lose track of how expensive a university degree can be in a nation that doesn’t offer any sort of public assistance for higher education.
Not only do you have to pay for the school, but expenses like textbooks (seriously…paper?) and housing also add up quickly. Learning online makes a lot of sense from a value perspective, especially if you can use your skills without getting a degree.
Instead of having to commute, live in a university town for many years, and then look for a job, online learning platforms allow you to learn from your home or a cafe. You will be able to focus on anything you like, and there are no grades to make you feel bad about giving your best.
Access Your Courses With CreativeLive
CreativeLive makes it simple to get to the information that can help you learn a creative skill quickly. When signing in your account on a laptop, courses on CreativeLive are simple to access from your account page.
If you want to download CreativeLive apps on your smartphone and tablet, that works too.
The classes you bought live under the “My Library” on the home-page of creativelive.com and to access your purchased classes, just follow the steps below:
- Sign in your CreativeLive account
- Click on the class link you want to join under “My Library”
- Click on the “LESSONS” overlay located in the upper right of the video display if you wish to stream
- Scroll down and click on the “Class Materials” tab underneath the video player, click “DOWNLOAD” or “HD DOWNLOAD” in order to download and watch offline.
With on-demand courses, you can watch or learn them whenever you like owing to they are pre-recorded.
One really cool thing about the platform is that it streams live classes on its website when recording new courses, and of course, this course is completely free. There are also loads of CreativeLive videos on YouTube, which can be watched at any time.
CreativeLive Pricing
CreativeLive uses a freemium pricing model: all classes are free to access while they are streaming, while previously on-air classes have some sections that are free to watch. The lessons can be watched later, but it will have a fee attached. You can also purchase access to your preferred courses.
CreativeLive fees vary, as they often have sales. If you aren’t in a hurry to build up your learning library, you can wait to buy the courses you want at a discount during a sale.
There is no set price you pay for the Creative Live lessons. Each lesson will have its own qualities. On CreativeLive, you can find many courses at $50 USD while others cost $100 USD or more.
The ones that cost more usually have more in-depth tutorials, so when you pay a higher price, you normally get more content.
Creator Pass – Access all Lessons
We think the pricing of individual lessons can be costly, depending on the subject so the inclusion of their Creator Pass a better option for most people. Currently the cost is $39 per month which includes access to as many lessons as you like. You can also pay yearly to save even more money – it’s clearly the option they want you to pick as one month’s access is cheaper than a lot of individual lessons there.
It should be noted that the Creator Pass does not include every lessons, there are a small amount of instructors and individual lessons not included, according to the site the reason is “Due to pre-existing agreements with some of our instructors, a small number of instructors and classes are excluded from the Creator Pass.”
CreativeLive Classes
As mentioned above, CreativeLive is built for the creative fields. While most of the classes focus on learning or improving a creative talent, some will help you turn that talent into money. Many creatives struggle with the business side of a creative venture, and it can be helpful to learn from a creative person who is also supporting themselves with their talent.
CreativeLive offers classes in the following areas:
Photography
Digital photography has become the industry standard and has also allowed many people to learn the craft more easily. Instead of waiting for film to be developed, results are instant, and you can learn about basic camera functions in near real-time.
CreativeLive has an abundance of photography classes, ranging from commercial work to nature photography. You can easily focus on the area of photography that you enjoy, no matter what your goals are.
Art and Design
There are many ways to use art and design for both a hobby or a business. Many people can make a living doing digital design work, while others just enjoy making art for fun.
CreativeLive has a wide variety of design and art classes on its platform, and you don’t have to watch them all to find the things that interest you. With all the choices that CreativeLive offers, you might end up finding a new creative outlet while you browse through all the classes.
Music and Audio
Music production, like photography and video, has become much more accessible in the digital age. It is simple to record your own music or build a small studio that can create decent recordings.
CreativeLive has industry professionals giving presentations on its platform that will help anyone get into music and audio production. If you are interested in a specific area or need help fine-tuning your recording skills, CreativeLive is worth a look.
Craft and Maker
Do you love to work with your hands to make unique goods? The craft and maker classes that CreativeLive offers can help you find a craft you enjoy or help you to improve the skill you are already practicing. There are many different crafts that you can learn, like flower arrangements or jewelry design. CreativeLive also helps you learn how to market your craft, so you can earn an income from your skills.
Money and Life
Some people just like to keep their creative talent as a hobby, but many want to go pro and do what they love for a living. CreativeLive has classes that can help you to make the jump from hobbyist to professional and make a full time living from your creativity.
CreativeLive has lots of individual classes based on your interests, and it is a good idea to look through its extensive media library if you are interested in any of the topics described in this article.
Other Online Course Platforms to Consider
One of the best parts of online learning platforms is that you can source information from more that one place. CreativeLive is a great platform, but there are others that could help you to find more helpful information.
When you decide to pursue an education online, you will see that there are some big advantages over the existing system, which requires your physical presence. You can take advantage of many different platforms when you learn online, and you don’t have to jump through any hoops to get access to useful classes.
Here are a few other platforms that can help you to learn more about what you already love!
Skillshare
Skillshare is an online learning and education community platform along with thousands of classes on illustration, design, photography, video, freelancing, and more for creative and curious people. Millions of members are connected at Skillshare and together people find inspiration to take the next step in their creative journey.
The platform has a user-friendly and easily accessible interface, as well as a simple to use platform. It is an appropriate way to study hard skills with diverse content. Optional homework and community interaction are available as well. You can learn practical hard skills from Skillshare at reasonable prices.
However, be careful with soft skills classes taught by others calling themselves an expert since the website doesn’t have heavy quality control and just about anyone can become a lecturer on Skillshare.
Skillshare offers a free program, Premium membership, and Teams accounts. The free version allows you to watch chosen video classes and also watch its content on both the website and mobile apps. You will have to watch some ads with the free program, but it doesn’t cost you anything.
A Premium membership at Skillshare costs $15 USD per month or $99 USD per year. It doesn’t contain ads and provides the whole catalog of courses. You can also download classes to the Skillshare mobile app to watch them offline if you want.
The Teams accounts cost $99 USD per person per year and offer the same functionality as a Premium annual subscription.
The Teams account is designed for groups of people who can work together under one account like co-workers. If you have 20 or fewer people in your group you can make and pay for a Teams account online. If you have more than 20 people, you’ll need to connect with Skillshare directly.
As long as you remember that Skillshare will allow most people to publish as a teacher, and you need to be aware of the quality of the content, it is a great place to learn.
Masterclass
Masterclass, as the name suggests, provides classes from top-tier professionals from all over the world that you will easily recognize once you see their names. Imagine how wonderful it is to learn from Natalie Portman, Anna Wintour, Gordon Ramsay, or even Magaret Atwood?
They’re all masters in their fields and Masterclass offers fifty classes in this field from world-renowned experts. The average class has 24 lessons per lesson, averaging twelve minutes per class. Classes commence at around $100 USD each. You can also pay $180 USD per year for access to all available classes.
Getting through courses ar Masterclass is undoubtedly a thrilling experience, and you can learn a lot from top-tier professionals.
One point that learners want to consider is that Masterclass courses may not be suitable for beginners. It is recommended that more advanced students use Masterclass, as the classes aren’t geared to people who are just starting out.
Coursera
Well-known with its ease-to-use, it’s not an exaggeration to say that Coursera is the world’s leading platforms. It is trusted by students across the world and has loads of courses. If you’re looking for more than just a simple online course to boost your creative endeavors, Coursera can be an awesome tool.
Coursera provides training programs as well as individual classes, and even online degrees.
To offer a variety of courses, including creative arts, Coursera partners with teachers from renowned universities. Coursera provides an interactive experience with auto-graded and peer-reviewed assignments as well as group discussion forums rather than simply watching video lectures.
Once you have completed a course, you will be qualified for a small fee for a shareable online Course Certificate.
Most Coursera courses are priced under $100 but the price varies greatly, depending on what you are learning and how you study. You can test hundreds of demo classes at no fee. This option gives you access to most material from the course, but you will not be graded or awarded a certificate.
CreativeLive – The Rundown
CreativeLive is one of the leading online educational platforms for anyone who wants to develop their creative talents. The classes that it provides are of excellent quality and are produced in a professional studio. While there are free classes available, if you want access to a wide range of materials, you will have to pay.
In some ways, it is difficult to assign a price to the kinds of classes that CreativeLive offers. When compared to a traditional university, the classes are extremely cheap. On the other hand, there are free learning tools out there, which may or may not offer the same level of educational quality.
Another thing to consider is that CreativeLive is only geared toward creative areas, like crafts and photography. If you are a creative that wants to learn more, then this is perfect. On the other hand, if you want a wider range of subjects to study, CreativeLive isn’t going to be a one-stop-shop for your online educational needs.
CreativeLive – Pros and Cons
Like any learning platform, CreativeLive does have some drawbacks. If you are looking for some sort of degree, it isn’t going to be a good option.
CreativeLive also skips any sort of grading, which may not work for people who are used to being able to quantify their abilities with letters or numbers.
CreativeLive Pros
- Professional Instructors: CreativeLive has one of the best teams of instructors, which makes it a high-recommended and worthy online education platform recognized by users and students around the world for its quality. Instructors are best-selling writers, Grammy winners, and world-renowned photographers.
- Efficient Courses: CreativeLive offers courses with great detail, covering tip-to-toe aspects of the topic, sometimes in greater depth than you may need.
- High Quality: Since all CreativeLive courses are filmed by qualified videographers in-house, you don’t have to worry about microphone noise or out of focus videos
- Various Choices of Devices: You can lean with CreativeLive from your computer, or mobile device.
- Supportive Community: There are resources on CreativeLive to connect with other students. This is great, and will probably help you learn faster.
CreativeLive Cons
- Expensive Price for Individual Lessons: CreativeLive offers various free courses without asking you to pay, however, what if you just want to focus on one topic or to get advanced courses instead of random lessons? You must consider the cost. CreativeLive’s fee for some high-end lessons is on the expensive side (for online education) and may cost you hundreds of dollars.
- No Certificates Supplied: CreativeLive doesn’t offer any certificates or accreditation of their courses. If certificates or diplomas are your big concern, CreativeLive may not be a good platform for you to learn on.
- Lesson Length: There are many courses with a length of more than 30 minutes. This may make the learning process quite tough to digest for some students.
A Great Learning Platform for Creatives
If you are after some of the best courses for creatives online, CreativeLive is a good choice. One of the nicest things about the platform is that you can test out the courses with zero cost or commitment.
If you like what you see, and want to learn more, the fee structure at CreativeLive is easy to understand and in-line with the rest of the online education market although their individual classes can be expensive. If you intend to take more than one lesson, we recommend that you get the Creator Pass which is a monthly fee for as many lessons as you need.
A few decades ago the kind of educational resources that CreativeLive offers were impossible, and today you can learn loads for a few hundred dollars.
CreativeLive is a great option for young creatives that want to learn more, or anyone who wants access to top-quality creative learning resources.
We loved the feel of the platform, it’s worth signing up for and watching some of the free live lessons – it’s like having your own interesting TV channel for learning.
CreativeLive
Pros
- Free Lessons
- Wide Range of Classes
- Excellent Production Value
- Good Instructors
- Creator Pass Unlocks all Lessons
Cons
- Expensive to Buy Individual Classes
- No Certificates
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