You always knew it and reading this somewhat proves it. You want to be an animator but have no experience with animating. Maybe like a lot of us you can't draw a straight line with a ruler or perhaps you have no clue what 3D animation is, but you know what you want to do. Maybe you are an experienced 3D artist wanting to get a quick grasp of the program. You are not only reading the right book, you are also among friends here. As long as you have the desire and know your mouse from a monitor, then you have as good a chance as anyone at creating fun animated videos of family, friends, stories, ideas, concepts, or whatever it is that you have a desire to share while having fun in the process.
The concept of this beginner's guide focuses on often used tools and features in an on-going project as well as several one-off projects for a hands-on learning experience with step-by-step instructions. Upon completion you will have animated an outdoor scene and space scene that covers the basics of the software. Plus you get to work with custom props including a "destructible" spaceship prop with built-in explosion animation. That's right… we're going to blow something up! With special effects too!
Before we can start creating any masterpieces or blowing anything up, we have to install the software and the extras that come with it.
In this chapter we shall do the following:
Install the software and bonus pack
Configure user preferences
Locate the template and Custom Content folders
Install new content
Introduce you to the iClone community
List free content websites
Learn to use the Reallusion Marketplace and the Reallusion Content Store
Explore the iClone Interface
So let's get on with it...