Hey! I have come to this site many times peeking at its products and I am finally ready to buy. Now I just need a little help deciding what to get. First of all, iClone looks really cool but I have no experience in something like this. Is that a problem? I am willing to learn but I want to make sure it is not for advanced users only. I am also wondering if I should start out with the standard version rather than pro? I would like to make some things just for fun and other videos to promote websites, products, etc. Is iClone the best thing for this or would something else they offer be better? Any thoughts would be appreciated! Please be as specific as you can if you recommend something. I would just like to know why! :)

Not a single reply? That's a bit discouraging :(

Hello tothelab,

Heres what little insight I can give you. I think the learning curve for someone stepping into this completely new is somewhat high. It took me about 3 months before I felt comfortable doing my thing with Iclone. Still, once you get to that point of comfortability its a great place to be with a whole lot of freedom to import/create any props or animations you can dream up. 3DExchange is an important piece of the iclone puzzle if you do decide to purchase as it allows you to import props of various type and everything from Google 3d Warehouse will be available to you as well (though face counts and model complexity is an issue).

For me, Iclone is the cats meow.

Other software that is comparable in some ways to Iclone is Moviestorm. You can get the base package for free but all the extras will cost you and you dont get the animation abilities that Iclone has (at least last I checked). Still a good product and might be worth looking into. Still others use various Video Games such as Sim2 or The Movies to create their little flicks. Check out TMUnderground.com which has a lot of movies available for viewing and has channels dedicated to Iclone, MovieStorm and the Sims so you can see some of the possibilities. Hope this helps.

Firstly Hi, and welcome to the Forum.

I've not much time just now but in my opinion go for the Pro version rather than the Standard. It gives you so much more. You'll have to surf around this site to see exactly what that is. The Timeline is No 1. Also 3DExchange is a great tool but you may wish to hold off buying it whilst you learn the basics of iClone as a new version is coming out later. (No release date yet).

The learning curve is overall fairly high, but well worth it. I look forward to seeing some of your creations. All the best.

:cool: gizmo

Hi and welcome aboard. Don't be discouraged by the time it takes to get replies. Most of us are hobbyists with other lives so this isn't the busiest forum on the web.

I've tried Daz and Poser and one or two others but stuck with iClone as it does what I want - pretty much - and works in my constrained environment (laptop pc). I think in terms of bangs for bucks it's well up there though there's never enough free stuff :D

You'll never be able to recreate Flood, The Day after Tomorrow or Lord of the Rings but you can do some really good stuff.

Kind regards,

Alex

Thanks for all the replies everyone! I appreciate your help and the welcome. I will take it all in and figure out my next step. :cool:

Welcome!

Please don't be discouraged by the lag time with replies - most of us work and are not able to access the forum until we are home. I sneak in from time to time from work - :P - but not everyone can do that.

Choosing between Standard and Pro - I'd suggest going with Pro. It's a more complete and powerful package and something you can grow into over time.

Avail yourself to all the support, friendship and help that's available here. Check out Cool Clones, the Wiki, The Wolf and Ducli Hour - there is no shortage of information on this product. And if there is something that you can not find anywhere - just ask!

Yes, there is a challenging learning curve but it is a fun one!

Good Luck!

Cathy :hehe:

Just click on the graphic to go there.