I tend to think of it in reverse. The more of a beginner you are the more you actually are going to need. Think about it, you don't know what the hell you doing or what you need, basically you just wanna set yourself up for success.
Of course when ever possible my advice is always avoid watered down versions of any product, there will ALWAYS be something you need.
Most beginners make the mistake of going for what is limited, for example CTA Standard, only to find out they cant get crap done in it hahaha
I mean 1, you are a beginner, 2 you expect to be able to get some kind of shit done. Why put yourself;f in a situation where the product has been limited. Don't believe me, just read through the forum from the countless beginners who have made that mistake only to find out later there is no easy upgrade path from standard to pipeline.
The watered down version is what I recommend for EXPERTS who know exactly what they DON'T need and want to save money. This example of this is a team or studio situation. For development purposes uyou really only need one copy of CTA pipeline. For animation purposes all you need is the standard version. Therefore you can buy one Pipeline for the machine that will be used to develop, and all the animators themselves, they can just have a copy of the standard or pro version. Since all they need to do is move shit around that has already been created. can also apply in a situation where you know you will not be making any custom work, leave the dev to someone else maybe a freelancer or stick to buying pre-made items off the marketplace, if all you need is to move stuff around, then standard is you need.
As a beginner, my suggestion is definitely just buy pipeline. In terms of bundles, you may never actually need them but as a beginner you will have plenty of stuff to play with and learn. It's really difficult as a beginner to be expected to also create their own stuff so the more you have available to play with, to mix and match, to create stuff with right from the start, the better your chances for success.
Ibis Fernandez | (available for hire)
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Professional Animator, Filmmaker | Creator of the highest quality (modular) G2 rigs for cartoon animator and developer of Toon Titan and Puppet Producer
Author of Flash Animation and Cartooning: A Creative Guide
>>> be sure to check out http://toontitan.com for professional grade assets, templates, and custom tools for Cartoon Animator and more.