Hello everyone,

I want to learn iClone 8, but I have never used any animation software before, and I have zero knowledge in this field.

Could someone please explain what iClone 8, Character Creator 4, Digital Soul 100, Headshot 2.0, ZBrush Face Tools, etc., are?

Additionally, what should I purchase initially to get started, and where can I find tutorials for these tools?

I would be extremely grateful for any help.

Thank you!

iClone 8 - a software for animating 3D characters and objects. If the characters structure follow the Reallusion standard you can simplify certain animation tasks.The features of the software can be expanded with plugins and content packs which need to be purchased separately.

Character Creator 4 - a software to create human based 3D characters. It comes with a basic set of premade anatomical parts you can combine and modify. Like iClone, the features of the software can be expanded with plugins and content packs which need to be purchased separately.

Digital Soul 100 - a content pack of facial animations, which you can use for your own facial animations, without the need to create them yourself. It's basically a time saver.

Headshot 2.0 - a plugin for Character Creator that helps you create a three dimensional head from photos (front facing) or to convert an existing 3D head (for example, a 3D scan made with your iPhone) and import it onto a Reallusion character. This helps you to save time modelling a certain person in Character Creator.

ZBrush Face Tools - if you own the 3D sculpting software Zbrush, you can use this plugin to transfer the head of a character you are currently working on directly to Zbrush to use its extremely advanced sculpting tools to model the head to your liking. It also allows to modify the basic facial expressions of a character. Character Creator only has very basic tools to do this, so advanced artists usually do this in other software like Zbrush. Face Tools basically makes this easier by automating the transfer process between the two apps. Before Face Tools you needed to do this manually. 

If you only want to learn how to animate 3D characters, iClone would be enough. Try the free test version. 

If you also want to create your own characters you could be interested in Character Creator. But that's not a must. You can also create 3D characters in other software like Blender or download free/paid characters from the internet and and then use the free AccuRig software to make them animateable in iClone.