Some inside information what to purchase…

[Andrew Commiskey]

That sounds perfect, You may not need character stuff now but the net render, Thinking Particles, Advanced render, etc. will be welcome after you get through the basics. Welcome to the insanity.
Drew

Chaos is the beginning of everything.

[Adam Trachtenberg]

[Chaos Wrangler] “That sounds perfect, You may not need character stuff now but the net render, Thinking Particles, Advanced render, etc. will be welcome after you get through the basics. Welcome to the insanity.”
I second that.

[Mylenium]

If you will be rendering on multiple machines, NET-Render is a must. I don’t think any of the other modules the others mentioned is an immediate requirement, though. It’s quite possible to do nice logos without Advanced Render and in the crunch you won’t have time to use radiosity and other fancies much, anyways. Same for Thinking Particles – unless you have lots of time to learn it and use its powers, it can be more of a hinderance. For simple stuff I find I can get away with the standard particles and MoGraph along with my collection of After Effects tools.

Mylenium

[Pour Myl

[Lennart Wåhlin]

As said above. But, -if- you can get the means of getting the StudioBundle (All modules) plus MoGraph, try to.
Even if the different Modules are meant for “special” purposes, bits of every module do come in handy in many situations
and not always in the way thay are meant to.
Not only do you get in cheaper to start with, updates gets cheaper also.
IF you need a module later, it is not “in the Bundle” you initially bought, and hence need a separate update.

Many online answers do take advantage of solving problems with combinations of wildly spread parts of Cinemas tools.
So, I think that in the long run you will save time and some money jumping at the StudioBundle straight away.

Cheers
Lennart

[Mikeh64]

I know you don’t want to hear this, but just go for the full studio bundle plus mograph, you be happy you did later.

Do not under estimate the usefulness of the “hair” and “sketch & toon” modules for motion graphics, and you need Advanced Render. The only things you THINK don’t need are MOCCA and Dynamics, but you will use all of them eventually.

Also, it makes upgrade time easier and cheaper in the end. You can really get yourself into a frustrating and expensive situation by buying this and that, and then wanting/needing other modules and updates later.

mike