When starting your first major project (one with props, backgrounds, paths, character animation, sound, etc.) remember that scale size is very important. You can always scale up or down in the coreography, but, this will bog down render times a lot. Its better to have everything to the right scale from the start. Also, things like materials, particles, image maps (decals) do not scale with the model. character animation (depending on how much you scale) might not work. If you plan on using an effect: Dust, Material Effectors, particles, it pays to experiment with these first so you can optimize what scale size to use. I worked on a project were the principle character was a fairy sprite. I made her three inches tall. I went to add particals (Tinkerbells flying-fairy-dust effect) only to find it wouldint work. Particals are governed by a: Emission Rate, Distance property (there are more than these two) that would not allow for the slowing down of the particals that I needed - the character was just to small. With the character at five six, the particals would float as I wanted. I had to rework EVERYTHING! to fit the new scale - work that took at least two months.
Plan ahead, test, experiment, and you can save a lot of time.
Kevin
