As this is not a book on Adobe After Effects, but rather a plugin for that software. It is assumed that you have at least a working knowledge of After Effects and its interface. You do not need to be an expert in After Effects; you just have be familiar with it.

Element 3D does not have a proper modeler within it. You must create models within another 3D package. There are free modelers available (such as Blender). Some can be quite expensive (Maya, Lightwave, 3D Studio Max, Cinema 4D, and so on). The principals shown in the modeling section of this book (Chapter 3, Your First Objects, and Chapter 4, Painting Your Geometry (Textures)) can be applied to any 3D software. They all contain the tools used in this book; just the locations of the buttons might change. Thus, it is assumed that you are familiar with the interface of the modeling software that you have chosen.