New to Drupal - Could use some advice.

Hello All,

I'm a student with several ambitious projects that I've chosen to develop using Drupal. That said, I'm completely new to using Drupal, and to web design in general - my range of skills extends to basic knowledge of html and css. I have worked with php and mysql strictly through tutorials, but I understand the basic use and principles behind them. I've installed a LAMPP stack on my laptop, which I'm using as my development environment. I've installed Drupal 6.14 as of this post.

The project I'm currently working on:

- A content management system for an animation studio. I'm attempting to replicate our entire workflow with the system, which would include the following functionalities:

- Compel agreement to a Non-Disclosure Agreement upon registering for an account with the site. (Probably the 'Legal' module)

- Ability to create user profiles similar to social networking websites. Avatars, personal information and contact info, etc. These user profiles also need to serve as portfolios for the user's content, in a manner similar to DeviantART, but extended to as many media types as possible - music, flash video, processing sketches, etc. Ideally, what I'd like to end up with is having the user be able to upload any file to a personal file repository and have the system sort it by media type i.e. 'Images', 'Audio', 'Video', etc.

- A User Interface to sort the aforementioned media into specialized groupings that provide special functionality - For example, being able to sort images into a storyboard that then asks for captions and then presents them in storyboard form. Other groupings could be audio albums, non-storyboard image and video galleries, etc.

- Ability for users to create project pages that sport a number of project management tools. An example for this would be forming a project page for a show we're developing. A User would create the project page, which would have its own file repository and sorting system just like a personal page. In addition, a project page would be under the creator's administrative control, and he or she could invite other users to contribute to the project. The project page should also support project specific role/permissions and task assignment, as well as calendaring and project-specific events management, again all under the control of the project admin.

- Ability to set a quota on each user/project's file repository i.e. 2GB/user, 6GB/project.

I know this is a lengthy list, but I have seen much of this functionality in exploring the available Drupal modules. My main hurdle is in understanding the concepts behind the Drupal UI that would allow me to set up and tweak the modules that make these functions work.

I'd appreciate any suggestions on how to implement these functions on my Drupal site. I'm willing to learn the programming necessary to create my projects, but as far as I've seen, much of this is described as not needing much, if any programming to set up the basic functionality. So my first interest is in what I can accomplish before delving too far into the code. I'm not so much concerned with theming for the time being except insofar as it relates to making the aforementioned functionalities work. Once I've reached the point where I'll need to tweak the code to go any further, I'll be ready for that step.

Thanks very much for any help or suggestions.