If you've ever tried to add any multimedia to your web site then you know there's a serious problem with online multimedia: It's too darn big to work decently with given the speed of a 28.8-kbps modem. But, there is a solution to this delima; CelAnimator 1.0 from
FutureWave lets you build interactive, animated graphics that won't make Web surfers grind their teeth while fat bitmaps crawl across the wire slower than my aunt Tilly drives her car to the market.
As its name implies, CelAnimator builds cartoonlike animation, using compact, vector-based graphics that permit swift downloads and sharp images. Animations get down to 15K and hover under 100K in many cases. Web surfers can view CelAnimator elements by installing a royalty-free Netscape Navigator plug-in.
CelAnimator comes with everything you need to create vector drawings, add basic text, and edit scenes. A simple drag-and-drop interface is augmented by a series of effective step-by-step tutorials that let you practice creating animation, managing layers, and so on.
You orchestrate animated scenes by using a frame-based, time line interface similar to the ones found in video editing packages. To create a new scene, you draw or import graphic objects, create motion paths, and set beginning and end points. Key frames, rotation controls, and other options provide further detail, and multiple layers help you manage your work. You can import from other vector formats (such as WMF, EPS, and DXF), but not
from CorelDraw's proprietary CDR format.
With its compact files and streaming graphics, CelAnimator seems particularly well suited for logo animation and button customization. For example, you can create buttons that appear to squish when pressed-without adding by significantly to the size of your HTML page. Anti-aliasing eliminates jaggies, while support for hot spots lets you reward users with an animation when they click on a spot.
Of course, FutureWave is not the only company to take advantage of vector graphics. Micrografx, for instance, offers QuickSilver, a plug-in for Navigator that also lets you view fast vector graphics on the Web; but you must use the company's ABC GraphicsSuite as the creation tool. So while CelAnimator can't create immersive 3-D worlds, won't support audio, and does require a plug-in, it delivers refreshing interactivity without annoying delays- on its own.
CelAnimator 1.0 WIN 95, NT, MAC
$250 from FutureWave, 800-619-6193 |
