Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Funny Animation

Animation is a very special media form. It allows the complete re-presentation of reality. Funny animation attracts attention of viewers to get into the purpose. Website, presentations, product demos, advertisements, public show must have some funny animation stuff to attract the reader or viewers. This is a very easy now with the help of computer, software and tools. Generating animation graphics and making it animated is also funny work. Animation may not be so powerful but widely used and appreciated. Funny animations are popular in computer games, Cartoon channels, blockbuster movies etc. Funny Animation is used to fill in the gaps when reality simply doesn't look real enough.

Funny Animation is the process of linking a series of slightly different funny cartoon drawings together to simulate a movement. There are normally 24 or less frames per second in moving film and it happens similar in animated GIFs you see on websites.

Techniques used for Funny Animations:
There are three different techniques types of cartoon animation: 1. Cel Animation cartoons are made on transparent sheets (celluloid) laid on top of each other to combine characters and backgrounds. 2. Stop Motion Animation is model or cartoons or puppet (or shadow) is shot a frame at a time, with tiny changes in positions. 3. Computer animation where computer is used for creating the shapes and colors of animated action, working from a series of mathematical codes, or can be drawn frame by frame cartoons.

Popular Usage of Funny Animation:
In User Interface design in software, web applications and websites, many funny animations are popularly used. The buttons, pop up stuff, comment box, help (like MS word help and search dog) are designed with animations that give a pleasure look at the animation. There are numerous funny animations are used in electronic advertisement on Internet and television media. Advertisers can make funny animation advertisement film without a human model. They can redirect the animation character to any extent. There are many cartoon animation films have been made in Hollywood film industry.

Making of Animations
Storyboards preparation is the first document work that conveys the list of task to be done sequentially. Making shapes body, faces, hands, legs, dress up and putting color are sequential steps. You can use some common shape, alphabets for making of face, flower, tree, house etc. Based on the distant of objects you have to draw the sizes of the objects or character. In computer you can repeat a partial drawing using mirror images effects. There are many effects, layer works can be designed for animating objects. Flip Book is a sample that can be used while making animation graphics in computer. You can draw frame by frame graphics and change in each frame like flip book sequential images. You will find a good animation of your drawing object.

Think of some funny sounds that match to your animation object movements or character movements. Funny sounds like laughs, claps, chains clanking, footsteps, doors creaking, whistle, wind, rain, thunder and lightening, barking dog etc. can be collected from libraries and incorporate in specific frames. To be a good funny animator, you need to think about how shapes can change and move with humorous way.

AniBoom has a founding team having rich experience from different fields of Television, media managing, animation especially funny animation and able to bring all of their experience, as in synergy, into the Internet.

Article Source: http://www.1articleworld.com

Shakir A is an independent writer on Interactive Marketing, Animation Movies, Cartoons and other related topics for Internet marketing, PPC, SEO, SEM, Online Marketing. Currently writing more and more for AniBoom.Com www.aniboom.com/

Monday, July 30, 2007

3d Background For Power point Presentations

It is definite that Microsoft power point presentations are one of the most powerful tools to today’s businessman. If you do not have an idea of how to use the MS power point then you are definitely at a huge loss. When you are approaching VCs to get funding with your business and marketing plans, or when you are going to make a presentation to your team mates to make them aware of the business opportunity which you have just discovered, it is the MS power point that is going to help you.

Target Audience Are Important:

In any type of presentation it is very important to attract the audience in the first shot it self. As we all know, first impression is the best impression. If the audience are not interested in seeing and observing your presentation, no matter how good your presentation skills are and no matter how good your presentation material is, it is definitely not going to create the impact which you are looking for on your target audience.

3d Backgrounds:

In order to get that much needed first impression, one thing that can help you is the background, which you choose for your MS power point presentation. Template of the presentation can really attract the audience at your presentation. 3d backgrounds are really gaining popularity in the recent times even for the formal business presentations. These 3d backgrounds for MS power point presentations can make your over all presentation very attractive.

Main Points To Consider:
There are good numbers of 3d backgrounds available for free on the Internet. Even Microsoft is releasing some good number of templates with 3d backgrounds in the recent times. Some of the basic precautions that you have to take while considering 3d backgrounds for your power point presentations are:

  • Try and use a single background for the whole presentation.
  • The colors, which you use in the foreground for your presentation, should look in nice accordance with the 3d background.
  • If you use animated 3d background, keep in mind that the animation effects do not distract the concentration of your audience.
  • If you can take these simple precautions, these backgrounds can really help you in making your presentation a very impressive one.

Visit http://www.graphic-design.in/

Source : http://www.articlewise.com/

Sunday, July 29, 2007

Free Animation

Internet has brought a dynamic and open source of using of graphics stuff. Cartoon and animations are the part of that. Digital animations are designed using software tool separately for 2-D and 3-D animations. There are many websites do business related to graphics, animation and websites. They have many free Animations in Animations Library. The animations are in different forms stored in website library or catalogue. There are digital greetings, postcards, mailers, buttons, emotional faces, and shapes are animated. While browsing the Animation Library, you can listen to attractive music by using the Jukebox also. So that can be used in your purpose. You can search for free animations using the search box provided in many websites. They offer thousands of free clip art images and the animation version of the same images. The catalogue is designed in alphabetic sequence, or thumb nail pattern with ascending order. So a user can easily find the desired animations. Free animations can be searched by typing the word connected to the name of the animations.

Types of Free Animations
Typical 2-D and 3-D animations are available freely from downloadable websites. There are several models of shapes are available in 3-D form. You can use the downloaded animation in your mobile, computer, laptops, palmtops, I-pods etc. There is some hub in Internet, where you can avail the animation files. To navigate the animation file you need to use the interface designed. All the animations, graphics and 3D animated file are gif, swf format that are free to download and use on your websites and computer desktops.
The animated Buttons, Bullets, Dividers and Arrows are web design stuffs.

How to download
Once you entered to the specific websites, there are options for free download files, music, animations and graphics etc. For downloading you be required to a user of the website. There will be a registration entry page will allow to enter your name, user name, password, email ID, Telephone number etc. Once you entered the detail, an email will go to your email inbox for a verification of valid email Id holder. That email provides a code to be entered for the first time of entry. Indirectly the website can trace you as a user, who uses the free stuff from Internet. Later on you will be interested for more valued animations fro their website. That record will help them for the business an all.

Most of these animations are free for personal use only. If any body use for a commercial basis may have to inform the free provider company as per the term and conditions. Some free animation links leads you to the owner’s page, or display a copyright notice with term and conditions. Generally, Animation files are bigger sized files. There are bunch of files are to be downloaded. That pack file may have such big memory size. So you need to check your hard disk space to accommodate the files.

AniBoom informs about the free animation available and the technique for using in computer, mobiles, MMS, or for any digital displaying gazettes.

Article Source: http://www.1articleworld.com

Shakir A is an independent writer on Interactive Marketing, Animation Movies, Cartoons and other related topics for Internet marketing, PPC, SEO, SEM, Online Marketing. Currently writing more and more for AniBoom.Com www.aniboom.com/

Friday, July 27, 2007

Design Considerations For Animated Websites

Web sites with animation, sound, video, and other enhancements can be interesting and promote user interactivity. However, websites with all the bells and whistles can also take too long to download and discourages users. Fortunatley, a wealth of techniques and options are available to help keep download time to a minimum.

-Bandwidth, which is the transfer rate of data to the user's browser, has hindered the development of websites with multiple media effects and enhancements.

-Many techniques and options are available to help keep website graphics and animation download time to a minimum and include use of tables, colour reduction and optimization of graphics, use of thumbnails, reuse of images, optimal placements of scripts, and selection offast loading type of web browsers such as Firefox.

-Several online web software tools are available to perform various tests on your web sites, such as web site garage, sitescan survey, pehtoori (html validation service), link alarm, and site inspector.

Bandwidth Issues

It was not long ago that the norm was the 56K modem. Today, many users (appr 55%) still use the 56K modems for surfing, so bandwidth must still be a concern to website designers. However, with technological advances such as fast cable modems, TI lines, etc, bandwidth will become less of a concern in the future. However, today you must still design websites with bandwidth in mind.

Many techniques and options are available to help keep website graphics and animation download times to a minimum. The following tips will help you create web pages that load as quickly as possible:

Use tables for putting graphics together to reduce the size of a gif animation. Depending on what your animation is like, tables can help reduce its overall file size. For example, you may have an image you want to animate, but only a small part of the image will actually be the animation. You can manually cut up the image into different pieces using a program like photoshop, or automatically, using a special utility like Ulead SmartSaver Pro. If you use photoshop, you must put the resulting graphics back together in your html editor using table cells. Programs like SmartSaver creat the html file with the graphics already in the table cells. By slicing up your image into sections, the samll part of the image that animates will now be in a table cell by itself. The rest of the image in the other table cells does not become part of tthe actual animation itself, thus reducing file size.

Reduce the colour palette of your gif animation. You can greatly reduce the size of your gif animation by reducing the number of colours in its colour palette. For example, if you have a 256 colour image and decrease its colour's to 64, the size of the animation will be significantly smaller. However, too much colour reduction may have an effect on image quality. Obviously, some complexities exist for animated gif creation. Fortunatley, several software options are available that help with palette and overall gif animation optimization, such as Equilibrium's Debabilizer, Digital Frontier's HVC ColorGif, Ulead's gif animator, as well as online gif optimizing services, such as gif wizard, and gif cruncher.

Reuse images throughout a website. Reusing images, if possible, is another way to decrease download time since the browser downloads and places the images in the pc's cache. For example, if you use an image on your home page and then use the same images on four other pages of the website, the image has to download just once. Thus, download time is kept to a minimum since one image downloads instead of five separate images.

Specify Height and Width in your html code for your animated gif images. You should always specify height and width in your html code for your animated gif images. If you do not specify height and width in your html code, then the browser will wait for the graphic to load before loading the text. You should also be aware that setting the height and width in your html code to a size smaller than the graphic will not reduce download time since the image's file size will remain the same as it was before.

Specify a low-res image to display as a high res image loads. You can create a low -res variation of a jpg or gif image to appear while waiting for the high res image to finish downloading. When you do this, the page appears to load much faster to the user. In reality, the extra image actually adds to the total download time. To add a low-res variation, you simply add an attribute to the image tag like the following:

IMG src="image-high-res.gif" lowsrc="image-low-res.gif"

Be sure to use jpgs for colourful photographic images. While you could compress your photographic images as gif images, jpeg compresses colourful images with generally better results, since jpg images offer 24 bit colour compared to gif images' 256 colours.

Substitute thumbnails for larger images on a webpage.

Use interlaced jpg and gif images. You can save your images as interlaced jpg and gif images that will display a preview of the images as they load.

Alright, now go and CREATE!

About Author : M.Adley is webmaster @ your3dsource.com , a resource for beginner to intermediate web designers and 3D artists. Learn Computer Animation Gif Animations

Source : http://www.articleblotter.com/

Thursday, July 26, 2007

Animation sector to touch 1 bn dlr

NEW DELHI: The Indian animation industry would touch the $1 billion mark by 2010 against $360 million in 2006-07 provided more animation parks and super hi-tech studios are set up across the country, according to industry body Assocham. The chamber has projected that animation parks would generate employment opportunities for over two lakh skilled animators in next three years.

Read More Article...

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Which 3D Animation Software Should I Use?

3D software tends to range in complexity and sophistication, although these days even the simplest 3D software is capable of impressive results. However, choosing the right 3D program is not a trivial matter, nor is it an easy one. There are many factors to take into account, and your choice will also depend on your intentions. Do you just want to dabble or include a little 3D rendering in your website? Perhaps you are a 2D designer and want to start incorporating 3D in your illustration work. Maybe you have learned about 3D using free software and intend to pursue 3D as a career. Here we will go over the options available in three general sectors of the market: beginner, intermediate, and advanced. Most 3D programs are available as demo versions, so you can try them out and get a feel of how they work before committing any of your hard-earned cash.

Basic

At the bottom end of the market there are plenty of low cost, easy to use 3D programs. Because of the low cost and small market share, this is a volatile sector, with 3D applications popping into and out of the market quite rapidly. Some of these applications last a little longer than normal, while others vanish without a trace, so don't be surprised if any mentioned here are no longer available by the time you read this! Whatever the name, they all tend to follow the same basic path-making 3D as easy as possible, but without the power and finesse of the more expensive packages.

If you want something for nothing, there are a few freeware versions of 3D packages available. 3D Canvas from amabilis.com is a cut down version of the company's commercial 3D packages. It's a fully functional 3D application but is probably more suited to the intermediate 3D users or keen beginners.

Xara 3D is a typical low end 3D package, still going strong after multiple versions. Costing about $39, it's a PC-only 3D program that won't break the bank but is pretty limited as 3D programs go. Xara is great for quick logos and fun titles, but really that is about it.

Adobe Dimension is a plug-in for illustrator (Mac or PC) that generates rendered 3D objects from illustrator curves and text. Again, it's limited but very simple to use, and for some it's all that is needed.

Although more suited to intermediate users, Amorphium from ElectricImage Inc. is an esy to use 3D program designed to work in a very hands on way. If you want to sculpt 3D objects as if they were lumps of clay then render them very simply, it's a good way to go.

Poser is included here because it is so easy to use, but in fact it's usefulness extends right up to the pro level. It's a 3D character renderer and animator that lets you pose and animate ready-made, high quality 3D figures. It's very powerful, but it's not an all rounder- it does one thing only-but does it very well.

Intermediate

The quality of intermediate 3D software can vary, but there are a few things to bear in mind. Make sure the rendering is up to speed, and examine online galleries of the software, which you can usually find on the developer's site. This will usually give you a good idea of the quality on offer. Most of the programs are available as demo versions, so they can be downloaded for evaluation.

Strata's Strata 3D has a long history and is available for Mac and PC. It's a sturdy if slightly archaic 3D program, but it has found favor with many digital illustrators. It has some good rendering features, including radiosity, which are rare at the price. www.strata3d.com

Pixels is a Mac-only 3D program that offers advanced rendering and animation and robust modeling for a modest cost. It also features a renderer based on the REYES algorithm-the same one used in Pixar's RenderMan software.

Corel's Bryce 3D is an interesting 3D program. It's primarily a landscape rendering application, designed to produce skies, seas, and terrains in a very efficient way. It can be pressed into service as a more general purpose 3D tool, but lacks any serious modeling tools. www.corel.com

One of the best free 3D applications available is Blender. This program is a full featured 3D production package featuring the kinds of tools you'd expect to see in a mid to high end application.

Advanced

At the high end level of 3D applications, it's not so much the tools as their implementation that makes the difference, and each 3D application listed here has its own style of working. Some of these applications are costly, seriously powerful, and used for many high-end effects in movies and television.

Newtek's Lightwave 3D is a dual application featuring separate modeler/texturing and animation/lighting/rendering apps. Its quirky interface is deceptively powerful, and it offers one of the best quality renderers out there.

Softimage XSI combines sublime modeling with non-linear animation, scripting, and phenomenal rendering through tight integration with Mental Images' Mental Ray rendering software. It also features an integrated 2D/3D compositor.

Alias's Maya 3D is extremely powerful. Its node-based architecture enables complex animation and rendering linkages to be created and it offers a nonlinear modeling history, plus Mental Ray rendering.

Discreet's 3Ds Max has always been a popular choice. Its design is not as modern as Maya or Softimage but it holds its own, especially in the games production market, and comes with Mental Ray rendering as standard.

Houdini is a fully procedural animation system that takes the node-based architecture to the nth degree. Sublimely powerful, it's not for the faint hearted, but offers the kind of flexibility other applications only hint at.

The full suite of plug-ins for Cinema 4D takes it into the high end. With advanced radiosity rendering, sophisticated character tools, and a GUI based expression system, it's also one of the easiest high-end 3D apps to get to grips with.

Now, go forth and create!

About the Author:

M Adley is webmaster @ http://your3dsource.com , a resource for beginner to intermediate web designers and 3D artists.

Article Source: www.iSnare.com

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

3d Background For Power point Presentations

It is definite that Microsoft power point presentations are one of the most powerful tools to today’s businessman. If you do not have an idea of how to use the MS power point then you are definitely at a huge loss. When you are approaching VCs to get funding with your business and marketing plans, or when you are going to make a presentation to your team mates to make them aware of the business opportunity which you have just discovered, it is the MS power point that is going to help you.

Target Audience Are Important:

In any type of presentation it is very important to attract the audience in the first shot it self. As we all know, first impression is the best impression. If the audience are not interested in seeing and observing your presentation, no matter how good your presentation skills are and no matter how good your presentation material is, it is definitely not going to create the impact which you are looking for on your target audience.

3d Backgrounds:

In order to get that much needed first impression, one thing that can help you is the background, which you choose for your MS power point presentation. Template of the presentation can really attract the audience at your presentation. 3d backgrounds are really gaining popularity in the recent times even for the formal business presentations. These 3d backgrounds for MS power point presentations can make your over all presentation very attractive.

Main Points To Consider:
There are good numbers of 3d backgrounds available for free on the Internet. Even Microsoft is releasing some good number of templates with 3d backgrounds in the recent times. Some of the basic precautions that you have to take while considering 3d backgrounds for your power point presentations are:

* Try and use a single background for the whole presentation.

* The colors, which you use in the foreground for your presentation, should look in nice accordance with the 3d background.

* If you use animated 3d background, keep in mind that the animation effects do not distract the concentration of your audience.

If you can take these simple precautions, these backgrounds can really help you in making your presentation a very impressive one.

Visit http://www.graphic-design.in/

Monday, July 23, 2007

Flash Templates - Perfect impression with flash templates

Flash is one of the latest technologies to span the globe. As most internet browsers, as well as operating systems, now have flash players equipped, it seems only logical to put a little sparkle into any company website. This is not always as fool-proof as it seems, however. While Flash is a valuable aspect of a website for most individuals or companies, there are some who should consider the decision carefully.

What are Alex Shah is a freelance writer at NxtDomains.com Software and Services which provides Flash Templates ?

Most small businesses who want to incorporate Flash into a website use Flash Templates . These templates are great timesaving, budget friendly measures that greatly simplify website design. All web templates are basic outlines containing design aspects for a website. The uniqueness of the Flash templates is in the actual animated portions of the design.

Flash Templates modify like any other web template, but require additional customization to ensure the Flash portions contain relevant company information. The templates are available through numerous online sources, and the low cost and ease of modification make them the preferred means of designing a professional quality, animated website.

Who Needs a Flash Template?

Most websites benefit tremendously from the Flash elements obtained through the templates. Personal websites, websites in the many of the service industries, adult websites, gaming websites, search engines, and many more are greatly enhanced by the features these templates offer. The proverbial bells and whistles help entice searchers and potential customers into clients and patrons. These websites strongly benefit from templates with large amounts of animation.

Who Should Avoid a Flash Template?

Some businesses do well to avoid the large animations obtained on many Flash templates. These companies or individual have websites which provide products or information that would be diminished by Flash. While these sites are not necessarily the norm, they do exist. For example, a very technical website designed for doctors, engineers, or scientists might not benefit from being designed using Flash elements. The technical patron in a quick pursuit of information could become annoyed with animated aspects of the site. The same could be said for financial institutions. Financial companies as well as law firms tend to be traditional and conservative. These companies might only pursue Flash templates with very small amounts of animation.

Small aspects of Flash such as a short introduction or diminutive animated logo would be a positive addition to any website. The smaller elements of some Flash templates might be perfect to add a dab of something extra to a basic layout. Templates vary significantly in the amount of animation, so obtaining the perfect quantity for any company is simply done.

About Author :

Alex Shah is a freelance artist at NxtDomains.com Software and Services which provides website templates and flash templates

Source : http://www.goarticles.com/

Sunday, July 22, 2007

Computer Animation Takes The Lead

There’s really no stopping the various types of media from going high-tech. Technology used from the broadcast and print media to the multimedia is advancing almost every day. Animation in the movies and television is just one example.

Animation is responsible for the funny, adorable and sometimes tough cartoon characters we love to see on TV and in the movies. Before, it the making of cartoons was just done manually (drawn by hand) but now, computer animation is the latest trend. Walt Disney used to be synonymous to cartoons but today, numerous companies have gotten into the business of animation. The latest buzz is that Disney Animation officers are planning to return the Walt Disney studios in Burbank, California to its original status as an exclusive hand-drawn animation company. “Lilo and Stitch” was Disney’s last hand-drawn and big hit animated film.

Computer animation makes use of two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) computer graphics. When used in films, it is referred to as computer generated imagery or imaging (CGI). This digital technology has somehow replaced the stop motion animation of 3D models and frame-by-frame animation of two-dimensional illustrations.

In making 3D animations, objects or models are normally built on the computer monitor and 3D figures are manipulated with a so-called virtual skeleton. For 2D animations, separate drawings and separate transparent layers are used even without a virtual skeleton.

Computer-animated films usually cover animal characters such as in “Finding Nemo,” fantasy characters like “Shrek” and “Monsters, Inc.” as well as humans that are still cartoons such as “The Incredibles.” A more realistic simulation of humans has been attempted via the movie “Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within” but it needs further improvement.

Other than the U.S., another highly-developed country that has a great fascination for animation is Japan. Anime (short for animation) in Japan became famous because of its unique format of storytelling compared to the country’s live-action industry. Japan is known for its robot anime like the Gundam, Voltes V and Mazinger Z that became classics in the 1980s. The origin of Japanese anime can be traced to the early 20th century when Yamamoto explored the techniques in animation that were being done in Germany, France, Russia and the United States at that time. Anime has also been greatly influenced by the Japanese manga and light novels and covers genres such as action, adventure, children’s stories, drama, comedy, fantasy, horror, science fiction and romance.

Animation companies actually have a staff of creative people who can really draw well. Some of them have also outsourced their services and have put up offices in countries whose citizens are blessed with great talent in drawing and have a passion for animation.

Podcastblaster is a site specializing in all aspect of podcasts and provides an extensive podcast directory covering many topics including Movies & Television.

Source : http://www.articleblotter.com/

Thursday, July 19, 2007

Use Of Graphic Design To Increase Website Useability

There can be no argument about the importance of design in attracting Internet users to a particular web site. No one would bother to explore the contents of a site if it does not contain eye-catching graphics that can please the visual sense of the users. With so many kinds of web sites existing online, it is extremely challenging to attract users and keep them interested in the site.

But a web site developer does not simply apply graphics freely on a site. Graphics should be used in the correct manner, or else, users might get turned off because the graphics featured just overwhelmed or confused them.

While it is true that attractive design is important for reasons that need not be explained, the choice of design must be carefully considered against the fulfilling the needs of users. When done successfully, it could be safely said that the web site has achieved its goals.

Graphics used in the Internet is inextricably linked to multimedia. Multimedia is a combination of graphics, text, sound, and animation to express a message to users. The multimedia features that will be incorporated to a web site should be dependent on the content. In general, multimedia and graphics should serve as supports to content, and should have precise, instructional purpose.

According to research, animated images can facilitate the transfer of learning in a positive way if it is utilized to show a vital part of the concept that is being illustrated. On the other hand, animation can serve as a barrier to user recall and performance.

Here are the guidelines in incorporating graphics to web sites:

  1. Justify the usage of the graphics
    The most obvious problem that can be seen on web pages is the over-usage of graphics. The main downside of this is that complicated, unnecessary graphics can take a long time to download, and this, of course, will not sit well with users. The graphics to be applied should support the transfer of data and should also be in relation to the accompanying text.
  2. The difference between graphics with text-redundant data and those containing information that is non-redundant is that the former facilitates and ushers in the learning process, while the latter does not either help or slow down learning.
  3. Consistency should be a priority in graphic design
  4. Web pages should be marked up so that text will be downloaded before the graphics. In this way, the users will know immediately if the page has the information that they are looking for, and if not, they will be able to save precious waiting time knowing that they do not need that certain page.
  5. The loading of graphics should be controlled as such that loading will commence from top to bottom, and the users scrolling down the page will encounter said graphics.
  6. The downloading of pages should be fast in order to save users waiting time, and in order to reduce the chances that they will get frustrated that they will abandon plans to download. Here are several ways to achieve fast download periods:

    -Keep the physical size of the graphics to a minimum
    -Images should be combined in order to minimize the number of server connections. Remember, the more connections that exists, the slower the download time will be
    -Decrease image resolution
    -Limit the colors that will be used for the images
    -Limit the use of animation

Animation is very much a part of web graphic design. The primary difference between web text and graphics and contents that are print-based is the dynamics. Moving displays attract the attention of users as long as the frequency of the display is regulated. Too much animation display can irritate and distract users. An animation that is perpetually moving can destroy the readable quality of the web page.

The usage of blinking texts should be avoided. It has long been regarded as an overused feature and the latest browsers no longer support it.

In designing a web site, there always exists a conflict between the desire to have total control over the appearance of a page and the need to permit users to establish their own preferences. The general appearance of the page should be made by the designer, but there are certain elements that users should have control over, such as color and text background, and the option whether to display graphics or not.

It takes a considerable amount of effort to establish and maintain the attractiveness and efficiency of a web site. If the guidelines above will be followed, all the efforts of web designers will bear desirable results. They only have to remember that the benefit of the users will always be the basis for everything.

Source :http://www.articleblotter.com/

5 Shades Hosting is a successful web hosting provider that has been providing website design and affordable web hosting services for individuals and businesses for almost a decade now. Dollar-for-dollar, feature-for-feature, you'll find the best web hosting plans right here plus a full Money Back Guarantee.

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Using pictures in presentation

What about using graphic if your PowerPoint presentation? Does it make sense? I'm sure you heard something like "our graphics will make your presentation looks professional" or "make it vivid", but you still must understand why you use or do not use graphics in your presentation.

The first fact is that pictures are easier for visual perception than text, but pictures will not contain as much information as text will. So, use pictures to add some life to your presentation, to point on key concepts and ideas.

Second fact, having pictures in your presentation is a good way to differentiate between slides. People will remember more if they will have a visual image of what you are talking right now.

Third, in fact, if you what presentation to look professional then you don't need to full it with hundreds pictures. It wound be enough to add a company logo, sometime it is necessary to add more graphics, but... keep it simple. Remember, that people might need to access your presentation from the web and the presentation size should not be bigger that 60 minutes of high-quality video.

What about using graphic libraries? If you will use some free clipart, then you will not achieve the goal for your presentation to look like professional one. People used these clip arts thousand of times and will know where did you get these pictures from. The good idea is to purchase a package of ready to use presentation images or ask company designer to prepare several images for your presentation.

What about using animation, movies and so on in your presentation? Well, it's a good idea to put vivid video in your presentation, but remember that if may be hard to get this presentation online and keep all formats and files in a proper way.

The general question - should the presentation be animated in someway? For instance, PowerPoint allows to draw your slide step by step - first draw the title, then represent one by one some key phrases. This is great idea as people who will listen to you will carefully follow your ideas, but again, you will not be able to make sure that your presentation will be represented online correctly with all steps that you have planned.

The recommendation is simple - use graphics in your presentation. It's very good idea to make it look professional, but only graphics will not do job for you.

Images that work! I talk about charts and diagrams. People are willing to have a look at statistics. Statistics is what making people crazy about everything, so if you have some statistic, then add it to your presentation. Tell about your sales in past, future and planned. Show the numbers not just in text, but on chart. Name the chart accordingly - don't tell "The chart number ...", tell what this chart explains "The growth of sales during last two years was not what we were looking for".

So how does professional presentation look like? It may have some pictures, but author focuses on clear ideas supporting them with chars and diagrams. That is the key to successful presentation.

If you are interested in how to convert PPT to SWF, check Sam Miller new web-site.

Source : http://www.articleblotter.com/

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

3D - The most versatile tool for Macromedia Flash

Macromedia Flash Swift 3D is an innovatory extension for Flash MX. Swift 3D instantly converts text and artwork into spectacular 3D animations without leaving the Flash interface.

Swift 3D combines user friendly interface, industry standard vector exporter and a full ray tracing rendering engine. It can export to both raster and vector file formats as well as Macromedia Flash (SWF), AI, EPS, JPEG, BMP and others. Neophytes as well as veterans in the field of 3D animation can quickly adjust to this newly discovered craze for creators. They can use pre-built animations, lighting schemes and materials to create a high quality 3D animation to their satisfaction.

The versatility of this tool is brought about by the 13 different styles of the highest quality vector output, vector-based movie clips for smallest file sizes, raster-based movie clips for photo-realistic quality, extensive control over object bevels, sizing and rotation, pre-built materials from the gallery, and a lot more.

3D Vector Realism turns your graphics into pragmatic models with the use of complex shadows, transparency, advanced highlights and reflections into your 3D vector objects. Photorealistic raster output with vectors, on the other hand, tags your 3D Flash work to another rank by introducing raster graphics. To create a life-like depiction, apply bitmap textures to your vector models. You can use your 3D models not only for Flash but with Photoshop, Fireworks and other graphic programs as well. Your model can also be exported to JPEG or on any format that your graphics program will import to have a 3D canvas to explore.

Another vital thing about Swift 3D is that it painlessly upgrade path to a full 3D application. Its SmartLayer Technology automatically separates the exported models into different layers for transparency, reflections, color, shadows, and highlights.

Swift 3D satisfies the creator’s most common 3D needs. In fact, expertise on 3D software is not necessary. It is easy to use and has a wide selection to cater to every creator’s needs. This is about high time for us to create the highest quality output ever available.

Ever since Swift 3D was released more and more satisfied users are giving their feedbacks. Some are using it to design simple flyers, backgrounds up to the most complicated animations and artworks. The possibilities are endless. Try it to experience the enigmatic difference!

Once you’ve tried it you’ll most likely agree with me that it is the ultimate tool for publishing your 3D creations.

About The Author
Maricon Williams Book reading has always been her greatest passion -- mysteries, horrors, psycho-thrillers, historical documentaries and classics. She got hooked into it way back when she was but a shy kid.

For comments and inquiries about the article visit http://www.ucreative.com/

Monday, July 16, 2007

If A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words, Than An Animation Is Worth A Settlement!

Courtroom re-enactment though forensic animation can be a very effective tool in persuading a jury to decide in your client’s favor. Technology is enhancing civil and criminal litigation, mediations, arbitrations and case depositions in a rapid manner. One study by the National Center for State Courts has determined that 82 percent of trials using 3D modeling as demonstrative evidence have led to victory.

How jurors perceive a witness, speaks directly to their opinion of the witness’s character. One study by the ACTA Press stated, “A well designed animation can influence a jurors' interpretation of the participant's activities in terms of perceived aggression, curiosity, jealousy, fear, provocation, relationships, roles and responsibilities, and guilt and innocence.” Jurors will become more emotionally connected in the animation as motion, texture, and lighting are rendered in more sophisticated ways.

How Animation can be used:
The development of computer forensic animation prior to deposition will highlight where information and collaboration is required, helping focus questions while eliciting complete information. By displaying 3D modeling during question and answer sessions by asking, "Is this what happened?" Animation will make the facts clearer to the jury. Computer animation helps juries understand in tangible terms what might otherwise remain an abstract concept. Computer forensics and 3D modeling has been proven to be better than any other type of demonstrative evidence according to a United States District Court Judge.

"I have noticed repeatedly that when a document is displayed on the monitors, the jurors sit up and pay attention. Such attention is far greater than that given to a document or situation which they cannot see as it is being discussed by the attorney and the witness."

"As long as technology is beneficial in helping jurors understand the facts and, more importantly, in expediting the trial, few judges will oppose it."

United States District Judge Carl Rubin

Examples of use:

Imagine for a moment a lawyer asking a witness, “If the truck was traveling at 50 miles per hour, and hit the side of the building in this spot, what would happen to the truck?" Working with the right 3D animator, the incident can be re-enacted with the true physics of force, surface texture and speed applied to get an enhanced image of the circumstances.

Demonstrating the intricate details of an accident scene, whether portraying a medical procedure or forensic mechanism of injury, there are virtually no limitations to what can be visualized using computer animation coupled with scientific and statistical evidence.
  • A vehicle traveling at X miles per hour vs. Y miles per hour
  • If a truck had veered ten feet sooner
  • If a vat of chemicals had been placed here vs. there
  • If the train operator had really seen or heard the signal
  • If the substance was indeed harmless

Recently their was a trial where the plaintiff charged an architect with improperly designing a bridge. The defendant hired a graphic animation designer who took the blueprints, created a sketch drawing and built the bridge with the computer. Then, with the assistance of an engineer, the animator found that the bridge was designed properly. In fact, there had been an accident concerning a car colliding with a support column, which was not reported to the authorities until after the suit began. The animator then re-created the truck accident to show the damage to the bridge and its lingering effects.

Why Use Forensic Animation:

3D computer animations and images remain imbedded in the mind of the viewer long after they are offered as demonstrative evidence. Accidents, models, science or medial scenes, etc. are recreated to scale, through the use of computer animation, from expert or police reports. These animations are both visually presented to the jury. Statistics have shown people in general are much more likely to retain visual information that auditory information such as witness testimony.

A cardinal rule of persuasion or debate is to always show, rather than tell someone what happened. By showing the jury your client’s perspective, while the opposing side tells their client’s perspective, the jury is much more likely to identify and believe the visual presentation, all things being equal. As the old adage goes: a picture is worth a thousand words, and I would submit if a picture is worth a thousand words, than an animation is worth a settlement!

This Article was written by Micahel Goldstein, ESQ. for Courtroom Tools, a Forensic Animation and litigation technology Company in Massachusetts.

Saturday, July 14, 2007

Using Animation & Rich Media In Web Design

The use of special effects on web pages has literally exploded. Special effects are used either to draw potential client's attention to a web site or to show off technical expertise. However, many web site designers, graphic designers, and programmers, or HTML "newbie’s" often use special effects without considering how their target audience will react to them. Ultimately, using advanced technology can alienate the very customers designers are trying to attract because they want their web site to look "cool."

BEFORE you add any special effects to your web site, especially your home page, is your site easy to read, easy to navigate, easy to find, consistent/coherent in design, and quick to download? If the answer to all of these questions is yes, then adding special effects to your web site can be a good idea.

Special effects add to a web site's download time, and you don't want potential customers clicking off your site before viewing its content because you wanted "cool" effects on your web pages.

Some special effects require a plug-in. Here's a typical scenario. Let's say that some of your visitors do not have the plug-in required to hear the sound. Again, before they see the content of your site, they're probably going to see a pop-up asking them if they want to download the plug-in. Do you want your potential customers to see that pop-up right away? Or do you want them to see your products and/or services that they are searching for? If visiting your site means potential clients will have to download a plug-in first in order to view your site, products and/or services, they will probably continue to navigate your site. It means that you were thinking more of your corporate image than of your potential customers.

Some special effects, such as animation and music, might be cute and impressive at first. However, after the initial impact, it can become irritating. So irritating, in fact, that some people actually unplug the speakers to their computers.

To show design, technical, or programming talent, we recommend dividing your site into individual pages that showcase one particular talent per page. Doing this can greatly increase your pages' download speed, and your visitors will know what to expect when they go to a special effects page. An added bonus to this layout is that you can code (meta-tag, descriptive titles, etc.) and promote each talent page differently (i.e. emphasis on different keywords), possibly resulting in better, targeted traffic to your site.

Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com/

Andy MacDonald owns and runs his own custom website design company called Swift Media UK which also incorporates intranet design, ecommerce development, affordable website hosting, and also logo design.

Thursday, July 12, 2007

How To Care For Your Animation Art - 5 Common Questions.

Can we handle Animation Cels? Unframed Animation Cels should be handled as little as possible, preferably not at all. When handling your cel, it would be best to use clean cloth gloves. With or without gloves, cels are best handled by the edges.
Where can I store an unframed Animation Cel? Store it upright, in a cool room, away from sources of direct heat or sunlight. Cels seem to store better in moderate humidity: not too dry and not too moist. Do NOT store in a Kitchen, bathroom, loft or cellar, unless properly insulated.
Where should I not hang a framed piece of Art? Do not hang any art where direct sunlight can cross it and neither hand it above a radiator. Watch for hot-spots reflected from glass tables; it can be just as damaging as direct sunlight. If there is a high amount of reflected sunlight, you will want to make sure your cel is framed with a UV-reflective material.

Can I clean an Animation Art Cel myself? No, under any circumstances, do not attempt to clean a cel yourself. Leave this to the professionals such as your framer, who can remove minor smudges and other imperfections, and they should do so with extreme care.

How should I frame my artwork? Always frame your art with the highest quality materials. Use acid-free mats and backing, especially for framing drawings or other, paper based artwork.

If you are choosing a piece of Art it is easy and safe to purchase over the internet, but choosing a frame is very personal and is more advisable to be done in person at a local framing gallery, as you can choose the exact size and colour to compliment your cel and the room it is to be displayed in.

Artwork that is shipped framed can become warped, especially if it is a large piece, or if it is stretched on canvas. Additionally glass or perspex can crack or smash and damage your artwork.

About the Author: You can visit Paul’s web site, and see his fantastic collection at the Animation Art Gallery, as well as reading his information and comments on animation art.

Article Source: www.iSnare.com/

The Benefits of Stock Animation

Does your company need help with an animation project? Stock animation can help. Stock animation is used primarily on the web and on TV. They are used to present information, to entertain and to keep the viewer interested in what is happening. They are used across many industries from news organizations to engineering firms. Because of the great need for animations many companies have begun to sell stock animation to help streamline the creative process.

Most animation projects are time intensive and require a lot of creative thought and energy. Stock animation help reduce the time, thought and energy that is needed for a project. Stock animation is often used as a starting place for the animator. The animator will then build on the animation to get the desired result. Stock animation is also used as a background for other creative elements. Suppose that you want to make your own DVD. Do you have the skills to make a quality animation for the background? If not you could use a stock animation to help make your DVD look like it was professionally done. Stock animations can be used as backgrounds to make on screen text more interesting. News companies use this all of the time to make plain text more interesting.

Formats

Stock animation comes in several different formats. Each format is suited for a different purpose.

Animated Gifs

Gif stands for graphics interchange format. These are the small and often annoying animations that you see on web pages. You can find thousands of stock animations in this format for free download on the internet. The quality of these animations is usually very poor as they were designed to be compact for use on the internet. Generally you should stay away from this type of animation, except for a very few cases, as they often annoy the user.

Flash animation

Flash animation is the most versatile of all the formats as they can easily be converted for use on TV or DVD. Flash uses vector graphics which means it stores most of the information about the animation as a mathematical formula instead of pixel by pixel, frame by frame. This is useful because it can be scaled easily to fit any size that is needed. Stock animation for Flash is harder to find and will usually cost money. However, they can save a lot of time.

Composite animation

Composite animations are created by combining several different animated elements together to create the finished product. These animations tend to be very high quality and very visually appealing. They are often used for TV because of their high quality. You will almost always pay a premium price for these animations. But, you will get what you paid for. Composite stock animation can give your project a very professional and creative look very quickly.

Each stock animation format has its use. The type of project will determine the best type of stock animation. If used wisely, stock animation will save time and energy. Stock animation will also give your projects the professional look that you want.

Justin Grover- 10xMarketing � More Visitors �More Buyers �More Revenue, if you would like to find quality stock animation for Flash please visit Cartoon Solutions.

Source: http://www.articlealley.com

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

How Flash Text Animation Can Help You

What is Flash Text Animation? Flash text animation is exactly what it sounds like. On your web page, you turn plain text into text that is moving, full of colors and life. It lookseven better than it sounds, trust me. Flash text animation is growing more and more popular, and graphic designers are finding that flash text animation gives web site a high-tech, glossy,more professional look.

Sure, you can have plain text on your site. But when yourcompetition has flashing, animated, interesting text, viewers may like those sites better - which can be bad for business.In the world of the Internet, having page viewers is the key to success. You want people to come to your site, so you have to keep up with (and even outdo) the competition. Flash text animation is a great way to get your site looking professional,interesting, and lively.

How Flash Text Animation Can Help You Flash text animation will make your site look more interesting graphically, giving it an overall well-done feel and professionalism. This will bring visitors back time and again, and help to draw in traffic for your site. The average Internet cruiser looks at twenty to forty different sites a day - having flash text animation on your site can help set you apart from the rest. You want visitors not only to come to your site, but also to remember your web site. This will bring in repeat visitors, which means more business for you and your site.

Flash text animation very simply looks good, and people want their web sites to look good. It makes your site a more lively and interesting piece of the Internet to visit, and will make you look like a professional web site designer. No one has to know how easy flash text animation can really be.

Flash Text Animation Programs To be honest, designing your own flash text animation can be a very long and tedious process. You have to really know what you're doing and go through a series of careful steps before you get any hint of animation to your text at all. Even very clever web site designers have trouble designing flash text animation.

And because it's so hard, there are about a thousand programs you can get online to make the whole thing a lot easier. That's one of the reasons the Internet is so great - it's great for taking shortcuts. If carefully designing your text and spending hours and hours working with the bones of your web site doesn't sound appealing, don't worry - that doesn't sound appealing to many people.

There are many free flash text animation programs that you can find online, and download for your own personal use. Using
Flash text animation programs is usually as simple as clicking some buttons and working your way through some pull-down menus. In a matter of minutes, you can add flash text animation to your site without a lot of hassle or even web site design. A simple search on the Internet will yield many different programs that you can try for free to create your own flash text animation.

Flash Text Animation If it makes your site look better, if it's easy to do, and if it means more traffic to your site, there's no reason not to give it a try. Flash text animation will give your site a professional look that you and your visitors will enjoy.

Article written by Lewis Hong.web design company usa

Monday, July 9, 2007

Convert Visitors Into Customers With Animation

Part of having a successful website is having the ability to get traffic to your site. But there’s more to it than that. You need to be able to turn visitors into customers which means you have to stay one step ahead of the competition. Good news! You can convert visitors into customers with animation.

Animation is a moving image also referred to as streaming video. These files are sent in a compressed format across the net and then displayed on the visitors system when they arrive at your site. Streaming video is animated pictures, and steaming media is animated pictures with sound.

The key to streaming video or media is that the visitor isn’t left waiting for a large file to download before they can view it. Instead it is sent in a continuous stream, thus the name “streaming,” and as it is arrives on the viewers screen it is played.

The only thing the visitor needs to view is it a program that can uncompress the data and then send it to the viewer. There are plenty of free programs available like Media Player or Quick Time.

Now that you know how it works, bet you are wondering what’s so great about animation and that can convert your visitors into customers. You can make your web site stand out from the crowd for just cents on the dollar.

Streaming video gives you credibility. It’s easy to type up a page of text, add a few graphics, and produce a web site. But adding animation takes a little more time and people find that credible. In fact surveys have shown that visitors associate streaming media with large corporate sites which they are more willing to purchase from.

25% of all visitors are auditory and either have limited reading skills or simply don’t like to read. By adding animation and audio you can capture that portion of the market and turn these visitors into customers.

We’ve all heard one of those ad jingles that sticks in our head and we just can’t get rid of it. That’s what streaming media can do for you. If your visitors remember who you are they are more likely to come back and visit again.

Animation captures the visitors attention. And when you capture their attention they stay on your site longer. The longer they stay the more likely they are to make a purchase. Web owners use PPC to advertise and there’s no question that this form of advertising can get traffic to your site but unless you can get them to stay awhile you PPC money is wasted.

The times they are a changing, in fact they are changing so rapidly that sometimes it’s hard to keep up. Your visitors computers are capable of viewing multimedia and that’s what they expect. They want to be entertained.

Currently under 30% of all web sites utilize animation of any kind and less than 10% utilize animation and video together. That means when a visitor hits your site they’ll be impressed. “Wow check out this site and see what it does.” This word of mouth between friends increases your traffic and gives you the opportunity to convert them to paying customers.

Every year the web surfer becomes more web savvy. As there skills increase, and the computer equipment they buy gets better and better, they expect more from a web site. They want to be entertained, they want interaction, they want your site to be different and give them a reason why they should spend their money there.

Animation combined with steaming video is not necessarily new but until recently was too expensive for the average web site. Now it’s becoming affordable with many companies offering software that will do the job.

So why not stay ahead of your competition and convert visitors into customers with animation.

Deon Melchior is the Editor and Publisher of Article Click. For more FREE articles for your ezine and websites visit ArticleClick.com

Design Considerations For Animated Web Sites

Web sites with animation, sound, video, and other enhancements can be interesting and promote user interactivity. However, websites with all the bells and whistles can also take too long to download and discourages users. Fortunatley, a wealth of techniques and options are available to help keep download time to a minimum.

-Bandwidth, which is the transfer rate of data to the user's browser, has hindered the development of websites with multiple media effects and enhancements.

-Many techniques and options are available to help keep website graphics and animation download time to a minimum and include use of tables, colour reduction and optimization of graphics, use of thumbnails, reuse of images, optimal placements of scripts, and selection offast loading type of web browsers such as Firefox.

-Several online web software tools are available to perform various tests on your web sites, such as web site garage, sitescan survey, pehtoori (html validation service), link alarm, and site inspector.

Bandwidth Issues

It was not long ago that the norm was the 56K modem. Today, many users (appr 55%) still use the 56K modems for surfing, so bandwidth must still be a concern to website designers. However, with technological advances such as fast cable modems, TI lines, etc, bandwidth will become less of a concern in the future. However, today you must still design websites with bandwidth in mind.

Many techniques and options are available to help keep website graphics and animation download times to a minimum. The following tips will help you create web pages that load as quickly as possible:

Use tables for putting graphics together to reduce the size of a gif animation. Depending on what your animation is like, tables can help reduce its overall file size. For example, you may have an image you want to animate, but only a small part of the image will actually be the animation. You can manually cut up the image into different pieces using a program like photoshop, or automatically, using a special utility like Ulead SmartSaver Pro. If you use photoshop, you must put the resulting graphics back together in your html editor using table cells. Programs like SmartSaver creat the html file with the graphics already in the table cells. By slicing up your image into sections, the samll part of the image that animates will now be in a table cell by itself. The rest of the image in the other table cells does not become part of tthe actual animation itself, thus reducing file size.

Reduce the colour palette of your gif animation. You can greatly reduce the size of your gif animation by reducing the number of colours in its colour palette. For example, if you have a 256 colour image and decrease its colour's to 64, the size of the animation will be significantly smaller. However, too much colour reduction may have an effect on image quality. Obviously, some complexities exist for animated gif creation. Fortunatley, several software options are available that help with palette and overall gif animation optimization, such as Equilibrium's Debabilizer, Digital Frontier's HVC ColorGif, Ulead's gif animator, as well as online gif optimizing services, such as gif wizard, and gif cruncher.

Reuse images throughout a website. Reusing images, if possible, is another way to decrease download time since the browser downloads and places the images in the pc's cache. For example, if you use an image on your home page and then use the same images on four other pages of the website, the image has to download just once. Thus, download time is kept to a minimum since one image downloads instead of five separate images.

Specify Height and Width in your html code for your animated gif images. You should always specify height and width in your html code for your animated gif images. If you do not specify height and width in your html code, then the browser will wait for the graphic to load before loading the text. You should also be aware that setting the height and width in your html code to a size smaller than the graphic will not reduce download time since the image's file size will remain the same as it was before.

Specify a low-res image to display as a high res image loads. You can create a low -res variation of a jpg or gif image to appear while waiting for the high res image to finish downloading. When you do this, the page appears to load much faster to the user. In reality, the extra image actually adds to the total download time. To add a low-res variation, you simply add an attribute to the image tag like the following:

IMG src="image-high-res.gif" lowsrc="image-low-res.gif"

Be sure to use jpgs for colourful photographic images. While you could compress your photographic images as gif images, jpeg compresses colourful images with generally better results, since jpg images offer 24 bit colour compared to gif images' 256 colours.

Substitute thumbnails for larger images on a webpage.

Use interlaced jpg and gif images. You can save your images as interlaced jpg and gif images that will display a preview of the images as they load.

M Adley is webmaster a resource for beginner to intermediate web designers and 3D artists. www.your3dsource.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mike_Adley/



Friday, July 6, 2007

How animated and music in PowerPoint presentation attracts audience

PowerPoint presentations are used in classrooms, business presentations, seminars, and in almost all-large business gatherings. Having plain PowerPoint presentation without any visual images can prove to be quite a bore and a drab to the audience. So PowerPoint presenters usually add animation and music to a presentation to make their PowerPoint presentation more attractive and interesting to the audience.

Music as it is, is a relaxant for everyone. So why not add some background music to the PowerPoint presentation to make it livelier? Of course, it is of no use-adding disco or rock music to the presentation as it may only cause more stress and disturbance to the audience. Instead, adding some soothing music like the melodious tunes of classics relaxes the audience and also provides some entertainment to them.

Animation can be added in the form of graphic designs or graphic animations. These are found aplenty on the Internet, with some of them also being available for free. All one has to do is to download these graphics, and then use them in the PowerPoint presentation. Animation in PowerPoint can be considered the special effects that are applied to the shapes on the slides with the intention of enhancing the visual appeal of the presentation, to emphasize the topic of the presentation.

One thing to be kept in mind when using animations in the PowerPoint presentation is not to use too much of animation, as it will only distract the audience form the main theme of the presentation. Not only that, too big an animation will mean that it occupies more space in your PowerPoint presentation file, thus making it longer for the downloading of the file. Once the file takes too long to download, the audience may lose their patience in the middle of the PowerPoint presentation! With PowerPoint, presenters have access to rich animation features that if used intelligently, adds tremendous impact to even run-of-the-mill slides. Moreover, with the addition of motion paths, new trigger effects and the possibility of adding two animation behaviors to one object, PowerPoint now creates sophisticated animations that rival complex animation software.

Using motion path animation, one can describe the movement of an object along a standard path when making a presentation. This makes the presentation much clearer, and also adds much meaning to the presentation. Not only that if motion-path animations are combined with other animation options like scaling or rotating, the results are both wonderful and useful. This type of presentation using motion-path animation is very useful in the presentations of driving classes, wherein the anticipated actions of two vehicles can be described for the learners to learn. One can also shrink and enlarge animations as required to project the movement of the vehicle as it moves nearer and farther away in the slide.

Another form of animation that is very beneficial to PowerPoint is the use of trigger effects. This adds some impressive multimedia muscle wherein you can turn an object on a slide into an action button. As a button, what happens is that the object triggers an animation effect when clicked on. This effect is used when two objects are related in one way or the other. For example, if you want to show the effect of adding water to plants to help them grow, you could place images of a watering can and a flower on a slide. When the watering can is clicked on, the flower grows taller; thereby illustrating that watering the flower makes it grow! They are also best used for making quiz answers appear, where you display a question on a slide which when clicked on, the answer appears beside it on the slide.

So whatever the intention is of adding animation and music to the presentation, be it to have a little pizzazz in the presentation or for some soothing background music, you will easily find that the addition of music and animation greatly enhances your PowerPoint presentation. Just be creative, and you are sure to stumble on new ideas and techniques to add to your portfolio!

About Author: Thomson Chemmanoor is an powerpoint expert offering powerpoint templates at his website http://www.powerpointguys.com/

Source : http://www.articlealley.com/article_114282_11.html/

Thursday, July 5, 2007

The Benefits of Flash Animation

Websites of today have improved immensely regarding technological and artistic aspects. Websites are no longer limited to text and pictures. Cutting edge websites of today provide an effective mix of audio and visual information. Websites can also pull in resources from other programs such as spreadsheets, charts, and Power Point presentations.

Power Point presentations have been used as the main method of presentation for many offices for the past several years. Power Point presentations are easy to create, are portable, and the Power Point program is affordable. Why not take your Power Point presentation to the next level by turning it into a web presentation?

How do you turn your Power Point presentation into a web presentation? The answer to this question may be different then what you have done in the past. In the past you may have provided a link on your website to your Power Point presentation. Users clicked on the link and watched the basic Power Point presentation. This method provided the information to the customer, but did not provide an "experience".

You can convert your Power Point presentation to a Flash presentation in order to create an "experience" for your customer. "Flash" technology is accepted by 98% of the world which makes it a viable technological resource. Flash turns your basic Power Point presentation into a multimedia experience that you can share on the Internet.

A robust Flash program that you can use is "Articulate Presenter". You can peruse their website at . Articulate presenter enables you to add audio and interactive video elements to your presentation. These features spice up your presentation and engage the customer more effectively.

It doesn't matter whether you have 10 or 110 slides because the Articulate Presenter will build a multimedia presentation for you. This program is designed so that anyone, no matter how technology savvy they are, can use it. This program will create multimedia presentations that work on any type of Internet connection speed from hi-speed internet to a dial-up connection. In addition, you can create CDs using this program.

The Articulate Presenter is often used in Internet commercials, seminars, and home study course creation. Another advantage is that after a customer views your multimedia web presentation you can automatically send them to your web page. Your customer will be more likely to purchase a product immediately after watching the web presentation so take advantage of this window of opportunity.

Use the power of Flash to add pizzazz to your web presentations. Flash enables you to reach your customers by stimulating their senses and tugging at their emotions. Show your passion and enthusiasm for your product through a multimedia presentation. Your customers may just jump on your bandwagon when they witness your dedication to the product, service, and customer satisfaction.

About The Author: Matt Bacak became "#1 Best Selling Author".Discover The Secrets http://promotingtips.com/

Source: http://www.articlealley.com/article_23603_15.html/

Wednesday, July 4, 2007

Pixel Animation Services


Of course, a variety of important pixel animation tools is of much help to an animation designer. However, the person himself should be creative and talented to create high-quality animations.

Some of the most popular features of pixel animation include: multiple frames for an animation, multiple layers with an alpha blending, real-time preview in editing, various painting, drawing, selecting, rotating, stretching and scrolling tools, also there is usually a possibility to adjust colors, grayscale, various effects. While using the pixel animation tools one can make gradations, remove unused colors, unite duplicate colors, uniform colors from multiple files. Batch conversion, GIF optimization, confirming a file size and an image quality of JPEG, outputting an animation as multiple files or a combined file, import of multiple files as one image, support of SusiePlugin , acquiring an image from a TWAIN, printing of multiple frames, browsing, customization of shortcut keys are all features, present in most modern pixel animation tools.

Naturally, each existing pixel animation tool is good for solving a particular problem and has its advantages and disadvantages. Certain experienced users prefer the Opencanvas pixel animation tool for the high resolution. The disadvantage of the tool is, however, that it is only in Japanese. Others prefer Adobe Photoshop because of the possibility to make tricks with multiple layers. A good combination of pixel animation tools is Adobe Photoshop and Animshop. Still others prefer Flash 8 Professional tool, which gives a possibility to export to frames and avi files.

Pixel animation is a fast growing area and a kind of a job, which can be outsourced. Lots of outsourcing companies offer their pixel animation services along with web development, copywriting and software development services. Offshore companies have all the necessary pixel annimation tools at their disposal - and mainly, talented and creative designers willing to assist you in your pixel animation matter.

Olga Makhnach, copywriter for MoveYourWeb, Offshore Web Development Company

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Olga_Makhnach/

Tuesday, July 3, 2007

Cartoon Animation

Animation is the process of linking a series of slightly different drawings especially, cartoons together to simulate movement. Phenomenon of persistence of vision normally needs 24 frames per second in a frame. If a series of 24 or less cartoon images (slightly changes) run per second it will make a cartoon animation. Cartoon Animation is a combination of two creative arts from cartoonists and animators. Cartoon animations are funniest show ever in electronics media.

Why Cartoon Animations

Cartoon animations are merged in film industries as an impact of special effect technologies. The comic characters are graphically designed by the cartoonist with putting expressions and all and animated by animators using certain software tools. The cartoonist draw objects or character based on the storyline and the motion given as per the story directs. Usually cartoon pictures are funny illustrations with a theme behind. Cartoon should strike the viewer and has to provide food for thought. And animation adds life into the same cartoons. Making animated cartoon is tough and challenging job. Maintaining quality of execution of the cartoon and animation are real knowledge of thought on any expression like sorrow, happy as well as the motions into it.

Cartoon Animation is a sequential cartoon pictures with humorous expression based on a concept or story. Voice over is not mandatory in animations. You may or may not add voice over unless it specifies a language. It is a cross-cultural platform, where any concept can be displayed by cartoon characters. Cartoonist and Animators are such peoples, they can develop it. Computer and software help a lot to them to create varieties of animations in website stuff, games, cartoon movies and commercial applications.

Type of Cartoon Animations

The cartoon graphics may be 2 dimensional or 3 dimensional models. Due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision makes an optical illusion of motion to corresponding graphics types.

2D Cartoon Animation: Graphics are created on the paper or computer screen using 2D bitmap or 2D vector graphics. 2D graphics are drawn on X-Y coordinate and automated computerized versions of traditional animation techniques such as of twining, morphing, blurring and interpolated. The GUI operating systems improved much of the techniques of 2D animations a lot. Software tools can be used for making 2D animations such as Macromedia Flash, PowerPoint etc.

3D Cartoon Animation: Characters, shapes and objects can be created in the computer using polygons. Three dimensional representations of geometric data is stored in the computer to perform calculations and rendering 2D images and 3D computer graphics rely on many of the same algorithms as 2D vector graphics. To give a movement for the object, a digital armature is applied that process is called rigging. Some examples of 3D animations are skeletal animation, Walk through Motion and 3D cartoon shows. 3D cartoon animation has its origin as a presentation and simulation tool for scientific data. This 3D presentation tool has proved to be more powerful and compelling than any other tool available till date. There is few latest technology to fulfill the cartoon animation needs.

AniBoom has been promoting many amazing graphical stuff including cartoon animation. It strives to popularize the varieties, technologies and procedure of making cartoon as well as animation or all together.

Source: http://www.articlealley.com/article_145176_15.html/

Monday, July 2, 2007

Importance of Cartoon logos in your business!

Cartoon logos are images or symbols depicting certain characters and conveying the desired message in a light-hearted manner. They are not only funny but at the same time appealing and can generate excellent brand image recall. These logos speak in a unique language of their own. This is entirely based upon the expressions and colors used by the artist in line with the customers cartoon logo design brief. They can be multi dimensional and shaded to give a real life impression. One thing is for sure - Cartoon logos never fail to please any person of any age group.

No matter how serious the thought; it gets conveyed in the lightest manner possible to the public. Many a times cartoon illustrations and cartoon characters are very effective in quickly and compellingly communicating community issues e.g. in public health, education, etc. Who wouldn’t want to see a memorable logo depicted by a cartoon (cartoon logo) that lays emphasis on core values like integrity, governance and compliance without having to go into the seriousness of the message?

Cartoon logos, cartoon characters and mascots convey the message with a child-like innocence. Many psychologists will agree that people like to associate themselves with their childhood. The innocence and curiosity inculcated in our minds through cartoon logos takes us back in time and enables people to view the products/services being emphasized in the message through the eyes of a child.

Cartoon logos are a humorous way to represent ideas and concepts. If your company wants to lay emphasis on its culture and virtues creating product cartoon characters, brand cartoons and mascots could be an excellent approach - The expressions of a character who says it all without having to essentially speak. In today’s time when technology is so advanced, man has become a machine; this human aspect is almost invisible. Work pressure and stress have led to the deterioration of the mind and body. It is very important to have an element of humor to be present in life. Cartoon logos bring about that human touch in day to day life. One tends to stop and think for a while that life is not all about work, there is need to be play and fun along the way.

Once a thought is depicted through this medium, people are motivated by curiosity and are inspired to gather more information. No other way is more effective than a funny thought that can initiate a spark to bring about a change for the welfare of the people.

A company should, besides developing a cartoon logo consider drawing illustrations, cartoon characters and mascots to enforce their brand message and company philosophy.

Generally cartoon logo is customized by experienced artists, illustrators and cartoonists. These artists could both be freelancers or working for a graphic design company or even a website design and development company.

Bhupendra Ahluwalia is a cartoonist and is associated with Maverick Mav for cartoon logo design, cartoon graphics, website cartoons, cartoon animation, corporate identity and much more.

3d Animation

3D animation deals with electronically produced computer-generated 3D imagery used in motion graphics and digital special effects. In this case, the animator creates a design style or concept that tries to visually interpret and convey the required information using both new and traditional animation techniques.

The 3D animator will have to be well-acquainted with 3D animation applications and software, film and video production techniques, production processes, digital special effects, art and design movements and methodology, typography, styles of performance and dramatization, film and broadcast genres, technical scripting, health and safety regulations for the film and broadcast industry, and an understanding of budgeting and scheduling processes.

The job of the 3D animator is to design and realize original concepts, character and content creation. The animator, therefore, is responsible for devising and communicating creative ideas and accurate technical information. They have to provide the client with detailed estimates of costs, and work within the budget and schedule.

Each assignment will have different demands. So it is imperative that the animator should have a good knowledge and experience of animation software and broadcast processes, as well as a broad knowledge of technical scripting and digital technology used in broadcasting. The designer must be able to respond with innovative concepts and practical solutions for each assignment. The assignments may be of any kind, from designing a spinning top to re-creating mythical weapons.

To succeed in 3D animation, one must have a thorough understanding of computer-generated processes and applications to be able to achieve creative responses to design briefs within the restrictions of budget and deadline. He/she will be required to possess a passion for design, good communication skills and a good understanding of broadcast, special effects and character animation. Last but not least, he or she must enjoy working as a team member under pressure.

In addition to being able to demonstrate high standards of computer-generated imagery and animation techniques you will need to have a good knowledge of art and design movements and imagery, creative problem solving and innovation, and the understanding of how to deliver design concepts and processes.

Free Animation provides detailed information on Animation, Free Animation, Flash Animation, 3D Animation and more. Free Animation is affiliated with Wholesale Art Supplies.

Source: http://www.articlealley.com/article_31473_13.html

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