CompuTrolley.com adds animation software to its portfolio

By adding Ulead`s COOL 3D 3.5 and Gif Animator 5 to its existing image editing range, CompuTrolley.com is offering the local channel access to top range animation products.

Ulead COOL 3D allows designers to create high-impact 3D images, enabling them to output these images as still graphics, animations, video or Macromedia Flash. "With this product, text and shapes are easily customisable into 3D. It only takes a couple of clicks to access an array of convenient, image enhancing features," comments Simon Campbell-Young, MD of CompuTrolley.com.

This 3D text and animation tool quickly creates still and animated titles for Web sites, video projects and presentations. Several additions to the software programme allow increased control of the design process and inspire creativity with new effects.

The Path Editor in Ulead COOL 3D 3.5 achieves a new level of flexibility by allowing the user to import Adobe Illustrator (.AI) files in addition to converting static raster images into scalable vector paths. Campbell-Young says the use of .AI files infinitely expands the amount of shapes a designer can use.

"Because Adobe Illustrator is capable of creating any shape imaginable, Ulead COOL 3D`s support of this file format allows for unlimited design potential," he adds.

Other new features in Ulead COOL 3D 3.5 include an instant wire frame display mode. Using the wire frame mode with a project in progress is often helpful when viewing or animating large objects. Additionally, using wire frame objects in a 3D composition can produce impressive special effects. Version 3.5 also contains several new geometric shapes.

"The creative uses of Ulead COOL 3D are endless," says Campbell-Young. "Version 3.5 is a tool designers need to create advanced, professional video or animation compositions with drag-and-drop ease that are sure to impress audiences."

Ulead GIF Animator 5 is an affordable tool for creating animated GIFs, enabling users to easily create fast-loading animation for Web sites and PowerPoint presentations. Ulead has also updated several features in this version, improving integration with external graphics programmes, adding better image-creation tools and enhancing optimisation capabilities and options.

Although the programme offers extra features and enhanced capabilities, it retains the intuitive interface of its predecessor. As in the last version, GIF Animator 5`s frame panel provides a filmstrip for easy viewing. Also, the main workspace has tabs that allow users to move between Edit, Optimise and Preview modes, making for a convenient workflow feature.

"Perhaps the most radical change to the programme is that Gif Animator 5 incorporates an object-based editor instead of a frame-based editor. This makes manipulation of objects across multiple frames easy and provides a central source for effects and properties," says Campbell-Young.

GIF Animator 5 offers a simple set of image-editing tools - paint brushes, fills, erasers and marquees - that provide basic functionality for image creation. Ulead has also tightened integration with a number of image editors to make conversions a simple process.

"Universal compatibility and relatively small file sizes have made animated GIFs a Web standard, and GIF Animator 5`s optimisation features reflect the importance of animated GIFs by giving users powerful tools for customisation and control," concludes Campbell-Young.