If you enjoy making animated GIFs for banners, buttons or logos, then this product will
have your interest. This is much more than a simple GIF compiler. I have several compiler
products, and while they all do an adequate job, none of them come even close to what
Pysoft's 3D GIF Designer
can do.
First, let's get this straight: the name really says it all -- this is a design
tool -- not just an animation tool. What's different is that you are presented with an
object-oriented design interface that enables you to edit graphics, manipulate text and
"sprites" (graphic anaimations), apply special effects, and then compile the
animated graphic all from within the same program. Very powerful. To do this without 3D GIF Designer would require
multiple tools.
Much of the product uses either ready-made templates, wizards, or right click menus.
These all combine to make the product easier to use.
Pick a template
Just like you can drag and drop objects within Microsoft FrontPage to create a web
page, so can you manipulate graphical objects within 3D GIF Designer. Pictured above is the template menu.
From here you can choose one of several ready-made templates for banners, buttons or
logos. Some of these animations are quite familiar and you may have seen them in banner
ads on other web sites. There are some very eye-catching ones to choose from including a
moving progress bar and a slot machine complete with three spinning wheels.
Edit the template
Once you select a template, you can begin to alter it any way you want. By
double-clicking on objects you bring up tool bars and options, or you can actually go into
the code and tweak it from there. Very flexible depending upon your comfort level.
Presto, a unique 3D GIF Design!
You're still going to have a bit of a learning curve, especially if you are a) not an
artist and b) used to those simple GIF compilers. But this is a product worth learning.
The Help file includes some tutorials, and while the language lapses at times into broken
English, the power of the tool is easily discerned and understood. After some trial and
error, you should be able to start generating your own designs.
You can download a trial of the program by clicking here. I can think of a lot worse ways to spend
$49.95, and in comparison to the other tools out there, this one takes home the gold!
