Windows 2 Apples

In this episode of we will look at two applications each designed exclusively for either the Windows or Apple platform. The first application is CrazyTalk 5 which requires Windows Vista or XP and is produced by Reallusion. CrazyTalk 5 makes it exceptionally easy to create 3D talking characters using photos or drawings. Crazy Talk 5 Professional is shipped with a library of human, animal as well as normally inanimate objects that can be automatically lip synched to spoken, recorded or typed text.

A puppeteering option allows facial expressions to be easily manipulated to reflect various emotions. Pre-shipped characters have their eyes and facial features already mapped to ensure optimal synchronization with speech and movement. Facial expressions may be animated using templates or by selecting the facial feature you wish to modify and then moving your cursor in the desired direction. Additional controls allow for much finer tuning of facial expressions using sliders which affect the direction and amount of movement of facial features seen in each frame.

Reallusion has thankfully provided several very simple options for defining facial characteristics on imported photos or drawings. Impressive results can be easily obtained by simply defining the mouth and eye regions. CrazyTalk 5 professional also allows for much more detailed and sophisticated mapping of eyebrows, neck, chin, cheeks, forehead and shoulder. A detailed Manual may be downloaded as a PDF file or you may simply choose to use the collection of excellent how to videos posted on the Reallusion website or is well as YouTube.

Although Reallusion offers two paid versions, a limited free download version allows you to experiment with the software before plunking down your hard earned cash. The entry level Crazy Talk 5 is available for $49.95 and the professional version at $149.95. It is unclear whether the basic version can be upgraded to the pro version. Several emails requesting Reallusion to clarify this went unanswered.

A number of reviewers have been surprised that a product focus so squarely on enabling ones creative side is released for the windows platform rather than Apple.

Given the low cost exceptional performance and advanced features it is no surprise that Reallusion must target the broadest possible audience which still means windows. Apple purist sometimes seen to find very difficult to even get close to admitting that windows may just may offers solutions that match or are better than those offered by Apple. Perhaps when apple has that magical 15% market share we will begin to see a more impressive migration of Windows applications to the Mac platform. Until then the only way to use CrazyTalk 5 is to run it on apple with an installation of either Vista or XP.

RapidWeaver:

The application designed specifically for the apple operating system is RapidWeaver by Realmac Software. RapidWeaver is promoted as the “friendly piece of web design software made exclusively for the Mac”. It is shipped with customizable themes touted as being compatible with current HTML and CSS coding standards. In a previous review by Allison Sheridan of the NosillaCast podcast the claim of compatibility passed her tests with flying colors.

The RapidWeaver claim to fame is the ease with which sites can be assembled using modifiable themes. There are of course many such applications available for the Windows platform. The most notable and perhaps most successful of these was FrontPage produced by Microsoft.

Although FrontPage is still used, it is the recipient sharp criticism for its quirky implementation of HTML code and lack of compatibility with current standards. Microsoft has replaced FrontPage with Microsoft Expression which supposedly meets all current standards for web site design. Expression is considerably more sophisticated than either FrontPage or RapidWeaver but comes at steeper learning curve and considerably higher price than that that offered by RapidWeaver.

RapidWeaver is shipped with themes that can be immediately applied to create simple websites. When I first experimented with RapidWeaver, I was put off with the rather dated look of their themes, however, Realmac has recently released several new theme packages that are considerably more attractive and contemporary in both look and feel.

Once a theme has been selected pages of various types may be added. RapidWeaver supports simple text, photo, movie as well as blog and podcast formats in their page layouts. Unlike competing products such as iWeb from Apple and SandVox from Karelia, editing websites with RapidWeaver requires that you alternately open two different views, one in which edits are made and the other a preview of the page as it should appear in browsers. This is quirky in more ways than one.

It is almost impossible to determine how the final page will be viewed until you have clicked the preview option. Additionally, it just feels unnatural and interrupts the creative process. Using pre-canned themes makes it easy to quickly create or prototype a website; however, it also limits the amount of control the developer can exercise over the look and behavior of their finished product.

RapidWeaver includes Inspector panels permitting the tweaking of selected page features such as page titles, header graphics, page width and color schemes. Unfortunately, the utility of this option is dependent upon the theme that you’re using at that particular time. Some themes support more customization than others.

Rapid Weaver would be severely handicapped if it were not for the ability to insert HTML code and the impressive support from third-party vendors providing themes as well as plug-ins. A quick peek at the Realmac website is reassuring and that you can find page after page of resources from independent vendors.

Publishing is very straightforward, requiring only that you provide the FTP information needed to upload your files. FTP profiles for many popular Internet service providers are conveniently cataloged requiring only that you specify your URL and password. Happily, RapidWeaver also displays a progress window indicating the upload status each file.

Other than the rather uncomfortable need to swap back and forth between edit and display mode there are two additional issues that irk me. First, as in many applications shipped these days, there is no built-in help. When you select the help option you are transported to the RealMac website and prompted to download a PDF file of the manual. Secondly, for some unknown reason the program randomly becomes unresponsive when initially loaded. The menu bar appropriately displays options that should be available but most if not all of them have been grayed out … including the option to quit the application. In the Apple environment, this of course requires that I invoke the “force quit” option. After much experimentation I’ve been unable to isolate what triggers this issue with RapidWeaver.

In General RapidWeaver makes the development of impressive websites quick and painless for those unwilling to handcraft their master piece using HTML or CSS coding, RapidWeaver sites conform to accepted Internet conventions and maybe tweaked by adding HTML code and plug-ins. I have my fingers crossed that RealMac will continue to evolve the product and third-party vendors will remain committed to providing plug-ins and themes, keeping it competitive with the ever changing demands of the Internet.

Windows 2 Apples website with experimental animation videos.

Produced using M-Audio, MixCraft 4, Nuance Naturally Speaking and MacSpeech Dictate. Tags edited using JetAudio.

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