Multimedia Builder

 

Interface of Mediachance

Multimedia Builder

For those of you interested in making an interactive, self executing standalone application, my suggestion is to check out Multimedia Builder by Mediachance. When I first viewed this program I was making a comparative analysis between programs like Authorware and Director to see which would be the easiest to learn with enough functionality and flexibility to meet my intended program. Now Director and Authorware are powerful programs that allow you to create a lot of fantastic self running programs, however, they also come with a hefty learning curve. MMB (Multimedia Builder) had me clicking and creating in a matter of moments with an easy to use, WYSIWYG layout format to your items, simplistic parameter adjustment and support to most major formats of visual, audio and electronic coding to help you make great presentations, games...I was amazed at just what all you could create with this wonderful program. The program allows you to gather all your elements on screen and test drive your application before finalizing it. MMB supports text, text buttons, images, rollover images, animation, HTML, Flash, scripting and various little effects to make your presentation come alive-it even allows you to create your own custom GUI (Graphic User Interface). The combination of versatility and ease of use-along with a very reasonable price tag-makes Multimedia Builder a must have. You may want to check out some of the other fine software programs Mediachance offers at their website.

Comic Life

 

interface of Comic Life 1.5

For those of you out there who have always wanted to make your own comic book, Comic Life by Plasq is a fun, easy way to make nice looking comics in no time. You can certainly spend the time to set up templates in various programs like CorelDraw (retail CorelDraw Suite cost: $429) or Illustrator (retail cost $599) to pull this off, but (taking it from personal experience) the time involved to set up something like that usually leaves one bored with the whole process. Comic Life takes the grunt work out of creating page after page of comics by using their easy drag and drop interface to structure pages, add your own images, create sidebar text or text balloons, then save the whole project for print or email. The preloaded style boxes and font options are customizable, or you can rely on the pre-made shapes, colors and fonts provided. I was amazed at how fast you can stick something together and at a price of $29.95 ($24.95) Standard Edition) you won't be wasting your money. If you want to try it before you buy it, visit their website and download a 30 day trial version. This is so low-end to use, I would suggest it for almost any age user.