NewsMaker

Behind every visually appealing story or news in the media there is a computer equipped with specialized applications that provide powerful processing tools. NewsMaker is one of them and is targeting a different aged public to make story telling interactive and incredibly fun.

Running the application unveils an interface cleverly designed and suitable not only for children, but adults alike. Its cartoon style menus raise your curiosity, pushing you to give it a try.

One of the first steps requires you to write down a custom story, or simply paste from a text document. Title and author also need to be specified. All creations are displayed in the list, with the possibility to further edit, if the case requires it.

The real treasure behind the concept is found in the step to follow. A preview section lets you get real time updates from your webcam, with a selected story scrolling on-screen for you to read while activity is recorded.

A slider lets you adjust the speed at which text scrolls, depending on how fast you can read. Hitting the “Settings” button brings up a few enhancement options. Title and author can be set to appear on screen, as well as subtitles or even a different media file.

A face-detection feature lets you apply several enhancements to the video. In other words, besides color management, you are able to select from a large variety of facial accessories to literally appear on your face with impressive feedback.

Multiple recordings can be saved and you can even add video files from your computer. These can be further enhanced with transition effects. Once editing is done, you can save the result to WMV and share with your friends.

Taking everything into consideration, we can say that NewsMaker keeps you reading pieces of fiction in front of your webcam, even if no longer a child. The overall design is fun and every feature seems to work flawlessly. If you want to send a video message, do it in a funny manner with this application.