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Enter the Museum of Your PhotosCreate 3D animated picture galleries |
By Giorgiana Bursuc, Windows Editor
24th of March 2008, 20:30 GMT
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Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't it true that most people use their computers for 3 main reasons: gaming, music & movies and, last but not least, IM? In other words, people use their PCs mainly for fun and entertainment (as you probably realized by now, I'm not talking about those who need to work on a computer to earn their living).
This has been the case for a very long time but lately, due to the increasing popularity of digital cameras, we have reached the point where we need the computer to fully enjoy the photos we have taken and benefit from their high quality. But for those of you who get easily bored with watching their pictures by always pressing the mouse buttons or the 'Next' button on the image viewer (no matter which one you prefer, they ALL have this button), My Pictures 3D Album is offering an alternative: how about enjoying the thrill of a game and the pleasure of the familiar images within the same software?
In other words, you can see your photos in a 3D manner that will remind you of numerous 'shooter' games (but without the actual chasing and killing). Or, if you are a pacifist person, or simply don't know much about games, you will feel like you are walking in an animated personal museum where all your favorite photos are exhibited. Sounds intriguing, right? Now I will enlarge on the details to make everything clearer.
My Pictures 3D Album is a simple freeware application, designed to make your life more interesting by putting your pictures in a new light. Its easy-to-use interface doesn't burden you with numerous buttons or panels, on the contrary, it is divided into 4 main sections: the upper left one will enable you to easily browse your computer and locate the pictures, the middle left one will display the pictures from the selected folder, the lower left one will offer a preview of the image you choose, whereas the large right panel will show you the actual gallery and the way your pictures will look like. However, this way you can't experience the full features of the gallery, such as acceleration or jumping function which will be enabled in the produced album.
Moving along
from the interface, you will quickly notice that adding the pictures is truly a piece of cake, offering you the possibility to choose between the classical 'select frame, then select picture' manner, and the faster 'drag and drop' manner, all depending on you and your PC skills.
More than that, you can choose any of the 3 types of galleries (or download new ones), depending on the number of pictures you want to use. Simply assign the generated presentations relevant names so that you can easily remember their content, then you can use them to entertain people when organizing family reunions and you want to go down the memory lane - play the albums as screensavers and adjust the direction of the camera with your mouse and keyboard.
Speaking of the way you can view your galleries, My Pictures 3D Album can save your projects in several ways, so that you can subsequently use them as screensavers, self-extracting galleries with built-in players, standalone player or screensaver installers, VRML files (Virtual Reality Modeling Language for sharing over the web) or as SWF items (also known as ShockWave format).
Another advantage is that you have the liberty to select the image quality according to the sharing method you want to use: CD, internet or email. Regardless of the output format you choose, you and all your friends will surely appreciate the innovative packaging for your pictures.
The Good
First of all, I really liked the fact that, when you launch My Pictures 3D Album, it offers to open the galleries you worked on last, so that you won't need to manually search for them yourself.
In addition, I have to emphasize the realistic touch of the animations - for example, climbing the stairs will give you the impression that you are actually inside a classy art exhibition and are walking around as quickly or as slowly as you like to admire the finest masterpieces ever created. Furthermore, you can look out of the window and enjoy the landscape, as you would do in real life, or see the reflection of the 'paintings' in the clean floor tiles.
The Bad
You can only add one image folder at a time, which will require patience and time if you have previously organized your photos into several folders. Also, you can only use the JPG images, so make sure you convert them to this format first.
You cannot change the frames of the pictures, so you will have to be satisfied with the built-in ones, meaning you will not be able to personalize the gallery by matching the pictures' style with their outline.
Moreover, the application does not allow you to adjust the appearance of your pictures, i.e. you can't change the brightness or the contrast, or apply any effect. Sure, you can use any external editor for these functions, but it would have come in handy to have it all in one place.
The Truth
You can use this application as a way to help your kids get used to using the computer and handling the mouse in a very friendly way - without worrying that they might stumble across some harmful or private images from your PC. The gamers will appreciate the realistic 3D graphics, while the sentimentalists will love the new approach My Pictures 3D Album brings to their images. So this freeware app will make everyone content.
Here are some snapshots of the application in action:
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