Microsoft’s Silverlight is quickly becoming the go-to program for graphics and animation. Many believe its creator’s intention was to surpass Adobe Illustrator as the most widely-used graphics program. Silverlight 3.0 was just released in early March, and though it’s quickly gaining popularity, it has a lot to learn from user-friendly Adobe. That being said, there are a number of already-existing add-ons that will make the animation/illustration features in Silverlight all the more easy to use and navigate.
Contributed by Joe Eitel Rating: / 1 April 22, 2009
Sothink Quickerfor Silverlight is a professional Microsoft Silverlight animation creator that was developed to showcase the new-- and next -- generation of web experiences. Sothink Quicker helps users create stunning, original, and most importantly, hassle-free Silverlight animations.
Anyone who has ever attempted to create a site or graphics online, and surely there are many, know how difficult it can sometimes be to navigate their way through a program or task to accomplish the simplest of graphics. What makes Sothink Quicker unique is that it utilizes Microsoft’s program to make Silverlight animation work the same way as Flash creation.
Have no fear, this isn’t some iffy program that you download online that may or may not ruin already existing programs and files on your computer. Currently, Sothink Quicker for Silverlight is, in conjunction with Microsoft Silverlight tools and Sothink’s creators, SourceTec, a certified Microsoft Silverlight partner. So, whatexactlydoes Sothink Quicker help you do when it comes to Microsoft’s Silverlight? Let’s find out.
Essentially, Sothink Quicker’s claim to fame is the fact that it improves user experience by enhancing the function and stability of Microsoft’s Silverlight. Silverlight is definitely getting its fair share of use and publicity in the media. The most noteworthy Silverlight moment thus far has been the 2008 Olympic games in Beijing. Oh, you weren’t aware? The 2008 Olympics were covered more extensively on the web than ever before, and a major reason for that was because it was brought to the general public though the use of a Silverlight 2.0 web broadcast in conjunction with MSN. The program provided users with exclusive access to over 3,000 hours of live and on-demand video content through Silverlight streaming, which enabled the general public and the world media to access every minute of every Olympic event.
That being said, you’ve probably used Silverlight without even knowing it; but not only that, the media is beginning to use it at a more rapid pace. It can easily be argued that Silverlight is only going to become more popular and widely-used in public forums once version 3.0 goes beyond its beta phase. It can leave the average person with the average computer setup wondering how this software can possibly benefit them. After all, not all of us know how to use Silverlight to stream content, let alone create graphics with it. Is it even worth looking into?
That’s where Sothink Quicker comes into play. This animation creator comes jam-packed with features that will help the average home user create graphics and animations that far surpass anything they could have imagined doing on their own. Sothink Quicker allows user to author Flash with a friendly user interface and plenty of useful features. It supports shape design, mask layer, stream and event sound, frame label, setting movieclip instance name and more.
The animation program also includes more than 80 ready-to-use animation effects, which can be further customized and saved as new effects. Additionally, multibytes language (Chinese, Japanese, Korean, etc.) text is supported perfectly. Sothink SWF Quicker also offers the capability to import SWF files, using an intelligent motion analysis system and full action support. The imported movie can be modified and generated back to a new SWF movie without losing any functions of the original one. Additional features include an ActionScript generator, symbol library and more.
Also, aside from completely supporting Microsoft’s Silverlight, Sothink Quicker is currently thought of as the leading tool for making Silverlight animations. SourceTec’s animation creator has the ability to support creating various animations, such as Motion Tween animation, Guide Line animations, and frame-by-frame animation. The creation of Motion Tween animation is actually one of the basics of Flash. Simply put, Motion Tween is nothing but “tweening” a symbol's movement from one position to another, and Sothink Quicker makes the process easier by utilizing Silverlight to help create the animation.
Sothink Quicker also provides a full suite of drawing tools intended to help users create graphics and shapes easier than ever before; it also provides powerful shape editing functions. As mentioned previously, Sothink Quicker has the ability to import SWF files or individual SWF elements, such as image, graphics, and sound to create Silverlight animations. Other cool Sothink Quicker features include the ability to exportMicrosoft Expression Blend Solution, which supports: replacing symbols of instances, writing scripts individually (in Sothink Quicker for Silverlight, the script is written by C# orJavaScript), adding event handler methods, and last but not least, multi-bytes language text.
Sothink Quicker opens up a world of new animation possibilities for anyone who’s interested in creating amazing graphics and illustrations, but who doesn’t have the time to learn the ins and outs of a complicated animation program.
Many of the individual animation features Sothink Quicker enables can be used in conjunction with each other. For example, you can create an amazing slideshow sure to surpass the sad excuses for slideshows featured on your friend’s embarrassing MySpace pages. Not only that, the program’s zoom feature allows anyone who views your photographs to closely zoom in by simply running their mouse over a portion of the photograph.
Just to become acquainted with the program, users can also create an ultra cool and dizzying light slideshow that will, amazingly enough, rival even the most technically advanced light shows you’ve seen at your favorite concerts.
These are just a few of the animation features now possible for novice animators hoping to make a big impact with a few simple clicks of their mouse, some imagination, and a little attention to detail.
It’s an unfortunate fact that not all programs can be downloaded online for free. The most current version of Sothink Quicker for Silverlight 3.0 will cost users a not-so-steep $39.95 (hey, it could be a lot worse). Sure, times are tough and money’s tight, but look on the bright side: in the not-so-distant past, when Sothink Quicker first appeared as part of Microsoft Silverlight 2.0, it was over eighty bucks! Consider this a considerable markdown.
Yes, there is currently a Sothink Quicker that is specifically made to work with Microsoft’s beta version of Silverlight 3.0. It seems as if many of the animation program’s features are pretty much the same as they were in the version that was created to work in conjunction with Silverlight 2.0. The animation program’s website doesnotmake it clear whether or not the version created to work with Silverlight 2.0 will work and provide the same assistance with Microsoft’s new 3.0 version. The site does, however, inform all registered users of previous versions that they must pay $39.95 to enjoy the latest version of Quicker for Silverlight.
Many of us have made this simple mistake: we go online to a company’s website and we order the most current version of a program that already exists on our home computer. Everything seems to be going according to plan … until the program we just threw our hard-earned money at doesn’t seem to be appearing in our list of programs. For some reason, you’re still stuck with the old version you’ve been telling yourself to get rid of for months.
The Sothink Quicker website does not want its users to make this mistake. Thankfully, the site instructs those ordering Sothink Quicker for the new Silverlight 3.0 to uninstall their previous version of Quicker for Silverlight, even if it was a free thirty-day trial.
Order Sothink Quicker for Silverlight to get a registration number. We’re all pretty familiar with the process after the uninstall (and the annoying restarting of your computer) takes place: users should then install their new version of Quicker for Silverlight on their computer and register the program with the registration number they obtained, usually through e-mail. If those browsing the site are unregistered users, SourceTec recommends that they utilize the free thirty day trial and download the latest version of Sothink Quicker for Silverlight.
There are countless programs on the market intended to help the average user create animations, graphics, and illustrations, but truth be told, they are entirely too complicated and more often than not, completely overpriced. Microsoft’s Silverlight, even their newest version 3.0, is a free program aimed at helping users “light up the web” through the viewing of crystal clear graphics and by creating animations of their own. Free is a good start, and it only gets better considering the fact thatSothink Quicker for Silverlight V3.0is under forty dollars. If you want an easy program that will help you create killer animations cheaply and effectively, you may want to consider giving Sothink Quicker a try.
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