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Handy Links
These links - which we are adding as they come to mind - are pretty random. Basically they are just useful stuff that you might want to take a look at.
If any of these are of interest, please bookmark this page - and drop us a line whenever you are working on a project needing animation...
Software
Most of these packages are not anything I would consider using professionaly (except maybe the office software) but if you are short on cash, need to do occasional projects and do not mind putting up with a few idyosyncracies, they are worth a look.
Image editing software
A free image editing package. If you are doing picture editing yourself and do not have access to something like Photoshop, try this free package
It has a lot of features, but, be warned - it is a bit tricky to use and if you are doing anything remotely professional, I would really try to get hold of Photoshop!
3d software
A very basic free 3d package - it does make it very easy to produce instant 3d designs - particularly architectural-type images. However, you cannot output them in any form propper 3d programs recognise, so you will be limited to the rather poor quality renders it produces.
On the plus side, it is free and there is a large catalogue of models you can download.
if you want something more advanced for your 3d experiments (but still free) and if you are prepared to put in a lot of time and effort learning it then try
Video software
Videospin is a free video editing package. it allows you to create basic videos (a little better than Windows videomaker) and upload them directly to youtube. If you want to make basic edits, but do not want to shell out for an editing program, it is worth a look.
Office software
Openoffice is basically a free version of Microsoft Office - it is a very good, very rounded package and has all the main functions of Office. Many companies -even large ones - run on Open Office even though it is absolutely free.
A free version of a commercial Desktop Publishing and Layout program. The features are not amazing, but it is free...
If you ever have to get material duplicated at a printers and you are not sure how to get it to them in a form they will be able to replicate, try this.
This free software creates a "virtual printer" on your computer - in other words, any time you go to the "print" dialogue in any package, you can choose to "print" a PDF file instead of a printed page. You can save the file to disk and then send it to your printing firm.
Because PDFs "Lock in" all your formatting, fonts, etc. the printer will always be able to reproduce it as you intend.
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