Screen Saver Studio is
a program rich in great features and functionality and is the "#1 Selling Screen
Saver Creation Software in the World!" What portion of the program do you
want to know more about?
Flash
Files
This has been one of the most requested features for Screen Saver Studio! Now,
you can include Flash files in the screen savers that you make by using the .SWF
wizard!
DirectX Support
Support for
DirectX-based screen savers. The old Windows native GDI screen saver will
still be an option when you create a saver in v8. However, DirectX will be the
recommended option and is far less CPU intensive making the screen savers you
create MUCH smoother and faster! Also, DirectX comes installed by default
on most Windows-based PCs so compatibility is not a problem. More information
on DirectX can be found on the Microsoft
web site.
For a clear-cut comparison on the performance difference that DirectX makes, please
try the two sample savers below. One is made with DirectX and one is not.
Templates
The fastest way to make a screen saver! You can use the Template Wizard to quickly
make a high-quality screen saver in almost no time at all. Typically you will
enter some text, pick an image or two or perhaps a directory full of images and
maybe select a song--that's all! When you click Finish you'll end up with a screen
saver featuring a dad with his son on his shoulders walking through an art gallery
adminiring your photographs, or a Christmas card with your message and picture
in it, or perhaps the mesmerizing motion around the screen of your company logo.
We'll be making more templates
as time goes on. Just check here for the latest and greatest!
Related to Templates are
the Slide Show Wizard which quickly lets you make a simple slide show screen saver
and the 3D Wizard which lets you put some images on 3D shapes.
The Editor
It's hard to describe, but easy to download! You can download the Screen
Saver Studio Demo that allows you to work with the entire program--except
that you will only be able to build ONE final screen saver. However,
you will be able to save your projects so that if you buy Screen
Saver Studio Deluxe or Screen
Saver Studio Pro you won't have lost any work. You can also download
a PDF of the manual if you'd like to peruse that. Right-click on the
link(s) below and select "Save Target As" to save the manual
rather than open it.
High
Quality Graphics PDF Manual (Approximately 4.46MB)
Low Quality Graphics PDF Manual
(Approximately 582KB)
A project is composed of
segments, which you can think of like single frames in a movie. In fact, the editor
looks a little like a strip of film and you double-click on a segment to go in
and edit it. Your projects can have 1000 segments, but this is more than enough
to make a full featured screen saver. If you use it like a slide show that would
be 1000 different pictures!
When you edit a segment
you can work with the Graphics, Text, Background, Audio or Timing of it.
Graphics
- Graphics reside in one of 10 slots. Graphics at the top of the list will appear
"above" those lower down in the list.
- You can have up to 50 copies of the graphic in each slot appear on the screen
at once.
- Can use 30 graphic formats: AVI, BMP, DIB, GIF, ANM, CMP, CAL, IMG, PNG,
DIC, TIF, GIF, JPG, ICA, JFF, JTF, MAC, MSP, PCD, PCX, PIC, PSD, EPS, RAS, TGA,
WMF, FXS, WPG, ICO, CUR. (Most of the subtypes of these formats are supported.)
- Graphics can be shown with "transparent" black areas.
- GIFs and animated GIFs are usable and if they have a transparent color, it
can be used regardless of what color it is.
- Any graphic can be resized up to 100% of its size, or the size of the screen.
Furthermore, the screen size is detemined when the screen saver is activated!
- Ability to drag-and-drop graphics and sounds into projects
- Graphics can fade-in or out using any of 149 effects, which are easily selected
from an animating menu.
- The speed of the fades can be set. In addition, ALL graphics, no matter what
size, will complete their fades simultaneously if given the same fade speed. (Instead
of having large graphics take longer.)
- Pick a starting location of each graphic--put it at the edge of the screen
or a corner or even place it exactly at a certain pixel!
- Move each graphic up, down, left or right or set it to move along any slope.
- When moving a graphic, set it to disappear, bounce or reappear on the opposite
edge of the screen when it exits a side.
Text
- Rich text for better editing of segment text (mix fonts, colors, alignment,
etc. like WordPad does)
- Can use the normal Windows dialog to set font, size, color and style.
- Can specify the exact font that is to be used, so that even if the recipient
doesn't have the font it will work on their system.
- Set the starting location of the text, how it fades in and out, and how it
moves.
Background
- You may select a solid color or pick a graphic to be centered, tiled or stretched
to fill the entire screen. All the other graphics will move over this background.
- Select a "sticky" background where nothing is erased and so objects
leave trails behind themselves.
Audio
- Supports AU, WMA, M3U, MPA, MIDI, ASF, MP2, MP3, SND, AIFF, AIFC, MID, RMI
and WAV.
- Jukebox features allows you to set a play list of songs that play independently
of the screen action; they can be in the order you pick or played randomly.
- Ability to have the duration of a segment based upon the length of a song
- Sounds can be set to play when a certain graphic hits the edge of the screen.
Timing
- Define the length of time a segment lasts from 0-60 seconds, or base it on
how a certain graphic moves.
- Can set the update rate--which affects how often the screen is refreshed--anywhere
from 25ms to 60000ms. (25ms updates makes smoother motion but use much more system
resources.)
Screen Savers
- Run on any Windows O/S newer than 3.11. i.e. Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows
Me, Windows, NT, Windows 2000 and Windows XP.
- Can make an installer that packs your screen saver into one file for distribution.
It may be compressed and you may even split it into specified byte sizes to fit
on floppies!
- Installation shows a "Made with Screen Saver Studio" splash screen
and makes it the default screen saver. Screen savers made with the Professional
version have no splash screen and allow the maker to include a EULA that must
be agreed to before installation occurs.
- In the settings dialog you'll see a preview of the screen saver, except video
files will be replaced with an icon.
- The settings dialog only allows the user to turn sound on and off if the
screen saver contains audio. Those made with the Professional version may allow
the user to set the size of slides and how long each is displayed.
- Screen savers have a "...intended for free distribution only."
line on the settings dialog. Professional version screen savers have a "Made
by Licensee Name" instead.
- Screen savers put on a system with the installer will have an Uninstall setting
that shows up in the Add/Remove Programs control panel.
Presentations
- A presentation looks just like a screen saver except that you need to press
a key to exit--mouse movement or clicks won't exit.
- Any of the arrow keys will advance through the presentation.
Flipbook
- Works as part of the 3D
Wizard.
- Allows you to view your
pictures in a flipbook. It simulates the effect of you flipping through a real
photo album.
3D Effects
- Special 3D screen savers may be made; they are separate and distinct from
the others described above.
- Wrap graphics on the 6 sides of a cube, 5 sides of a pyramid or 2 sides of
a sheet of paper.
- Set the speed of revolution and/or rotation of the selected 3D object.
- Have up to 3 copies showing of the same 3D object.
Professional Version
- When you buy a Pro we are making a customized version just for you. You tell
us your Licensee Name which appears on the settings dialog of every screen saver
you make.
- You may include a EULA that has to be accepted before a screen saver is installed.
- You may change the compression factors of all the JPGs in your screen saver--which
may make it small enough to fit on a floppy or you can turn compression off completely
so there is no quality loss.
- If you create a project correctly, you may give the end user of your screen
saver the ability to resize images or to change how long each image is displayed.
- You may define a hot-link on the settings dialog that will go to a specified
web address, and you may also include links to each of the function keys (F1-F12)
to take the user to different sites if they are pressed to exit the screen saver.
- You may define a scrolling marquee line of text at the bottom of the screen
while still using text as normal in your project.
- You may cut and paste sequences of segments from one project to a completely
different project.
- You may SELL your creations and you owe us no royalties or any other fees
or payments!
- Screen saver installers made with a Pro do NOT show a Screen Saver Studio
splash screen when they are installed. However, at the very bottom of the settings
dialog is the text: "Screen Saver Studio Pro (c)1997-2002 by Softdisk, L.
L. C."
- Choose the colors for each installer's gradient background (new feature)
- Make registrable screen savers. Users will have to enter a registration code
(chosen by you) in the saver's settings box to register. You control unregistered
behavior by hiding certain segments, muting the audio and/or expiring after so
many days or times run. Once registered, you can remove certain "nag" features
like segments, the scrolling marquee text and/or any individual graphic element
throughout the saver. There is room for as much text as you need to describe how
to register and also the option to include a clickable web address link.
What We Can't Do
- There is no collision detection, other than bouncing off the screen edge.
- Cannot define a background as being the "desktop." (This is illegal
to do on NT based systems!)
- Cannot play Powerpoint files.
- Cannot move backward through a Presentation.
- Can't mix 3D with non-3D segments or mix different 3D shapes.
- No special 3D text effects
|
