Articles Slide Show:
1) Library
of Congress 85
2) S.F. Examiner MacQuality 85
3) MACazine 85
5) MacGuide 87
SLIDE
SHOW MAGICIAN 1.3
List Price: $59.95. Natural Sound hardware and Natural Sound Editor software: $129.95. Published by Magnum Software, 21115 Devonshire St.. Suite 337, Chatsworth, CA 91311. (818) 700-0510.
SLIDE SHOW MAGIC/AN WAS ONE OF THE FIRST graphics programs for the Macintosh,
and it proved to be a useful and easy tool for creating visual presentations.
Version 1.3, an update,
adds some interesting and useful features, but the program still has its own
quirky user interface, something that could have been cleaned up by now.
Slide Show creates full screen audiovisual presentations from MacPaint documents
using the 512 by 342 pixels of the upper left hand corner of the MacPaint
page. Screens from any Mac program can be used, as long as screen dumps can
be generated from within the program.
The program features a full range of wipe and transition effects between frames,
and while no wipes have been added since the original program, there is a
set of overlay effects that allow different types of transparency between
screens (similar to the effects in VideoWorks). The frame editing portion
of the program has been improved, allowing the user to scroll back and forth
between frames from within any of the programs sections.
One of the most important new 'features allows "branching" buttons to be placed on the screen. These buttons can now be so large that they become clickable "areas," and they can be made invisible. They serve as links to other frames, and even other shows. This allows Slide
Show to be used to create interactive demos and tutorials.
On the audio end, the program now uses Apple's MacinTalk, allowing synthesized
speech to accompany visual presentations. Also available is an optional hardware
device that lets presentation makers digitize sound from a tape recorder to
add to their presentations. The digitizing, or more correctly, "sampling"
system consists of a separate program that allows fine editing of the sampled
sound, along with special echoing and looping effects. Sampled sound files
take up lots of space, so it's a good thing that Slide Show Magician can now
run off a hard disk or RAMdisk. Mac Xl owners, take note: you can now use
Slide Show Magician on your machines, too.
For some reason, Magnum Software insists on straying from the standard Mac
interface in some areas. Desk accessories are not accessible from within the
program, a major drawback. Still, this is a useful and easy to use product,
and with its new features, it's also twice as capable as the original.-DB
To contact us send eMail. ScottMcTyre@MCFIII.COM
