Even though there are a lot of programs that let you create your own movies, Hippo Animator promises to seamlessly create HTML based animated segments with some of the most amazing interfaces and tools.
Installation & Requirements
The setup process only involves choosing a destination folder and pressing install. The application supports Windows XP, Vista, 7 and 8. It also requires Microsoft .NET Framework 2 or higher.
Interface
The first thing you will be greeted with is a kind of a first-run setup where you will choose the colour of the interface and the layout, choosing between Beginner, Intermediate and Professional. You can change that later in the settings menu so it is not a big deal.
The application is going to be really difficult to use for beginners. Even for people that have used image editing software before, Hippo will require you to actually animate the images so that you can create your own images. The perfect way to learn how do things is to read the application’s online tutorial and then download some of the demos within the application so that you can see exactly how they work, bit by bit.
However, the application is not hard to use because of the interface or because of the way things are presented, far from it. The interface is actually one of the less cluttered and most sleek looking ones out there. All of the options you could possibly want are located in the toolbar and every single file you will click on will have its own properties that you can edit. Everything is presented very clearly and the different kinds of interfaces lessen the learning curve a lot. You can even edit the size of the toolbar buttons and their text.
Moreover, editing an image just feels right. Everything is just neatly integrated into Windows that you will use all the shortcuts you would expect. If you make a mistake, for example, you simply need to use ctrl+Z to fix it. If you want to rotate an image, you can just use your arrow keys and the mouse movements are also as fluid as they come.
Lastly, when you have watched some of the tutorials and downloaded the existing demos, you will find it quite easy to animate your movies. It is simply a matter of time and effort on the part of the user but the program does it best to guide you through the simplest of details without ever feeling forced or misguided.
Pros
-Even though the application might seem extremely confusing at first, it is actually very comprehensive and very clean
-Users with different levels of experience will appreciate the various parts of the interface and the way the application works as it is very forgiving to beginners and very rewarding to experienced users
-Extremely detailed tools help you create some amazing animated movies if you give the program enough of your time and dedication
Cons
-None that would be worth mentioning
Conclusion
If you are looking for one of the most intuitive ways to create your HTML movies then you should really look no further. Hippo Animator not only offers one of the most complete packages in the market but it also offers a very nice interface that will make working on movies a blast instead of a chore.
