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innovation and excitement
I'm walking around the past SIGGRAPH show in San Diego a
couple of months back, checking out all the neat graphics programs on
display. I had given Adobe some grief, and felt quite good about it. So
walking around the show in a triumphant walk I came over to a booth by
a company I had never heard of - Anark. They were debuting a new product
called "Anark Studio 2" ... interesting. What I saw on the screen
was an amazing 3D environment that showed video clips on one part of the
screen with an interactive rotating menu on the bottom. Another person
was demonstrating this amazing camera slide through the ocean (dodging
a whale), then the camera slid through landscapes and finally outer-space.
I immediately introduced myself and got a great tutorial
by the people at the Anark booth (they were very professional and friendly),
and was duly impressed. Quick first impressions were this:
1) Boy PowerPoint is boring as hell - this is one way to
drop some jaws when making the next presentation
2) 3D On the web never looked so good. Ever.
Their PR department was kind enough to hook us up with an
eval copy, and the rest is history.
Summary of Product
Anark Studio is a multimedia authoring software gives users
the ability to create captivating interactive 3D experiences that engage
your audiences and communicate your ideas. From Presentations to CD-ROM
content, Anark Studio 2 is ready to perform to whatever needs you have
it perform to.
Artists and developers can now reach a wider audience through
Anark Studio's wide array of delivery options including players for Macintosh
OS X and Microsoft Windows for CD-ROM and DVD-ROM, self-contained screensavers,
video and Web with the cross-platform "Anark Client". Create
mind-blowing corporate presentations, learning applications, visualizations,
product demonstrations and entertainment and never again sacrifice visual
quality because of bandwidth and authoring tool limitations.
Benefits
- You can captivate audiences with the highest quality visual
output of any interactive media using integrated video, 3D geometry, graphics,
video and audio guaranteeing your content will grab their attention.
- Be productive immediately with Anark Studio's creative
and flexible workspace, storage and library palettes and newly upgraded
powerful, yet simple component objects.
- Get impressive results fast using Anark Studio's drag
and drop video mapping to quickly map video onto 3D and 2D objects and
view your completed creation in real-time.
- Rule the Web and beyond by creating for Microsoft Windows
and Apple Macintosh OSX as standalone applications or to the Internet
with the Anark Client.
- Exporters for Discreet® 3ds max™, and plasma™
as well as Lightwave, Maya and Deep Exploration -- ensures superior integration
with all industry standard 3D modeling tools.
- Integrate with confidence with Anark Client SCORM conformance
that allows easy integration with standards-based Learning Management
Systems.
- Selectable formats as either interactive scalable Anark
media or as high resolution video for post-production and effect sequences.
Choose resolution, frame rates and rendering options for maximum quality.
- Users can create complex composites like never before
with new timeline enhancements such as zooming, view filters and components.
- Become an interactivity wizard using the library of drag
and drop behaviors to create complex interactivity immediately or write
your own in JavaScript for complete interactive control.
- Build your revenue by expanding your business to offer
Anark Studio's broad range of interactive delivery options including standalone
applications for CD-ROM/DVD-ROM, kiosk presentations, screensavers, Web
applications and more -- providing a unique brand of interactive marketing
unmatched in the industry.
Manufacturer, vendor and/or
retailer information
Vendor : Anark http://www.anark.com
Retailer List: http://www.anark.com/products/resellers.asp
Technical specifications
Windows Edition Specs ::
Microsoft Windows 98 SE/2000/ME/XP
Pentium II 300MHz or better
256MB of RAM or more
Any graphics card that supports OpenGL 1.2.1 or later
Windows Media Player 7 or later
Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.0 or later
Minimum of 100MB free disk space
Macintost Edition Specs ::
OS X 10.2.2 (Jaguar) or later
256 MB of RAM or more
Any graphics card that supports OpenGL 1.2.1 or later
Minimum of 100MB free disk space
Compatibility and flexibility concerns
Program supports Windows 98SE, 2000, ME, and XP, as well as OS X versions
10.2.2 or higher. The files can be saved in various formats of different
3D programs. Many widely used 3D Programs' files can be imported. There
is no unix/linux support.
Setup, installation, configuration
Installation is as simple as installing any CD-ROM software,
so pretty much anyone can do it. Installation on a P4 2.53GHz system took
approximately 2 minutes to complete. Help is available in the form of
a very large technical manual, and the in-software help feature. Anark
also offers tech support and tech forums via their corporate website.
Impact on other programs does not exist and it does not have any large
impact on the system registry file. Uninstallation is done through the
Add/Remove Software inside the Windows Control Panel.
Implementation, training, and
integration
Reference manual is quite large and offers many tutorials to give users
a practical course in using the product. Tutorials are also available
on the CD-ROM where you can actually use files used by major corporations
and see how they constructed their files. There are various on-line tutorials
and help features via the corporate website. It should be noted that complete
novices into the 3D world might have trouble grasping concepts - but the
basic tutorials in the program are easy enough for mid-ranged computer
users to get through with ease.
Documentation
Product comes with a 412 page manual. The manual is good, and the book
contains a glossery, how-to sections for reference, tutorial sections,
and several links to various websites with help. There is no keyboard
shortcut template included.
User interface
The interface is very similar to other 3D video programs, such
as Discreet's 3D Studio Max, or even Macromedia's Flash MX 2004. There
are many menus, toolbars, icons, and left & right mouse clicking to
access features in the program. The interface is almost completely graphical,
but the java-script section is based like a text editor. Overall we found
the user interface to be fantastic and very user friendly for those of
you already using 3D Studio Max, Flash, or even some video programs such
as Premiere.
Add-in / add-on products
There are numerous 3rd party add-ons that can all be found via the Anark
corporate website. Anark also fully supports 3rd Party reselling of add-on
features.
The costs
The MSRP through the corporate website is $999, and through various e-retailers
you can find the product for $695. A student edition can be found for
only $99. There are also 20-user licenses available at various rates.
Our Impressions Using the Product
"We chose Anark Studio for our CD-ROM because it enabled us to create
an amazing presentation that clearly surpassed the results of competing
products." -- Luca Giraldi, Website Content Manager, Maserati
"In a week's time we discovered Anark Studio, learned
the basics and assembled a high impact demo to present to our prospective
client. Even in a short amount of time we were able to create a presentation
that outshone those of competing agencies and not only achieved, but surpassed
their expectations." -- Aristotolis Vasilakos, Creative Director,
EyeMedia
The above is an actual screenshot of one of
the movies created with the program that you can view if you go to Anark's
website (highly suggested if you want to see practical use of the program
by the experts themselves).
Summary and general recommendations
Anark Studio 2 is a product that offers companies a huge
competitive advantage when making sales presentations … while the
competition has a static PowerPoint presentation, your organization can
have a dynamic and animated 3D Presentation that integrates video, audio,
and more. The Learning Curve on this product is difficult. Unless the
company/user is willing to learn the product and take their time understanding
3D concepts, it may be too difficult a program for some to use. This product
is feature rich and perfect for high level users looking to “wow”
their clientele. Overall, I would highly recommended for purchase for
students and companies with a high level I.T. Department.
I have to say I was very impressed with the items I was
able to create - going through the tutorials promised some very interesting
outputs and overall were quite easy to go through (note: I have extensive
experience with 3D programs ... so from a person with intermediate 3D
skills - it's rather easy to pick up). The 3D Engine is extremely quick
with the right equipment (again, on a P4 2.53GHz system with 512MB PC3200
RAM).
If Anark can somehow coax Microsoft to include the Anark
client native to Windows, I could see this program being the next huge
hot program that every web developer purchases and impliments on the websites
they create. Why? The output is THAT DAMN GOOD.
Overall, Anark Studio 2 is a fantastic program that is very
intuitive and fun to use. The tutorials offer a very nice introduction
to the program and the manual is a good reference. Anyone or any company
looking to literally drop some jaws and blow away the competition when
making presentations would do very well by investing in this software
solution.
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10 / 10 |
OVERALL SCORE
96%
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10 / 10 |
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9 / 10 |
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10 / 10 |
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9 / 10 |
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9.6 /
10 |
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