search site  |  contact us  HOME PRODUCTS DOWNLOADS SALES SUPPORT NEWS CrystalMaker® 1.3 for Windows XP Professional Digital Video Featured in Latest Update 24 November 2005. CrystalMaker Software Ltd is delighted to announce the immediate availability of CrystalMaker version 1.3 for Windows XP: a major update to our new crystal structures software for the Windows platform. As is our tradition, a free update is available to our registered users (this is our 10th free update since CrystalMaker 1.0 for Windows was released in April 2005). Digital Video CrystalMaker 1.3 now includes the ability to record digital video and animations. An easy-to-use Video Recorder palette lets you control the movie recording process, including advanced options such as compressor type, bit-depth, compressor optimization, image quality and playback frame rate. Video is saved in the cross-platform, industry-standard QuickTime format. You can embed movies and animations within web pages, PowerPoint or Keynote presentations - and CrystalMaker-generated movies are widely used to power multimedia presentations on CD-ROM or DVD. Examples of these applications include the OzSoils CD-ROM project, the EuroPrix-award winning Open University Geology series, and high-profile multimedia exhibits at the Natural History Museum in London, and a similar, bi-lingual exhibit in Stockholm. Virtual-Reality Objects To date, CrystalMaker is unique amongst crystal structures programs in its ability to automatically generate self-contained QuickTime Virtual Reality (QTVR) objects. These provide multi-dimensional views of a molecule or crystal structure, which can be manipulated in real-time using the computer mouse. QTVR objects can be embedded in web pages and media projects, in the same way that QuickTime movies can be. A great advantage of QTVR objects is that they allow self-contained fully-rotatable molecules to be viewed in context - accompanied by annotation or other images/movies - and without the potential distraction of a complex computer user interface. For this reason QTVR has become very-highly regarded in education - and early applications were pioneered at Britain's Open University, culminating in their award-winning S260 Geology multimedia series on crystal chemistry and mineral structures. A QuickTime VR object movie generated by CrystalMaker-for-Windows. Click and drag with the mouse to rotate the structure. This object was recorded using the following settings: 360-degrees H-pan (36 frames in 10-degree intervals). Animation compressor; thousands of colours; high-quality (60). If the embedded VR object does not load, you may need to download the free QuickTime system software (Windows and Mac) from the Apple QuickTime website. This includes a plug-in for your web browser. Advanced Video Features CrystalMaker provides advanced control over all aspects of video recording, from the frame size (defined by the graphics window), frame rate, key frames, compression settings and ouput quality. QuickTime provides the industry's most advanced compression settings, and CrystalMaker's compression settings dialog lets you choose a compressor type (video codec) and customize its settings. CrystalMaker provides advanced control over all aspects of the video recording and compression settings. Automatic Update Checking CrystalMaker Software Ltd have already established an exemplary record of providing regular, free, software updates. To keep track of these, you can now use the program's Check for Update command. This liases with the CrystalMaker website, to find the latest software release for your program, and notify you if there are any updates or upgrades available. You can also opt to have the program regularly check for updates. Other Features CrystalMaker for Windows 1.3 has an all-new installer package, featuring auto-run, and advanced installation options. Also new is an enhanced preferences command, plus a variety of interface improvements and bug fixes. Further Information: For a general introduction to CrystalMaker please see the CrystalMaker product description. Download a demonstration version of CrystalMaker 1.3 for Windows (can be used as a free crystal viewer for CIF, PDB, FDAT and other data files). For pricing and ordering information for new licences, please refer to the CrystalMaker Sales page. If you are an existing CrystalMaker-for-Mac user, and wish to take advantage of our new cross-platform upgrade scheme, please visit the sales page. © 2008 CrystalMaker Software Limited. All rights reserved worldwide.