Free Studio 5 – 47 Bundled Multimedia Applications

It’s a kind of truism in business, that you should try to cover all the bases in the business you’re in. You can see this played out in the software industry in which, multiple applications are often bundled, or stacked, into suites. The objective being, of course, to prevent the competition from gaining a foothold with the customer.

Not unusual then, to see three, four, or as many as six applications, all bundled under one umbrella. But, I must admit, I had never seen forty seven applications bundled into a single package. Until that is, I came across Free Studio 5.

Free Studio 5, is an all-in-one package bundling forty seven free multimedia applications,  laid out in 8 sections, for easy access to any application: YouTube programs; MP3 and Audio; CD, DVD and BD; DVD and Video; Photo and Images; Mobiles; Apple Devices; and 3D applications.

I’ll point out – I have not tested any of the applications in this free offering. Still, you may find one, or more, of the applications to your liking.

A quick point about the Windows 8 Metro interface. I’ve become a fan of Windows 8, including the Metro interface – but, the installation of Free Studio 5, with it’s forty seven applications spread across a huge piece of screen real estate (as shown below), is just a bit bizarre.

The free application for Windows 8 users – Start Menu (shown below) – on the other hand, provides access in the more familiar drop-down arrangement with which Windows users are more familiar.

Free Studio’s individual components can be checked out, by clicking on the appropriate link below.

Free YouTube to MP3 Converter

Free YouTube to iPod and PSP Converter

Free YouTube to iPhone Converter

Free YouTube to DVD Converter

Free YouTube Uploader

Free Uploader for Facebook

Free Video to Android Converter

Free Video to Apple TV Converter

Free Video to BlackBerry Converter

Free Video to HTC Phones Converter

Free Video to iPad Converter

Free Video to iPod Converter

Free Video to iPhone Converter

Free Video to LG Phones Converter

Free Video to Motorola Phones Converter

Free Video to Nintendo Converter

Free Video to Nokia Phones Converter

Free Video to Samsung Phones Converter

Free Video to Sony Phones Converter

Free Video to Sony Playstation Converter

Free Video to Sony PSP Converter

Free Video to Xbox Converter

Free Video to Tablet PC Converter

Free DVD Video Converter

Free Video to DVD Converter

Free Video to Flash Converter

Free 3GP Video converter

Free Video to MP3 Converter

Free Video to JPG Converter

Free Audio Converter

Free Audio to Flash Converter

Free WebM Video Converter

Free MP4 Video Converter

Free AVI Video Converter

Free DVD Video Burner

Free Disc Burner

Free Audio CD Burner

Free Audio CD to MP3 Converter

Free Screen Video Recorder

Free Image Convert and Resize

Free Video Dub

Free Audio Dub

Free Video Flip and Rotate

Free 3D Photo Maker

Free 3D Video Maker

System Requirements: Windows XP SP3, Vista, Win 7 and .Net Framework 2 SP2.

Download at: DVDVideoSoft

A Seriously Advanced Photo Tool – Free Image Analyzer 1.31

 

In the days of film cameras, what you shot was what you got. You took your film, had it developed and that, was that. Unless of course, you were one of the few photo hobbyists who had the equipment, and the skills, to manipulate and improve captured images.

The development of the digital camera has changed all that. Today, you are not necessarily stuck with what you shot. The tech world is full, to overflowing, with photo applications; from low end programs with few capabilities to very high end commercial programs with countless editing capabilities. And from complex applications with high learning curves, to dead simple applications with a point and click interface.

Back in my High School days, I was lucky enough to be hired by a news photographer who taught me camera skills, film development and printing techniques, which have stayed with me. So much so, that even now, I use my camera virtually every day (seriously).

If you’re like me, and you consider yourself a geeky photographer, then Image Analyzer 1.31 (latest release – September 22, 2009), could be just the program you’ve been searching for. This small (1.24MB), free, advanced, feature-rich image editor, comes complete with serious enhancement and analytical tools.

While the program includes all the usual features found in most photo editing tools, such as red-eye removal, resizing, rotating, image cropping, image warping, scanner, camera and printer support, the advanced features would generally be used only by sophisticated users, or professional photographers.

For example, this program excels at a number of higher level tasks including refocusing an out of focus image. As well, using the fractal interpolation plug-in for resizing, even low resolution images can be printed at larger sizes with acceptable quality.

Fast facts:

Automatic brightness, contrast, gamma and saturation adjustment

Build-in conventional and adaptive filters for noise reduction, edge extraction etc.

Retouch tools

Retinex filter for reducing shadows and increasing local contrast

Deconvolution for out-of-focus and motion blur compensation (see below)

Easy red-eye removal

User specified filters in spatial and frequency domain

Resize, rotate, crop and warping of images

Scanner, camera and printer support

File format support:
Read/write BMP, ICO, CUR, WMF, EMF, PNG, MNG, GIF, PCX, JPEG and JPEG 2000 images
Read CR2, RAS, PNM, PGM, PPM, HIPS and Matlab files

Morphological operations

Color model conversion: RGB, CMY, HSI, Lab, YCbCr, YIQ and PCA

Distance, Fourier and discrete cosine transformation

Math expression module for creating and transforming images and advanced “pocket” calculator with equation solver

Plug-in system for adding more specialized features.

Available Plug-ins:

Combine for High Dynamic Range (HDR)

Microscopic imaging

3D modeling

Batch processing

Fractal interpolation

Add text and vector graphics

Raster Export

JPEG 2000 file format handler

TIFF file format handler

Profile line

PCA Color Stretch

8fb Plug-in Interface

Developers’ information

Requirements: Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows Me, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows NT, Windows 98

Language pack: Danish, Dutch, French, Finnish, German, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian

There is no tech support for this free application but there is an active forum.

Recommendation: This is a  terrific free program for those those who are familiar with, or interested in, the more technical aspects of image analysis/processing. Considering the high end abilities of this application, it is surprising that it is freeware.

Download at: Download.com

There are additional free graphic software reviews elsewhere on this Blog, including download links. Check out the category Graphic Software on the sidebar.

 

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Create Web-Savvy Images with PhotoPlus 6 – Free

SerifSoftware puts an interesting and unusual twist to the usual “try this application for free for 30 days” we are all pretty familiar with. Serif releases older versions of their current software for download at no cost, to entice at least some users to upgrade to current versions of their popular software.

Despite the slightly dated appearance of SerifSoftware’s PhotoPlus 6, this is not an ‘old’ program that’s been revived just for give-away. PhotoPlus is still an amazing photo editing application that enables you to fix and enhance digital photos, create bitmap graphics and in a neat twist, create web animations.

With PhotoPlus, you can easily adjust brightness and contrast, color balance, remove red-eye and make numerous other image editing adjustments and enhancements.

And here’s the “Plus” – You’ll find a large number of tools for creating web-savvy images. As well, a collection of web animation tools will help you import and export GIF files.

You can even let PhotoPlus do all the hard work and create animations for you. Image slicing tools are another web feature that is surprising in a free package. With these tools you can sub-divide an image into invisible segments, each of which can then be given a hyperlink and popup window.

Alternatively, you can add hotspots to your web page. Because of its simple layout, this is an easy program to work with, especially for those with little or no previous experience.

Quick Facts:

Creative Tools – Enhance your images with easy-to-use creative tools, such as paintbrush, airbrush, clone, smudge and erase – adjustable brush settings include size, shape, softness and fade.

Layer Effects – Apply bevels and drop shadows to create sophisticated-looking text and images. Use the layer manager to add to and enhance images without affecting the originals.

Digital Darkroom – Adjust brightness, contrast, sharpness, color hue, saturation, remove red-eye and more. Enhance, repair and tweak your photos for great results.

Deform Tool – The versatile Deform tool lets you rotate, resize, skew, reshape and add perspective to any selection or layer.

Text – Add editable, deformable text to your images and further enhance your text with drop shadows and bevel effects.

Animation – Create your own animated GIFs.

Web Images – Divide images into individual sections that can be clicked on to link to other web pages and websites, just like text hyperlinks. PhotoPlus 6 creates all the HTML code ensuring your images appear properly.

Export Optimizer – Simultaneously view up to four previews that display the relationship between image file size and quality, making it easy to decide how to save and export images for every purpose.

QuickShapes – Add ready-made, customizable QuickShapes to your images. Choose from a range including speech bubbles, starbursts and spirals.

System requirements: Windows 95/98/Me/NT/2000/XP

Download at: SerifSoftware

Free Image Analyzer 1.30 – Professional Photo Editor

If you’re a geeky photographer, then Image Analyzer 1.30 (latest release – August 30), could be just the program you’ve been searching for. This small (1.24MB), free, advanced, feature-rich image editor, comes complete with serious enhancement and analytical tools.

At the advanced level, this is not a program for the faint of heart, and requires a good understanding of photographic techniques.

While the program includes all the usual features found in most photo editing tools, such as red-eye removal, resizing, rotating, image cropping, image warping, scanner, camera and printer support, the advanced features would generally be used only by sophisticated users, or professional photographers.

A number of my friends, who are advanced users, tell me this program excels at a number of higher level tasks including refocusing an out of focus image. As well, using the fractal interpolation plug-in for resizing, even low resolution images can be printed at larger sizes with acceptable quality.

Since I am not a sophisticated user, in my view, this is a program best left to those who are familiar with, or interested in, the more technical aspects of image analysis/processing.

Considering the high end abilities of this application, it is surprising that it is freeware.

Quick facts:

Automatic brightness, contrast, gamma and saturation adjustment

Build-in conventional and adaptive filters for noise reduction, edge extraction etc.

Retouch tools

Retinex filter for reducing shadows and increasing local contrast

Deconvolution for out-of-focus and motion blur compensation

Easy red-eye removal

User specified filters in spatial and frequency domain

Resize, rotate, crop and warping of images

Scanner, camera and printer support

Read/write BMP, ICO, CUR, WMF, EMF, PNG, MNG, GIF, PCX, JPEG and JPEG

Read RAS, PNM, PGM, PPM, HIPS and Matlab files

Morphological operations

Color model conversion: RGB, CMY, HSI, Lab, YCbCr, YIQ and PCA

Distance, Fourier and discrete cosine transformation

Math expression module for creating and transforming images

Plug-in system for adding more specialized features

Available Plug-ins:

Microscopic imaging

3D modeling

Batch processing

Fractal interpolation

Add text and vector graphics

Raster Export

TIFF reader

Profile line

PCA Color Stretch

8fb Plug-in Interface

There are additional free graphic software reviews elsewhere on this Blog, including download links. Check out the category Graphic Software on the sidebar.

Requirements: Windows 98/Me/NT/2000/XP/2003 Server/Vista

Download at: Download.com or at the developer’s site MeeSoft.

Free Photo Editing "Plus" – SerifSoftware’s PhotoPlus 6

SerifSoftware puts an interesting and unusual twist to the usual “try this application for free for 30 days” we are all pretty familiar with.

Serif releases older versions of their current software for download at no cost, to hopefully entice at least some users to upgrade to current versions of their popular software.

Despite the slightly dated appearance of SerifSoftware’s PhotoPlus 6, this is not an ‘old’ program that’s been revived just for give-away. PhotoPlus is still an amazing photo editing application that enables you to fix and enhance digital photos, create bitmap graphics and even web animations.

With PhotoPlus, you can easily adjust brightness and contrast, color balance, remove red-eye and make numerous other image editing adjustments and enhancements.

And here’s the “Plus” – You’ll find a large number of tools for creating web-savvy images. As well, a collection of web animation tools will help you import and export GIF files. You can even let PhotoPlus do all the hard work and create animations for you.

Image slicing tools are another web feature that are surprising in a free package. With these tools you can sub-divide an image into invisible segments, each of which can then be given a hyperlink and popup window. Alternatively, you can add hotspots to your web page.

Because of its simple layout, this is an easy program to pick up and work with, especially for those with little or no previous experience.

Quick Facts:

Creative Tools – Enhance your images with easy-to-use creative tools, such as paintbrush, airbrush, clone, smudge and erase – adjustable brush settings include size, shape, softness and fade.

Layer Effects – Apply bevels and drop shadows to create sophisticated-looking text and images. Use the layer manager to add to and enhance images without affecting the originals.

Digital Darkroom – Adjust brightness, contrast, sharpness, color hue, saturation, remove red-eye and more. Enhance, repair and tweak your photos for great results.

Deform Tool – The versatile Deform tool lets you rotate, resize, skew, reshape and add perspective to any selection or layer.

Text – Add editable, deformable text to your images and further enhance your text with drop shadows and bevel effects.

Animation – Create your own animated GIFs.

Web Images – Divide images into individual sections that can be clicked on to link to other web pages and websites, just like text hyperlinks. PhotoPlus 6 creates all the HTML code ensuring your images appear properly.

Export Optimizer – Simultaneously view up to four previews that display the relationship between image file size and quality, making it easy to decide how to save and export images for every purpose.

QuickShapes – Add ready-made, customizable QuickShapes to your images. Choose from a range including speech bubbles, starbursts and spirals.

Download at: SerifSoftware

Photo Editing, Painting, Drawing, Text Manipulation, Web Animation! – PhotoPlus 6 for Free!

SerifSoftware has an interesting way to get you to buy their latest software offerings. They will give you an older version of any of their software packages for free. An interesting twist on the usual “try it for free for 30 days” we are all pretty familiar with.

I have used, and tested, Serif’s free editions for 10+ years now, and I have found that even their older software is more than up to the tasks I set.

Sure, the applications may be older than the current versions, but in terms of functionality and features, generally you are not missing much. Most software today is overblown and bloated with features that many users have little or no need of. So, in this older version there are not as many tools as might find with more recent products, but those that are there tend to be the ones that are most used by typical users.

Despite the slightly dated appearance, this is not an ‘old’ program that’s been revived just for give-away. PhotoPlus is still an amazing photo editing application that enables you to fix and enhance digital photos, create bitmap graphics and even web animations.

With PhotoPlus, you can easily adjust brightness and contrast, color balance, remove red-eye and make numerous other image editing adjustments and enhancements.

You’ll find a large number of tools for creating web-savvy images, including an Export Optimizer for gauging the appearance of an image at various output settings. As well, a group of web animation tools will help you import and export GIF files. You can even let PhotoPlus do all the hard work and create the animations for you.

Image slicing tools are another web feature that you just wouldn’t expect to find in a free package. With these tools you can sub-divide an image into invisible segments, each of which can then be given a hyperlink and popup window. Alternatively, you can add hotspots to your web page.

Another unexpected extra – that will be on some users’ essentials list – is the option to work in CMYK mode to create CMYK separations or view the image in its printer-ready form.

Though the layout is somewhat dated and the range of editing tools is not as extensive as in more recent applications, this free program is still capable of outputting amazing results.

Because of its simple layout, this is an easy program to pick up and work with, especially for those with little or no previous experience.

Overall PhotoPlus is an excellent, and probably the most complete free graphics editor and it will more than likely exceed the average users editing needs.

Quick Facts:

Creative Tools

· Enhance your images with easy-to-use creative tools, such as paintbrush, airbrush, clone, smudge and erase – adjustable brush settings include size, shape, softness and fade

Layer Effects

· Apply bevels and drop shadows to create sophisticated-looking text and images. Use the layer manager to add to and enhance images without affecting the originals

Digital Darkroom

· Adjust brightness, contrast, sharpness, color hue, saturation, remove red-eye and more. Enhance, repair and tweak your photos for great results

Deform Tool

· The versatile Deform tool lets you rotate, resize, skew, reshape and add perspective to any selection or layer

Text

· Add editable, deformable text to your images and further enhance your text with drop shadows and bevel effects

Animation

· Create your own animated GIFs for websites and

Web Images

· Divide images into individual sections that can be clicked on to link to other web pages and websites, just like text hyperlinks. PhotoPlus 6 creates all the HTML code ensuring your images appear properly

Export Optimizer

· Simultaneously view up to four previews that display the relationship between image file size and quality, making it easy to decide how to save and export images for every purpose

QuickShapes

· Add ready-made, customizable QuickShapes to your images. Choose from a range including speech bubbles, starbursts and spirals

Download at: SerifSoftware