Review: Easy Animation for BlackBerry

Not too long ago, I put together a three way battle (of sorts) between image editing applications. We looked at resizing, cropping and even clip art. One thing these apps didn't cover was animation. Yes, those sometimes cute, and often annoying animated avatars some use for their profiles. Now I'm not here to judge; chances are there is probably an old profile of mine sporting a simple animated gif; sitting unattended, on a website that I may or may not remember the name of. And no, I'm not telling you where. While stagnant images are covered time and again on your BlackBerry smartphone, animated ones are not.

That’s where Easy Animation comes in. This application says it provides users a way to create simple animations nearly effortlessly. You decide the text options, you figure out whether to use clip art or your own images. Some BlackBerry users like to use a slideshow to view images- well why not create a slideshow to share. Is Easy Animation as easy as its name suggests? Let’s check it out.

Easy Animation was developed by Brun Tech; the same developer behind Motivational Poster Maker. It’s compatible with a wide range of models, including; Curve (83xx, 85xx, 8900, 93xx), Pearl (81xx and 91xx), Pearl Flip, Storm 9500, Tour 9630, Bold (9000, 9700, 9650) good ol’ 8700, 88xx and the Torch. A little odd that the Storm 2 and Bold 9780 were missing from the compatibility list – if anyone is using one of those, let us know in the comments if you have any problems.

Cost: $0.99

Rating in the CrackBerry App Store: Not Yet Rated

Navigating Easy Animation takes some getting used to. No application options (other than the “close” command) are available via the menu button at the beginning – everything you see on screen is all the power you have. That is until you get into editing frames. Once it’s fired up, Easy Animation is ready to produce results. At the top of the menu, you will set which frame you are currently working on. It’s a step by step walkthrough with each of the editing options. For example; I want to add text to a frame. I’m first prompted to enter in the content, then press the menu button. The menu will allow me to set the font size/type/colour, background colour and general alignment (center, left or right). The magnifying glass lets you preview the frame and enable you to choose a specific position of the text or icon. Easy Animation helps you set the frame duration; choose between 0.5, 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 seconds.

The “+” allows you to add a new frame, but I wouldn’t do so until you are sure the current frame is to your liking – you cannot switch back, tough you can view the previous screen with the "onion skin" option. Once completed, you click done. You can then choose to generate a high or low quality animation. You will then see a working preview, which you can save.

Now here’s what I found with the application. Frames are set to a specific size without any option to change it. Most of the time, the text I wanted to add would automatically disappear, no matter how many times I tried. The same could be said about background colours. Images were the only items that seem to stick when told to. On the main menu, when an item is added, a green checkmark will be displayed to the right of the command (to the right of Add Text, Add Images, etc). I even attempted to add the image first, then add text. What was the result? I lost both the image and text, even though they were both checked off. What good is having text options if the text cannot be used?

Conclusion

While the idea of being able to create animations is something to look forward to, Easy Animation isn’t actually so easy to master. The UI looks crisp and amazing, but the functionality is somewhat lacking. The developer was quick to respond to concerns that I had, so I’m hoping they are working on a release that will fix current issues and add more options. Interested in trying to create animations of your own? You can pick up Easy Animation from the CrackBerry App Store for only $0.99.

More Information/download Easy Animation for BlackBerry smartphones