15-Minute Reviews :: Morpheus Photo Morpher Lite v3.01

Hello everyone and welcome to another 15-Minute Review! Today’s review is on Morpheus Photo Morpher version 3.01 by Morpheus Software – An image to create short videos morphing pictures from one to another.

Software Description

As Giveaway of the Day states:

“This amazing picture morphing software transforms one person or object into another before your eyes!

You’ve seen them on TV, in the movies, everywhere. Now you can create your very own Hollywood-style photo effects from your home computer.All you need is two digital pictures and Morpheus Photo Morpher. Amaze your friends and loved ones!”

Quick Pros

• Interface is easy to get working with
• Color-coordinated dots to help you identify trouble spots/mistakes quickly
• Produces decent-quality morphs in the preview window – Lacks some control however

Quick Cons

• Only animated GIF export support in Lite edition – No SWF (as stated) or AVI support
• Hard to manipulate hair well
• Have to opt out of Dealio and Snap installation during install
• Lite version is not even available on their website

Expansion

I’ve always had fun with morphing tools; Since 1997 when I bought my first morphing tool, I’ve been hooked and love playing around with it from time to time; While the usefulness of a morph tool is questionable, it is the fun aspect that I know a lot of people look at.

Once you got past the install (See notes below) the application was surprisingly easy to use. Load up two images, place points around the target you wish to morph, especially on defining features, and then proceed to the second image to the right and start relocating the points to match where you placed the points on the original image. While simple enough, be aware that to get a good morph, especially without the line connectors, it is time-consuming process of first getting the points roughly where you want then, and then tweak them a lot. One thing I did find between this and other morph programs is that without the connector lines, the program takes some liberties on what goes where still; I found the application took a tree to the right of my first subject and turned it into a part of the second image’s hair, even after quite a bit of tinkering. I did find that the color-coordinated dots did help quite a bit on quickly finding where the dots were linked to without having to hover or click on them to match them up. One issue with the dots; I kept losing the white dots on a white shirt.

While the morphs that resulted from my usage were decent quality when I went into Proof, with the limitation of animated GIFs only for output (Sorry, no Flash SWF files like what GotD’s features state or AVI files in this version) you are truly restricted on quality for your output. While animated GIFs might be handy for creating your own IM icon, I would likely say this would be the extent of what I would use this for; I’d rather use the SWF for a website for quality and clarity of a morph. I’m not overly impressed with this Lite version; However with the higher versions and some of the advanced features, you should get far better quality morphs (Gtanted at an increase of labor.)

My biggest problem with this program outside what was mentioned above, was the fact that while installing what is supposed to be the installer for Lite, Standard, Professional and Industrial, it actually plants -TWO- wizard steps for installing Dealio toolbar and Snap toolbar ( Snap toolbar is a known ‘malicious’ product as well – see here for more information ) – The installer defaults to ‘Accept and Install’ so for those who might be akin to quickly clicking through to install might find themselves with a lovely surprise. For an application that costs $99.95 for their top-end product, I would really expect this not to be in place and especially with Snap, is in my opinion very unprofessional.

Final Verdict

While I love my morphing tools for fun, this application didn’t leave a great taste in my mouth. On Giveaway of the Day this application is portrayed to be the ‘Standard’ version based on the features listed – Specifically found is the lack of Flash SWF publishing support (I’m assuming this was written by Morpheus Software) and also reflects this by the price of $29.95. Through the ‘About’ box it clearly displays it is the Lite version as well. This edition is not available through their website; The lowest version available on their site is $29.95, the standard edition. With the two toolbars thrown at you during install as well and the fact that one is a known malicious toolbar, I would have a hard time taking this company seriously to look at their higher-end software. For you to produce good-quality morphs with connector lines and decent output options, you would have to purchase Pro for $59.95.

For free, this application might be fun for someone to play with – Just make sure you don’t install the two toolbars. As for paying for this, I would not pay $29.95 for the Lite or Standard edition – It just doesn’t have enough features to be worth it. The last morph program I purchased a while back was $24.95, and had most of the features listed on Professional (Sorry, can’t link to it – It either no longer exists or purchased by another company – I can’t find it online.) I really don’t know if I want to support a company that would have you install malicious software on your system for a few extra dollars income.

There are freeware and lower-cost alternatives. Sqirlz Morph (Freeware) is one I found quickly but there are plenty more – You can look around at SnapFiles for more options.

Posted by BladedThoth on Thursday, June 28, 2007