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REVIEW TUMULT HYPE 1.5 WORDS BY TREY YANCY Copy a couple of lines of code into your web page and upload the resource folder. As each project has its own resource folder, you can have multiple Hype projects on the same page. In addition, you can share the project via built-in Drop box support and, for the millions of those who have downloaded Apple's free app, iBooks Author, you can also greatly enhance your iBooks project by outputting your Hype project as a widget. The key to engaging, magnetic websites is animation, and with the impact of iOS, combined with Adobe's abandonment of mobile Flash, the stage is set for the rise of HTML5. The rush for developing HTML5 authoring apps is on, with several titles on the shelves and more on the way, web developers are searching for the tools that will get them up and running. One of the first out of the gate is Tumult Hype. Employing a timeline and key frame approach, Hype provides WYSIWYG animation like a presentation app, while also offering support for HTML and JavaScript for those who have the chops. You can import media by dragging and dropping, via an insert menu, or via a customizable media browser. In addition to standard graphics, Hype also supports video with the ability to link multiple sources to the video object, selecting the correct format for each browser on the fly. Each scene can have multiple timelines, which is handy for creating triggered animations. Buttons can be inserted from a menu or you can convert existing objects. Click on the button state panel above the object and adjust attributes, then use the inspector to set the actions, which can include playing timelines and scenes, triggering scripts, grabbing HTML, calling a URL, creating an email and so on. Keyframes can be created manually or automatically. Just select an object and an attribute, click to create a keyframe, move the time cursor and alter the object. Timing support for keyframes includes easing with automatic or timed durations as well as jumps and point-to-point linear animations. In addition to basic attributes, a popup list of additional attributes is available. Hype does not provide a shy function for complex animations, but on the other hand, it only displays keyframes for one selected object at a time. Objects can also be locked or hidden, if need be. You can duplicate scenes with or without animations. You can also duplicate objects easily but by copying and pasting the keyframes rather than the object itself. Looping is handled by setting timelines to loop but, unlike Flash, you cannot simply turn an animation into a looping object and drop it into another animation. Underneath everything in Hype is HTML. Each object is a div or has an img tag, and includes ID and alt tags. In addition, the HTML for each object can be edited directly and you can insert JavaScript or create them from scratch. Hype offers instant previews in Safari via a button click and you can output a project in several ways. You can output it as an HTML5 project, which generates an HTML document and a dedicated resource folder. It should be noted that scene transitions require either a browser that supports WebKit, or Firefox, which leaves woefully out-of-date Internet Explorer largely out in the cold. In response to the IE issue, Hype inserts JavaScript wherever possible, so basic motion and dissolves are supported in IE, but not much else. In addition, load times in IE are roughly double that of other browsers. If you expect a lot of IE traffic on your site and intend to create sophisticated animations, you would need to develop a parallel version using Flash or another technology. Hype is a new app and, as understandably, there are a couple of minor issues. Documentation could be more detailed, and is available only on the web and with unresizable type, which is tough for high- resolution monitors. As for function, we found the business of jumping between timelines to be a bit quirky and looping can be a little awkward. We also found ourselves longing for a more robust selection of actions. Again, this is a new app and all indications are that great improvements are on the way. Overall, we found Hype to be a great starter app. It provides an excellent, user- friendly introduction to HTML5 authoring and is easy to deploy. In addition, the budget-friendly price puts just about everyone in the driver seat. Product > Made by > Price > Pros > Cons > Rating > Hype 1.5 Tumult < tumultco.com> $49 Generates HTML5 projects with relative ease, supports JavaScript Some of the navigation functions can be a little confusing 105 MacDirectory