animation

Will Path Finder 5 replace the Finder once and for all?

MacMerc.tv 20081023 203423 Will Path Finder 5 replace the Finder once and for all?

Cocoatech’s Path Finder is an amazing achievement in Finder replacement that I have been conflicted over for some time. It has most of the abilities of the Finder but offers much more customization in its browser-style file management system. My problem with it has always been that it does such a great job that I just wish the Finder would get out of its way completely and let it take over, but I don’t expect there to be a final solution to this problem while Apple still has anything to say about it.

Today, Path Finder 5.0 was released. It’s been designed from the ground up for greater speed and integration. Version 5.0 leverages the latest Leopard technologies including Core Animation, FSEvents, Coverflow, Quicklook, ObjC-2.0, and more.

I haven’t given the new version enough of a test drive yet, but I’m anxious to see if Cocoatech has come up with any new methods of suppressing the Finder and allowing Path Finder to take over.

Path Finder 5.0 can be purchased for USD$39.95. A full-featured, 30-day demo is available. I’m going to upgrade my Path Finder 4 license for USD$19.95 and see how this new version measures up. Comment below with your experiences with Path Finder and especially version 5.

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Rate your iTunes from the Menu Bar with I Love Stars 2.0

ilovestars screenshot2 20080522 194954 Rate your iTunes from the Menu Bar with I Love Stars 2.0From the people who brought you Tangerine and Voice Candy comes a little Menu Bar item called I Love Stars. It allows you to assign a star rating to the song currently playing in iTunes right from the Menu Bar.

My first reaction when I read about the app was “It sounds handy, but, geez, like I need one for icon on my Menu Bar!” and sure enough, if you look at the screenshot at right, it does have a pretty large footprint…that is, until you turn off iTunes. The latest version of I Love Stars hides itself when iTunes is not playing with a very slick little animation. It even let’s you assign a half star rating by clicking on the last star.

I Love Stars 2.0 is freeware.

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Toom Boom issues Toon Boom Studio 4 patch for Leopard users

Toon Boom Animation Inc. today announced that a Studio 4 patch is available that will allow the software to run on Mac OS X 10.5. To obtain the update, visit their website, login, go to the My Products page and click on Download.

This Studio 4 patch is for Leopard only.

Toon Boom Studio offers true animation features designed to facilitate the creation of any styles of animation, including traditional frame-by-frame animation, key-frame animation, cut-out and photo animation. The product sells for USD$399.99

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