Morpheus Software Press Release

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – Morpheus Software, a leading publisher of digital photo animation software, today announced that it’s launching three new software products, Morpheus Photo Warper for distorting photos, Morpheus Photo Mixer for blending two photos together and Morpheus Photo Animation Suite.  In addition, the company is releasing Morpheus Photo Morpher v3.00, the latest version of its popular photo morphing software. “Today’s digital camera users want to get more entertainment value and enjoyment from their digital photo collections,” said Dan Engel, CEO at Morpheus Software.  “Our new line of digital photo animation software titles meets that need for personal expression, fun and creativity through digital photography head-on.”

n addition, Engel noted:  “Members of online social networking communities such as MySpace are looking for ways to make their personal web pages stand out.  Adding flash animation to their sites using our software can help them attract attention, as can animating pictures for posting at online photo and video communities like Flickr and YouTube, and even online dating sites like Match.com.  And users can spice up their personal blogs with photo morphs, warps and mixes.”

Morpheus Photo Morpher v3.00
The new version of Morpheus Photo Morpher photo morphing software lets users morph and transform one person or object into another using two or more digital pictures.  To morph their photos, users load their pictures into the software and use the “Add Dots” and “Move Dots” tools to place dots around the key features of each picture, such as the eyes, nose, and mouth in pictures of people’s faces.  The more dots added, the higher the animation’s quality.  They can then preview the finished morph, render/save it in the file format of their choice such as Flash or Animated GIF, and share with friends and family using the built-in email feature or by posting to a web site.

·      A timeline window which enables users to morph multiple pictures; previously, users could only morph two photos
·      A new, customizable interface that allows users to more easily and quickly create their morphs
·      An easy-to-use wizard to help users get started creating morphs, plus a beginner mode option
·      New sample morphs to play with included within the program

For example, users can morph a series of photos of their children showing different stages, such as from infancy to childhood to a current photo.  People can transform themselves into their boyfriend, girlfriend, or spouse, into their parents or grandparents, the family pet, or even into their favorite celebrity.

“The previous version of Morpheus Photo Morpher was downloaded over six million times,” said Ryan Rubley, VP of software development at Morpheus.  “We’re excited to get this major upgrade into the hands of our user base, as well as to introduce it to millions of newly minted digital photo enthusiasts.”

For more advanced users, there is a Professional edition of the software which allows users to output to AVI format for use with third party movie software, including DivX and DV AVIs.  For professional animators, there is an Industrial edition which enables more advanced morph development and supports morphing of AVI, MPEG, and WMV movies in addition to still picture morphing.

Morpheus Photo Warper
Morpheus Photo Warper picture distortion software enables users to warp and exaggerate portions of photos, such as body parts.  The basic concept is to create a warp starting with one normal picture and distorting it, then create a movie file of the animation. 

Users load a picture into the software and use the dot tools to place dots around the key feature or features of the picture which they want to see distorted, such as the mouth or head in pictures of people.  As dots are moved around a feature, the distortion to that feature is shown in real-time. The more dots added, the higher the animation’s quality.  Users can then preview the animation or render/save it in the file format of their choice for sharing with their friends or posting online.

Warper’s key features include:
Support for popular formats for saving warps, including Flash SWF and Animated GIF
A built-in email feature for sharing warps with friends and family seamlessly
A fast rendering engine that enables users to preview warps by playing them inside the program
An easy-to-use wizard to help users get started creating warps, plus a beginner mode option
Sample warps to play with included within the program
For example, users can show another person what he or she would look like after losing or gaining weight or muscles.  People can exaggerate facial features or body parts in a picture of a politician or celebrity.

For more advanced users, there is a Professional edition of the software which allows users to output to AVI format for use with third party movie software, including DivX and DV AVIs. 

Morpheus Photo Mixer
Morpheus Photo Mixer compositing software enables users to mix-up and blend faces and body parts between two photos.  To mix-up their photos, users load two pictures into the software and use the dot tools to place dots around the key features of each picture, such as the eyes, nose, and mouth in pictures of people’s faces.  The more dots added, the higher the mix quality.  Users can then preview the mix or render/save it in file formats like JPEG and PNG, which are ideal for displaying on web pages.  Unlike Morpher and Warper, Mixer produces still pictures, not animations.

Mixer’s key features include:
Support for popular formats for saving mixes, including JPEG, PNG, and TIFF
A fast rendering engine that lets users preview mixes
An easy-to-use wizard to help users get started creating mixes, plus a beginner mode option
Sample mixes to play with included within the program
For example, users can surprise a wedding couple by mixing the faces of the bride and groom.  People can mix photos of their favorite two celebrities to see what the celebrities’ kids might look like, or even blend together their own kids’ or parents’ faces and then forward the humorous photo mix to their friends and family. 

There is a Professional edition of the software which allows users to create more advanced mixes, such as placing the head of one picture onto the body of a second picture. 

Morpheus Photo Animation Suite
Morpheus Photo Animation Suite, a three-in-one photo animation suite, includes Morpheus Photo Morpher, Morpheus Photo Warper and Morpheus Photo Mixer, as well as 15 sample morphs, warps and mixes.

There is a Professional edition of the Suite which allows users to create more advanced morphs, warps and mixes and supports AVI format for use with third party movie software, including DivX and DV AVIs.  For professional animators, there is an Industrial edition which supports morphing of AVI, MPEG, and WMV movies, in addition to still picture morphing.

Price and Availability
All four products are available now via electronic download or CD from the Morpheus Software Web site at www.animatephotos.com. 

Morpheus Photo Morpher, Morpheus Photo Warper and Morpheus Photo Mixer sell for $29.95 and Morpheus Photo Animation Suite sells for $59.95.

Professional versions of Morpher, Warper and Mixer also are available; Morpher and Animation Suite also have an Industrial edition.  For more information on the Professional and Industrial versions of the software, please visit animatephotos.com.

Previous customers of Morpher’s Standard edition who upgrade to the new version will receive a $10.00 upgrade discount off any edition of Morpheus Photo Morpher v3.00.  Previous customers of Morpher’s Professional edition who upgrade will receive a $20.00 discount which can apply to the Professional or Industrial edition of Morpheus Photo Morpher v3.00.

About Morpheus Software
Morpheus Software is a leading publisher of digital photo animation software products that help consumers bring their pictures to life.  The company’s software products include Morpheus Photo Morpher, Morpheus Photo Warper, Morpheus Photo Mixer and Morpheus Photo Animation Suite. 

For more information on the company and its products, please visit Morpheus Software’s Web site at www.animatephotos.com.