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Animated Screensaver Maker Giveaway
$ 26.77
EXPIRED

Giveaway of the day — Animated Screensaver Maker

Animated Screensaver Maker will help you decorate your desktop with an unlimited number of animated screensavers with amazing effects.
$ 26.77 EXPIRED
User rating: 261 30 comments

Animated Screensaver Maker was available as a giveaway on August 6, 2011!

Today Giveaway of the Day
$36.00
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Animated Screensaver Maker will help you decorate your desktop with an unlimited number of animated screensavers with amazing effects. All you need to create a screensaver are a photo and this tool.

Many screensaver builders allow you to create only slideshow screensavers or use only previously-created animations. But with Animated Screensaver Maker you easily create animation by yourself. For example, you can add weather effects, turn a photo into an underwater world with moving fish, or create a beautiful sea background.

Key features:

  • Many animated objects like rain, lighting, fish, sparkles, and so on
  • Make your own screensaver in seconds
  • An old-fashioned slideshow screensaver mode is available
  • Easily make a screensaver in .SCR format or install it on your computer directly
  • Create screensavers from all types of image formats (jpeg, bmp, tga, etc.)
  • Many examples and related articles (see Gallery and FAQ sections)

System Requirements:

Windows Vista/ XP/ 7

Publisher:

DesktopPaints.com

Homepage:

http://www.desktoppaints.com/

File Size:

9.80 MB

Price:

$ 26.77

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Developed by CyberLink Corp.
Developed by PhotoInstrument
Create, manage, copy and edit custom images.
Developed by Mirillis Ltd.

Comments on Animated Screensaver Maker

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#30

Many thanks to Glen for your solutions in post 30.

Those comments should be incorporated in the progs help file and on their web page

Reply   |   Comment by Peter B  –  12 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#29

Well, I checked and this is version 2.4.9, and to me it seems a definite improvement over the last version offered here, which was 2.3.2.

It seems to have more effects and also some cool 3D monarch butterflies which I don't recall from the earlier version.

Not sure I'd want to pay that much for it, but as a giveaway I think it's great.

Reply   |   Comment by Rick S.  –  12 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+2)
#28

@#3 Eddy

You're right, as its name suggests, this one's limited to making screensavers. IMO its sibling DP Animation Maker (offered by GOTD in May) is much more useful as it allows the creation of GIFs, AVIs and EXEs.


@#16 Peter B

Some suggestions to eliminate the "render-wnd. Switching to the reference rasterizer, a software device that implements the entire Direct3D feature set, but runs very slowly." message and the following error messages:

1. Ensure that you have the hardware acceleration set to a setting greater than "Disable all DirectDraw and Direct3D accelerations...". "Full" would be best: Right click on Desktop > Properties > Settings > Advanced > Troubleshoot.

2. Try a lower screen resolution.

3. Get and install the latest graphics driver for your video card.

4. Get and install the latest version of Direct X from Microsoft: http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?displaylang=en&id=35

Reply   |   Comment by Glen  –  12 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#27

I am always amazed at the intricate problems people seem to have here. This is a simple program, extremely simple to install and to use intuitively. I couldn't care less if there is a help file, it doesn't get more simplistic than this, and I am no computer expert. The program is mildly entertaining and yes some of the offerings are silly such as the ghosts, and quite limited, but it is free and it is what it is.

Only word to developers from me is, you'd have to offer hundreds of animation choices for it to be worth your asking price of $25. Still, nothing wrong with it as a free item, and thanks GAOTD.

Reply   |   Comment by Helen  –  12 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+1)
#26

I've never been a great fan of Screen-savers, but this one is great! Loaded into Vista 32 bit and went in without any problems. Activation likewise. Usually all you have to do is read instructions.

Thanks GOTD!

Reply   |   Comment by Joe McMahon  –  12 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#25

Had this from the last Giveaway and enjoyed it tremendously then lost it with a drive wipe; glad to see it back. it's a lot of fun, and am also glad to see it has some more effects etc than the past version making it even more versitile. The spinning globe is excellent!!! Thank you for returning my program to me in an improved form!!! CHEERS!!!

Reply   |   Comment by kathy  –  12 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+1)
#24

Works great on win 7 64 bit as well here on one of those eMachines with an upgraded video card and 750watt psu.

Same as XP basically. I'm thinking alphabet of casino slot machine tga files replacement for the matrix english characters!!! heheheh yeah this is a rocking gem of a program. it's on the right track, or I am one of the two!!!

Reply   |   Comment by fredward  –  12 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#23

Last year (see above link) commenter #12 "Ben" pointed out a few things that could use "improvement" -- I agreed with him on most points.

But, for instance, my firewall did NOT popped up with detected objections (probably because I'm using the less-discriminatory built-in Windows firewall!), and my screensavers did NOT "stuttered" like his did -- he probably had another program that periodically takes over his system resources for a fraction of a second.

Anyway, it seems that you can now contrain certain "sprite" type effects to selected areas of the overall screen. Butterflies, lightning, and sparkles you CAN constrain, but NOT fog, leaves, snow, bubbles, fish, rays of light, rain, magic dust or ghosts. (Typically there are several varieties of each type effect.)

Pretty nice, but I don't understand why they don't simply allow ALL the built-in animated objects to have their boundaries constrainable and share the same consistent set of "edit" modifiers (no matter how nonsensical for that object) so that, for example, I could have an above-and-below the waterline population of animated fish, or have fog hanging only just above the surface of a lake shot without the entire mountain scene in the background looking "spooky", or animated rain only under a cloud on the left side of a scene, etc. It would permit a user to create much more realistic and/or surrealistic artistic effects.

Also, you can add your own animated objects (I added some GIF files that were saved in the "My Pictures" folder) and send one or more "sailing" across your screen, alter their direction and "sailing" and animation speed, constrain their boundaries, "disorder" (if more than one) so they're not all moving together like a naval fleet of ships, etc.

Still, it's a fun and easy product to use and worth a download.

Reply   |   Comment by harpo2448  –  12 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+1)
#22

Easy installation and activation on Windows XP SP3. The aquarium screensaver is nice except for the frozen fish (no movement as with other SCRs). The Matrix screensaver as with everyone else crashed with the dpas.exe error. They offered this program back in October 2010 (http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/animated-screensaver-maker/) and the complaints back then were about a potential virus. Virus might not be a problem this time but the program definitely has issues. However, Google "dpas.exe" and you might be surprised (suspicious) after seeing the results. After seeing Google's results I imediately uninstalled the program and ran a full virus scan.

Reply   |   Comment by Bern-dog  –  12 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#21

This is a pretty good program for those who like screensavers. You CAN add your own animations and objects as well as background (although some other included or packaged, professional animations/effects would be nice). (Would like to see more animated fish objects like the goldfish which looks better than the other ones.) Don't understand the suggestion up top to "add your own MP3 collection." You CAN. Just click on the music icon and it goes to your "My Documents" folder. Also you can redo any of the example screensavers before exporting it.

Also regarding the suggestion to export to animated .gifs. Good suggestion, but they already have another program that does this, so it's unlikely they would combine the two without raising the price.

Reply   |   Comment by GeekGurl  –  12 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+2)
#20

Downloaded ok (Windows XP SP3) but then nothing but trouble. I assumed I would be able to create my own screensavers. Nope. When opening the samples to full screen, no animation at all. Caused my computer to slow right down. All I can say is it's not worth what's being asked. 2 Thumbs down on this one.

Reply   |   Comment by Beatle4  –  12 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+1)
#19

As previously mentioned, last year's installed version was 2.3.2

Due to today's offer being available, I took a risk and allowed that older version to update itself, which brought it up to 2.4.9

It seems to run OK with no mention of being trialware or needing to be registered (which I was prepared to do, first by simply trying today's ACTIVATE.EXE) since a check of the registration status showed a registration code still in place.

It also seems to have all the features mentioned above which exactly matches last year's GOTD description, so it's hard to know what's new or refined.

Would someone please confirm that a fresh install of today's download installs the same version, or is it more recent than 2.4.9 ?

Reply   |   Comment by harpo2448  –  12 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#18

I just spent about an hour playing with this program, trying out all of the different animations & effects. Although limited, it is a nice program for those who just want to make a few screensavers from their vacation or family photos. I did notice that the animation of the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail is backwards - they have the butterflies flying backwards and I've never seen a butterfly fly backwards! I was not able to find any way to horizontally flip the animation so that they are flying forward as they should be.

I have some outstanding photos I've taken and was able to create some really beautiful screensavers with the effects - a light snowfall over Bryce Canyon, a watered mirror effect of a dragonfly on a stem at the edge of a lake in NM, etc.

I was a bit surprised to see only 3 previous comments while there were over 350 votes on this offering. As I often suspect, I believe that competitors frequent this site and vote negatively against their competition, so I again recommend those who are interested in creating screensavers to give this program a look-see and make up their own minds rather than going on the votes.

Reply   |   Comment by DrKenB  –  12 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#17

Oh, forgot to mention that last year's version was 2.3.2

Reply   |   Comment by harpo2448  –  12 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#16

This was last given away about a year ago, 10-OCT-2010:

http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/animated-screensaver-maker/

At that time it got a somewhat low rating primarily due, it seemed to me, to the fixation of users to discuss false-positive virus issues.

There were also some incompatibility issues wherein the screensavers created on one machine would not run on another (as noted by "mike").

But for those users that had no "virus" issues, including me, it had only a few usability issues and otherwise worked just fine as "a very nice, fun and easy-to-use application..." (to quote myself, comment #49!).

After experimenting with it just a bit I was able to make and share some nice animated screensavers with very interesting and attractive combinations of effects.

On my machines which had decent graphics abilities the screensavers did not use much "CPU power" at all (barely detectable difference), and they even ran fine on my Acer netbook (not known to be a "graphics powerhouse", albeit with several percentage points higher CPU usage).

Now that a year has passed, hopefully we'll discover that they've addressed those issues. Given enough time today, I'll report back.

Reply   |   Comment by harpo2448  –  12 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#15

That is two days in a row GAOTD progs dont work.

WinXP SP 3 , install appeared to be going well until it finished and opened prog up.

Box says render-wnd. switching to the reference rasterizer a software device that implements the entire direct 3d feature setup but runs very slowly.

Press Ok, then failed creating the direct 3d device ... ok.

Prog opens but crashes when you try to use any features.

Tried again and managed to click updates this time and it says a new version is available number 2.59. ( so they have supplied an old version ? ) Download and install that and then same as above happens again and crashes.

No need to try and install the register patch as it did not get that far.
Their help takes you to their website and I could not see anything about install problems or Direct 3D.
I would be very annoyed if I had money for this prog and it does not even install properly !

Reply   |   Comment by Peter B  –  12 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+1)
#14

Pros:

* Smooth download, installation, activation on Vista 64-bit.
Important Note: I had to temporarily disable my anti-virus program (Norton Internet Security Suite) to complete activation process. Thought I'd share this with everyone in case you experience a similar situation.

* GUI is easy to navigate and program is easy to use.

* Allows users to add moving (40 options) and stationary (5 options) animations.

* Allows users to add their own image-imported animations.

* Allows users to add 6 different effects (underwater, water mirror, Fire, Rings on Water, Matrix Code, Glass Ball).

* Allows users to change backgrounds with support for image formats: jpeg, gif, bmp, png, tga.

* Allows users to uninstall select/specific desired screensavers created by program.

* Allows users to re-order slides as desired.

* Allows users to preview images in main window pane before finalization.

Cons:

* No Local Help File within program.
* Price is a bit more than other paid programs with similar capabilities.

Summary - program is easy to use and does as it says, producing good-quality screensavers. Thank you, GOTD & DesktopPaints.

Reply   |   Comment by Inas  –  12 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+12)
#13

I attempted to run this app in every compatibility mode available, but not one worked. Very disappointing.

Reply   |   Comment by MiChelle Smith-Holland  –  12 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-2)
#12

The DesktopPaints apps are pretty cool, IMHO anyway, but the wallpapers, & in today's case screensavers they make require some graphics horsepower to run properly -- great for your own system if you can run them, but not so great for handing out to family & friends. :(

The closest comparison I've been able to come up with is to the Java applets that were popular several years ago on-line -- they took an ordinary image & added display FX to for example add rain or water ripples. IOW the original image isn't altered or turned into a video [though you could certainly screen capture video], but rather the FX are drawn real-time by your graphics hardware.

I think the biggest creative limit of the DesktopPaints approach is that it's difficult to limit the FX to just where you want them -- carefully selecting background images that *fit* well helps. Otherwise it's a matter of personal taste... it's certainly possible to go overboard adding FX, some of the animated sprites can look Very 2D, & like with any screensaver, some people demand a higher level of realism.

When an app like Animated Screensaver Maker has been on GOTD, I think several comments mentioned the apps over at xiberpix.net as possible alternatives.

Reply   |   Comment by mike  –  12 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+11)
#11

Found it very easy to use. Had a screensave made from one of my photos in just minutes. Screen save looked really good and it did run on both my monitors. Loved it.

Reply   |   Comment by Joseph Tansey  –  12 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+1)
#10

Honestly, first impression is, it's fun to play with. I'm a little torn about a rating due to the fact that it's a bit less than intuitive. For example, when I go to the file drop down menu I see a choice that says "add animation", this selection appears to do nothing. Then, when I look on the right side of the screen, I see the animation box/section which does, actually work intuitively. This is also true of the "Open Image" selection in the same file dropdown.

Basically, my major problem is by having useless menu choices, it could be a bit confusing especially for a new user. Also, having useless menu choices makes it look more like a work in progress, rather than a finished product.

Bottom line, it has a couple of flaws, but then again, tell me one major software package (think most versions of Windows) that was released without some problem (if software never needed to be improved or fixed, every package would stay at version 1.0).

Comment about price being high, I don't know. I don't see a lot out there that let's you create screensavers from scratch for free, so the price is probably not too unrealistic. Not sure about 26.77, perhaps it is converted from a different currency, but I think for U.S. market it should be 24.95, or better yet, I think 19.95 would be a good price point.

Bottom line, not yet perfect, but it does work and does what it says. Choices (animations, etc) a bit limited, although lowering the price and offering "add-on packs" might be a good money-maker/initial price compromise. It's "almost" intuitive, but needs a little work. I didn't get frustrated trying to use it, and I like the results, I am giving it a thumbs-up with qualifications :-)

Reply   |   Comment by Dennis K  –  12 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+8)
#9

Assumed but unfortunately can not run it, we are constantly throws warning: Could not find any compatible Direct3D devices! I do not understand what he needs from me, I have to uninstall it.

Reply   |   Comment by Dupin  –  12 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-1)
#8

Fun program. One of the better programs I downloaded. Free is good, but would be worth the money if we had to pay. Works will with windows 7.

Reply   |   Comment by Robert H  –  12 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-8)
#7

program crashed after installation on first try, but after reboot and reinstall ran ok. Doesn't seem to handle large images too well, shrinks and makes grainy onscreen. Very nice idea to use any image and I agree it needs more effects, maybe add filters that you can slide adjust; nice little program, thanks GOTD.

Reply   |   Comment by promytius1  –  12 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#6

Can results be saved as gif to use in other areas such as an animated picture?

Reply   |   Comment by Terence A Bryan  –  12 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-6)
#5

The Matrix Code Example shows up in the small version when I click Open, but when I click Preview Screensaver to view it in fullscreen I get a black screen and then the errror message dpas.exe has stopped working and my debugger stops at ?7EF4040 ret.

The Seascape Example and The Forrest Example are really nice.

The fishes in the Aquarium Example are not enough realistic compared to the background.

The Matrix Example would be better without the photo of the two peaople.

- The program should also have the possibility to run saved scr-files.

Reply   |   Comment by Göran Eriksson  –  12 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+10)
#4

Just tried the matrix example and had a dpas.exe error when I tried it on full screen preview, yet the mini preview was fine. Other examples worked on full screen fine.

Tried with my own image and ray of light effect caused dpas.exe error.

Good, but either buggy, or problem with my pc

Reply   |   Comment by MRoTool  –  12 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+9)
#3

On the plus side it is free today although I would consider it far to expensive for how little it does. It can also save to a .scr format which is good. On the downside it is incredibly restricted with only six effects. It might have several animations but there really is very little that you can achieve here that you would want to keep and I haven't.

Reply   |   Comment by John L  –  12 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+19)
#2

@#2 Stephanie...

"..screensavers is not all this programme can do.."

Ok..So what else can it do?

I read the program homepage and i did not see anything else it can do, other than making screensavers that hardly anyone uses anymore.

Ed.

Reply   |   Comment by Eddy  –  12 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+1)
#1

I actually bought this programme a wee while back, screensavers is not all this programme can do. Give it a go you will be pleasantly surprised. I love it!

Reply   |   Comment by Stephanie Gray  –  12 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+3)
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