by Diane Petersen, Kachemacs

Product: Studio Artist 3.5
Company: Synthetik Software, Inc
Contact: 1-866-511-9971
Website: www.synthetik.com
Price: $379 (free demo for download)

Pros: Fills a niche in graphic design, support and community is
outstanding, use is as easy or complex as the user makes it.

Cons: Dated packaging and interface, some terminology is a bit odd,
no multiple undos.

Studio Artist is touted by Synthetik Software as a “graphics
synthesizer.” This apt term describes an unusual program that
defies categorization. It is not a photo manipulator, a vector
graphics drawing program, graphics animator, or a video editor. It
happens to be, rather, a hybrid of all of the above and more.

Brand spanking new out of the (somewhat dated) packaging and
inserted into your Mac’s optical drive, the program installs
effortlessly. Using Classic? No problem. The support goes back to
System 8.6, however my old G3 Blueberry iMac’s 32MB of RAM (the
minimum requirement) just can’t stand up next to my MacBook Pro’s
efficiency in running this software. Not only does Studio Artist
run on Classic Macs, it also runs well on Leopard and Intel
machines. It has been suggested that there is an issue with
internal MacBook iSight cameras in Leopard but I have tested this
and have had no issues.

Once installed, you can remove the installation disk and get started
on the 3 CDs worth of tutorials. There are 8 hours of extensive
Quicktime walkthroughs narrated by the creator himself, John
Dalton. Also at your disposal is a 500+ page detailed PDF manual.
So far, these resources have answered my basic questions.

For those who prefer to take leave of the didactic tutorials and
manuals and like to jump right in, Studio Artist right out of the
box and onto your desktop can be worth hours of instant
gratification. The irresistible draw of this software is that an
amateur home user can scratch the surface, using presets and
automatic painting, and create works of art in minutes. A
professional video producer or graphic artist can take the time to
make it over the learning curve and use complex features and modulo
operations to create still and animated masterpieces like no other
software on the market can. All other users can find their places
in between and experiment their way through the software.

Aside from the resources that come in the box, there is a very
active and welcoming community of artists on the Studio Artist User
Forum. John Dalton, who is Synthetik, is an active member of the
online community and is a very prompt responder to e-mail, many
times replying within minutes. I challenge other software vendors
to come close to this level of service. When I inquired about
Studio Artist’s overall obscurity in the Mac community I received
the response from John Dalton, “…We did make a decision several
years ago that the product was better served by keeping the company
boutique size as opposed to grow, grow, grow at any cost and
structured the company accordingly. I’d rather have a high quality
relationship with our customers.” He has indeed achieved that
relationship.

For those wondering what this program actually DOES, I am still
learning its limits. Those limits seem few and far between. The
most glaring of these limits is the restriction to just one undo.
Ouch. Not for the indecisive among us. Use your save hotkey often.

The interface is unlike many of the graphics software packages on
the market. One will notice the absence of multiple palettes, as
commands are selected from a central control panel to the left of
the image. Drop down menus will also provide a path to the same
end. With time, the seasoned graphics artist will adapt to and
appreciate this unique layout.

Studio Artist will take an image of your choice and “synthesize” it
in a number of ways. Using the “Paint Synthesizer” one can apply a
number of painted effects to a photo or drawing to achieve artistic
ends. Transformations can also be used to create interesting warp
effects. Studio Artist also uses Bezier edits, layers, masking, and
alpha channels in keeping with the features of some of the leading
graphics programs on the market.

Studio Artist does not stop at still images. One of its most
versatile features is its “Paint Action Sequence,” which can be used
in creating a timeline animation. One can breathe life into a
single image by using layers and frames to create a movie. Morphing
is also possible using tweening and “Paint Action Sequence.”
Individual frames of a video sequence can also be rendered
identically using a “Paint Action Sequence” to produce remarkable
effects, including auto-rotoscoping.

A noticeable feature of Studio Artist is its hybrid nature. One can
become very comfortable using the “Vectorizer” to convert raster
graphics to vector images. This is the key to Studio Artist’s
ability to dynamically size images. Vectorized images can further
be processed via Bezier editing for remarkable control and
scalability of the image.

The latest release of the software integrates two features, the
“Supersizer” and the standalone “MSG Evolver.” The “Supersizer” is
an alternative interpolator which can take small images and scale
them very large without the artifact normally seen in this type of
operation. The MSG (Modular Synthesized Graphics) Evolver can be
used to create new presets for advanced image processing.

The Studio Artist software also offers Wacom integration of pen tilt
and pressure, and includes presets specific to the Wacom tablet
technology.

Studio Artist will give back to the user what effort the user puts
into its mastery. It is a worthy application to for the iPhoto
enthusiast who wants a unique way to transform home photography. It
is versatile enough for the career artist to computer enhance visual
art. It is also formidable enough for the commercial graphic artist
as an adjunct to other image processing software. The power to
price ratio far exceeds other choices in graphics applications
available for Mac.

In summary:

Concept: 5
Ease of installation: 5
Delivery: 4
Efficiency: 5
Documentation/support: 5 (+)
Stability: 4
Potential: 5

Overall, this is one of the few applications I’ve seen that deserves
a high five (literally). Mac users with an appreciation for visual
artistic interpretation should indulge in this software, and all Mac
users I know understand the sort of eye candy Studio Artist delivers.

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