In Depth
This page describes Image Armada in quite some depth and has been
split up into three sections to aid readability; What's It For?,
Features and Edition Differences.
What's It For?
Image Armada is a virtual gallery that can be used for several
purposes within that context. Some of the more common uses for
Image Armada are:
- Displaying family photographs in a novel and unique environment
before being packaged up with a free viewer to send to friends
and relatives. Imagine hanging your photograph collection using
the frames you want and the lighting environment you want, exactly
where you want within a gallery. Then, sending that gallery to
your family allowing them to walk around it and look at the photographs
as if they were works of art!
For artists to promote their artwork by setting it within a gallery framework
for presentation to prospective customers or potential employers. Instead
of having to carry around great swathes of real artwork to each potential
employer you can simply take a CD with all of your artwork on it and present
it to them in a realistic gallery format. The CD of course you can leave
with them so that they have a lasting memory of you even after you have
left, having presented your artwork in a novel and cutting-edge manner.
For galleries to promote themselves by compiling work held within a "real" gallery
into a "virtual" gallery within Image Armada for distribution to
a customer base, or simply made available to the general public on the Internet.
This can be used to increase the exposure of your gallery to the public and
allow them to see what it is that your gallery is about and therefore increasing
the chances of them making a personal visit. For those that cannot visit
you in person, then the virtual gallery of Image Armada can be used as an
extra sales channel to help maximize your gallery's revenue.
As you can see, Image Armada can be put to use in several areas
and is not restricted to just one application. The almost complete
absence of any competition makes it an easy choice for purchase
if quality and flexibility are what you are after. With extremely
competitive pricing options starting from just $55.00, it's an
absolute steal to raise your profile on the art scene or simply
impress your family and friends with such a radical way of viewing
your favorite photographs or artwork.
 Download
the freeware
version now, completely free of charge, to have a taste of of what's
on offer. Or, see the Features section for more specific information
about what you can find within Image Armada.
Features
Image Armada has a wealth of features to allow you to make your
gallery customized as little or as much as you require. A lot of
these features need not be used if you just want to dive in and
produce a gallery quickly as sensible defaults are always provided.
But if you're the type of person that likes to play and make your
gallery your own, then there's no end of fun to be had in customizing
it just the way you want it. With Image Armada you can:
- Select a gallery to hang your artwork in, choosing which rooms
within the gallery are to be used and which objects or "furniture" you
want to be present within each of the rooms.
- Hang your own photographs or artwork onto the walls of a gallery.
The supported file formats for these images are BMP, JPG, PNG,
TGA, MPG, AVI, WMV and ASF.
- Choose the frame type, frame texture and mount color for each
piece of artwork individually.
- Add information about each piece of artwork that can be read
by the viewer as they peruse the gallery.
- Add an Internet URL for each piece of artwork, that can browsed
at the touch of a button by the viewer, to allow further information
to be gained about the artwork concerned.
- Add an email address for each piece of artwork, that can also
be used at the touch of a button by the viewer, to contact the
artist / promoter of the artwork concerned.
- Watermark your artwork when viewing it up close so that you
can prevent other people from copying it out of the software
with screen-grabbing software. The watermark you use can be chosen
or designed at your own discretion.
- Size each piece of artwork exactly to your specifications.
All of the standard ISO sizes are supported if you want to get
the scale represented exactly within a gallery. However, you
can simply stretch each piece of artwork with the mouse if accurate
sizing is not required.
 Record
an audio narrative for your artwork that automatically plays
back to the viewer as you approach the artwork. Recordings can
be made with a microphone into Image Armada, or you can use pre-recorded
audio in any of the WAV, MP3 or OGG file formats.- Similarly, each piece of artwork may have an individual piece
of music associated with it that plays as you approach the artwork.
WAV, MP3 and OGG file formats are supported for this purpose.
Details of the gallery can be displayed as you enter, in text form overlaid
on top of the gallery itself, introducing the gallery to the viewer.
Alternatively, at the entrance of each gallery is an easel or other similar
surface that can be used to display a bitmap of your choice to introduce
the gallery to the viewer. e.g. an exhibition poster.- Record an audio narrative for the gallery to introduce it that
automatically plays when you enter. Recordings can be made with
a microphone into Image Armada, or you can use pre-recorded audio.
- Artwork within a gallery can be made to self-illuminate when
you approach it, thereby allowing you to see it in it's full
detail no-matter what the general lighting around the artwork
may be like.
- The outdoor environment for the gallery can be customized,
allowing you to choose time-of-day, the sky color and the effect
of the Sun upon the camera.
- Background music can be played throughout the
 gallery as you
peruse it's contents. The file formats supported for this are
WAV, MP3 or OGG. You can also use an M3U play list so that many
pieces of music can be played one after the other.
- Customize the wall paper and ceiling color to match your own
tastes.
- Customize the lighting within the galleries to set your own
tone and mood. You can either choose to simply adjust the lighting
setup for each gallery in a fast and simple manner, or make your
own lighting setup from scratch and get exactly the effect that
you're after.
- Package up a gallery and it's contents ready for distribution
to a third party, complete with viewer program.
- User hints can be displayed to the viewer when the gallery
first starts up to help them use it and get the most out of it.
- Full on-line help is also present to help you if ever you need
it.
Image Armada comes as two separate programs. The Builder program
is there to help you create your gallery and is where all of the
editing is done to achieve the look that you're after. The Viewer program
is there to view your gallery unfettered with all the normal editing
features, to just see your gallery as it is. This is also the program
that you use when distributing your galleries to family / friends
/ customers so that they can walk around and view your galleries
in full 3D.
Edition Differences
Image Armada is currently packaged in three different formats,
although all are essentially the same product.
The Standard Edition
(now
available as Armada freeware) is a basic product that allows
you to do all of the common things that you might want to do to
create
your
own
galleries.
The Armada Professional Edition contains many additional features to fully customize
your gallery to exactly the way that you want it and also allows
you
to display more artwork within a single gallery.
The Armada Creator version
allows for importing your own models for use as a gallery with
Full Image Armada functions or for other purposes such as a walkthru
of a building. Currently only Studio Max, versions 5 through
to 9 are supported. (FBX format support is in the pipe line.)
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