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FEATURE: 10.31.07-- Well, it's Halloween, and like many, it's off to work in your costume which you really didn't want to wear if you didn't have to. The whole gang will call you a party pooper if you didn't, so "boo" to them for being that way. But what if you're just the type who doesn't like the get-up routine? Here's a neat trick that will be a real treat for everyone.

And your friends can't say you didn't participate with the Halloween festivities this year. You're just going to tell them that you have a digital costume because you're a high-tech Mac dude.

Short of going on eBay trying to find something that will make you look like an Apple Store employee (which isn't that hard)--whether it's a regular one, or a Creative, or a Genius--or something else "techie" like a Geek Squad employee at Best Buy... besides, you didn't want to dress up anyway, right? Why not skip the whole agonizing ritual and go digital this year?

How on earth am I going to accomplish that, you say. I don't have friends at Industrial Light and Magic, and George Lucas isn't exactly on speed dial.

Well, enter Morpheus Software's new Mac version of "Morpheus Photo Animation Suite" which was recently released at the end of the summer. With the fall season getting underway and Halloween the ultimate sign of Autumn's arrival, you'll fall for this new software title that, as Kris Kraves of Morpheus Software describes as allowing "...Apple-based digital photographers to obtain more entertainment value and enjoyment out of their image collections."

Or, in cases like today, give you a high-tech way of dressing up for Halloween, only digitally.

According to the press release sent to PBCentral.com, enclosed with the accompanying software package sent for review, "With the new titles, Mac users can create a morph animation of one person transitioning into another or a warp animation which is a photo that is stretched or distorted."

Can you see the possibilities here? Forget dressing up as Spider-Man or Superman when you don't exactly have a superhero physique. Or instead of trying to pass yourself off as Fake Steve Jobs--well, you'll surely win in the "fake" department--by wearing a pair of glasses, black mock turtleneck and a pair of dark blue jeans, or any celebrity for that matter...

...why not just turn yourself, literally, into that person you want to be, right on your Mac's screen? You'll surely be a hit with your office pool or whoever it is your work for and/or with!

The Morpheus Photo Animation Suite is a collection of three different software titles all rolled into one. The software package contains Photo Morpher, Photo Warper, and Photo Mixer. Each allows you to perform specific tasks as suggested by each title's verb. You can purchase each title separately (maybe you're just interested in a certain feature provided by the software title) or to save money, just buy the entire suite and get all three in one complete package.

With Morpher, users can transform one person (or object!) into another by using two or more digital images. Warper lets you distort parts of an image kind of like a carnival funhouse mirror. Mixer lets the user, mix up their images by taking two images and blending them into one.

All three titles allow you to export projects into various formats. Mixer only allows you to export still images, while the other two do that plus animated sequences. Also available are professional stand-alone editions of each title (and the all-in-one suite) which lets users to export files to QuickTime, useful for taking your morphs and importing them into movie projects.

(PBCentral.com has not yet had the opportunity to personally review the suite at this time).

All four software titles can be purchased at major electronics retailers--check their websites or call in for availability--or directly from Morpheus Software . Each title (non-professional editions) retails for $29.95 each, with the exception of the Photo Animation Suite that contains all three titles in one package for the low price of $59.95.

Roughly the cost of buying a low-tech, and one-time use only, Halloween costume that you didn't want to wear in the first place.

So, amaze your friends today or tonight by going out and getting this software (it's also available as an instant download from the company's website) and showing them who has the best costume this year. Your friend who tried to dress up as Transfomers' hero Optimus Prime, or the Mac techie who literally transforms themself into Optimus Prime.

Or whatever you decide to warp/mix and morph yourself into. Happy Halloween!

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