Hype 3

A powerful HTML5 animation tool with pro features

£39.99 (Standard), $99.99 (Pro; about £67) Developer Tumult, tumult.com

Requires OS X 10.8 or higher, 64-bit processor

Tumult’s Hype 3 is an HTML5 design and authoring tool with an emphasis on animation and interaction. With timeline features similar to early versions of Adobe Flash, it can be used for eCards, presentations, website creation, iBooks content and even simple mobile apps. Hype 3 Standard is a free upgrade for previous owners of Hype.

Hype makes animation easy – slap an element on stage, whether it’s an image, a shape or some text, then hit the big red record button. Move the playhead along and animate the object by moving it, manipulating it and changing its opacity or colour. Hype does the gruntwork for you, filling in the gaps. Everything you create in Hype uses HTML5 functions, so you can view the output in a web browser with no plug-in required.

You can upgrade Hype 3 Standard to Pro, but most of the extra features are pretty fundamental and the kind of thing you’d expect as standard. When features as basic as layout grids are Pro only, it does feel like rationing for the sake of it.

Fortunately, not all of Hype Pro’s unique features are so mundane; it’s worth the extra just for gravity-based animation. You can add gravity to any element, making it responsive to device tilt and orientation, no keyframing required – with collision detection built-in too. Karl Hodge

Hype 3 Pro has a new dark interface and supports multiple scene sizes all within one document. Some Pro-exclusive features should be standard, but it makes up for the oversight with real physics. Bargain price for Standard Great physics tools in...