Software Developed by Richard Blum
1980
Apple II, Atari 800
The Illustrator was the first software product that I developed. I wrote the software, co-authored the manual, and published it under my company name, BubbleSoft. A year after publication it was acquired and marketed by Stoneware as the Graphics Processing System. I believe it was the first full featured drawing product on the market, predating MacWrite and Adobe Illustrator. Continue...
1985
Apple II, Commodore 64, IBM PC
The Mr. Pixel Series was a series of programs that allowed children to create artistic projects while learning basic computer programming skills. In the Paint Set, pictures were drawn by instructing a pen on how to move across the screen. Simple programable repeat loops and functions allowed children to create interesting geometrical patterns and objects. Drawings of objects created with the Paint Set could be loaded into the Cartoon Kit, animated, and then viewed as a finished cartoon. Continue...
1995
Apple Macinstosh, IBM PC
WebAnimator was a complete multimedia authoring application combining animation with synchronized sound and interactivity. I developed the application for the Mac in Pascal. The program was acquired by DeltaPoint, and I became part of their team. The code was translated into C++ and a Windows version was also created along with plugins for web browsers. Multimedia was assembled inside WebAnimator's storyboard. A template system allowed non-artists to also create multimedia. Continue...
1998
Online Banner Creation Website
Animation Online was a banner-maker website. Millions of people created banners during its tenure. Banners were free. Revenue was derived from network advertising, along with selling enhanced features which users could purchase. Users could also pay to have their banner displayed on the website along with the network advertisements. The banner making software ran on a Mac server and was derived from WebAnimator's animation engine. Continue...
2002
Online Interactive-Animation Builder
VisionBlazer was an online tool for creating interactive, animated content. Users chose a style from a library of templates, and then customized it to meet their special requirements. They could customized each part. First they entered text, and then modified the font, size, or color. Images could be swapped out, each button or tab could edited. The various types of templates included animations, interactive widgets, and greeting cards.
I developed the online application in Adobe's Flash ActionScript. The server code was written in JSP. It was subscription based, members paid for each year of service.
2002
Flash Text Effect Components
Animation Online offered a tool for creating text effects to display on webpages and within emails. Users first entered their text, and then selected fonts, colors and shadow types. Then they adjusted the speed of the effect, the size and color of lights in the effect, the effect's direction, and whether or not it repeated. There were various effects to choose from.
Text Effects were created by members online, and then displayed on their websites. I wrote the code in Flash ActionScript.
1982
Word Processor
I was a consultant to the Bank Street Writer project. Bank Street College in New York recognized a need for an easy to use word processor for grade school students, and it teamed up with textbook creator Intentional Education in Boston. Frank Smith was the liaison between the two, and acting as the producer he got me onboard as a consultant.
The product was marketed by Broderbund Software for home use, and Scholastic Publishing for school use. After a review in Time Magazine, sells soared. Continue...
2005
Multimedia Application
I serve as a consultant to the KoolMoves project. KoolMoves is a full-featured multimedia authoring system which was conceived by Richard Ward and programmed by Bob Hartzel. KoolMoves was originally marketed as an alternative to Adobe's Flash Authoring Application. Running on a PC, it produced web-based Flash multimedia content. In addition to animation, it also supported full ActionScipt programming. As Flash has faded from use, KoolMoves has been modified into an HTML5 authoring tool.