I hate Clippie and programs that create characters like Clippie. The last thing I need when I cannot get Microsoft’s Word to function is a paperclip with eyeballs teasing me. I make this statement before writing my review of It’s Me. I took this program to review thinking I could use it to add animation to a slide show project I was creating. I simply have a bias against programs that use a computer’s resources aimlessly. Having now stated my bias, I will proceed to review It’s Me.

The program installation had only one major problem. The CD-ROM was part of a suite of programs. I was only to review It’s Me of the suite, and the program activation code only activates It’s Me, but the auto-setup installs the entire suite by default. As a result, I had to uninstall the suite, and do a custom install of It’s Me.

It’s Me takes a graphic of a face and wraps the face on a wire frame to make a 3D object out of the 2D face. This graphic can be a photo or a drawing. This 3D object can then be animated to do about a dozen actions. The animation can then be embedded in a word processor document or a Power Point presentation. This was about all I knew when I started to use the computer program. The included tutorial was hard to use and did a pretty good job of not giving me a clue. After playing the tutorial three times, I was able to start using the program.

Program navigation is a problem. This is mainly due because instead of using a window interface, it uses a skin interface. The skin interface hides the control buttons too well. In addition, the different functions of the program look the same and since there is no title bar as in a windows interface, I was never quite sure where I was in the program.

The program needs a graphic to wrap on a wire frame. I choose a female anime drawing to make the character. This was a problem for two reasons. The first problem was the anime figure had the head tilled, so the 3D character always looked like she had a broken neck. Also, the drawing had a lock of hair in the face. Because of the hair, the 3D character looked like she had a bruise. I noticed that in photos that where included in the program files, the heads were face-on straight, with no loose hair. Therefore, the program user must make sure that the graphic must be face-on with no loose hair. I could have avoided these problems had I taken the drawing and edited it first in a drawing program. I do not hold this to be a program fault, but a problem I introduced.

The process to make a 3D character was simple once the poorly organized help was deciphered. A wire frame face is placed on the graphic by clicking and dragging the wire frame’s facial features to match the graphic’s facial features. After that, the user then chooses cloths, body type, and hairstyle. To be really annoying, a baby-face body is used. Finally, some activity can be chosen, such as running, jumping, or in the case of the baby-face: crying.

So the last question is: Would I recommend this program to someone? As I stated before, I hate Clippie. However, Microsoft saw fit to bring him back for Office 2003, so there must be some value in an annoying paper clip with eyeballs. Can someone use the program to make an annoying 3D character? Yes! Does the program have problems? Yes! Therefore, I guess that I would recommend the program to annoy associates. Download the program at Reallusion.