DeBabelizer
DeBabelizer (original name), renamed "DeBabelizer Pro" when DeBabelizer Lite, its single image transcoder was released, is a frame-based batch processor and image editor and file converter utility software developed during the 1990s by Equilibrium Technologies, Inc. (now Automated Media Processing Solutions, Inc. dba Equilibrium) for Mac OS and Windows. It was noted for handling over 50 bitmap graphics file types from many different platforms, growing to over 300 file types.[1] It could work either interactively displaying an interface similar to programs like Adobe Photoshop, however, before Photoshop had actions, DeBabelizer had the ability to WatchMe to create batch image processing task lists. DeBabelizer was one of the first programs that allowed Photoshop filters to be animated. DeBabelizer also had, before Automator on Macintosh existed, the ability to be controlled by AppleScript. This provided processing of content into and out of other third party applications. Over 500,000 copies of DeBabelizer Pro/Lite were sold worldwide having versions in German, French, Japanese and Korean.
Developed originally by Dave Theurer, one of the original Atari coin operated engineers (with Tempest and Missile Command credits), and originally released in 1992 on Macintosh, the product was expanded by Equilibrium's internal development team, headed up by Brian Rice, and was actively developed for over 20 years. Version 4.5 was released for Windows in 1997,[2] by which time other tools had surpassed it for web development.[3] After version 3, the Mac version added DeBabelizer Lite and returned with version 5.[4] In parallel with DeBabelizer Pro development, MediaRich Server was released in 2000 which was a completely new product made to speed up end-to-end automatic content delivery for websites to remove the need for batch processing of content altogether. In 2004, the founder, Sean Barger returned to release a series of new versions ending in v. 6.1 which added support through to Windows 10, and Mac OS Lion. Eventually, Equilibrium discontinued DeBabelizer and allowed downloading until early 2016 (replacing DeBabelizer with MediaRich Hotfolder) and focused on the MediaRich Server, HotFolder and ECM for SharePoint for centralizing content processing on desktops and server machines.
Development of DeBabelizer Pro stopped as of 2008, but the program was available for free download without support. It will not work on versions of Windows after Windows 10, or on versions of OS X after Mac OS X Lion. The company has since replaced DeBabelizer with MediaRich HotFolder, speeding up batch processing applications 20-fold for modern Windows, Mac or Linux and enabling folder mounting on servers. MediaRich HotFolder does provide Linux, Windows 10, Windows Server 2012 and Windows Server 2016 support, and is now available in both AWS and Microsoft Azure instances. The company added MediaRich Server connected to Microsoft's SharePoint environment to enable "DeBabelizer" for web content delivery and batch processing of content from within Microsoft's SharePoint environments. MediaRich ECM for SharePoint has been release for SharePoint 2003, 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016 and now is available for SharePoint OnLine. The tool has become a way to both transform content, but also visualize, review and approve content from anywhere, rather than just batch processing to final file destinations.
References
- "InfoWorld Dec 27, 1993 – Jan 3, 1994". 27 December 1993 – 3 January 1994.
- "PR Newswire".
- "PC Mag Nov 3, 1998". 1998-11-03.
- "MacWorld".
External links
- Developer page (no longer offers free download)
- Archived version of developer page that previously offered free download (Download of program from archive.org not actually possible due to form-based file request)
- Developer page with MediaRich HotFolder
- Developer page with MediaRich Server
- Developer page with MediaRich ECM for SharePoint
- "DeBabelizer for Windows and Macintosh". dl.acm.org. Retrieved 2016-11-16.