Smith Micro Software Productivity and Graphics Group has announced the beta release of MotionArtist, a tool that lets users add motion to their comics, create interactive HTML5 presentations as well as uniquely styled photo-shows.

It's a composition and presentation application unlike anything that exists in the world of digital comic creation," says Steve Yatson, senior director of Product Marketing at Smith Micro Software. It boasts GPU acceleration for a fast work environment and 3D layering for that cool parallax effect, he adds.

Artists of any skill-level can quickly convert their work into digital comics with panel creation, layout tools and the ability to add motion, according to Yatson. Web developers can export projects to HTML5 and deploy them on a website or save them as standard movie formats for sharing directly to Facebook or YouTube

With MotionArtists, photographers can create animated "photo shows" by dropping in a folder of images. The app will automatically place the images on the stage and animate the camera

You can download MotionArtist for free during its beta availability direct from the Smith Micro online store (motionartist.smithmicro.com). Just remember: beta software is unfinished software so use with care.