How to make your own animated GIFs

[Neophos]

Sarcasteak - That was a very good explanation, but why don't let the program do the job?

Atleast ImageReady can do that. Just select Tween, then put it on First Frame, and the number of frames. The more frames = smother.

It's a very useful tool ^_^

[sarcasteak]

Originally Posted by Neophos

Sarcasteak - That was a very good explanation, but why don't let the program do the job?

Yah, I recall there is a built-in option like that, but since I'm using an older version of ImageReady, no Tween for me.

[UPN_Loki]

I'm trying to get a scene from Love Hina Again into a tiny avatar form, but when I play Love Hina Again DVD on my computer, I can't get any screenshots. Can anyone help me out?

Also, does anyone know of a program other then Virtual Dub that can do the same thing for DVDs? It'd make things a lot easier then trying to catch a screenshot every second xp.

[iceyfw]

Originally Posted by sarcasteak

Make a copy of the last frame of the animation (in the animation bar, not the layer menu). Select that frame. Now, in the layer menu, hide every layer except for the very top layer that shows the last frame of the animation and the very bottom layer that shows the first frame. Select the top layer and modify its opacity to 66% in the layer menu. Go back to the animation bar and make a copy of the duplicate frame you just made. This time all the other layers are already hidden, so all you have to do is select the top layer and change the opacity to 33%.


For that GIF, I only used one duplicate frame (at 50% opacity) due to file size restraint, and it doesn't looks as good as two duplicate frame.

how do you hide the layers?

[Ichigo-Kun]

Which software can I also use . I dont have Image Ready

[LilEva]

I just recently bought a Mac Mini and while I have the Mac version of Adobe Imageready, I can't seem to find a good substitute for Virtual Dub. I'm a new Mac user so forgive me for any naiveness, but can anyone tell me what would be a good substitute? I do have the whole suite of iLife. Does that do what Virtual Dub does? Thanks.

[KiNA]

Originally Posted by Ichigo-Kun

Which software can I also use . I dont have Image Ready

You can use GIMP . Its free and as powerful as photoshop family as well .. the UI could be a bit friendly tho .

And since I'm nice and its new year... here's the tutorial link as well.

Happy New Year o^_^o

@ LiLEva .. Sorry, I dont use Mac

[1.0.7.]

Originally Posted by Kira_Naruto

@ LiLEva .. Sorry, I dont use Mac

@LiLEva
but i do!!!
you'll need quicktime pro..
1. open your desired file (which i still have problems with..damn codecs)
2. select the desired time frame (using the track bar..don't really like that)
3. copy the desired timeframe
4. open a new quicktime player
5. paste your timeframe
6. under save as, put it save as image sequence..
and you're off!! the rest is just the same
so good luck with you..we look forward to seeing your work
and a happy new year
EDIT: if anyone has a better way of saving image sequences for a mac..please do post..

[Tommy]

So now that subbers are switching to h.264 Vitural dub is not able to open those video files. Is there a codec for VD to open those files?

[Green²]

Originally Posted by Tommy

So now that subbers are switching to h.264 Vitural dub is not able to open those video files. Is there a codec for VD to open those files?

Install Avisynth.

Avisynth code:

Open notepad program. Then add:

DirectShowSource("C:\location to file\filename with extention")

Example:

DirectShowSource("C:\Documents and Settings\Admin\My Documents\Video Old\[Arienai_-_Conclave]_Ginban_Kaleidoscope_-_04_[H264_-_AAC][7DCB1A58].mp4")

Then: Save file /all file types/ save file as: video.avs

Now open virtualdub, and drag that video.avs file onto that virtualdub window to run the script.

Also be sure that if running ffdshow, that ffdshows' VFW codec configuration, has H.264 enabled to libavcodec within the Decoder\codecs option.

[grey_moon]

Hiya all, I've just started trying to make my own animated avatars (most of them are far too fast and frantic) and I'm having a bit of trouble with my latest one which is Hina swaying. It seems to be slighty jerky, I can't place whats wrong with my timing. If anyone gets the chance could they have a look at it and let me know what I am doing wrong pls?

[Pellissier]

Originally Posted by grey_moon

Hiya all, I've just started trying to make my own animated avatars (most of them are far too fast and frantic) and I'm having a bit of trouble with my latest one which is Hina swaying. It seems to be slighty jerky, I can't place whats wrong with my timing. If anyone gets the chance could they have a look at it and let me know what I am doing wrong pls?

Imho? The timing.
You have set 0.20 for each frame, which is quite high, for a delay time of such a type.
Try to lower it down for each frame.

Just for comparison, this is the same gif with 0.12 delay time for each frame, then you could increase or decrease it suiting your tastes.



It runs faster now, and a bit more smoothly.

If you still think it's jerky, probably more frames would need to be added, I don't know how many of them you removed from original source (IF you did remove them, of course)

[grey_moon]

Ohh that looks a lot better, I think I need more practice with my timings Thank you!!!

[KiNA]

LOL .. Hina on too many strawberry I say

[grey_moon]

I have to admit the first thought I had was to put a spliff in her mouth and have something on the lines of

"Hina discovers that not all carrots are good for your eyes..."

*EDIT*
I hope I am not asking in the wrong place...
I've been practicing with gimp and boy have I found that using the latest version with the animation install helps a lot. I've noticed that some people are able to get up to 21 frames and keep good quality and still have it 100 by 100. Ive tried (in gimp) using a web optimised palette which gets my size down, but the quality drops a lot. I also tried using the optimise anmiation filters but that just increases my piccie size. Does any one have any tips for me pls? My attempts at a shuffle pantie shot is below with the optimised one on the right.

Spoiler for my avatar attempts:

Cheers
Moon
*/EDIT*

[combat kitten]

Hiya

i wanted to know what programs ppl use to make those gifs we see all the time in the forum.

And also, is *tablet what artist use to draw stuff on computer? Is it like electronic pencil with electronic drawing pad or @_@ ?

Thanks ^^;

[DaFool]

I export .gif from the following programs:

Adobe ImageReady
Macromedia Flash

I usually use them to polish up avi->jpg conversions captured from Virtualdub.

You are talking of a Wacom Tablet...very useful for custom drawings.

[grey_moon]

I've just started trying to make animated gifs myself and since I can't afford Photochop I use Gimp. There is a great tutorial by Green2 on using it (and ImageReady as you might guess from the title of the thread )

http://forums.animesuki.com/showthread.php?t=642

[giu_2]

here is my first avtar pic..
couldnt get the border thingy to work :/

[KiNA]

Originally Posted by giu_2

here is my first avtar pic..
couldnt get the border thingy to work :/

Thats definitely unusuable here 0_0

To make a border .. its quite simple. I'm assuming that you are using IR.

1) Select the 1st frame .. in the animation window ..
2) Now select the top layer in the layer window ..
3) Make a new layer.. it should be the toppest layer in the first frame.
4) Select all (Ctrl + A) ... marching ants around the gif now
5) Go to edit->Stroke (select the color, choose the thickness click OK)