Re: Animated Gifs

Hello all,

     I think I may have inadvertantly sent an unfinshed message, in which
case, this would be the rest of it.  (It's late.  I'm tired.  Forgive me.)  As
I was saying, I'd like to add my two cents to this discussion.  For animation,
I have found that Corel Photopaint is a great program to do them in, because
they allow you to use the arrow keys to move each selected item, which gives
you a great amount of precision in regards to making sure that in each of the
frames, the pixel difference which creates the "movement" is consistant, which
can give you a very smooth animation.  
    One thing I would lke to add though is that it's easier to lose track of
what frame you're on in Corel, since you don't have the numbered layers to
refer to.  (And animations can at times be somewhat mind numbing, so it's easy
to lose track.)
     Anyway... There you have it... my two cents...

Red Haired Snipe

  
In a message dated 97-12-14 00:14:54 EST, douglass(at)sprintmail.com writes:

<< 
 Hi Paula,
 I was scanning through my email and saw your message.  It doesn't appear as
 if anyone has answered your questions, so I will start the ball rolling and
 toss it out to the group for further answers and help.
 
 The first step to preparing an animation is to have a storyboard.  Know what
 you want to achieve.  Then, the easiest way I have found to make the frames
 (and I'm sure others will have their own ways!) is to create the image in
 PhotoShop, save a copy (referred to as SOC in my personal writing lingo).
 In the original image, flatten the layers, and make a new layer as an
 overlay.  Create your  second frame on the new layer. If things start
 getting too messy, click the eye icon in the first layer(on the layer
 palette).  This will hide the original artwork, but also will maintain the
 same canvas dimensions, etc., as well as easily let you see how your
 animation is progressing by clicking back and forth between the eye icons on
 the layers.  Once your second image is finished, hide the original artwork
 layer and SOC.  Continue doing this until you have all of your images
 created and saved as copies.
 I would personally save the original as a backup, and as a reference for
 future works.
 I am also assuming here that you know about file formats and compressions,
 etc.
 As for rotating an image in an exact manner, nothing beats using the
 Layer->Transform->Numeric or Shift,Ctrl and T.
 This will allow you input exact measurements instead of trying to eyeball
 the 'movement'.
 In Gif Construction Set, click File New, then File -> Animation Wizard.  It
 will ask you what files you want to import.
 Once all images are included, you can go back and click on the lines which
 read 'Control Block' to reset the number of loops and the length of time in
 between the images, etc.
 Hope this helps.  If I am not clear enough (try these steps first!!!) you
 are welcome to email me back.  I am a tired soul right now and may have
 forgotten a step or am being too vague.
 
 Cindy >>

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