Animated avatar?

[SueQ]

Would like to have an animated avatar....anything special I need to have or do?

[middletree]

Would like to have an animated avatar....anything special I need to have or do?

As long as it meets the height, width, and file size requirements on this board, it shouldn't be a problem to put it up there.

[jumpingmaniac]

I've been wondering that too! The trouble is I don't have a clue how to animate it. Could anyone help me out?

[middletree]

I've been wondering that too! The trouble is I don't have a clue how to animate it. Could anyone help me out?

Oh, I didn't understand that that was the question. Sorry I cannot help with that. I have made animated gifs with Fireworks and Flash, but those programs cost money. I am sure there are free gif animators out there, but I don't know any specifics.

[The Unknown Gomer]

I use Zoner GIF Animator, which I picked up from giveawayoftheday.com when it was their freebie of the day. Normally it runs something like $30.

They do offer a 30 day free trial, but I can't vouch for what its limitations are as a demo, if they force watermarks or anything like that on there, since I started out as a registered user. But it might be worth checking out.

I used it to make my solar eclipse avatar, as well as the avatar I made from the photos that I shot with the guys during the Christmas tour M&G. It's so easy, even a caveman, or a blond, can do it. ;)

http://www.zoner.com/gif-animator

[SueQ]

It's so easy, even a caveman, or a blond, can do it. ;)

http://www.zoner.com/gif-animator

Whew!

[danbos]

You can also do some simple GIF animations with GIMP, which is a free photo editing/photshop type program. I think the website is www.gimp.net

[SueQ]

Thanks Dan....how's the snow up there?....My aunt spent NewYear's Eve in a little hick town near you.....ever hear of Hudsonville? ;)

[danbos]

Thanks Dan....how's the snow up there?....My aunt spent NewYear's Eve in a little hick town near you.....ever hear of Hudsonville? ;)

The snow is pretty good up here. I actually like the snow. And yeah...I think I have heard of Hudsonville. :P I actually spent part of my New Year's Eve on the road on the way back from Florida though. ;)

[super]

ive been trying to put an animated one up but it doesent work

[middletree]

ive been trying to put an animated one up but it doesent work

I just put one up and it works fine. Just click User CP at the top of this page, then on the left menu, click Edit Avatar. Then hit the browse button, and direct it to your image. Note that there is a size limit for any avatar, animated or not.

[The Unknown Gomer]

Per the instructions, the maximum size it can be is "100 by 100 pixels or 19.5 KB", whichever is smaller, I think. I had a HECK of a time getting the solar eclipse gif to fall below 19.5kb and still get it to look decent. I had to delete half the frames, and then reduce the number of colors. It doesn't look half as nice as the original animated gif, but at least I got it to fit.

And then after all that work, I swapped it out for something else. LOL. I'm sure I'll bring it back soon, after I get tired of ole "One Eye". :P

[middletree]

I had a great animated one, but it's 22k. Very bummed.

[The Unknown Gomer]

Here you go, sir. One kittenlion, now only 19.2kb. :) Just reduced the number of colors in it by about half, which, at least on my monitor, doesn't really look all that much different than the original.

90337

[middletree]

Cool. Thanks!

What software did you use?

[The Unknown Gomer]

You're welcome. I wasn't sure if Zoner was capable of tweaking already finished gifs like that, but thought I'd give it a try. Shore nuf, it worked. :cool:

But that's what I used, Zoner GIF Animator, that same one I mentioned a few posts up. I just opened the program, drag and dropped your original gif into it, and tweaked the number of colors on all the frames at once about 5 different times until I found the highest color setting that would sneak it in just under the board requirements. I think I dropped it from 127 colors down to 60.

Seems like kind of an odd ratio though, to lose half the colors and only drop about 3kb or so in size. But I wasn't going to argue with it, I figured whatever works. :)

[Sam!]

Most of those colors probably weren't in use (that's why the image looks almost the same) so the drop in size is due to those colors not being listed/defined in the image file any more. I would imagine that each color doesn't take up much space in the file if it's not actually employed.

[rossid]

I tried to load one from P.O.D. a couple weeks ago with no luck.

http://promotionscrew.com/pod/webtools/

[Gandalf]

Microsoft GIF Animator (http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/win/13212) is free, and can be used to compile individual GIF files into an animated one. Not the most powerful program ever, but it works.

[jumpingmaniac]

You can also do some simple GIF animations with GIMP, which is a free photo editing/photshop type program. I think the website is www.gimp.net


Thanks a lot for the link Dan! I downloaded it and as you can see from my new avatar I've already been messing around with it. Its pretty easy!

[Genna14]

If anyone's interested, I can make some good animated avs...I got a free trial of photoshop, but i mainly use paintshop pro and jasc animation shop...Give me details of what you want *through PM please* and pictures and I'll make one.