MrWhitefolks helps you animate!

**MrWhitefolks** · 15 Jan 2005, 08:24 AM

This thread will be used for me to address questions and fix up or help adjust animations as needed for people that wish to learn how these work. If you have any questions about my skills with these programs, feel free to look up my original animations thread.

Aiight, here's the deal. Since the animations i'm puttin out have been getting mad props over and over, and i'm dealing with requests almost daily...i figured it was time to help YOU, the tnl user learn how to create manageable(ie...under 500k) animations from whatever medium you have. Avi file? I can do that. Flash movie? No problem. DVD? Yeah...i got that covered.

Ok, first up is the tools i use:

Virtual Dub:
Used for editing captured avi files(we'll get into that in a minute) and cutting out "dead frames" of animation(ie...animation frames that duplicate)

Gif Movie Gear:
Used to build animation out of avi file/bmp sequence/whatever. This is THE tool to use as it allows you control over damn near everything.

BB Flash Recorder:
Allows you to record anything you see on your pc. Want to grab an animation from a flash movie? Use this.

FRAPS:
This great little bastard allows you to record from ANYTHING that uses direct x. Be it a pc game, or a dvd movie in powerdvd....this thing has it covered.

Step 1: Learning what the hell to do...
Ok, so you've got the media you want to convert, but you got no idea how? Here's a simple guide to getting whatever you want into a raw avi file(which will be turned into a gif later on).

For avi/mpeg/quicktime/etc... you have a few options. The most reliable one is to throw whatever video file it is into Virtual Dub and cut out what you want to use as the animation.

Ok, but quicktime and certain wmv files dont load in VirtualDub? No problem. You can use BB Flash Recorder to capture directly from Quicktime files(or if you have the full version of quicktime, you can convert any .mov file into an .avi file).

Wmv files can be captured by loading them up in either WMP 9.0 or Media Player Classic and capturing what you need by using FRAPS.

Don't worry, all of these programs are self explanatory in how to use them. Very intuitive.

Step 2:Now that i have my captured avi file, what do i do with it?
You take that sum bitch and toss it up into Gif Movie Gear. This tool gives you the ability to view each individual frame of animation and edit them as you see fit(you can also edit everything to save time).

You have free reign over frame length, cropping, resizing an image, the speed of the animation, etc. This tool will take your 6meg animation and cut it down to 500k without a problem at all. Just takes some experimentation to make the bastard run like egyptian silk.

Tips:
If your animation runs slow it's a good idea do do "frame ~ reduce count" by TWO. This usually fixes all speed anomolies and cuts down on your file size by around 50%

Feel free to resize the image, but remember to ONLY do it set as "nearest neighbor". Bilinear only adds to the file size and makes the animation look washed out or fuzzy.

Cropping is a great option that allows you to cut down the animation so you have EXACTLY what you want in frame.

Learning how to effectively adjust the time of each frame can make your animation look flawless, or even ADD to the overall effect it has. By lengthening certain frames' time, you can subconciously force the viewer to notice something about the animation WITHOUT creating any delay. we work in miliseconds after all.

**Burky** · 15 Jan 2005, 08:50 AM

Is all the software you listed free, or not?
If not do you have any suggestions for good shareware which does the same thing?

This info is great, and will be very useful; thanks.

**MrWhitefolks** · 15 Jan 2005, 07:25 PM

the majority of the software can be downloaded from download.com

all cracks and other nastiness can be found on random webpages(ie..google search)

note: i might not be paying much attention to this thread today as im currently working on our rumble roses video