Tutorial: Creating Animations of Petz
Jul 12, 2018 13:55:02 GMT -5
Ratqueen, Penny @ Just Dandy, and 2 more like this
Post by Thor on Jul 12, 2018 13:55:02 GMT -5
Want more than just simple images of your petz? Then this tutorial is for you. And best of all, everything you'll need to get started is free.
Basic Idea
Using the photo auto-save feature of Petz 4, you will be holding down that space bar for as long as you want your animation to be. Each individual photo will make up a single frame of our animation. Using an image manipulation program, we will string all of these images together to form a single animation saved as a GIF.
Setup
Download GIMP - www.gimp.org/downloads/
GIMP is a free Photoshop clone software.
You will need to download the 'multi-layers-merger' extension from here: registry.gimp.org/node/26135
(Doesn't work at the moment; use: web.archive.org/web/20180122200436/http://registry.gimp.org:80/node/26135 )
Extract the script to: [directory where GIMP lives]\GIMP 2\share\gimp\2.0\scripts\
STEP 1
Take a series of photos of your pet by holding down the space bar.
Hint: Move the photos of your animation to another folder to make it easier to find them when you import them to GIMP.
STEP 2 - ADDING PHOTOS TO GIMP
* If the first frame is roughly the size of the entire animation, you can skip parts 1 and 2 of this step.
*1: In GIMP, click File > New and select a Width and Height (hint: it should be as big as the biggest frame). In Advanced Options, you can make sure the "Fill with:" is "White". Click OK.
*2: In GIMP, create another new file by clicking File > New with the same width, height, and fill options. Click OK.
You'll have two images in the tab. Each has a different name at the top of the program (probably Untitled #).
3: In GIMP, click File > Open as Layers. Select all the images of your animation, keeping the order so you don't have to fix it later (Ctrl+A shortcut will select all images in a single folder). Click Open (this step will take as long as the number of images you are opening).
Hint: Don't worry if your layers seem in reverse order.
You should see two images, one blank and one with the pet pictures as layers (circled in red). You should also see all your layers (circled in blue).
STEP 3 - MERGE LAYERS WITH WHITE BACKGROUND
If the first frame is roughly the size of the entire animation, you can skip all the steps in this part.
1: Select the white image (without the layers of your pet) so that it is your active image.
2: From the top menu, select Layer > Multi Layers Merger.
Hint: If you don't see Multi-Layers-Merger from the drop down menu, then you may either not extracted the script, or not put it in the right folder.
3: Deselect all the options but "Use only active layer".
4: Make sure the "Second Image to merge with" dropdown menu is the image with your animation frames in it.
5: Click OK.
STEP 4 - EXPORTING ANIMATION
1: In GIMP, go to File > Export.
Hint: By default you should be on the correct image at this point.
2: In the Export Image window, select the folder to save the animation, name the file, and select the File Type as GIF image.
3: Click Export.
4: In the Export Image as GIF window, check "As animation" and "Loop forever". I use a Delay between frames of 60 or 50 milliseconds (depending on how fast or slow I want the animation). The more time between frames, the slower the animation will play. Check to "Use delay entered above for all frames".
5: Click Export.
Enjoy the animation!
Tips:
* Holding down the space bar will generate A LOT of photos in a very short amount of time.
* A big toy or another pet can mess with the center of the animation.
* You can remove frames from the front or end of an animation string without much worry, so don't be afraid to photo early or late.
Credit:
graphicdesign.stackexchange.com/questions/22201/is-it-possible-to-add-a-background-image-to-all-layers-of-an-animated-gif
(also has information on how to do this in Photoshop)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I'd love to see everyone make animations :3 so post some below if you do <3
Here are some of my examples:
Basic Idea
Using the photo auto-save feature of Petz 4, you will be holding down that space bar for as long as you want your animation to be. Each individual photo will make up a single frame of our animation. Using an image manipulation program, we will string all of these images together to form a single animation saved as a GIF.
Setup
Download GIMP - www.gimp.org/downloads/
GIMP is a free Photoshop clone software.
You will need to download the 'multi-layers-merger' extension from here: registry.gimp.org/node/26135
(Doesn't work at the moment; use: web.archive.org/web/20180122200436/http://registry.gimp.org:80/node/26135 )
Extract the script to: [directory where GIMP lives]\GIMP 2\share\gimp\2.0\scripts\
STEP 1
Take a series of photos of your pet by holding down the space bar.
Hint: Move the photos of your animation to another folder to make it easier to find them when you import them to GIMP.
STEP 2 - ADDING PHOTOS TO GIMP
* If the first frame is roughly the size of the entire animation, you can skip parts 1 and 2 of this step.
*1: In GIMP, click File > New and select a Width and Height (hint: it should be as big as the biggest frame). In Advanced Options, you can make sure the "Fill with:" is "White". Click OK.
*2: In GIMP, create another new file by clicking File > New with the same width, height, and fill options. Click OK.
You'll have two images in the tab. Each has a different name at the top of the program (probably Untitled #).
3: In GIMP, click File > Open as Layers. Select all the images of your animation, keeping the order so you don't have to fix it later (Ctrl+A shortcut will select all images in a single folder). Click Open (this step will take as long as the number of images you are opening).
Hint: Don't worry if your layers seem in reverse order.
You should see two images, one blank and one with the pet pictures as layers (circled in red). You should also see all your layers (circled in blue).
STEP 3 - MERGE LAYERS WITH WHITE BACKGROUND
If the first frame is roughly the size of the entire animation, you can skip all the steps in this part.
1: Select the white image (without the layers of your pet) so that it is your active image.
2: From the top menu, select Layer > Multi Layers Merger.
Hint: If you don't see Multi-Layers-Merger from the drop down menu, then you may either not extracted the script, or not put it in the right folder.
3: Deselect all the options but "Use only active layer".
4: Make sure the "Second Image to merge with" dropdown menu is the image with your animation frames in it.
5: Click OK.
STEP 4 - EXPORTING ANIMATION
1: In GIMP, go to File > Export.
Hint: By default you should be on the correct image at this point.
2: In the Export Image window, select the folder to save the animation, name the file, and select the File Type as GIF image.
3: Click Export.
4: In the Export Image as GIF window, check "As animation" and "Loop forever". I use a Delay between frames of 60 or 50 milliseconds (depending on how fast or slow I want the animation). The more time between frames, the slower the animation will play. Check to "Use delay entered above for all frames".
5: Click Export.
Enjoy the animation!
Tips:
* Holding down the space bar will generate A LOT of photos in a very short amount of time.
* A big toy or another pet can mess with the center of the animation.
* You can remove frames from the front or end of an animation string without much worry, so don't be afraid to photo early or late.
Credit:
graphicdesign.stackexchange.com/questions/22201/is-it-possible-to-add-a-background-image-to-all-layers-of-an-animated-gif
(also has information on how to do this in Photoshop)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I'd love to see everyone make animations :3 so post some below if you do <3
Here are some of my examples: