GIF Animation

[Paul LeBlanc]

 Wonderful work lunoob.... I guess you'll have to change you name soon to "lupro"

[lunoob]

Wonderful work lunoob.... I guess you'll have to change you name soon to "lupro"

I can't deny the fact that you like me! You like me!     

 

[Jaws]

+1 on your effort.

I'm kind of glad you got the animation you were looking for. I basically struggle with ImageMagick and flounder around like a fish out of water with the CLI. If you'd like I can walk you through the process I use to create an animation with it though.

Don't take the fact that Gemini likes you to heart though. He likes anyone who doesn't criticize his art.

Cheers

[lunoob]

+1 on your effort.

I'm kind of glad you got the animation you were looking for. I basically struggle with ImageMagick and flounder around like a fish out of water with the CLI. If you'd like I can walk you through the process I use to create an animation with it though.

Actually, I'd really appreciate that.  I think I could learn more than you would directly tell me.  I just need a little help up, just to get started.  Know what I mean?

Wait a minute . . .  "Kind of glad"?   

Don't take the fact that Gemini likes you to heart though. He likes anyone who doesn't criticize his art.

Oh, you're a funny one!   

That was a (perhaps unclear) Sally Field quote - in a weak attempt at humor that's already been done to death.

It seems that a bit of humour is a thing, once deceased, not easily exhumed. 

Just ask my kids. 

And for the record, I wouldn't presume to  go very far in criticizing anyone's art, not considering myself much of an artist.  I think I'm more of a 'technician in training'.  (Then again, I may be in a better mood about myself tomorrow.)   

[lunoob]

Wonderful work lunoob.... I guess you'll have to change you name soon to "lupro"

How about "LuSlightlyAdvancedNoob" ? 

[Paul LeBlanc]

 Hey.... c'mon now, I'm always open to anyone making comments on my artwork.... I even have a script right here that they can read from which has many comments they can use
 

[Jaws]

I didn't forget about you LuSlightlyAdvancedNoob. 

Actually, I'd really appreciate that.  I think I could learn more than you would directly tell me.  I just need a little help up, just to get started.  Know what I mean?

Yep, I gotcha. Give me a little time and I will get back to you.

Wait a minute . . .  "Kind of glad"?

Yeah, kinda glad that you got it going in Gimp, because I usually run away screaming like a little girl when it comes to the CLI. But when I want to learn something I'm like a pitbull and won't let it go until I get it.

And yeah, way over my head, but I was so in love with Sally Field back in the day.

Cheers

[lunoob]

Yeah, kinda glad that you got it going in Gimp, because I usually run away screaming like a little girl when it comes to the CLI. But when I want to learn something I'm like a pitbull and won't let it go until I get it.

I thought CLI was "Command Line Interface" - like in a console or terminal.  If so, then I don't get your meaning, because I did none of that with the Gimp.   

Also, I have found the Gimp interface to be as unclear and daunting as anything I've ever come across in a GUI.  But the tutorial Dadster posted earlier in this thread was just enough for me to figure out the bits not included in the tute.  And it WORKS.     And (in my experience) once you learn how to do a few things with any graphics program, the rest is less daunting - some bits start to become clearer as you go.

Yet as much as I like this stuff, I'm afraid it'll be a long, long time before I'm really at ease with much of it.   

All I ask is an honest advantage (a good tutorial.)   

[Jaws]

I thought CLI was "Command Line Interface" - like in a console or terminal.  If so, then I don't get your meaning, because I did none of that with the Gimp.   

... And you're right, but I meant it for ImageMagick. You use it in a terminal. Every time I mentioned the CLI it was for IM, which as you can see, I'm not at ease using it but I did figure it out after many, many tries.

I figured the Gimp would be easier since there's a GUI and that's why I was "glad" you figured it out. I didn't know that you were unfamiliar with  the Gimp. I'm on board with you on the Gimp's GUI though.  I too, find it a miserable excuse for a GUI compared to Inkscape, for example, which is also why I've only tried the Gimp a couple of times.

Don't forget I'm not that experienced doing graphics, especially in Linux. I've only used Linux for about 18 months and the only thing I've done creatively, quite a long while ago, was some desktop publishing.

[Jaws]

Well I was going to try and do a tutorial with screenshots but it wasn't working out. So here's hopefully a simple explanation to get you started.

Create your images for the animation and put them all in one directory numbering them consecutively as you want them.

Open a terminal program and change directories to where your images are.

With my two animation I did, I used something similar to this command:

animate -resize 329 -delay 50 -loop 0 *.png

If your images are in a different format use that instead of png.

With my latest animation I used 50 images. The first 30 were slightly different, The last 20 are all copies of the same to prolong the final sequence. Obviously the more images you use the smoother the animation.

-resize ### will set the width of the animation.

-delay ### set the time interval between images.

-loop 0 means it will loop indefinitely.

Play around with the delay settings to see what you get.

Once you tap Enter after inputting the command there will be a delay as IM builds the animation. You'll notice the the first sequence is much slower then the rest as it keep cycling.

Once your animation runs through the first time, click on the animation itself and a Commands window will open. A menu appears with...

Animate
Speed
Direction
Help
Image Info
Quit

Clicking on Animate from this menu will allow you to save the animation.

I hope in some small way this helps you. If you got question, I think we should be able to figure them out.

These are the sites I used to investigate doing animation with IM.
http://www.linux.com/articles/46124
http://www.imagemagick.org/script/animate.php
http://www.imagemagick.org/Usage/

Cheers

[lunoob]

Wow, thanks, Jaws!

That seems like a really good description.  I'm looking forward to working through it.   

I have a buddy that just started up a marketing business.  I showed him a little of the Blender stuff I've done and he asked what I could do with his logo (for a website, I presumed.)  I'm in the middle of creating the images for an animation in Inkscape now, so I'll try doing the animation with IM when I finish.   

[Jaws]

Keep in mind that for large animations, you may not want them to loop forever, especially if they're used as a banner logo on web pages. Not only does the browser have to keep working but to me they're annoying as hell and distract the eye.

Also be aware that I'm just starting out with this too and there are many different commands that can be used as you'll see if you study the links I posted. I've only scratched the surface.

Have fun.

[lunoob]

Woo-hoo!!!   

Every time I learn any Command Line stuff I realize (again) why geeks like it so much.  Very fast, very cool.

Here's my attempt at animating my buddy's logo.  I started out with a 1500 px wide TIF and resized it, saving it as 001.png

[Paul LeBlanc]

 lunoob... that is the perfect animation for this particular logo.... Excellent work there
 I hope your friend is more than impressed.... they should be

[lunoob]

lunoob... that is the perfect animation for this particular logo....

Perfection only exists in the mind of God.   Thus the Persian Flaw.   

Well, I may not be an artist, but I know . . . uhhhhhmmmmm . . .   

Thanks, Gemini.  I consider that a high compliment.