How to Create An Animated (Moving) Avatar

[jwsr]

Nancy, thank you so much for the .gif tutorial. I've always wondered what program it would take to do these. You really made it simple!
Everyone's right, it is addicting to play around with!

Jerry

[Nancy1999]

Originally Posted by jwsr

Nancy, thank you so much for the .gif tutorial. I've always wondered what program it would take to do these. You really made it simple!
Everyone's right, it is addicting to play around with!

Jerry

Did you make the one you have now? That kind is the hardest to make in my opinion. You have to keep the camera really steady when you take the pictures, and lining them up, so they don't look choppy is very difficult. Anyway, great job!

[jwsr]

Originally Posted by Nancy1999

Did you make the one you have now? That kind is the hardest to make in my opinion. You have to keep the camera really steady when you take the pictures, and lining them up, so they don't look choppy is very difficult. Anyway, great job!

Yes I did. Thanks for the compliment. When I shoot with a background I always use a tripod. Then when cropping, I use the croping dimensions boxes in Photoshop. That way, since the only thing that moved is his head, the square crop comes out in the exact same place on both pictures, and are lined up perfectly. Then I do the resizing and add the text, and a duplicate text layer for the second photo.

About two more weeks and I'll be having Pogo's 6 month studio session. They grow so fast!

[Nancy1999]

Originally Posted by jwsr

Yes I did. Thanks for the compliment. When I shoot with a background I always use a tripod. Then when cropping, I use the croping dimensions boxes in Photoshop. That way, since the only thing that moved is his head, the square crop comes out in the exact same place on both pictures, and are lined up perfectly. Then I do the resizing and add the text, and a duplicate text layer for the second photo.

About two more weeks and I'll be having Pogo's 6 month studio session. They grow so fast!

That sounds like a great way to do it, I have a tripod, but haven't used it yet, they make so many subtle moves during a session and this is such a cute effect.

[cpuff35]

One of these days I'm going to update my avatar. I've been wanting to do it earlier, but my work computer does not allow me to download any software. I'm going to try it on my DH mac computer, however, will need to figure it out first since the macs are so different from my computer. I may have to ask Nancy1999 for help.

[chandracz]

Originally Posted by Nancy1999

Many people want to know how to create their own moving avatars. The moving avatar is called an animated gif. It's a series of pictures that have been grouped together in one file with a certain amount of time allotted to each picture.


Some graphic programs come with animation programs, but for those of you who don't have such a program, Photoscape offers a free program that's easy to use. Photoscape : Free Photo Editing Software Download. Just download the program, and go to the AniGif part. Set the size for you avatar where it says, "Set Canvas Size", most people use a square the size of 125x125 pixels. If you make a rectangle, the largest size can't be over 125 pixels. This is the size for a donating member; non-donating members have to use a smaller file size, which can be no bigger than 75x75 pixels.

You also have to set the frame time. Most people set this at around "200" per picture, this is measured in tenths of a second. More time will make the pictures change slower; less time they will change faster. The overall file size can't be over 48.8 KB and this means probably no more than 5-6 pictures, but this varies, but the amount of time spent on each picture does not change the file size. For non-donating member overall size can not exceed 20 KB this usually translates to about 4 pictures.

You then just drag a picture into the program, and it will group them together and make the animated gif. If you want to add frames or other special effects you must first go to the "Editor" part of the program and put frames, add lettering, and/ or crop the pictures. After this is done you would save the pictures and drag these new pics to the AniGif part. It's really fun, once you get use to it.

Once you are finished, just upload the animated gif to YorkieTalk. Go to the user "CP" located on the top left of the page. Go to "Edit Avatar," and instructions will tell you the maximum file size for you avatar. For donating members the maximum size of your custom image is 125 by 125 pixels or 53.7 KB (whichever is smaller). For non-donating members the size limits are 75x75 pixels and 20 KB (whichever is smaller).

For those of you who already have custom made avatars and wish to update them by adding a picture or holiday theme, just use the same program and open your animated gif with that. It will show your gif as a series of pictures and you can add or subtract pictures as needed. Save the gif and upload it to YorkieTalk.


I did want to mention to those of you who are interested, you can also create those cute animated gifs that people post on the profile pages with this program. Just take photo you like and you can add lettering, sparkles, and other special effects. To create sparkles for example, go to the "Editor" part of the program. Go to "Object" than point to the little mountain scene and select "Effect" you can there choose from several different sparkles. Add these to the picture and save. Then go to AniGif part of the program and choose both the original and sparkle picture, set the frame time for 10, and choose a size. Some of these sparkles gifs have a series of three pictures, each slightly different.

Ooooooooo i'm going to have to try this!

[AshSavalle]

Hello! So I followed all the steps for updating my avatar. I DL that program and followed all the steps. My issue is even when having my canvas size set to 75x75 or lower my KB is almost triple?!!!! So that wont let me upload it to YT. how can I make this possible?

[AshSavalle]

Nevermind I've got it! thank you for your help

[Nancy1999]

Originally Posted by AshSavalle

Nevermind I've got it! thank you for your help

Glad you were able to figure it out, I just wanted to tell you that you did a great job in cropping the pictures used in your avatar. The "75x75" is pixels, and this stands for the actual dimensions of the avatar, the KB is related to not only the dimensions, but also how many pictures are in the file, and for you, that's 5 different pictures. The more pictures, the more KB, and non-donating members must stay under 20 KB, and 75 pixels. The only other way to reduce KB is to reduce photo quality, and you have that option when you are editing and saving individual pictures.

[AshSavalle]

Thank you! Yes, I re-made it. When I would add a fading feature (color) it made the file huge around 80KB! so i just took that off and it was under 20!

[Nancy1999]

Originally Posted by AshSavalle

Thank you! Yes, I re-made it. When I would add a fading feature (color) it made the file huge around 80KB! so i just took that off and it was under 20!

Oh yeah, those features are neat, but that add lots more pictures to the file to get that effect. You can use some of those features if you want to create a gif to put on someone's profile page. There are much larger limits for those pictures.

[donnarod]

Originally Posted by AshSavalle

Thank you! Yes, I re-made it. When I would add a fading feature (color) it made the file huge around 80KB! so i just took that off and it was under 20!

Good job.

[AshSavalle]

Thank you! I was pretty excited myself!!!!!!

[chandracz]

Do you know how to put borders and write names on the pictures and stuff?

[Nancy1999]

Originally Posted by chandracz

Do you know how to put borders and write names on the pictures and stuff?

Before you make the gif you can decorate you pictures in the "Editor" part of the program or any other program or online site. Go to the editor part of the program; choose "Margin" for the border. You can make this as wide as you wish, and any color, and repeat this step for additional border colors. Next go to frame, and select a frame, this can be made wider or narrower by adjusting the little lever next to the words "100%". You can also add more than one frame, by selecting the option of "Photo + Frame next to the words "100 %." To add words or text got to editor, then "Object" then look for the large "T" or double TT both will add text, in slightly different ways. See picture.



I suggest you also use the "help" feature. This can be found in the group of icons on the top to far right, and is a little question mark. The help feature is really good, and it shows you step by step how to do many useful things. Photoscape : Free Photo Editing Software (Photo Editor) Download