How to Create An Animated (Moving) Avatar
 

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.

Nice post for sure! I know work went into this post because I have tried like crazy to do this .. :D

Hey avatar experts. I made an avatar in photoscape but it isn't animating. The pictures are all 125x125 but overall it is too big at 60.5kb. Does that mean I have too many pictures or can I resize it somehow?

I did it. I did it!!! Woo hoo! Thank you for the directions Nancy- they were perfect!:)

You fixed it before, I could reply. Wow, you did a great job, love the picture with the tongue shot.

I don't know what I'm doing wrong but mine is not moving:( Its not big either.

Can you upload it to this thread? I could take a look at it for you.

Thank you!:) It was so sweet of you to post such a detailed explanation. I probably would have given up without it.

Okay here it is.

EDIT: I just upload it and its not moving. It does move when I open it on my desktop.

lets try this one. I like this one the best.

:cheer::cheer::cheer:I got it I got it...

Try this, your avatar was slightly too big. Your files size is small on 20 KB, but actual picture size was too big. You can add probably three more pictures, but the overall avatar size should be no bigger than this.


Oh, I see you got, rats, again I am too slow.

Great thread! I will have to try this sometime! Thanks for the information!

LMAOOOOOOOOOOOO haha now I'm having fun with it. I added another pic. I told myself I wasn't going to sleep until I got this.

Thanks for your help....Now I have to figure out how to add a page with their name.

Very clever, I love the picture you added, very artistic. This stuff gets so addicting.

Your avatar looks great! Isn't it addicitve? I couldn't stop playing with mine and I made another one that I might use later.:D

Oh yes it is. I didn't make it to bed until midnight:eek: I get up for work around 6 am. I'm a little tired today but when I get home I'll play with it some more.

Oh great just what I needed....something else to be addicted to...LOL

This is great and thanks for sharing!:thumbup::thumbup::p

Hi, I am having problems with the down load page. there are more than one thing to down load and the two that I tried have not worked for me yet. Could I get more help on this please? thank you!!!!!

I clicked on Free Download directly (13.1MB) and that worked for me. Its to the right of the page.

I see what you mean that link is a little confusing, google placed an ad for Picaso software, and someone could download that by mistake. If you look at the picture below it shows the page and on the right side of the page it says download Photoscape here, either site is fine, there is no need to pay any fee, and if a site tries to charge you just go to the other site. I noticed some sites are now charging $1.50 for the privilege of downloading from their site, but this is not necessary and those sites don't own the program, the program is free. Here is also what is now a direct link. PhotoScape - Reviews and free PhotoScape downloads at Download.com

thank you!!!!!!! I've got it down loaded, now for the hard part ;)

Thanks again!!!! I've made a four picture one. It is fun and will be more so as I learn how to use it! Thanks for the information! I would have never been able to figure it out this far by myself. I know that I am not the only one that appreciates your kindness!

Photoscape is only for Windows, and I have a Mac computer. Does anyone know what software I can use on a Mac to make a moving avatar?

For those of you who use the Mac, I don't know anything about the software programs for that. Here's a link with Mac Graphic Software Pure Mac: Graphics - Software for Macintosh. Look for programs that use the word "animations". Anyone knowing of a good program please post in this thread. These are two programs that I have been told that work with the Mac GIMP - Free software downloads and reviews - CNET Download.com, and one that sounds more difficult Blender (PowerPC) - Free software downloads and reviews - CNET Download.com

If you test these programs out, please let us know what you think of them. I personally would try the GIMP program first.

Yay, I was able to make my very own avatar! :D Now Nancy, do you know how to use the "red eye" feature? I can't seem to get it to work :(

I had to find a picture with red eye to test it. It seems that you make little square over the eye, and it puts a black dot there, but it didn't work every time. There is probably better photo editing software out there, and much of it is free. This one just has the feature that allows you to make animations out of your pictures, but you could use any software to edit the pictures, and then use this just for the animated part.

I think even Photobucket allows you to edit pictures, and you can even frame them and add words, but you can't make an avatar that can be used on YorkieTalk. You can just edit the pictures, save them to your computer, and open them with the Photoscape program to make the animated gif.

Wow.... Nancy, you are great! Thanks for the easy directions. I have a question. How do you make a frame with out a picture and just with our pups name on it or some other design??

I seem to "loose" my picture once I make changes to it and save it to my hard drive! :confused: (I know....dumb blonde here!)

I'm really not an expert on this program, but I guess you could take a small background paper that is the color you want, even white and use that, then you could frame it and use the lettering features. You could even create a blank paper for this in "Paint." Most computers come with the program called Paint. You could also look through "Google Images" or Photobucket for background paper that you like. Below, is a 2 inch white square you could use, click on it and save it to your computer, and open it with Photoscape "editor". You can add a frame and lettering, or other designs to this, but there are many background papers you could use. What I'm saying is that you have to open "some" image in order to frame something, but the "image" could be blank. When you get ready to make the animated part, it will resize the picture to what you need.

As far as losing your pictures, you need to save it to an area where you can easily find it. Choose the "Save As" feature, and it will let you pick a file or make a new file in which to place your picture.

Thank you for your knowledge! :thumbup: