Easy gif animator how to create animation. Basics of creating GIF animation yourself

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Do you remember how at school, during boring lessons, you drew different faces in notebooks? And then, quickly turning the pages, they made these faces animate. It’s the same with boring websites, stuffed to the brim with tedious but very necessary information. Now, if only we could add a couple of grimacing faces there too! This is quite feasible if you use gif animation:

GIF-based animation

GIF format ( Graphics Interchange Format) was developed specifically for intranet exchange of raster images. In the recent past, it was the main format for images posted on the web. Main characteristics of the GIF format:

Ability to save images in 256 colors;
Light image weight - this was ideal for the initial stage of development of the World Wide Web, when Internet connection speeds were much lower than today's standards;
Graphic formats in GIF are stored line by line, supporting only a certain color palette (256 colors);
Moreover, one of the 256 shades can be labeled as transparent;
Support for animated objects.

The last item on the list served as a new impetus for the growing popularity of this graphic format.

Creating gif animations has several advantages over the more modern flash technology. The main one is the lower weight of the graphic object. Therefore, a new area of application for gif animation is the creation of advertising objects for the Internet.

GIF animation allows you to create one graphic object consisting of several ordinary images (frames) arranged in a certain order. Animation occurs due to their change with a given order and frequency. In this case, cyclic repetition of animation frames is most often used.

With multiple images, the limitation of using only 256 shades of color is completely removed. This is due to the fact that each of the drawings can contain its own palette. Reducing the overall weight of the animated object is also achieved through the use of transparency, when only a partial change occurs in the next frame relative to the previous one.

In the next frame, only the changing parts of the image are drawn. The rest can be set to transparent and the original static frame used to display them.

A little practice

But this is all theory, but I would like to consider in practice how animation is created in GIF format. We foresaw this and prepared a small master class on creating an animated banner.

For the demonstration, we will use the specialized graphic editor Easy GIF Animator. Experience shows that most of these programs have a similar user interface and functionality. Therefore, the procedure shown below will not differ much from how to make GIF animation in other similar graphic editors.

On the start page of the program, we are asked to select the type of problem that needs to be solved. We will use the “services” of the built-in banner creation wizard. To do this, click on the item “ Creating an animated banner»:

The next step is to set the dimensions of the future banner. You can use standard values, but we will enter our own parameters for the length and width of the object:

Next we customized the banner background. We chose a gradient as the fill style, set its type and primary colors:

In the next wizard window, we enter the text to be displayed, set its size, font and color. From the drop-down list, select the animation effect at the moment the text appears and disappears. We also set the time for the entire period. Please note that you can set effects for multiple phrases (up to three) this way. They are located on separate tabs (“Text 1”, “Text 2”):

Before creating a gif animation, all that remains is to save the banner file in the location we need. This is what you are asked to do in the next window:

After closing the wizard and saving the banner, the working interface of the application opens in front of us. Please note that on the left our animation is presented frame by frame. And each of the frames can be edited separately:

The link to download the archive with the “full” original will be provided at the end of the article. And here is a static preview of what we got:

How to make animation from video

We have figured out the basics of the process a little. Now let's try to learn how to make GIF animation from a video.

The essence of this procedure is that first you need to “pull out” individual pictures from the video. That is, break it down into frames. Of course, you can do this manually by saving the desired frame in the media player ( fortunately, many of them can do this).

But it is better to use a special program for extracting video frames Free Video to JPG Converter. As its name suggests, it saves video frames into JPG images.

The application interface is easy to understand. Therefore, we will not dwell on its detailed description:

After processing the video, the utility will save the frames in the location you specify. All images for future animation will need to be adjusted manually using any graphics editor. It's best if it's Photoshop.

In the next step we go back to Easy GIF Animator. Using the " Insert image» add a still image from the video as a frame. After this, you need to adjust the delay for each animated frame. And then save the resulting GIF animation as a file.

Blumentals Easy GIF Animator 5.5.0.48 Portable RUS / ML Apps

Easy GIF Animator- a program designed to create animated images (gif files), supplemented with various effects. Easy GIF Animator has quite a lot of settings and allows you to control all the parameters of the animated gif, including duration, color palette, etc. Adding text to an image, previewing it in the browser, converting gif animations to AVI format, adding sound to created animations, saving the created file in SWF (flash), automatic creation HTML code for inserting finished animation to the website and much more. Supports work with GIF, JPG, PNG and BMP files. There is a flexible system for optimizing the size of the output file, which includes several optimization methods.

Program: Blumentals Easy GIF Animator
OS: Windows Me/2000/2003/XP/Vista/7/8
Language: English, Russian
Medicine:Portable
Size: 4.13 MB

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Program features
- Easily create animated banners, images and buttons
- Create animated images from scratch
- Edit and change animated GIF images
- Adding visual effects to GIF animation
- Create moving text effects
- Optimized GIF animation to reduce size and speed up loading
- Preview animation in an internet browser
- Resize the entire animation at once
- Manage animation frames
- Set the number of repetitions and frame duration
- Extract individual animation frames
- Easy transparency setting
- Adding sounds to animation (.PRO)
- Save animation in SWF format (.PRO)
- Export animation to AVI format
- Using GIF, JPG, PNG and BMP images in animation
- Generating HTML code for publication on the Internet

The program leaves no traces and does not require installation on your computer.

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AND A SMALL LESSON ON THE PROGRAM

Creating an animated banner in Easy GIF Animator

How to create an animated banner in Easy GIF Animator. We need a banner in order to attract the attention of a blog visitor and encourage him to take the action we need.
To do this, let's go to the Easy GIF Animator program, I'm working in the fifth version and the shortcut on the desktop looks like a kind of film. To create a banner, let's use the Program Wizard feature and select the Animated Banner button. A banner wizard dialog box opens for us, with which we will work; we are offered several options to choose from:
We can choose the standard banner size that the system offers us
We can specify your size
And we can get the size from the background image, if it suits us, and in general, we can always adjust the banner size in the HTML code of a text editor, especially if we put it not in an article, but, say, in a widget, and topics on blogs We may have different ones and our banners will not be displayed correctly everywhere if they are not “customized” to the location.
And by clicking on the “Next” button, go to the “Banner Background” section and select the fill style:
Simple color
Color gradient
A picture or a texture (these are pre-prepared images or pictures that we found on the Internet and downloaded in advance to our folder), I prefer to go with this option to save time, but whoever, in general, has nowhere to rush, can play with the first options.
So, select an image through the “review” button and select a background or picture for further work and examine it using three functions:
Tile
Stretch
Centered
And we stop at the option you have chosen, then click on the “Next” button and proceed to writing text on the animated banner; the system offers us three options for inscriptions placed on the banner, by clicking on the buttons “Text 1”, “Text 2”, “Text 3”, for this purpose we can use a basic text editor in which we can select:
Font type
Font size
Font color
Font style
Font placement along the readable field of the banner (left, center, right)
The text we type will be located in the viewing window on the banner background we have chosen, so we can select all the necessary attributes of the inscriptions using the capabilities of a text editor.
Thus, we configure all our three inscriptions on the banner, the banner is created and now we can move on to its fine settings and create effects, set the display time for each inscription and select transitions from one inscription to another. To do this, we need an icon in the form of a “magic wand” and with its help we select the effects offered by the system, and each inscription can be configured separately.
The results of our work can be viewed here, but it is better to use the proposed function of viewing our banner in the browser (This function is located in the top panel of the Easy GIF Animator program (when you hover your mouse over the icons, hints will appear, so you will find it).
And in the new browser window that appears, we can actually observe the newly created banner in action or how it will look on our blog. And if everything suits us, then we return to the program and save the banner in some place on our computer, and when we write its name (file name), we write it either in digital format or in Latin alphabet.

1. Ulead GIF Animator 4 interface
2. Working with a sequence of frames
5. Special effects
7. Workshop

Graphics software company Ulead Systems offers GIF Animator 4, a program designed to quickly create animated GIF files.

Features of GIF animation

Computer animation consists of a sequential series of drawings (frames) that quickly replace each other. If each of the drawings differs slightly from the previous and subsequent ones, then when they are reproduced, the illusion of movement is created.

In the past, cartoonists would draw each frame by hand, but now it is possible to automate this process using computers.

The main characteristic of animation is the number of frames used to create it.

A larger number of frames allows you to achieve smooth movements of animated characters and the appearance of objects in the image at different points in time.

If the number of frames is insufficient, differences in sequential images of objects become noticeable, which leads to their sudden movements.

In traditional animation, the number of frames was directly related to the duration of the animation in seconds. In computer animation, the size of the file in which the images are stored comes to the fore.

Therefore, when creating computer animation, they try to find a compromise between the quality of the animation and the file size, which determines the total number of animation frames.

Rice. 1.1. Sequence of animation frames

One of the first graphic formats to support animation was GIF format.

This format was developed for use in CompuServe, called Graphics Interchange Format, and was intended for storing image libraries.

The latest standard describing this format was created in 1989 and was called GIF89a. Due to the relatively small size of image files, GIF has become one of the widely used image storage formats on the Internet.

GIF animation uses the ability of the GIF format to store multiple images in a file. If a GIF file contains several images, they will be shown one by one, like a slide show or a short movie.

However, unlike a regular movie, where the playback speed is determined by the number of frames per second, a GIF file stores a number of parameters that determine how and for how long each image will be shown.

In addition, GIF images can be of different sizes and placed in the desired position on the screen, regardless of the images of other frames.

You can set the parameters of the GIF animation control codes embedded in the file using various programs, for example Ulead GIF Animator (http: / /www. ulead. com/ga/ features. htm).

The GIF format uses the LZW (Lempel-Ziv-Welch) compression method. allowing you to reduce the file size to 40% of its original size without loss of information. However, this format uses a palette containing no more than 256 colors, which often leads to a loss of quality when converting images of other graphic formats created in True Color mode.

Taking advantage GIF format, you can place images on the Internet on the original background of the Web page.

This feature is provided by support for the transparency attribute, allowing one of the image colors not to be displayed. The GIF format also supports interlacing, which allows you to see the image on the page before it has fully loaded.

Despite differences in technology creating GIF animations and animations, the result is the same - static images come to life on the screen.

However, when creating GIF animation For Web pages, a number of features should be taken into account.

Firstly, it is necessary to think over the concept of animation, its zest, which allows you to concisely express the idea without disturbing the illusion of movement. This will allow you to limit yourself to a small number of frames.

Second, the background color of the animation should match the background color of the Web page so that they look like one.

However, if the animation contains moving objects that appear or disappear from the edge of the drawing, it is important that the background of the animation stands out on the page, otherwise the object at the edges will appear cut off.

Each GIF file contains a table of color indexes called a color palette. It determines what colors are used in the image and what index corresponds to each color.

Depending on the storage method, the index requires up to 4 bytes of data, so an image with -256 colors has a palette of up to 1024 bytes.

IN animated GIFs use two types of palettes: the Global Palette, which defines the default colors of each animation image, and the Local Palette, which is unique for each individual frame of the animation.

When you add an image to a GIF animation, you can specify which palette to use.

However, you should not try to reduce file size by using the Global Palette alone.

Often the quality of the animation is more important, so for image frames that differ significantly from the main one or at least from the previous frame, you should use the Local Palette.

Otherwise, converting colors to Global Palette colors may result in poor image quality.

When building a Global Palette, you can use two ways to add colors to it from a new image that is placed in the animation.

The first is to use colors from the so-called “Web-safe” palette, which contains 216 predefined colors and is intended for the Internet.

The second is to create an Optimized Palette, which adds only the dominant colors of the new image.

When adding into an empty animation first image, you can build a Global Palette based on the palette of this original image.

Including subsequent images will require either adding colors to the palette (using the Color Remapping tool) or converting the image to Global Palette colors.

The latter is appropriate when the colors of the new image are the same as in the Global Palette. If the colors differ significantly, you can save your own Local Palette image palette or add them to the Global Palette colors using the Safe palette or Optimized palette.

When constructing a Global Palette based on the palette of the original image, you must choose a method for its construction. Using the Optimized Palette will retain only the most common colors from the original palette.

Selecting the Safe Palette will only allow the Global Palette to use the 216 predefined colors used by Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer. Either of these options will reduce the animation file size.

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All FLASH secrets are revealed here:

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Ulead GIF Animator 4 interface

In GIF Animator everyone the frame is called a layer(layer), which distinguishes the terminology of this program from the terminology of software products from other companies.

You can create a sequence of frames by manually inserting images, importing a sequence of files or the contents of an entire folder, or using a digitized video sequence.

In the window GIF Animator programs The following main areas are represented:

Menu bar

Toolbar

Attributes toolbar with information
about the settings of each frame (layer),

Central workspace (Workspace),

to the left of it is the Layer panel listing all the images included in the animation, and the Palette toolbar located at the bottom.

Rice. 1.2. GIF Animator window with an empty project

Left-clicking on a frame name in the Layer panel displays its image in the workspace and displays the frame's parameters in the Attributes toolbar.

The frame color palette is presented on the Palette toolbar. Right-clicking now displays a frame context menu, which presents the most commonly used commands from the Edit and Layer menus.

The Layer panel contains a list of all animation frames, which allows you to move them relative to each other.

The Layer menu commands - Move Layer Up and Move Layer Down - as well as the toolbar buttons of the same name, move the frame one position up (down) relative to the current one.

To speed up your work, you can use the keyboard shortcuts Alt+Up or Alt+Down.

Using the View > Layer Panel menu commands, you can change the appearance of frames in the Layer panel. The List command displays only the names of frames (layers).

Typically, each frame will be given a source file name, but if the image is pasted via the clipboard, it will be given a default name. The Thumbnail command displays each frame within a frame of the specified size.

Selecting the frame size is performed using the View > Thumbnail Size submenu commands. The Filmstrip command displays frames without a frame, similar to their presentation on film, taking into account their relative positions.

You can also switch between these views using the tabs located in the Layer panel. The horizontal size of this panel changes due to the size of the working area of the GIF Animator program window.

Selecting a frame in the Layer panel will display its parameters in the Attribute toolbar, where you can make the desired changes.

The first layer of the project, called Global information, is an invisible frame and describes the properties of the animation as a whole. For this layer, special parameters are set in the Attribute toolbar.

The Logical Screen area, which affects the dimensions of the entire project, should be set to dimensions that correspond to the maximum image used in the animation.

A field of this size will be highlighted in the work area. When you select the Automatic checkbox, the project size is set automatically based on the size of the images used.

The Global Palette area contains the number of colors in the global palette and allows you to set the background color of the animation. The Looping area specifies the number of times the animation will repeat. If the Infinite checkbox is not checked, then by default it is shown once (value 0).

Rice. 1.3. Window GIF Animator with image file

For each displayed animation frame, individual layer parameters are set in the Attribute toolbar. The Image title field allows you to assign a name to the selected frame. The How to remove drop-down list specifies how the frame will behave when played back. You can choose from four values:

Web Browser Decides - This value is not recommended because different browsers use different methods when playing animations;
Do Not Remove (He delete) - the image is saved and all subsequent ones are played against its background;
Then Background Color - replaces the image with the background of the Web page (if the frames partially match, a smooth transition is possible);
Then Previous State - when changing an image, the previous frame is used (when this parameter is set, a smooth transition is performed for all frames, regardless of the coincidence of the images on them).

Unfortunately, the latter option is not supported by all browsers. The Global Attribute Change button allows you to set parameters for all frames using the current frame as a template.

The X-offset and Y-offset input fields (X and Y offset) specify how far the current image is from the upper left corner of the work area. The unit of measurement is the number of pixels, which can be set manually.

The Local Palette checkbox allows you to create a local layer palette based on the global palette, allowing you to add, remove, change, and adjust image colors using the Palette toolbar.

The Interlace checkbox allows the animation to appear interlaced, but is only supported by GIF89a standard playback programs such as GIF Animator during playback.

The Transparent index checkbox allows you to set the transparency property to one of the colors. When you select the checkbox, this color must be indicated on the palette. The Wait for user input checkbox gives animation interactivity, pausing playback until a key is pressed or a mouse is clicked.

However, this feature is only supported by dedicated GIF players and some browsers. The Delay Sets input field specifies the image display time in hundredths of a second.

The default value is set in the initial Image Layer preferences. In addition to image layers, you can create Comment Layers to indicate copyright on images. Each note is given a name.

Note length must not exceed 512 characters, including spaces. At playing animation Note layers are skipped. Please note that annotation layers increase the size of the animation file.

The working area of the GIF Animator program window for setting various modes of working with animation contains several tabs, the spines of which are located above the image.

The default mode is Compose mode, which allows you to set the location of the image in the frame in relation to the animation as a whole.

Edit mode allows you to edit the contents of the image by adding and removing points, filling with color, or selecting areas, including in several layers at once, to apply various filters to them.

Optimize mode is used to determine the animation compression parameters that are optimal for posting it on the Internet.

These parameters can be set manually by clicking the Advanced button to open an additional area on the Optimize tab, or by clicking the Optimization Wizard.

Preview mode allows you to see the animation in action. To do this, use either the GIF Animator player or the Internet Explorer browser starting from version 4.

To stop viewing, just switch to another mode. Because different browsers render GIF animations differently, you can choose which browser to view.

The corresponding buttons for calling Microsoft Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator are located on the toolbar.

If you also have other browsers installed on your computer, you can set the Preview In Custom Browser button on the same panel to open an additional browser.

You can view the animation in any of the browsers by clicking on the corresponding button.

Working with a sequence of frames

First launching the GIF Animator program causes the Startup Wizard window to appear, prompting you to open an existing animation, video file or sample, create a new empty animation, or launch the Animation Wizard, which will help you create a new animation.

Selecting the Blank Animation button will open the window shown in Fig. 1.2. In turn, selecting one of the buttons in the Open area will open a standard file selection window (Fig. 1.5).

After selecting the file name, for example BANNER ANIMATION .GIF, the program window shown in Fig. 1.3.

The Startup Wizard window can be disabled by checking the Do not show this dialog box next time checkbox, then it will not be displayed the next time the program is launched.

The easiest way to add a new frame to an open animation is to drag the desired image file from a Windows Explorer window or Windows folder window directly into the work area or into the Layer panel list.

Another way is to select the command Layer > Add Images (Layer > Add a picture) or click on the button of the same name on the toolbar, which opens the Add Images window, where you can select the desired files.

Rice. 1.5. Window for selecting an existing GIF file

Rice. 1.6. Window for selecting image files for new frames

GIF Animator Supports import of more than 30 common graphic file formats, such as GIF, JPEG, PCX, PSD, PCT, PNG, TGA, EPS, IFF, IMG, MAC, MSP, PCD and BMP.

Using the Windows clipboard, you can paste new frames with images in a format not supported by GIF Animator. To do this, open an application that works with the required file format and upload an image to it. Use the Edit > Copy command to place the selected image on the clipboard. Then go to GIF Animator and use the Edit > Paste Image command to insert it as a new frame. Similarly, using the clipboard, you can duplicate existing animation frames, adding them to the desired positions in the Layer panel.

Ulead GIF Animator provides broad support for various video formats: direct import and conversion of AVI files, AutoDesk animation files with extensions (FLI, FLC, FLX), Quick Time Movie files (QT, MOV).

The Layer > Add Video command opens a window of the same name in which you can specify the source file, view it and get full information about the imported file by clicking on the Info button, which opens the video file properties window .

When importing, you can select a section of the video sequence and set the starting and ending frames.

To do this, click on the Duration button to open the window of the same name (Fig. 1.8), in which you can view the file frame-by-frame or specify the frame numbers of the selected video sequence.

Buttons below the viewing window allow you to move from one frame to another and mark the selected area.

Rice. 1.8. Duration window for selecting a group of frames of a video file

Selecting the Animation Wizard button in the Startup Wizard window or the File > Animation Wizard command launches the Animation Wizard, in which you enter the information necessary to create it in three successive windows.

In the first window, using the Add Image and Add Video buttons, you can add files containing pictures or video sequences to the animation.

The second window indicates the type of source, containing text and graphics or a photographic image, which determines the need for smoothing transitions to convey color shades.

In the third window, the number of frames per second and, accordingly, the delay time in hundredths of a second are set. The result of the Wizard's work will be the creation of animation from a sequence of frames with local palettes for each of them.

To frame image was always visible in the work area, you should check the box next to its name in the Layer panel. Marked frames are displayed simultaneously only in edit mode, which does not affect the animation playback of the created GIF file.

Select several frames in the panel. Layer panel can also be done using the mouse without checking the boxes. In this case, you should use the Shift key to select a group of consecutive frames or the Ctrl key to select non-adjacent frames in any order.

Marking or selecting multiple frames allows you to manipulate them simultaneously by changing their settings in the Attributes toolbar.

To remove a frame from an animation, simply select it in the Layer panel and press the Del key or select the Edit > Delete command.

Frames can be shifted relative to each other. The easiest way to place an image in the desired position on the workspace is to use the mouse to move it in Compose mode.

You can also use the keyboard to change the position of the image: the left/right arrows move the image along the X axis, and down/up - along the Y axis. You can precisely set the position of the object by numerically setting the shift parameters in the X-offset and Y-offset fields (shift by X and?).

You can add a comment layer by selecting the Layer > Add Comment command or by clicking on the toolbar button of the same name. The title and content of the comment are entered in the appropriate fields of the Attribute toolbar.

The color palette of the selected frame is displayed in the Palette toolbar. If a color on the palette is crossed out, this means that it is not used in the selected frame.

When you select the first frame of the animation, labeled Global information, the Global Palette colors are displayed in the palette.

To add new colors to the palette, click on the Add Color button on the Palette toolbar and in the window that opens, set the number of color shades to add.

After clicking the OK button, the palette displays an additional specified number of cells. By sequentially selecting them and clicking on the Replace Color button of the Palette toolbar, you set new colors by selecting them in the Color window that opens.

To remove a color from a palette, display the global or local palette in the Palette toolbar and select the cell or group of cells containing the color to be deleted. Clicking the Delete Color button in the palettes panel will delete the selected cells (colors).

Editing Animation Frames

The Editor mode workspace allows you to edit frames directly in GIF Animator. For this purpose, use a set of tools, such as Paint (Brush), Rectangle (Rectangle), Fill Tools (Fill), etc.

With their help, you can not only change the color of individual pixels or areas of the image, but also draw new elements in it.

If you use animations from the Internet that have already been optimized, you may not be able to edit their frames.

In this case, you should use the Edit > Regenerate Frames command, which allows you to restore images in frames for subsequent editing in Editor mode or in a third-party application.

You can copy one or more existing frames using the Edit > Duplicate command, which opens the dialog box of the same name.

To do this, frames are first selected in the Layer panel and in the Duplicate window, the number of copies that need to be created is specified.

The Horizontal shifting field specifies the horizontal shift for new images, with negative values representing a shift to the left and positive values representing a shift to the right of the original image.

For vertical shift, use the Vertical shifting field, in which negative values cause a shift up, and positive values cause a shift down from the original frame location.

If the original frame image now has coordinates (0, 0), then only positive values can be entered. This command allows you to create the effect of moving an object in a simple way.

Rice. 1.9. Selecting a new frame size

If the animation frames differ only in a small area, then you can reduce the file size, leaving only this area in subsequent frames. In this case, the result of the animation will be the same. To reduce the frame size, you should use the Edit > Crop command or the button of the same name on the Edit tab of the workspace, which opens the Crop window (Fig. 1.9). Using the mouse, the crop frame is resized and placed in the appropriate location. To replace the original frame with a cropped one, check the Replace original image layer checkbox.

The Apply to selected image layers only switch in the lower right corner allows you to resize only the selected frames, and the Apply to all image layers switch allows you to resize all animation frames at once. Clicking the OK button will close the Crop window and the dimensions of the specified frames will change.

In Edit mode, you can resize one or more frames if they are too large in size, which often happens when importing video files. For this purpose, use the Edit > Resample command or the button of the same name on the Edit tab of the workspace, which opens the Resample dialog box. You must first select the required frames in the Layer panel.

Holding down the Shift key selects a group of consecutive frames, and holding down the Ctrl key selects non-adjacent frames in any order. The Resample window specifies how the dimensions should be changed.

Rice. 1.10. New frame size selection window

The Resample quality switch controls the quality of the new image and allows you to set the following values:

Normal - provides average quality, preserving the original colors of the image without converting them;
Fine - Uses settings for higher image quality, but may cause unwanted changes to the image due to the conversion of individual colors;
Super-fine - Provides the highest quality, but transforms most of the colors in the image, changing it from the original. Checking the Keep relative position checkbox keeps the position of the frame on the logical workspace screen relative to the upper right corner of the screen. Please note that it is possible to blur the image at the edges to achieve higher quality.

For combining two or more frames into one you can use the command Layer > Merge Images, which brings up the dialog box of the same name. First, in the Layer panel, you should select the frames to be combined.

In this case, the frame that will serve as the background should go first, and the frame that will be in the foreground should follow directly after it. Checking the Replace original image layers checkbox allows you to replace the selected frames with a merged one. This command allows you to create effects of background movement in relation to the object or simply reduce the number of animation frames.

GIF Animator offers an easy way to combine multiple frames with a common background. However, layers must be transparent to use this feature. Using the command Layer > Background Merge (Layer > Merge with background) a window of the same name opens, in which the background frame is indicated and the frames to be merged with it are marked.

Clicking the OK button performs the merge, replacing all frames with new ones. Merging several animations into one is performed by the command Layer > Merge Animations (Layer > Merge Animations), which opens the dialog box of the same name.

Rice. 1.11. Merging frames from two animations

Rice. 1.12. Window for setting shift parameters for the move effect

The Background drop-down list specifies the starting layer for the inserted animation. The Browse button in the Imported image file line allows you to specify the location of the inserted GIF file. In the preview window, the first frame of the inserted file appears in the upper left corner against the background of the existing animation frame. By setting the X-offset and Y-offset parameters, you can specify the exact position for the new image. In the Frames area, select the number of animation frames:

Use current - indicates the number of frames of the existing animation starting from the selected frame;
Use imported - indicates the number of frames of the imported file;
Custom - Allows the user to set the number of frames for the animation.

If you specify a number of frames greater than the number of frames in the animation, the animation will repeat as many times as necessary to reach the specified number. Clicking the OK button will complete the merge.

To quickly create the effect of object movement, use the Layer > Moving Sprite command, which opens the dialog box of the same name. In this window, a group of frames is selected, which are a set of copies of one object, and the object will be shifted relative to the first frame.

Into the fields X-offset and Y-offset (shift along X and Y) shift values are entered, which for each frame are measured relative to the previous one and correspond to all selected frames except the first. In order for the animation to run correctly, after clicking on the OK button and closing the Moving Sprite window, you must set the method of changing them for all selected frames (How to remove) to the background color.

Saving Animation

There are several ways to save an animation. The most obvious way is to create a GIF file, but you should consider optimization options. In addition, the animation can be saved as an executable file, which does not require a player program, or in one of the video formats.

To save the animation as a GIF file, select File > Save if you have saved the file previously, or File > Save As, which opens the Save As dialog box. In this case, you can give the file a new name. If you want to reduce the file size, use the File > Optimization Wizard command, which launches the Optimization Wizard.

GIF Animator also allows you to export part of the animation frames to create a new animated GIF file or a group of individual GIF files containing one frame each. To do this, select the File > Export Image Layers command, which opens the Export Images window, in which the exported frames are selected (Fig. 1.13).

Rice. 1.13. Selecting exported frames

At the bottom of the window, select the desired switch value: As a single file - for an animated GIF file or As a sequence of files - for separate files. Clicking the OK button opens a window for specifying the file name. When exporting frames to separate files, they are given names with sequential numbering, for example, if you set the name SUN, the files will be named SUN.GIF, SUN001.GIF, SUN002.GIF, etc. in the order of their location in the source animation.

The results of the work can be saved not only as an animated GIF file, but also in other formats. The File > Export menu command opens a submenu that allows you to select a video file, HTML document, Active Desktop object, or Animated Package executable file format. In the latter case, you can use the created animation to send a virtual postcard or view the animation on a computer screen without the help of special programs.

At saving animation V video file format You can get higher quality with more frames per second. To create a video file, select the command File > Export > As Video File(File > Export > As Video File) opens the Save Video File window, where you can enter a file name, select a file type, and specify a short description and subject.

Rice. 1.14. Selecting parameters for the saved video file

In the Save Video File window, the Options button opens the Video Save Options dialog box, where you can set the parameters of the file to be saved, select the storage device speed, codec, and compression characteristics. Depending on these parameters, the new file may be smaller or larger in size than the original one, have a different animation speed, and may be optimized for playback on specific hardware. type.

Rice. 1.15. Selecting hyperlink options for a Web page

At creating a video file The number of frames is calculated by dividing 100 by the average latency. In this case, the maximum number of frames per second should not exceed 30. The image uses 24 bits per pixel (True Color) with frame sizes determined by the size of the logical screen. For example, if the average delay time in an animation is 45, then the number of frames per second will be 2.2.

GIF Animator makes it easy to create HTML code for a GIF file, which can then be placed on the appropriate Web page. This requires that the GIF file be in the same folder as the Web page. The first step in creating HTML code is to select the File > Export > As HTML Code command, which creates a file with the code text. Then the Edit > Copy HTML command is executed, sending the generated code to the clipboard. Now all that remains is to go to the HTML editor and paste the line of code into the appropriate place on the page using the Edit > Paste command.

The GIF you insert can contain a hyperlink to a specified URL. To create a hyperlink at the same time as inserting it into a Web page, you must first define the following parameters. Using the command File > Preferences (File > Settings), open the window of the same name and activate the HTML tab. On the tab, check the box Add URL when copying HTML code option(Add URL when copying HTML code).

Select the desired switch value: Prompt dialog box to enter a link manually each time you execute the Edit > Copy HTML command, or Custom default, which allows you to set one permanent link for all inserted files (Fig. 1.15). Additionally, you can highlight the link with a frame by checking the Border checkbox and selecting the desired alternative text option.

There are three main ways to significantly reduce the size of an animated GIF file: reducing the color palette, reducing the number of frames (layers), and optimizing individual animation frames. It should be remembered that the main goal is to obtain high-quality animation for a Web page, and not a minimum file size. Therefore, a compromise should be sought between animation quality and file size for fast transfer over the network.

The best way to reduce the color palette is to use the Global Palette to set the color of individual frames. If some frames differ slightly in color, then there is no need to create a Local Palette for them, but use the General tab of the Preferences window to add these colors to the Global Palette.

For frames that have significant differences in color, create their own local palettes Local Palette, but remove from them colors that are common to the Global Palette. Reduced palettes can contain 16, 32, 64 and 128 colors. Another way to reduce file size is to remove individual frames that are not necessary, unless this causes the animation to become significantly distorted when played back.

You should also pay attention to the frame size. If animated object occupies a small part of the window, there is no need to save frames for it of the same size as the static background. Therefore, frames with an object can be set to a smaller size by specifying its position on the logical screen, which will significantly reduce the overall size of the GIF file.

Rice. 1.16. Setting Optimize mode parameters

The most effective way to reduce file size is optimization in Optimize mode (Fig. 1.16).

There are three main steps to optimizing a GIF animation:

Removing redundant colors from the palette that are not used in images, appear only once, or are close to frequently used palette colors.
Modify the Global Palette by adding local palette colors to it, which will reduce the number of local palettes used. If the number of Global Palette colors has reached the maximum, then local palettes are optimized, reducing the number of colors in them to the minimum possible.
Removing duplicate parts of images in frames. Unchanged portions of frames, or pixels, are removed in subsequent frames, reducing the overall animation file size.

Rice. 1.17. First Optimization Wizard window

Rice. 1.18. Second Optimization Wizard Window

Rice. 1.19. Third window of the Optimization Wizard

Clicking the Wizard button or selecting the File > Optimization Wizard command brings up the Optimization Wizard, which provides a dialog for selecting optimization parameters (Figures 1.17-1.19). Once the optimization process is complete, a dialog box opens with information about the file size before and after optimization, allowing you to replace the animation file with the optimized one or save it under a new name. When optimizing, the following parameters are set:

Palette merging - allows you to create a common palette containing most of the colors used in images, replacing similar colors in individual frames, while local palettes for reproducing very different colors in frames are not saved;
Dithering - selected to smooth out color transitions when using the Global Optimized Palette, which allows you to create an imitation of intermediate shades of color that are not included in the palette (not recommended for images containing text);
Quick optimization - allows you to quickly reduce the size of the animation file by calling up previously selected and saved optimization parameters from the first window of the Optimization Wizard.

Not all browsers display GIF animations the same way, so GIF Animator issues a warning if the animation contains parameters that might cause problems when playing it. The main parameters affecting compatibility are:

Interlace - The animation contains interlaced frames, which may cause problems for some browsers.
Local Palettes - Having a local palette increases the file size from 12 bytes (4 colors) to 768 bytes (256 colors), so if each frame contains a local palette, the file size can be significant;
Then previous state - this method of changing frames is not supported by all browsers, so problems may arise when playing in such browsers;
Wait for user input - This option is supported by a small number of GIF viewers;
2 or more comment blocks (2 or more comments) - since layers of comments are optional, reducing the file size can be achieved by removing them and placing all comments in one layer.

Rice. 1.20. Compatibility Warning

Special effects

The Video F/X menu commands make it easy to add various effects to your animation, but be aware that using them also increases the size of the GIF file.

To add headings with scrolling text, you can use the command Layer\u003e Add Banner Text\u003e Simple (Layer\u003e Add heading\u003e Simple),

Adds additional frames to the animation and places them at a given screen position.

The command opens the Add Simple Banner window, which provides tools for formatting the font, choosing frames, and scrolling direction of the text.

In the Banner text field, enter a line of text that will be placed in the animation. The Merge with background image checkbox allows you to merge text with a background image.

On the Rolling Control tab, you set the direction and speed of scrolling, as well as the quality of the animation. By checking the Optimized frame size checkbox, you can reduce the file size by reducing the frame size to the banner size.

On the Border Style tab, you can set the thickness and color of the border, and also add a shadow to it. The Start Preview button of this window allows you to see the result in the sample area, which also serves to select the position of the banner on the logical screen.

Rice. 1.21.Window for setting parameters Add Simple Banner

Command Layer>Add Banner Text>Neon (Layer>Add title>
Neon) allows you to add radiation to the text.

Rice. 1.22. Selecting color options in the Add Banner Text window

Rice. 1 .23. Add Banner Text Window

Rice. 1.24. Selecting effects in the Add Banner Text window

In the Add Neon Banner window, in addition to the previously discussed tabs, the Neon Options tab is added, on which parameters for changing the color and size of the radiation are set.

If the banner you are creating has a colored background, which is subsequently marked as transparent, then for the animation to play correctly, you should also set the frame change parameter to previous state. However, this option is not supported by all browsers.

Applying a gradient effect allows you to change the color of the banner during the animation. To create this effect, the command Layer > Add Banner Text Gradient opens the Add Gradient Banner window, which contains a set of tabs for creating a banner, including specifying the color mode and how to change it. Among the options presented, you can also specify a color change from the center of the text to its edges.

Application ticker effect allows you to specify multiple lines of text that appear alternately during the animation. To do this, the command Layer > Add Banner Text > Marquee opens the Add Marquee Text window, which specifies how many lines of text should be used.

You can add new lines and their text using the Add button, and remove unnecessary lines using the Remove button. You can set individual parameters for each row, including alignment, color, and shadow. The Banner Settings button allows you to set the delay between frames and the direction of text movement, as well as the banner frame options.

You can apply a set of animation effects to text. Similar to the ticker effect, the banner in this case can consist of several lines of text with varying delays in their appearance. To do this, the command Layer > Add Banner Text > Animation opens the Add Animation Text window, which specifies how many lines of text to use. On the additional Effects tab, you can use drop-down lists to select how text appears and disappears on the screen.

Rice. 1.25.Ulead Color Picker Window

Color animation of a frame allows you to use a set of colors included in the palette (from 2 to 32). A separate frame is created for each animated color. This effect is most noticeable for images containing a small number of colors. To create a color animation, select the command Layer > Add Color Animation (Layer > Add color animation), which opens the window of the same name.

On the palette presented in the window, you need to mark the group of desired colors, for which you use the Shift keys for colors located sequentially and Ctrl for randomly located colors. You then use your mouse to place the colors in the Animation order area in the desired order. Checking the Reverse animation order checkbox allows you to reverse this order.

To remove a color from a sequence, simply drag it with the mouse from the Animation order area. It should be noted that applying this effect to 256-color images does not produce a noticeable result.

Rice. 1.26. Add Effect window

GIF Animator also contains a special effect, which creates the illusion of a rotating cube. The command Layer > Add Effect opens a dialog box of the same name, in which you can specify two frames and a method for creating the illusion of a rotating cube, replacing one image with another in the selected direction (Direction drop-down list) and with a specified delay (Delay time field ).

The Perspective and Contrast options allow you to enhance the effect. Selecting a background frame from the Source image list allows you to create the effect of converting the background into an image. For the opposite effect, the background frame should be specified in the Destination image list.

Rice. 1.27.Tween window Frame tab

Selecting the command Layer > Add Scrolling (Layer > Add scrolling) opens a window of the same name, in which the parameters of the image scrolling effect are defined, for which several additional frames are created. Checking the Use background checkbox allows you to select a frame that will serve as the background when scrolling.

The Effects drop-down list sets the scrolling method, and the Frames and Delay time fields set the number of frames and the delay between them. The Use background checkbox determines how to change newly created frames: when the checkbox is checked, the Do Not Remove value is selected, and otherwise, the Background Color value is selected.

Rice. 1.28. Tween window Objects tab

Transition effects allow you to create multiple new frames to simulate the transition from one image to another. You can add transition effects using the command Layer > Add Simple Transition (Layer > Simple Transition), which opens the window of the same name.

In the Transition area, select a transition option from the drop-down list, specify the number of frames in the Quality (frames) field and set the transition duration in the Transition length field (with a shorter transition time, a small number of frames are created, which degrades the quality of the effect, but slightly increases the file size ).

In the Select Transition image area, the Source image and Destination image drop-down lists specify the source and destination images, and when you select Matte, the image appears or disappears into a black background, the size of which is specified in the Matte dimensions fields.

Rice. 1.29. Window for selecting and setting parameters for video transition effects

A large number of transition effects are also represented by the first group of commands in the Video F/X menu. When you select one of them, the Add Effects window opens, in which you can not only set the necessary transition parameters, but also preview the effect, and, if necessary, change the effect to another using the Effects drop-down list.

The second group of commands in the Video F/X menu contains various video filters that can be applied to the image in the frame. When you select one of these commands, two dialog boxes open in turn. In the first window, Add Image Filter Effect, you set the number of intermediate frames to implement the filter, and in the second window, individual for each filter, control parameters are set.

The adjustment sliders are used to select key frames between which the filter is applied. The top group of buttons is used to manage key frames, and the bottom group is used to preview the result. For images that contain a transparent area that is treated as a mask, filters are applied only to the opaque part of the image.

To expand the capabilities of GIF Animator, you can connect 32-bit plug-ins designed for Adobe Photoshop, which implement additional filters. To add a new plug-ins, select File > Preferences and on the Plug-in Filters tab, specify the location of the plug-ins file.

To use it further, you need to restart GIF Animator. New filters can then be applied to individual frames of the animation.

Rice. 1.30. Window for selecting mirror filter parameters

Custom Settings

At copying an image to GIF Animator a set of default parameters is specified for it from an external program. Users can set their own values for these initial parameters by selecting File > Preferences, which opens a dialog box of the same name with a set of tabs.

Rice. 1.31. General tab of the Preferences window

On the first tab, General (Fig. 1.31), the following parameters are set:

in the Default Global Palette area, you define how the global palette is built when creating a new animation:
- Use the palette of the first image layer - selects the original palette of the first image imported into GIF Animator, indicating the maximum number of saved colors (from 16 to 256);
- Select a predefined palette - selects one of the existing palettes in GIF Animator, including a safe palette with 216 colors;
- Use a custom palette file - selects one of the palettes previously created by the user, saved in a special file with the PAL extension;
The Automatically expand Global Palette checkbox specifies the mode of adding to the Global Palette colors that are not in it, but contained in the newly inserted image. In this case, you should specify the maximum number of colors to add. Once the Global Palette reaches a total size of 256 colors, new colors cannot be added to it;
The Enable Startup Wizard checkbox specifies that the Wizard window appears every time you start GIF Animator programs.

Rice. 1.32.Image Layer tab of the Preferences window

On the Image Layer tab (Fig. 1.32) you set the parameters assigned by default to each newly inserted image:

Selecting the Interlaced check box causes the image to be interlaced, which is supported by GIF viewers but not supported by most Internet browsers.
Checkbox Play interlace when previewed(Interlace in Preview) allows you to set whether to display interlace in preview mode using GIF Animator (does not affect browser viewing).
The Delay time input field determines the default frame exposure time in the animation (can be changed for each frame by setting the parameter in the Attribute toolbar).
The Specify by frame rate input field specifies the frame rate, which is uniquely related to the exposure time.
The How to remove drop-down list determines the default way to remove frames, although this can be changed for any frame by selecting this option in the Attribute toolbar.
The Palette conversion area specifies the way GIF Animator adapts different color palettes to 256 colors.
The Importance drop-down list specifies the color channel that determines the expressive means of the image (this color channel will be given preference).
The Dither checkbox specifies the ability to reproduce colors that are missing in both the Global Palette and the converted Local Palette by optically mixing the colors of these palettes.
The Palette drop-down list specifies the palette type for animation frames.
Selecting the Show Preview Image checkbox allows you to open the Preview Image window when importing new images, which allows you to choose how to convert the colors of that image to a 256-color palette.

Rice. 1.33. Optimize tab of the Preferences window

On the Optimize tab (Fig. 1.33) you set the parameters used when GIF file optimization:

The Preset manager area lists previously saved options, and the user can arrange them as desired. The Set selection as default button allows you to set one of them as the default selection (its name will appear in the line below the button). Checkbox Use settings on Optimize tab as default(Use these settings by default) makes it possible, without saving the settings in the list, to use them for subsequent optimization of animated files.
In area Default GIF optimization engine(GIF Optimization Method) Select the method used to optimize the image. Median Cut is selected for low-quality files and for creating smaller files while leaving small areas of color in the image that are significantly different from the rest of the image. Minimum Variance is selected for higher quality files, resulting in larger files than the previous setting.
Checkbox Check if the current document is already optimized(Check optimization progress) is set to check the optimization progress of the current animation file.

Rice. 1 .34. Advanced tab of the Edit window

The Advanced tab (Fig. 1.34) also sets various parameters used as when optimizing a GIF file and when editing it:

Checkbox Run Optimization Wizard when saving file(Run Wizard when saving file) specifies whether to run the Optimization Wizard every time you save a GIF file. When you check it, another checkbox becomes available, Optimize with the settings specified on the Optimize tab(Optimize with parameters on the Optimize tab), which allows you not to launch the Optimization Wizard, but to save a GIF file with the parameters specified during the last optimization.
Checkbox Check animation compatibility when saving file(Check Animation Compatibility) tells GIF Animator to check whether the animation contains properties that are not supported by all browsers (for example, frame transition method To previous state), or has multiple layers of comments.
The Levels of undo field determines the number of undoes in the current edit mode (maximum value 200).
The Number of onion skin layers field specifies the number of frames that will be displayed when working in Onion Skin mode.
Field Transparency of onion skin layers(Layer Transparency in Onion Skin Mode) sets the transparency value of the frame image in Onion Skin mode.

On the Personal tab there is a checkbox Add personal comment block when saving oroptimizing(Add Personal Comment) to automatically add a personal comment to each animation you save or optimize. The comment text is entered in the Content field and cannot be longer than 512 characters. After adding a personal comment layer, a new animation file can only be saved using the File > Save As command.

Workshop

It will be shown here how to create animation using sequence of files with phases of object movement, And how to convert a video file into an animation for a web page, selecting individual frames from it.

Creating an animation from a sequence of files:

Rice. 1.35. Animation from multiple images

Launch Ulead GIF Animator and in the Startup Wizard window, select Blank animation.
By selecting the command Layer > Add Images (Layer > Add Images) or by clicking on the button of the same name on the standard toolbar, we open a window in which you can select several files at once. Clicking the Open button in the Add Images window will display them in alphabetical order in the Frames panel.
The order of frames can be changed using the Move Layer Up and Move Layer Down buttons or the Layer menu commands of the same name. It's even easier to set the desired order of frames by dragging their files from the Windows Explorer window onto the work area of the GIF Animator window.
Go to the Preview tab to view the animation, and then return to the Compose tab.
By selecting the command Layer > Add Comments (Layer > Add Comment) or by clicking on the button of the same name on the standard toolbar, we add a comment layer containing explanations for the animation.
Go to the Optimize tab and select the GIF Optimized 32 value from the Preset drop-down list. Click on the Optimize Now button to optimize the file. Using the File > Save command or by clicking on the button of the same name, we save the optimized animation in the desired folder.

Creating an animation from a video file

Launch Ulead GIF Animator and in the Startup Wizard window select Open an existing video file. In the program window, when selecting a video file, you can use the Browse button to view the contents of the folders
For the selected file in the Add video window, the Subject and Description fields provide brief information about the file.
Click on the Duration button to open the window of the same name. By clicking on the buttons for sequential viewing of frames, we find the initial one and mark it using the Mark-In button. Continuing viewing, we find the final frame and mark it by clicking on the Mark-Out button. Clicking the OK button returns you to the Add video window. (If you are inserting an entire video file, you do not need to open the Duration window.)
In the Add video window, click on the Open button, and all selected frames of the video file are sequentially located in the frames panel.
Using GIF Animator tools, we add titles and effects to the animation.
To save the result in AVI file format, select the command File > Export > As Video File(File > Export > As video file) and specify the file name and the folder in which it will be placed. In the same window, you can enter information in the Subject and Description fields. Clicking the Save button saves the file.

I promised you that I would tell you how this process can be done in the Easy Gif Animator program. I keep my promise.

Today we will look at the basic principles of working in it, having understood which, we will then be able to create anything we want to suit our needs.

I don't dwell on the installation issue. It's standard.
You can download a trial or purchase a licensed version at official website

Although, if you wish, you can find a portable and Russified version, which will make your life much easier (I have just this option). Or download the trial version and use it fully during the trial period!

Easy Gif Animator will help you create:
- animated banners,
- animated buttons,
— different types of simple and complex animations.

For work, you can use images in gif, jpg, jpeg, png, iso, bmp formats, and receive output images in gif, avi, flash formats.

The program allows you to:
create “animation from scratch” or using the Wizard;
edit frames during work;
edit previously created or ready-made gifs;
apply a variety of effects for text and images;
preview the result of your work in your browser;
change the size of the animation, export all or only individual frames from it, and also make the necessary parts transparent;
add music when saving in flash format;
generate HTML code for publication on the Internet.

2- Easy Gif Animator interface.

Open the program. A launch window will appear in front of you (picture 1).

Consider carefully what creative opportunities you have.

Carefully go through the top context menu and look at the side toolbar on the left to understand what functions you can use in a particular case.

I won't go into detail on this issue because:
- firstly, everything is very clear there,
- secondly, for a successful creative process this independent “tour” of the menu is simply necessary.

If you have the English version, then here are small explanations (translations) of the main terms:

explanations

File – file, Edit – editing, Frame – frame, Select – selection, Animation – animation, Tools – tools, Help – help.
Easy Wizards are simple wizards (literally), and in our case this is the name of the Program Wizard, which helps you, like a real wizard, create animations easily and simply!
Accordingly: New Banner Wizard – Wizard for creating a new banner, New Button Wizard – Wizard for creating a new button.
Create New Animation - create a new animation, Create Animated Banner - create an animated banner, Create Animated Button - create an animated button.

In the editing and viewing window (pictures 2 and 3), there is a frame window on the left, where you can see all the created frames. In the center is the editing window, where you will see all the changes (you can use buttons 3 to view an already created or previously completed work.

Thanks to "Animation Properties" tab(Animation properties) (picture 2 (2)) you can:
— set its type: constant or with a certain number of repetitions (2).
- choose the background color,
— change the size of the work and add a comment to it.

By checking the box next to the function "Do not combine the palette"(do not merge palette), you will enhance the colors of an animation in which each frame contains a different image.

On the Frame Properties tab(Properties of the frame) (picture 3(4)) the time of each frame is selected, and a comment is added to the image if necessary. It also provides the ability to set the transparency (5) of selected image areas.

When you press the button "Set transparency"(To set the transparency) Using the eyedropper tool, select the color that we want to replace with transparent. This way you can remove, for example, a plain background around the image.

3- Basic algorithms for Easy Gif Animator.

In order to begin the process of creating animation, you need to know the simplest algorithms, after studying which you will subsequently produce easily and simply animated pictures, banners or buttons of any kind.

I will tell you and show you with examples how to work with frames: create them, edit them, add animation effects to them, how to make animated text, and also how to save the animation you have made in different formats.

3.1 Initial program setup

Select the bookmark in the top menu Tools and select the tab from the drop-down menu Settings(Options). And in the window that opens "Options"(picture 4) in each tab we select the settings we need.

In the tab View(View) I would advise you to remove both checkboxes so that the Show Welcome Screen does not appear every time and so that you can create animation from scratch, because by default the creation function is set using Masters(Use(Anination Wizard when Creating New Animation)). After unchecking the boxes, be sure to click OK to save this setting.

In the tab Animation(Animation) you can choose the main type of animation: constant (Repead forever) or periodic. We choose - always repeat.

Tab Export(Export) I left unchanged because, to be honest, I didn’t understand what the halftone modes were for and how to choose between them. If you know, please share with everyone in the comments!

In the tab Tools(Tools) you need to specify the path to launch the program that you want to use by default to edit frames of your animation.
I did not specify the path, and as a result, when editing the frame, the standard Paint program opens.

The initial settings can always be changed during work in the “Animation Properties” and “Frame Properties” fields (see pictures 2(2) and 3(4)).

3.2 Working with frames in the program

A) Creating a frame (frame) .
In order to create a new frame, you need to click on button 6 or button 7 (picture 5).

In the first case, you will be able to create a frame from an image that you select on your computer. You can load several images at the same time by holding down the Shift key. In this case, each of them will be created as a separate frame.

In the second case, an empty frame will open in which you can then draw whatever you want using the editing function and the default editing or drawing program! This option is suitable for creating simple buttons and banners from scratch, as well as for creating individual original works.
And although I personally don’t use this function, because I’m used to creating pictures and collages in Photoshop, you might find it useful!

Initially, you will be asked to select the image size and background color. Select these options and click OK.
You can create any number of different frames in this way.

All the frames you create will be shown on the left side of the frame window. They can then be moved up and down using tools 8 (arrows) and swapped.

B) Editing and viewing.
First, select the desired frame in the animation frames window. Then, for editing, you can use Toolbar 9 or by clicking on button 10 (change frame) and go to editing in the program of your choice.

Any frame can be deleted by selecting it and pressing button 11 (picture 5).

In addition, during the editing process, you can in the tab "Frame Properties" set the duration of the frame, add a comment to it, and also use the button "Set transparency"(picture 5).

To change the frame size, use the tab "Animation Properties" by selecting the button "Resize".

To edit downloaded images and text, the program provides Selection tool(main top menu).
With it you can:
Make any color image black and white (“Shades of Gray”);
Invert the image (item “Invert”);
Flip horizontally and vertically.
Add shadow.

In addition, as in any other editor, frames can be copied, cut, pasted using the top menu tab "Edit".

In the window box "View" you will be able to see the edited frame.

B) Add text.
In order to add text to a frame, you need to click on button 12 (picture 5) and in the window that appears, print the desired text, having previously selected its parameters (font, size, color, design).

D) Export frames
At any time during the creation of an animation, you can save any frame or group of frames to your computer as separate images in gif format.

To do this, select the required files by left-clicking on them (if there are a lot of frames, then hold down the Shift key on your keyboard while selecting) and then select from the menu "Frame" / "Export selected frames".

3.3 Saving animation.

And save your work in avi or flash.

Here, perhaps, about all the main algorithms. How to send a picture by mail, how to view it in a browser, how to get the html code, etc., I’m sure you’ll figure it out yourself!

3.4 Creating animation effects

A) For images.

To create an animation effect for any image you upload, you need to:
1. Select the desired frame by clicking on it with the left mouse button (picture 8).
2. Press button 13 (create the effect to the image).
3. The “Create transition effect” window will open (picture 9), in which we select the effect we need.
For each effect, the Program offers to set its own parameters.
To immediately see what we get when choosing a particular effect and its parameters, put a checkmark in the lower left corner next to “Show” (picture 9).
4. When you are satisfied with everything in the created effect, click OK and go to the viewing window (picture 10).
5. Save the animation.

Look what I got. In the first case, I used the “Zoom” effect, and in the second, I added the “Rotate” effect to it.

B) Creation of text animation effects.

To create text effects, proceed as follows:
1. A new frame (empty or image) is created. For example, I’ll take an image as a frame. See picture 11.
2. Press button 14 "Create Animated Text"— “Create animated text.”
3. In the window that opens "Create Text Effect"/ “Create text effect” enter the text and set the parameters you need for the animation (picture 12). Experiment by checking the box next to the inscription "Show", and you will see what you can do in each specific case.
4. If the text needs to be moved, click on the button "Change text position"/ “To change position text” and in the dialog box that opens, use the arrows to move it to the location you need. As you can see, I moved “Hello” from the center down (picture 13)
5. If you are satisfied with everything, feel free to click OK and save your masterpiece!

Here's what I got.

Experiment by creating simple animations and gradually moving on to more complex ones!

And I say goodbye to you for today.

Everything that I told you about in this lesson mainly concerns creating animation “from scratch,” although this knowledge, I’m sure, will be useful to you when working with the Program Wizard if you want to improve or change what this very Wizard will help you create!

Next time we will continue the conversation about Easy Gif Animator and, using specific examples, we will look directly at the process of creating animated images, banners and buttons using the Wizard, in which we will apply all the knowledge acquired in this lesson.

Help the site

Did you like the site? Did you find the lessons useful? You can support the project simply by downloading and installing the Flashlight application for Android. The application was written by the author of the site and hopes to publish his own applications in the future. The flashlight controls the phone's camera flash LED and also turns on the screen backlight at full brightness.

Advantages: flexible settings. You can set in the settings so that the flashlight turns on immediately when you start the application and the timer automatically turns on when the application starts. Settings allows you to disable screen lock and flashlight lock with the phone's power button. You can also set the timer yourself.

If the application gains popularity, this will give the author an incentive to create new applications taking into account the wishes of site visitors.

Thanks in advance, Dmitry.

QR code for installation:

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