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Gif Construction Set

Now that you have drawn and saved all of your frames to your animation, it is now time to animate them. I used Gif Construction Set for this tutorial, but it was done a while ago and they may have a new version with different features/menus. If you don't have Gif Construction Set, get it here.

The INSERT Box Step OneOpen up Gif Construction Set and create a new animation (FILE ... NEW). You will see an automatic header generated for your animation. If your animation will be looping, then click on the INSERT button and select LOOP. You will need a CONTROL statement before every image in your animation, so click on INSERT ... CONTROL. The CONTROL statement tells the properties of the image that follows it. You define the delay time for that frame & transparency options in the CONTROL statement.

Step TwoNow you need to import your images into your animation. Click on INSERT ... IMAGE. A screen will come up asking you to locate the images of your animation. The first image that you import is important, because it will determine the color palette of the rest of the images. You may do a multiple-select when opening you images into the animation by using the CTRL key on your keyboard. The first image that you import, you will be asked how you want to treat the image. If every image in your animation has the same color palette, then select: "use this image as the global palette". If you frames in your animation switch colors, then it is best to select: "Dither this image to the Global Palette". The Global Palette is a default 256 color palette of the most common colors used on the net.

Step ThreeYou may or may not be prompted what to do on the second and subsequent images. If all of your images have the same palette, then you will not be asked again what to do. If your images have different colors for each frame, then another box will pop up asking you what to do with the second image. It's best to select: "Dither this image to the global palette." and then check the box at the bottom that says: " Use this selection for subsequent images". After all of your frames are loaded into the animation, goto the next step.

Step FourNow that all your images are loaded into your animation, you will need to place a CONTROL statement, before each of the images. If all of your frames will be having the same settings, then it is best to make your settings in the first CONTROL tag and the copy and paste this tag before every image.

Double-click on the CONTROL tag. You will need to set a delay time for each frame depending on how fast you want the animation to go. Set your delay to 15. If you don't plan on using a transparent background, goto step 6.

Step FiveIf you want to have a transparent color, click on the "transparent color" checkbox, and then click on the little eyedropper icon. Your picture will be displayed, so click on the part of the image that you want to be transparent. After doing this, the color will be displayed next to the eyedropper icon. If it's wrong, click on the eyedropper again, and repeat. If it's the color that you want, select the "Remove By" method. The most common is "background". Now hit Ok.

Step SixNow click on the CONTROL tab and hit CTRL+C (copy). Now click on the image below, and hit CTRL+V (paste). This will place another CONTROL tag in front of your next frame with the same properties as the first. Repeat this step for all the rest of your frames. When you are done, click on the VIEW button, to see your animation. If it looks right, then goto the next step. If not, you will have to determine what is wrong and modify the things that you have just done. This takes a little trial & error, because every animation is different.

Step SevenYou now need to define the size of the animation. Double-click on the "header" at the top of the animation. Now type in the height & width of the largest frame of your animation. (Most of the time, all of the frames will be the same size). Also, select a background color, by clicking on the colored box. Now you are done. If you want to add some comments about your animation like you name, year, and email address, just goto your last image and click on INSERT ... COMMENT. Double-click on the comment space and fill in what ever you want to. Now go up to FILE and SAVE. Load up your browser and take a look at it. WOW Animation!



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