Use the background scrolly tool in Photoshop?Basically, you want to make your background a bit bigger than the image, and for each frame contract it so it loops nicely and lines up properly.
(
Syncubus Yarr! Ye'll be walking Planck's Constant! [GMT-5],
Thu 2 Mar 2006, 4:49,
archived)
This one looks like it has a touch of flash about it.That's probably the quickest and smoothest way of doing something like that*
*bearing in mind you've removed your brain and figured out Flash.
Evil Prof. Pixel Masher I made this!,
Thu 2 Mar 2006, 4:51,
archived)
A person could probably do it in Imagereadyby doing a tween between one background and another, adding a motion blur, and then putting the contents in each frame. It could save a person's sanity by not using Flash.
( Syncubus Yarr! Ye'll be walking Planck's Constant! [GMT-5],
Thu 2 Mar 2006, 4:55,
archived)
hope soall i know is photoshop & imageready and i don't know those too well obviously, let alone using flash.
(,
Thu 2 Mar 2006, 4:57,
archived)
Aye. You could probably reproduce it in Image Ready.Flash is probably the most counter-intuative bitch out there too. And I've met some real bitches in my time :)
Evil Prof. Pixel Masher I made this!,
Thu 2 Mar 2006, 5:00,
archived)
I've played with Flash a bitI've still not gotten my head around it. Some of it makes sense, but I suspect I'm often doing it the hard way.
( Syncubus Yarr! Ye'll be walking Planck's Constant! [GMT-5],
Thu 2 Mar 2006, 5:03,
archived)
I figured it out fairly well.I even got into some action scripting. I just never found it to be intuitive.
If you thought you were doing things the hard way, you were probably on the right lines.
There are a few tricks you can use to simplify things, such as animations within animations within animations, to stop you from building one huge animation at once. It doesn't get much better than that though.
Evil Prof. Pixel Masher I made this!,
Thu 2 Mar 2006, 5:06,
archived)
That's one thing that's befuddled me about Flashand maybe it's the way I'm using it, but I'd assumed you could make an animation and then transform that animation across the screen. I've yet to find a way to do it.
Something like the above seems ideal for Flash. One pedal rotation and a transform seems like the obvious way, but it either doesn't work like that or I'm doing it wrong.
*doesn't admit to that being about 80 frames in Paintshop from back in the 'olden days'*
(Something like the above seems ideal for Flash. One pedal rotation and a transform seems like the obvious way, but it either doesn't work like that or I'm doing it wrong.
*doesn't admit to that being about 80 frames in Paintshop from back in the 'olden days'*
Syncubus Yarr! Ye'll be walking Planck's Constant! [GMT-5],
Thu 2 Mar 2006, 5:16,
archived)
Yep, you can.You set the animation in motion (such as your bike pedaling) and then you just need to set two keyframes and tween. You can have it flowing along a path too. Tweening is a bit of a bitch to get used to at first.
The tutorials really walk you through jumping through all of Flashes hoops though.
Evil Prof. Pixel Masher I made this!,
Thu 2 Mar 2006, 5:20,
archived)
I'll have to play with it more someday.Thank you.
( Syncubus Yarr! Ye'll be walking Planck's Constant! [GMT-5],
Thu 2 Mar 2006, 5:31,
archived)
He's kidding.The effect you've linked to is actually pretty tough to achieve. It was probably either made in Flash, or in photoshop CS2, which allows you to set a vanishing point (even so, it would be very work-intensive in photoshop since you'd have to make a new image for every frame that recedes, as you can't animate scaling). My advice is either to use Flash, or to opt for a simpler effect to start with, such as a looping moving background. There are lots of tutorials for those online.
(
mofaha ┐( ˘_˘)┌ ʅ(́◡◝)ʃ,
Thu 2 Mar 2006, 4:56,
archived)
looping moving backgroundsis pretty much what i'm after.. horizontal scrolly wotsit will work for now - the front to back scrolly wotsits can wait.
As much as i would love to run before i can walk :)
(,
Thu 2 Mar 2006, 5:01,
archived)
As much as i would love to run before i can walk :)
OkI'm finding it difficult to locate a tutorial right now so hold on and I'll put some instructions together...
Let's assume you want to make a horizonally scrolling looped background animation which travels from right to left:
1) Make sure the scrolling background is about two times wider than the visible image size
2) Put the background onto the bottom layer - from now on we'll call it BG
3) Cut BG down the middle vertically and swap the left and right sections around, so that what was formerly the left and right edges are now touching each other in the middle of the layer
4) Using the clone tool and merging details from the left and right sections, fix the seam in the center. It doesn't have to be perfect
5) Now copy and paste BG onto a new layer, and move the copy so that the left edge of copy is lined up with the right edge of BG
6) Merge the layers onto BG
7) You now have the option of applying some motion blur to BG. It usually helps a lot
Go to ImageReady if you're not already there
8) Now pull BG so that the right edge is at the right edge of the visible image
9) Make a new frame, and pull BG to the right until exactly the same area is visible in the image
10) Now tween frame 1 to frame 2 - just experiment with the number of frames and the frame speed until it's smooth
11) Throw the last frame away - it will be a copy of the first frame, so you don't need it
12) There's your scrolling looped background :)
(Let's assume you want to make a horizonally scrolling looped background animation which travels from right to left:
1) Make sure the scrolling background is about two times wider than the visible image size
2) Put the background onto the bottom layer - from now on we'll call it BG
3) Cut BG down the middle vertically and swap the left and right sections around, so that what was formerly the left and right edges are now touching each other in the middle of the layer
4) Using the clone tool and merging details from the left and right sections, fix the seam in the center. It doesn't have to be perfect
5) Now copy and paste BG onto a new layer, and move the copy so that the left edge of copy is lined up with the right edge of BG
6) Merge the layers onto BG
7) You now have the option of applying some motion blur to BG. It usually helps a lot
Go to ImageReady if you're not already there
8) Now pull BG so that the right edge is at the right edge of the visible image
9) Make a new frame, and pull BG to the right until exactly the same area is visible in the image
10) Now tween frame 1 to frame 2 - just experiment with the number of frames and the frame speed until it's smooth
11) Throw the last frame away - it will be a copy of the first frame, so you don't need it
12) There's your scrolling looped background :)
mofaha ┐( ˘_˘)┌ ʅ(́◡◝)ʃ,
Thu 2 Mar 2006, 5:03,
archived)
That'd be an Imageready tutorial(or anything that does tweening)
( Syncubus Yarr! Ye'll be walking Planck's Constant! [GMT-5],
Thu 2 Mar 2006, 5:19,
archived)
most excellentta muchly for that.
Currently sat at work supposedly doing stuff so i can't really try it atm.
I shall though and my results will appear here soon-ish.
(,
Thu 2 Mar 2006, 5:24,
archived)
Currently sat at work supposedly doing stuff so i can't really try it atm.
I shall though and my results will appear here soon-ish.
Here's maiden's one:www.maidenart.co.uk/scrolling-background.html
Man, I should get me some better software. I have to do shit like this by hand, frame by frame!
Rapitinui get in the cage and I'll give you a treat,
Thu 2 Mar 2006, 5:29,
archived)
yaythanks Rapitinui - much like the helpful mofaha's instructions above but with pictures.
Ty folks.. it's all much appreciated :)
(,
Thu 2 Mar 2006, 5:56,
archived)
Ty folks.. it's all much appreciated :)
He steals all my best ideas ;)haha
Although I had meant to update my tutorial to include the tweening technique at the end, as it's a much cleaner way of animating the in-between frames..
(Although I had meant to update my tutorial to include the tweening technique at the end, as it's a much cleaner way of animating the in-between frames..
maiden is filmed before a live studio audience,
Thu 2 Mar 2006, 7:14,
archived)
Here's my example of that method :)
(It's storm troopers racing on space hoppers)
Evil Prof. Pixel Masher I made this!,
Thu 2 Mar 2006, 5:42,
archived)
excellent examplesof the scrolly wotsit thingies that i was talking about :)
(,
Thu 2 Mar 2006, 5:52,
archived)
I was teasing.There's no background scrolly tool.
Picture the street you're walking down. Now use a telescope to view the same street. It's just magnified to get the perspective. Play with zoom to make it scroll.
(Picture the street you're walking down. Now use a telescope to view the same street. It's just magnified to get the perspective. Play with zoom to make it scroll.
Syncubus Yarr! Ye'll be walking Planck's Constant! [GMT-5],
Thu 2 Mar 2006, 4:59,
archived)
what?I can animate gifs in Photoshop? I've used Ulead for ages...
(
steponfrog dribblygreenstuffdriblingfrommynoes,
Thu 2 Mar 2006, 4:54,
archived)
Photoshop has Imagereadywhich is good for making animated animations.
( Syncubus Yarr! Ye'll be walking Planck's Constant! [GMT-5],
Thu 2 Mar 2006, 4:56,
archived)
Moderately good. I believe Sunshine Elephant uses Ulead, so there can't be too much wrong with it.
( mofaha ┐( ˘_˘)┌ ʅ(́◡◝)ʃ,
Thu 2 Mar 2006, 4:58,
archived)
I haveproblems compressing to a decent size, so's that the gif will be allowed on the board (without moaning)
( steponfrog dribblygreenstuffdriblingfrommynoes,
Thu 2 Mar 2006, 5:00,
archived)
Gif has a few optimizable settingsUsually the number of colo[u]rs, the amount of dithering, and the number of frames. If you click the 4-up tab in Imageready, you can compare the outputs of these and try to find one that suits your needs with the best quality. I have no idea about Ulead, since I've never used it.
( Syncubus Yarr! Ye'll be walking Planck's Constant! [GMT-5],
Thu 2 Mar 2006, 5:07,
archived)
If you're using ImageReadythere are a couple of additional tricks that sometimes make a huge difference. Not all of them work all of the time, but they're all worth trying.
If your image does NOT contain any transparency, try toggling transparency on/off
Sometimes, reducing colours by just 1 or 2 can suddenly drop 15kb from an image, so always try stepping down a few colours one at a time
Try adding a tiny amount of lossy compression - a setting of just 1 or 2 can sometimes make a huge difference to filesize without any noticable difference in quality
Obviously you can try reducing diffusion or using a different diffusion method BUT if you absolutely have to have lots of diffusion, try stepping down from 100% to 99%... odd though this is, it sometimes drops as much as 30 or 40kb
(If your image does NOT contain any transparency, try toggling transparency on/off
Sometimes, reducing colours by just 1 or 2 can suddenly drop 15kb from an image, so always try stepping down a few colours one at a time
Try adding a tiny amount of lossy compression - a setting of just 1 or 2 can sometimes make a huge difference to filesize without any noticable difference in quality
Obviously you can try reducing diffusion or using a different diffusion method BUT if you absolutely have to have lots of diffusion, try stepping down from 100% to 99%... odd though this is, it sometimes drops as much as 30 or 40kb
mofaha ┐( ˘_˘)┌ ʅ(́◡◝)ʃ,
Thu 2 Mar 2006, 5:49,
archived)
I'm not dismissing UleadI've just always used Imageready.
( Syncubus Yarr! Ye'll be walking Planck's Constant! [GMT-5],
Thu 2 Mar 2006, 5:01,
archived)
Me toountil I bit the bullet and started getting into Flash.
It's really nice to be able to tween scale, shape, and rotation.
(It's really nice to be able to tween scale, shape, and rotation.
mofaha ┐( ˘_˘)┌ ʅ(́◡◝)ʃ,
Thu 2 Mar 2006, 5:28,
archived)
What?Flash can animate gifs too?
( steponfrog dribblygreenstuffdriblingfrommynoes,
Thu 2 Mar 2006, 5:37,
archived)
Yeah.You can export from Flash to gif.
( Syncubus Yarr! Ye'll be walking Planck's Constant! [GMT-5],
Thu 2 Mar 2006, 5:40,
archived)
I likeFlash... and, in that particular suitcase of things.. I just know I'm gonna be laughed at for asking the question, and I know that I already have a good idea of the answer, but.. I bet the ActionScript doesn't make a damned difference to the final gif image? (in that if I move a circle across the page with ActionScript, the circle won't move in the gif? Am I right, or completely wrong?
( steponfrog dribblygreenstuffdriblingfrommynoes,
Thu 2 Mar 2006, 5:46,
archived)
Anything visual will carry across to the gif just fine.Obviously all interactivity will be lost such as roll overs or buttons, but anything moving (such as your circle across a page) will be exported just fine.
Evil Prof. Pixel Masher I made this!,
Thu 2 Mar 2006, 5:51,
archived)
Hmmthe problem with scripted animation in Flash is that it usually takes place on just one frame using the framerate as a kind of timed execution loop. The problem is that Flash exports to gif by converting each frame in Flash to a frame in the gif, and if there's only one frame and the movement on it is scripted, it won't export, at least not in my experience.
( mofaha ┐( ˘_˘)┌ ʅ(́◡◝)ʃ,
Thu 2 Mar 2006, 5:59,
archived)
Ah - right./stands corrected.
Evil Prof. Pixel Masher I made this!,
Thu 2 Mar 2006, 6:05,
archived)
It should move as well.Obviously gif doesn't support sound like Flash does, but the animation should export exactly as it appears in your Flash 'movie'.
( Syncubus Yarr! Ye'll be walking Planck's Constant! [GMT-5],
Thu 2 Mar 2006, 5:52,
archived)
In my experienceactionscripted animation doesn't export, no.
( mofaha ┐( ˘_˘)┌ ʅ(́◡◝)ʃ,
Thu 2 Mar 2006, 5:52,
archived)
Thanks ALL!I feel an animating Thursday a-coming-on..
:D
(:D
steponfrog dribblygreenstuffdriblingfrommynoes,
Thu 2 Mar 2006, 5:58,
archived)
Would itif it was part of the animation rather than triggered by an event?
I'm ignorant of it and guessing.
(I'm ignorant of it and guessing.
Syncubus Yarr! Ye'll be walking Planck's Constant! [GMT-5],
Thu 2 Mar 2006, 6:01,
archived)
Not sure about all circumstances...but everything scripted that I've tried to export has failed. Actually as a result of this conversation I may try again with more simple examples... the stuff I was trying to export was often complex, in the sense that it was randomly generated at run-time, and the objects didn't really exist in the file until the script created them dynamically. A simple scripted object movement might export, if it was done as a frame by frame incremental change and the frames physically existed in the Flash file... that would kind of defeat the object of scripting it though :)
( mofaha ┐( ˘_˘)┌ ʅ(́◡◝)ʃ,
Thu 2 Mar 2006, 6:11,
archived)
I'm thinking of it similarly to tweening in ImagereadyWhere you can position an object and create new frames based on its movement. I can understand what you're saying about the dynamic creation of stuff, it's just kind of suprising that Flash doesn't export the actual animation (the output of the scripts) if they're an automatic part of the file.
( Syncubus Yarr! Ye'll be walking Planck's Constant! [GMT-5],
Thu 2 Mar 2006, 6:24,
archived)
The reason asked about Scriptingwas because sometimes I do things better in programming than in imaging (why my images aren't overly wonderful), and I always, always revert to language (logic) than art.
I know that statements wouldn't be exported to a gif file, although I'm not too sure of how a gif file is built and what it coprises of (maybe I'd like to know). But, since Flash was mentioned for exporting GIFs, I just wondered how far Flash could be pushed.??????
/frowns and consitpates with concentration
(I know that statements wouldn't be exported to a gif file, although I'm not too sure of how a gif file is built and what it coprises of (maybe I'd like to know). But, since Flash was mentioned for exporting GIFs, I just wondered how far Flash could be pushed.??????
/frowns and consitpates with concentration
steponfrog dribblygreenstuffdriblingfrommynoes,
Thu 2 Mar 2006, 6:37,
archived)
ah...I've never bothered with Imageready...
...that'll be why I don't know about it.
sorry
(...that'll be why I don't know about it.
sorry
steponfrog dribblygreenstuffdriblingfrommynoes,
Thu 2 Mar 2006, 4:59,
archived)
I love the Imageready.It rocks.
Evil Prof. Pixel Masher I made this!,
Thu 2 Mar 2006, 5:03,
archived)