Jamo wrote:

Hey

Two people asked that i make this tutorial, so i am. Hopefully it will explain how to take a video and convert it to .gif

If the text is hyperlinked, then its to an image showing you what im talking about. Remember, if you press down with the middle wheel of your mouse they will open in a new tab for you.

the programs i will be using today are (in order of when they will be used) :-

Cam studio - for taking video screen captures
Virtual Dub v1.9.11 - for converting the video to a .gif
Adobe Fireworks - For final adjustments to the gif

ok lets get going...

Stage 1 - Taking A Video

ok this is really simple, first just open cam studio
now open imvu, and run the animation you want to record a few times
make sure you know how much of the screen you need to record
ok now open cam studio
hit the red 'record' button
drag a box over the region of the screen you wish to record
wait for the animation to play through (do not put your mouse inside the region or change windows, it will record exactly what you do)
ok press stop when the video is as long as you want
do not worry about your video being too long we cut it later
a box will appear to save
in the file name it will say '*.avi' Remove that and type your own file name, and save it in the folder you want.
a video will pop up, press play and preview your video
MAKE SURE THE VIDEO IS PERFECT. you don't want to do the next bit only to find that the animation isn't smooth or exactly how you want it.
You can watch my video here


Stage 2 - Making images out of the frames of your video

For this stage you will be working in virtual dub... so open it up!
Go file> open video file...
You should see 2 boxes, a timeline, and some buttons.
i have hilighted the important buttons, and called them 1/2 so i will refere to them with that number
ok drag the marker to where you think the first frame is
hit button 1 (a /--- arrow)
ok drag the marker to the last frame
hit button 2 (a --\ arrow)
The part between the two frames should hi light in blue, if it did, you did it right!
go file > export > Animated .GIF
Give it a file name and make sure the appropriate looping is selected
Hit save and BOOM you have a .Gif

- Clickable thumbnail, click for full image.


Stage 3 - Adding Icon Overlay

ok so open up Adobe Fireworks
file>new
make the canvas size the size you need and give it an appropriate background colour
Go file>import...
select your .gif file and it will import it to the canvas
if it asks you to extend the animation beyond the current number of frames click YES!
ok, go to frame one
doube click on the image
....
if you see 2 layers (background and layer 1) then paint the background a matching colour. You do that on one frame and it will sort the bug for all. hit done in the top left hand corner This only happens sometimes, and im just sure why it does it. Sorry about that.
....

go back to frame 1
Press Ctrl +t
you should see 6 handles
drag the corner ones to make it smaller (to fit on the icon)
if you need to play the animation just hit the play arrow (bottom right corner)
Size it, drag it around, move it. Just like you would with a normal image/icon

go file>save as
give it a name
MAKE SURE YOU SELECT FILE TYPE - ANIMATED .GIF

boom, done!



14 frames, smooth animation, 28kb file

5H0G5 wrote:

So who won?

RI5 wrote:

i am in ! i hope i will win XD .... Well i will Try this out . Brb plz