goldwing388: Avatar question...

Discussion in 'Forum Related Discussions' started by goldwing388, Jun 7, 2004.

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  1. goldwing388

    goldwing388 Registered Member

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    Re: Welcome to the new server!!

    I have a question that I need to ask, I've looked around and really dont have a clue where the proper place to post this would be. But my question is: the avatar that I use should be moving. It is a gif, and I resized it to 60x60, other than that, I'm more confused than a termite in a yo-yo as to how to get it working.
    Thank you in advance.
     
    goldwing388, Jun 7, 2004
    #1
  2. LowWaterMark

    LowWaterMark Administrator

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    Re: Welcome to the new server!!

    Are you talking about the avatar on your account right now - the cartoon person sitting at a computer? That file is a JPG, not a GIF. Do you still have the original? You can attach it to a post here and we can look at it to see of there are any issues with it being an avatar.
     
    LowWaterMark, Jun 7, 2004
    #2
  3. goldwing388

    goldwing388 Registered Member

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    Re: Welcome to the new server!!

    Thanks for the quick response, here is the same one that I thought I had put as my avatar.
     

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    goldwing388, Jun 7, 2004
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  4. LowWaterMark

    LowWaterMark Administrator

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    Re: Welcome to the new server!!

    That version, while a GIF is not animated I'm afraid. Do you have any copies that are moving?
     
    LowWaterMark, Jun 7, 2004
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  5. goldwing388

    goldwing388 Registered Member

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    Re: Welcome to the new server!!

    I double checked it before I sent it to you as an example, I used Irfanview and the little man was typing away. I dont know what the problem is.
     
    goldwing388, Jun 7, 2004
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  6. LowWaterMark

    LowWaterMark Administrator

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    Re: Welcome to the new server!!

    Well, that's not the same file then. The forum software does not alter files that are uploaded in any way, so that's not the file. Don't try saving the file or editing it, just locate and attach the original file.
     
    LowWaterMark, Jun 7, 2004
    #6
  7. angelo_lopes

    angelo_lopes Registered Member

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    Re: Welcome to the new server!!

    Zip it before you send it...
     
    angelo_lopes, Jun 7, 2004
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  8. LowWaterMark

    LowWaterMark Administrator

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    Re: Welcome to the new server!!

    No, that shouldn't make any difference. (Besides, people can't attach or upload ZIP files here.) If files were alter from animated GIF to non-animated while uploading, then EXE and ZIP files would also be altered in some way, and then nothing uploaded here would work.

    Also, this is not a display issue - ie. "animation disabled" in display mode. That file is simply not an animated GIF. :doubt:
     
    LowWaterMark, Jun 7, 2004
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  9. goldwing388

    goldwing388 Registered Member

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    Here is the original. When I first joined the forum. It wouldn't accept it because of the size I think, so I resized it with "Avatar Sizer" and now I am here with these questions.
    Thanks in advance
     

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    goldwing388, Jun 7, 2004
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  10. goldwing388

    goldwing388 Registered Member

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    One other thing that might help, when I resized the original, it too worked when I tested it prior to using it as my avatar here. I have no clue what the problem is.
    Thanks guys for helping me with this seemingly goofy question. I was only asking because I have seen some pretty cool gifs here at the worlds best forum, and wanted to have mine typing away.
     
    goldwing388, Jun 7, 2004
    #10
  11. LowWaterMark

    LowWaterMark Administrator

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    Well, as I said above, the version you uploaded as your current avatar is a JPG file, not an animated GIF. If you have a 60x60 GIF version that is animated, you can upload that as your avatar.
     
    LowWaterMark, Jun 7, 2004
    #11
  12. goldwing388

    goldwing388 Registered Member

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    Thanks for all the help, and for putting up with my silly questions, I found the problem is with the resizer, anyone have any advice how I can get my gif sized so I can use it here in this forum.

    The Avatar Resizer Wizard helps you create Avatars from images stored on your computer.

    Before using Avatar Sizer check the Specifications (height, width and size) required by
    your Forum.

    This wizard takes an image already stored on your computer and resizes to a maximum of
    150 x 150 pixels.

    Currently the wizard can resize the following types of graphics: Bitmap (BMP), Icon (ICO),
    Jpeg (JPG), Enhanced Meta File (EMF), Windows Meta File (WMF). and single image Gifs
    (GIF) animated gifs display the 1st image in the animation only.

    When you are ready to begin, click the button marked: Next >>
     
    goldwing388, Jun 7, 2004
    #12
  13. LowWaterMark

    LowWaterMark Administrator

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    Well actually that makes a lot of sense. Resizing an animated GIF is much more complex than still images. Automating that would be quite a powerful (and valuable) program.

    Given how big your source image is, resizing it to be within the 60x60 size limit here, and still be reasonably high quality, would take someone that is very skilled using a powerful program like PSP or similar.
     
    LowWaterMark, Jun 7, 2004
    #13
  14. snapdragin

    snapdragin Registered Member

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    How be this one?
     

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    snapdragin, Jun 8, 2004
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  15. LowWaterMark

    LowWaterMark Administrator

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    Ah, there's one of those very skilled people now. :cool:
     
    LowWaterMark, Jun 8, 2004
    #15
  16. snapdragin

    snapdragin Registered Member

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    ~blush~ I was just hangin' around. ;)
     
    snapdragin, Jun 8, 2004
    #16
  17. goldwing388

    goldwing388 Registered Member

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    This is wonderful, LWM said that beyond OZ there may be one that has the power, and alas you have arrived. Thank you for saving me from having dain bramage over this matter.
     
    goldwing388, Jun 8, 2004
    #17
  18. snapdragin

    snapdragin Registered Member

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    LOL - well we definitely don't want you to have that! :eek:
    Glad we could help, goldwing388. And a warm welcome to you. :D

    Regards,

    snap
     
    snapdragin, Jun 8, 2004
    #18
  19. goldwing388

    goldwing388 Registered Member

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    Snapdragin, do I dare fly close to the flame and ask you how you did what you did. In the event is was simple, add some bogus info just to make it appear difficult. lol :D
     
    goldwing388, Jun 8, 2004
    #19
  20. snapdragin

    snapdragin Registered Member

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    LOL - don't mind you flying close at all, and it really isn't as difficult as it first appears. But like LWM said, you do need to have a fairly decent animation program to resize one correctly. I have PaintShopPro7 that comes with AnimationShop (that can also be purchased separately at the http://www.jasc.com/ website) but most people will have the combination since the programs actually work together.

    I first test the resizing in AnimationShop to see how blurred it will be when resized. If there isn't too much of size difference, then the details are still pretty crisp, but in your avatar's case, the blurring was too much when I resized it. So then I export the 3 frames that make up your avatar into PaintShopPro where I can then sharpen and tweek the colours a bit for each individual frame without disturbing the animation.

    I'll play with the Sharpen tool in PaintShopPro (I use the tool "Unsharp Mask" rather than just sharpen) until I have it a bit crisper, then I'll resize it down to the size I want. Sharpen it a bit more, then go over to the colourization tool and do a contrast to try and bring the colours back as close to what the original image had, since sharpening an image can also end up lightening the colours too much.

    Once I am as close to the original image colours and clarity, and have the frames down to the size I want, then I export them back over into AnimationShop where I can test the animation to make sure it runs smoothly and there's no glitches showing. I can still do touchup at that point too if it's needed. Then once I am sure everything looks pretty close to what the person wanted, I resave the animation which takes it back through the "optimization" steps. There's several choices involved at that stage with keeping transparency for the background, quality vs. output size, colour depth (gif images can only go as high as 255 colours whereas a jpg image can be 16 million colours), etc. There are other tweeks available there too, but not all of them are needed each and every time. :)

    That's about it. :D Hope I didn't make it sound too complicated because it really isn't, but it does take some practice and just basically getting familiar with the options and tools in both programs. And it is a lot of fun too!!

    Regards,

    snap
     
    snapdragin, Jun 8, 2004
    #20
  21. goldwing388

    goldwing388 Registered Member

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    Wow, you did a lot of work just for that one little avatar, I really do appreciate you taking the time out to do this. :-*
     
    goldwing388, Jun 8, 2004
    #21
  22. Cochise

    Cochise A missed friend

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    'Snapdragin'.......You are priceless.......just followed this thread through...YOU ARE PRICELESS..... :D :D :D

    Cochise, :cool: (Well known admirer of genious) :D :-*
     
    Cochise, Jun 9, 2004
    #22
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