| There are some wonderful path objects hidden in
the Easy Palette which can be used for animations in the Path Library. This tutorial
will show you how to manipulate the objects to create the animation above. This
particular UFO was in PhotoImpact 6 and 7 but is not available in newer versions.
You can download the bread .ufo or .psd object here.
Making
"Frames"
In the Easy Palette open
up the Path Library and double click on Bread or unzip the downloaded file provided and
open it in PhotoImpact. The image will open up in it's own canvas. It will
have to be resized much smaller to make this animation.
While keeping the image
active, go to Format/Dimension (for PI 6 users) or Format/Image Size (for versions 7
through 8XL and Pro). Keep "User Defined" and "Keep Ratio
Aspect" checked. Resize this object to 35%. Make sure "Apply
to Selected Object" is checked. This is a good size for your animation.
Leave the UFO in the top upper left section of the canvas. Now resize your canvas by
going back to Format, Dimension (or Format/Image Size). Uncheck "Keep Ratio
Aspect" and enter 230 for the width and 158 for the height. In Unit, make sure
you have this set for pixels. Check Apply to Base Image.
Align the image to the
bottom left hand corner of the canvas as shown below. Keep the selection active.
Right click on the active
image and click on ungroup. Hit the spacebar (Enter key for versions 8 and up) to
deselect the image. Click on the first slice of bread on the loaf to select it, right
click and delete. Your image should now look like this.
To make the first frame of
the animation, click on the knife to activate it. Position it above the first slice
of bread. Click on the front slice, right click, go to Arrange, Bring to
Front. Your image should look like the one shown below.
Next, you'll need to
remove the "seam" on the loaf as it's not supposed to be sliced yet for the
animation. Take the eyedropper and place it over the dark brown side of the
loaf. Click on Paintbrush, Shape round, Size 10, Transparency 0, and Soft Edge 0.
Click on mode. With a few strokes, paint out the seam underneath the
knife. Click on the pick tool. A pop up message will state you're leaving the
paint in mode object. Click Yes. Your first frame is now completed and
should look like the image shown below.
To save your first image,
click on the loaf to select it, right click and select all objects. While the whole
image is selected go to to Web, Image Optimizer and you'll see a screen like this pop up.
Keep Selected Objects
checked and click OK. The Image Optimizer screen will pop up.
Click on GIF and set the
colors to 64. Make sure Dither and Transparency are checked. Leave the
rest of the settings at default. Click Save As and name this first image as image
1. This will be the first frame for your animation. (Save all of the following
images in this manner).
For the next frame, select
the area you painted to cover the seam, right click and delete. Place the knife in
the position as shown below.
Save this as image 2 as
this will be frame 2 for your animation.
Click on the standing
slice of bread to activate it. Go to the Transform Tool and rotate the slice by 33
degrees counter clockwise. It should look like the image shown below.
Save this as image 3 as
this will be frame 3 for your animation.
Select the rotated slice
of bread, right click and delete. Click on the slice laying flat in the bottom left
hand corner. Right click and Duplicate. Place it over the first slice as
shown below.
Save this as image
4. This is your 4th and last frame.
ANIMATING IN
GIF ANIMATOR 5
To animate your frames
open up Gif Animator 5. This will also work in Gif Animator 4 (see note
below). You can open the Animator in PhotoImpact by looking in the right upper hand
corner where you'll see "Switch".
Click on Animation Wizard
(noted by the red arrow).
The Set Canvas Size screen
will pop up. Your images are 230x158. Put in these settings and click Next.
In the next box, Select
Files, click on Add Image and browse to where you saved your images from Part I.
Add the images in a
backwards order. Click on the 4th frame first, then 3rd, 2nd, and 1st.
Click Open and you'll see
your images in numerical order.
Click Next and in the next
screen set "Delay Time"to 45. Click Next. Then click Finish.
The Gif Animator will show
you your frames on the bottom and to the right as shown below.
All four frames you'll see
were set at 0.45 seconds. The settings on Frames 3 and 4 need to be changed.
Click on Frame 4 (seen highlighted in blue) and right click. Click on Frame
Properties and set Delay to 200. Click OK. Highlight frame 3, right click, go to
Frame Properties and set Delay to 35. Click OK.
Click on the Preview Tab
shown above with the red arrow and look at your animation. You can always return to
Edit and change the Delay values to change the speed settings in the frames.
Once you're happy with
your animation and you're ready to save it go to File, Optimization Wizard. The
Optimization Box will open up. Click Next. On the second screen set the number
of colors to 128 and click Next. On the next two screens, click Next and then
Finish.
The GIF Optimization Box
screen above will pop up. You can see the number of bytes your animation is.
You can also preview it before saving. If you find the file is too big, you
can click on Another Try and the Optimization Wizard reopen and you can reset the color
values.
I hope you've enjoyed this
tutorial.
|
See our
online course for Gif Animator 5 at the Visual Arts Academy for a more indepth way to learn animation. You
will leave with a solid foundation of knowledge and experience of the program and how to
animate! Click here
to see what former students have to say about the course. |
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