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Making .gif Animations

amateurmacfreak

amateurmacfreak

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Ok, first off, to let you know, I'm a total n00b to animation. My goal here is to find a simple (and preferably free or cheap) software to use for creating a basic .gif animation. I was wondering which software/s I could use? 😕
Any help would be very much appreiciated. I feel lost. And tired. And I can't figure out how to go about doing this.
So any help would be very, very good. 🙂 And I'll try to sort this out tomorrow.... after sleeeeepp.....😛 (hey, it's spring break)
 
Since your looking for something free or cheap as you put it, I'd suggest the GIMP over Photoshop (Unless you already have Photoshop). It's really pretty easy in GIMP to create .gifs, you can just make each layer a frame, and GIMP offers a good lot of saving/exporting features(quality/size/timing intervals/plus all the GIMP tools at your disposal to modify the layers how you want). Compared to most stand alone .gif builders, GIMP (or Photoshop if you can afford/have it) is the way to go.
 
Thanks to everyone who has replied! 🙂
I will probably first try the free GIF animation softwares because I don't have too much money to spend on software, but I might go ahead and spend a bit of money on GIMP, because I've heard great things about it.
Sadly, I don't have Photoshop. 🙁 I want it so badly but..... I can't justify spending/begging my parents to spend so much money on a software I don't really need. Heck, I let them give my iLife '06 to a neighbor because I thought I couldn't really utilize the new features... but I could have(but she can more....)....haha, ok, off-topic.😱
 
amateurmacfreak said:
but I might go ahead and spend a bit of money on GIMP, because I've heard great things about it.
Click to expand...

GIMP is free, so another plus. 🙂
 
tag said:
GIMP is free, so another plus. 🙂
Click to expand...
Oh, riiiiight, haha. 😱
Ok, I did it successfully with GIFfun!! 🙂 The other softwares people mentioned were probably awesome, but I just downloaded this one and it was very easy and fun to use. 🙂 Thank you all for the help!
Oh, and how do you host GIF animations somewhere online?? Should I just google that??
I feel stupid, like I so often do. 😱
 
I like Flash 8, but it's not free. Motion tweening is very handy and you can convert .fla to .gif easily 🙂
 
amateurmacfreak said:
Sadly, I don't have Photoshop. 🙁 I want it so badly but..... I can't justify spending/begging my parents to spend so much money on a software I don't really need.
Click to expand...


Seriously, GIMP is just as good as photoshop...

GIMP for Mac

You need to read the instructions on the linked page before installing, since GIMP needs X11. There are some download links.

For GIFs I use iDraw. It's shareware, but you get 45 free launches.
 
huck500 said:
Seriously, GIMP is just as good as photoshop...

GIMP for Mac

You need to read the instructions on the linked page before installing, since GIMP needs X11. There are some download links.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I know this sounds stupid, but I've been having trouble w/ the X11 thing. 😕 Shouldn't it have come w/ an iMac coming w/ 10.4.3??
X11 won't install b/c it says I have newer software on my comp so I can't install it on the HD, and GIMP won't open saying GIMP.app requires Apple's X11.
What do I do??😕
I feel so stupid and helpless. 😱 Is there something in preferences I need to change or something??? Spotlight's coming up with nothing, but I assume X11 wouldn't be an app just sitting out in the apps folder.... right?
Oh, and iDraw seems interesting. I'll try it. Thanks for the suggestion. 🙂
 
amateurmacfreak said:
Yeah, I know this sounds stupid, but I've been having trouble w/ the X11 thing. 😕 Shouldn't it have come w/ an iMac coming w/ 10.4.3??
X11 won't install b/c it says I have newer software on my comp so I can't install it on the HD, and GIMP won't open saying GIMP.app requires Apple's X11.
What do I do??😕
Click to expand...

Tried installing the Mac OS X 10.4 SDK on the Install Disk?
 
amateurmacfreak said:
Yeah, I know this sounds stupid, but I've been having trouble w/ the X11 thing. 😕 Shouldn't it have come w/ an iMac coming w/ 10.4.3??
X11 won't install b/c it says I have newer software on my comp so I can't install it on the HD, and GIMP won't open saying GIMP.app requires Apple's X11.
What do I do??😕
I feel so stupid and helpless. 😱 Is there something in preferences I need to change or something??? Spotlight's coming up with nothing, but I assume X11 wouldn't be an app just sitting out in the apps folder.... right?
Oh, and iDraw seems interesting. I'll try it. Thanks for the suggestion. 🙂
Click to expand...

Are you installing X11 via downloading it from Apple? Some people have noted that version is for Panther systems. Searching these boards will show alot of people run into the same problem as you. It should hopefully work if you install X11 via your Tiger DVD.

And yes when it's installed it will place an X11 application in your Utilities folder.
 
amateurmacfreak said:
Oh, riiiiight, haha. 😱
Ok, I did it successfully with GIFfun!! 🙂 The other softwares people mentioned were probably awesome, but I just downloaded this one and it was very easy and fun to use. 🙂 Thank you all for the help!
Oh, and how do you host GIF animations somewhere online?? Should I just google that??
I feel stupid, like I so often do. 😱
Click to expand...

i may be mistaken, but nowadays, using .gif animations for web is a no no. at least, i read about it in this forum.
 
redAPPLE said:
i may be mistaken, but nowadays, using .gif animations for web is a no no. at least, i read about it in this forum.
Click to expand...
Ok.... what about it makes it a no-no?? I found a host that has been working well for my needs, so that's not a problem, but you made it sound like it's bad to use in webpages?? I've always been under the impression it was fairly good b/c you don't need extra programs to view it.... I'm not trying to prove you wrong, just to find out what you're exactly talking about. 🙂
 
tag said:
Are you installing X11 via downloading it from Apple? Some people have noted that version is for Panther systems. Searching these boards will show alot of people run into the same problem as you. It should hopefully work if you install X11 via your Tiger DVD.

And yes when it's installed it will place an X11 application in your Utilities folder.
Click to expand...
Thanks! I'm sure downloading from that link is most likely the problem....
but, ok, I'm holding my breath here and hope I don't sound like a total idiot. How do I go about doing the CD thing? Should I be able to just put in the disc and it will be selfexplanatory from there?? Or is it more complicated than that.... like, do I only have to install X11 or is it going to affect other areas of my computer as well?? And how complicated is doing that on a scale orf 1-10??😕
I know I'm acting like a whiny idiot, but I really want GIMP. 😱 A lot.
 
amateurmacfreak said:
Thanks! I'm sure downloading from that link is most likely the problem....
but, ok, I'm holding my breath here and hope I don't sound like a total idiot. How do I go about doing the CD thing? Should I be able to just put in the disc and it will be selfexplanatory from there?? Or is it more complicated than that.... like, do I only have to install X11 or is it going to affect other areas of my computer as well?? And how complicated is doing that on a scale orf 1-10??😕
I know I'm acting like a whiny idiot, but I really want GIMP. 😱 A lot.
Click to expand...

X11 isn't that hard to install now. All you have to do is this..

  • Put in your Tiger Install DVD and open it.
  • Scroll down until you find a package called 'Optional Installs'
  • In the Optional Installs window, navigate the prompts, then after you select your Hardrive, you'll be at a custom install screen. Click the triangle next to 'Applications' to expand the menu and select X11. Click Install. Follow the prompts, enter password and such, and you'll be good to go.
 
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