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Creating GIF AnimationsHome > Build > Software > Photoshop
CHAPTER
12 - Creating GIF Animations A discovery that surprised everyone a
few years ago was that the combination of Netscape Navigator 2.0 and a GIF file
that contained multiple images would play an animation when loaded in the browser.
Microsoft (which is no one's fool) quickly emulated the technology, and it wasn't
long before GIF animation kits were being offered all over the Internet. One of the perks to owning ImageReady as a sidekick to your Photoshop purchase is that Adobe makes it simple to create GIF animations. And at the same time, you have more control and options for the animated GIF than you will probably ever need. I'll point out all the features of ImageReady's Animation palette, but because a lot of the palette is self-explanatory, my primary emphasis will be on concept-the idea behind the animation. It's all too easy to use Adobe's wonderful technology to produce an uninspiring piece. You'll create four different types of animations in this chapter, each with its own reason for being. To a certain extent, all animations on the Web, especially banners, have but one purpose-to catch your eye. But you need to follow through! Once my attention is there, what are you going to tell me? Now that's a working framework of a concept. Three Different Approaches to GIF Animation Here's a working list of some of the qualities you do want to include in your animation: The animation has to be short in time, small in dimensions, and contain a minimum of colors. There's nothing more depressing for the creator, and nothing quite as irritating for the viewer, as an animation that takes more than five seconds to load and animate. This is the Internet, and we're all surfing on Internet Time (I think it's about one traditional year equals five Internet minutes). Speed is your friend because you're using immediate thrills to introduce visitors to your site. If you catch your audience by surprise (for example, by having a page that downloads in five seconds), they will come back because you're a good showman. The story line of a GIF animation has to be simple, and it should end where it begins. This is called looping, and you get more play out of your work when the animation repeats nonstop. There are three different types of scenes that I can think of that you can follow:
I'm sure that
right now you can think of at least 50 examples of animations that fit into these
categories. We'll start with my own examples, but they only exist to show you
the features for animation in ImageReady, and what each option does.
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