# GIF animation from GIMP



## marlcam (Dec 5, 2005)

Reference a question on animation, Shuuhen wrote:


shuuhen said:


> Personally I use the GIMP most of the time, though I occasionally use Photoshop.
> 
> Basically an animated GIF is a series of layers with a timed delay between them. You also should have the option of loop forever. If there are multiple layers when you save the image, you should get the option of saving it as an animation. At least in the GIMP, you specify the time delay in milliseconds (I think it's the same in Photoshop, but haven't used it in a while).


Could someone explain how to do the animation using GIMP. Can I do it all with GIMP or do I need an animation construction kit?

I'm wishing to make a simple animated .Gif image using GIMP (such as letters sliding onto page from the side)? I don’t understand how to set the layers and timing. I can’t find mention of animation in the GIMP help. 

Would a better idea be to use an animation construction kit? 

A student is offering me a pirated copy of Photoshop (ethical problem), but it won’t even work on my WIN 98 OS anyway. I’ve seen several tutorials on how to set up animation geared for Fireworks, Adobe ImageReady, and GIF Construction Set Professional.

Any recommendations?


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## Inactive (Apr 11, 2005)

you could try swish. it's 15 trial download, but you can do some great text animations and save them as SWF, (export) AVI or HTML. i have an old version of it, but the newer verion might be able to save in other formats.

http://www.swishzone.com/index.php?area=products&product=max&tab=downloads


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## marlcam (Dec 5, 2005)

Thanks,

Is a .SWF file needed for 2D animation (simple stuff like a cartoon face with eyes opening and closing)? I thought that .SWf files were for 3D animation, such as Macromedia Flash, 3D Studio Max. Would it be overkill to use swish?

Have you any opinion of "CoffeeCup GIF Animator" shareware for $34?

I just found a GIMP animation tutorial on http://www.gimp.org/tutorials/Simple_Animations/ I hope I can make sense of it.


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## Inactive (Apr 11, 2005)

SWF files are macromedia files, but it doesn't matter whether the animation is 2D/3D. they generally are very small, depends on what you've created. keep in mind that the version of swish i have doesn't export directly to GIF, but it is a 15 day trial, so it won't cost you anything if you don't like it.

i haven't used coffee cup gif animator, so i can't comment on it. i've used animator shop that comes with paint shop pro and i thought that was good enough.


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