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Avatar/Graphics Help
| Santa hat tutorial Part two...Blinking/winking... To make a winking animation of the Santa hat image....
Open the finished image, hold down the shift key and press "d" to make an exact duplicate.
Zoom in on the duplicated image, and use the dropper tool to select a color in the eye area.
(I actually did this twice to zoom in by two)
Now just use the painbrush tool to paint over the eye area. You'll probably need to select some other colors from the same area to make it look more natural...in an avatar sized image you have a little more leeway. I like to use the retouch tool set at smudge to blend the colors a little. I also put a dark line at the bottom of the eye, to sort of look like eyelashes. This is something you'll just have to play with to get the kind of look you want. (Note: to use the retouch tool you'll have to increase your color depth to 16 million colors...this is in the "colors" menu- the very last selection.)
This is how my second image looks after I've finished painting over the eye:
Save each image, and open Animation Shop. Use the wizard
(it should be the very first icon in the tool bar)
Just click "next" through all the defaults until you get here:
Click on add image. You'll be able to browse for the files you want....just select the two images you made, then click on next, then, finish.
You two images will open up on a filmstrip.
All that's left to do now is set the frame timing. Click on the picture with the eye open to select it, then click on "animation" in the menu, then "frame properties".
I set mine to 150...you can just try different settings to find the one you like best. Do the same thing with the second image...I set it to 20. There's a little filmstrip icon in the toolbar next to the help icon...you can click it to see how your animation looks. If you like it, just save your animation. An optimization wizard will open...you can just use all the defaults.
This is the finished animation:
Of course this is much too large for an avatar. If you want to use it as an avatar, in AS, Click on "animation" then "resize". At the very top of the window that pops up, make sure that "pixel size" is selected, and at the bottom "maintain aspect ratio " is checked. Change the width to 40 pixels...the height with automatically adjust. Click on OK, and your animation will be avatar sized. Now just save it again, and make sure that it is under 5K in size. Now you have a Santa hat winking avatar. 
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4 3 cams, 5 cats, 7 days a week. |
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 jeffsulPremium
join:2001-05-15
Mobile, AL | Wow, another one You are to much tiggerstales. I may learn something after all.  You and some of the other avatar gurus should consider putting all this work into a web site. I would bookmark it for sure. Well done.
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Lord give me patience, but please hurry! |
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| reply to tiggerstales
Wow! Very nice tutorial! Thanx!! :) |
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 FatJackPremium
join:2001-06-26
Barnwell, SC | reply to tiggerstales
You most certainly know your stuff, Tiggerstales. Thanks for the tutorial.
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When all else fails, read the directions |
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