Using Objects to Compose an Animation

In the past, what used to be done when composing a Web animation was to create the frames first in an image editor, save them individually as image files, then just assemble all the images together into an animation sequence. Since there was no easy way to edit the frames, you were often required to start all over again when you want to change the "story" of your animation.

Now with GIF Animator 5, it's never too late to change anything even after you've completed your animation. What you need to do right from the very beginning is to make everything an individual object - from the background color to the characters in the animation.

Here's an example.

This tutorial shows you how to use objects to create this sample animation. Here, you will learn how to get objects from another application then use GIF Animator's Tool Panel to create more objects.

1. Open a new project by clicking New on the Standard Toolbar. Set the canvas size to 100 x 100 pixels and select Solid color background object (the default color is white - click the color square if you want to have another background color). Then click OK. The background color is added as an object in the workspace.

2. Now we need some objects for our animation project. From the Standard Toolbar, invoke your favorite image editing application (I used Ulead PhotoImpact). This opens the image editing program along with an empty temporary file as your working canvas where you can place your objects.

3. In the new temp file that opens, place all your objects. I found the objects I needed in PhotoImpact's Component Designer - a paintbrush and some footprints. (If you have PhotoImpact and you wish to use these objects, click here to download. Then, open the downloaded UFO file and copy the objects to the temp file.)

NOTE: Component Designer is a stand-alone program within Ulead PhotoImpact that helps you create Web components.

4. When all objects are placed in the temp file, select File: Save in the image editor.

5. As soon as you save your temp file, GIF Animator prompts you to "update your temp file from the image editor." Click Yes to bring all the objects onto the GIF Animator workspace.