Smilies Requests

[Buster's Uncle]

Making a Samurai-Playing-a-Banjo Smilie Pt. 3:
This time it's personal​

So here I've checked visible -the eye symbol on the left of the Layers box- for the separate elements -just one of the pairs of hands- to make a complete Samurai Banjo image.

Here, right-click on any layer>New from Visible>Ok.

Which yields this:

-a new frame w/ the complete image.

-Then I repeat the process with the other set of hands.

Having generated the two frames, I proceed to delete the working frames w/ the separate parts now that I no longer need them:

Then I name(number) the layers and set the (preliminary) timing.

1000ms is one second -20ms is about the briefest I can make put at all- and the timing of each frame in an animation is crucial to it looking good. This ends up usually requiring some trial-and-error with the playback, which I do next.

(Note, incidentally, that I had to go back and make this screenshot after I'd finished - I'd realized that my first draft of the head looked more like Sumo playing a banjo, and during that trial-and-error I'd realized his left hand looked like it was jumping between the two position, instead of moving, so I added an intermediate frame w/ the hand in between.)

So anyway, Filters>Animation>Playback gives you the playback box.

It's small, like you'd see on the forum page, and frequently significant details only pop out at the smilie artist when they see it on that page. [shrugs]

...

Once you've worked out the timing and cropped out any extra size you didn't need, and all that, never skip running both optimizations. They autocrop the individual frames for you, the invisible thing I started out talking about last time, and they take out all the redundant pixels for the (combine) function -see the Innocent Teddy tutorials I linked yesterday for what combine and replace do, and the difference- and thus, minimize file size.

(A good smilie artist pays attention to technical details like smallest feasible physical size on the page and smallest possible file size - not just prettiness, funniness, clarity of what it represents, and smoothness of animation. -It's a lot to juggle, which is probably why so many smilies suck so hard...)

---

We're very near the end, but I'm close to the attachment limit.

-Do keep in mind that me being exacting in detail in the service of teaching tends to make what's simple look tedious to the uninitiated. It's not easy, exactly, when you know how, but it's way easier than this tends to make it look...

Next time: Final touches, saving, and signing your work - not in quite that order.

 

[Buster's Uncle]

Making a Samurai-Playing-a-Banjo Smilie:
Interlude​

All this has inspired me to go back -I'd saved an .xcf GIMP-format file while it was still the original separate parts- and make Samurai's brother/rival Sumo...

 

[Bonyduck Campersang]

That's an oddly specific smilie

 

[Buster's Uncle]

It is, I guess.

I was pointed at some old smilie discussion threads a couple years ago, and it's something like a tradition for people to troll those by posting the most vulgar smilies they can find and think they can get away with, and large, poorly-rendered and animated maniacal cheerleaders tend to pop up, and people make some really silly requests - someone wished for a samurai playing a banjo, apparently just to be random.

Honestly, it's not that funny, and no meaning beyond randomness readily comes to mind to attach to it - but it's almost the simplest animation imaginable, thus good fodder for a tutorial...

 

[Buster's Uncle]

Making a Samurai-Playing-a-Banjo Smilie Pt. 4:
Endgame​

Here's frame 2 after optimization:

That's the hand in the new position w/ a bit of banjo background to cover the hand in the old position. Nothing else has changed, and I was careful to keep the hand over the banjo face, so the (combine) function saves memory by changing the minimum and displaying the rest of the previous frame. You can also see the invisible frame cropping as a dotted-line box - just the very minimum.

-You might also notice the first frame having only the timing; the animation resets automatically on cycling back to the first frame, so no need to waste a few bytes of memory entering (replace) or (combine) after the timing. It's replacing no matter what you do.

.gifs require an indexed color palette, and here, before I save the file, Image>Mode>Indexed... Not pictured is some trial and error doing it several times deciding what's the minimum number of colors that preserves what I've done so far w/o taking out the shading.

I run Playback a few more times before saving, and decide to add that middle frame for smoothness of movement.

Samurai reaches his final form. Time to save.

File>Save As...>Save as Animation>Export

It defaults to "Created with GIMP" but I'm a believer in signing my work. You should, too. >Save.

Good hunting, my friend.

 

[Gori the Grey]

Stepping on to a soapbox. Stepping off of a soapbox.

To mark when one is "stepping onto a soapbox" and when one is done.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

Stepping on to a soapbox. Stepping off of a soapbox.

To mark when one is "stepping onto a soapbox" and when one is done.

Well, it's not stepping on and off, but here's a soapbox:

 

[Gori the Grey]

Is that in our options, or just one you happen to have on your own?

It's a good one, in either case.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

It's not one we have. I got it from millan.net. Camilla Eriksson creates wonderful smileys. Some of them are insanely cute (see the birthday greeting I posted for ainwood in his birthday thread; Camilla created that one as well).

 

[Bonyduck Campersang]

I would really like a fervently praying smilie

 

[Buster's Uncle]

Okay.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

Is this one not sufficiently fervent?

 

[Bonyduck Campersang]

Is this one not sufficiently fervent?

I didn't see this one. I was searching by 'praying'.

 

[Bonyduck Campersang]

Okay.View attachment 684042

That's nice, but what I meant by 'praying' was more 'supplicating' rather than 'worshipping'. Valka's will do

 

[Buster's Uncle]

Stepping on to a soapbox. Stepping off of a soapbox.

To mark when one is "stepping onto a soapbox" and when one is done.

Stepping off pending...

 

[Gori the Grey]

Love it!

 

[Buster's Uncle]

...As I've mentioned before, best to post a copy in your profile comments...

 

[Gori the Grey]

As I've mentioned before, best to post a copy in your profile comments...

I don't really know what this is.

Anyway, I appreciate the work. I just fire up this thread and snatch them when I need them. Now I can go on soap boxes more.

 

[Buster's Uncle]

Click on my profile, and see the messages. Dunno why there's no option in yours, but you can attach smilies there, if comments are turned on...

 

[Gori the Grey]

On my profile, I have one message. From Arakhor. From 2017. I think back then it was a PM, and maybe somehow got converted to a message when they shifted to Xenofro, or whatever it's called

When I click on your profile, I see a message to me and including these smilies. Like you say, maybe I don't have something enabled on my own profile.

I'm a tech incompetent.

My "Post Messages to Your Profile Page" is set to "Nobody." Maybe that's the default. Or maybe I set it that way, just because I don't know what "Post Messages to Your Profile Page" means. I'm a social media incompetent. How would that be different from someone just sending me a PM? What would one use it for differently from just using PM? You're not obligated to answer; I'm just wondering aloud/exposing my ignorance. I also don't do things like "Follow" or "Ignore." Took me forever to try posting an image or a link. Thought it would be beyond my capabilities. (Turned out it was pretty easy).