What the Folk!

Ok, I'm about to make everyone here seem like computer geniuses in comparison to what I have to ask.

Is it possible to put a picture in your sig that you do not host on some sort of internet site? Like if you just have it saved on your computer and want to use it in your sig. I know you can do this for your avatar, but I'm not sure if you can for your sig...if so, can somebody please explain?

Just a warning in advance, I'm TERRIBLE with computers. It's painful to read my extremely simple questions, sorry I have to put you guys through this.

Ugh, I really disklike VLC, it's never worked well for me! If anyone knows another similar programme (for mac) I'd be in your debt!

And just a wee tip for those of us that don't have a multi-region DVD player but want to play imported discs ... (Like me! I don't want to have to wait for a Region 4 version of FOTC Season 2!) ... it's highly likely you can make your player region-free by inputting a code you can get from the manufacturer. For example, my DVD unit is a Samsung, region 4 only. I rang Samsung, they asked me for the model number and told me what I had to do - for my model I had to turn the machine off then on again, use the remote to input a 5 digit code, open and close the disc drawer twice then press '9'!!! Bit of a dance, but it worked and I'm now happily playing all my other-region DVDs! The player stays region-free until it is unplugged or there is a power cut, but the code can just be re-inputted if that happens. I've done the same thing for two friends with DVD units from other manufacturers so it seems DVD players are often built as multi-region then deliberately limited for point-of-sale. Give it a try!

How to make a GIF using Adobe Imageready CS2

This is a tutorial (my first! Hopefully it is understandable, ha) on how to make a standard gif using Imageready. The program does cost money, but I got it for free when I downloaded a trial for Photoshop CS2. CS4 is out now, so the program format may be different.

You will need:

- Imageready
- A video file that contains the clip you want to GIF. (.mov and .avi files I know should work. You may have trouble if its in a more uncommon video file)

Ok, so lets get started.

I am going to gif the gang popping and locking together in the "Friends" music video.

http://img440.imageshack.us/img440/7007/picture01.png
When you open the program, it should look like this. Make sure these windows are checked and open.


http://img410.imageshack.us/img410/8498/picture02j.png
Open and select the video file.


http://img440.imageshack.us/img440/1623/picture03.png
This window should pop up.


http://img252.imageshack.us/img252/7347/picture04.png
If you want to gif the entire video (it would have to be 10 seconds at most!) You want "From beginning to end"

If not, you want to click "Selected Range only".

"Limit to Every 2nd frame" function will use every other frame of the selected clip. 24 and 30 frames is the standard frame rate for any movie or tv show. 12-15 frames a second will still give the illusion of movement. The point of this is to reduce the size of the file.

If the clip is 1-2 seconds, you don't have to click this function. But if it is over 2 seconds, I suggest to use this.


http://img15.imageshack.us/img15/5981/picture05.png
This video is the length of the episode, so it takes a minute or two to find the clip.


http://img256.imageshack.us/img256/6175/picture06.png
Park the curser about a second before the clip you want. Press and hold down the "Shift" key and then press "Play". When it plays through the clip you want to gif, press "Pause" and then let go of "Shift".

When this is done, press "Ok".


http://img502.imageshack.us/img502/5954/picture07.png
Now you should see this. The top window is the video, and the bottom, long window is the Animation window which contains all of your frames. I'll explain the optimize window later.


http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/1866/picture08.png
Since we puposely captured a bit of video at the beginning of the clip, you want to select the unwanted frames in the beginning.


http://img408.imageshack.us/img408/8768/picture09.png
And you want to do the same at the tale of the clip too.


http://img252.imageshack.us/img252/407/picture10.png
Now we have the clip we want, frame by frame.


http://img256.imageshack.us/img256/9615/picture11x.png
If you chose the "Limit to Every 2nd frame" function (in this video I did) you have an extra step. Select every frame in the Animation window. Right under the small pictures, there is a number. This shows the specific frame's duration. Since this is a video, we want all of the frames to have the same number.

For this, all of the frames last .04 of a second. But we have to remember that half of the frames were taken out. So we want to double the duration of every frame. If we don't do this, the ending gif will be sped up by X2 compared to the original video.


http://img502.imageshack.us/img502/4233/picture12qmh.png
Select the number and click "Other..."


http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/2610/picture13vst.png
I changed the duration from ".04" to ".07" I normally double the number, and take off .01. So if it was ".03", I'll change it to ".05" or ".06" This is will give the gif a more fluid motion.

Click "Ok."


http://img11.imageshack.us/img11/381/picture14d.png
Once done, all of the frames' duration will be changed to ".07". Now we want to change the size of the image. This will give the gif better resolution and reduce the overall size.


http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/425/picture15s.png
Right now the image is 624 by 352 pixels.


http://img15.imageshack.us/img15/4548/picture16b.png
I normally change the width to 400.
Make sure "Contrain Proportions" is checked.


http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/8968/picture17m.png
Now the image is smaller.


http://img209.imageshack.us/img209/135/picture19h.png
Now select the "2up" tab in the video window.The left represent the original video file. The right represents the gif image. Under the right gif image, it saids:
GIF
File size

For this, is reads 1.559M, so 1.6 MB. This is pretty good, I try not to go over 2 MB in size.


http://img22.imageshack.us/img22/8869/picture18o.png
This is the optimize window. Here is a list of options on how to reduce the size even further be limiting the colors and how the the gif is colored. I'll show you a few fast ways to do this.


http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/9308/picture21h.png
Right now I am using 256 colors. The less colors you use, the less quality the gif becomes, but it will also make the size smaller.


http://img11.imageshack.us/img11/3017/picture22x.png
Dither is how the colors are used. Diffusion normally gives the best picture. The other options usually gives the image a less "crisp" look, but again, this will reduce the size.

There are a few other functions in this window too. You kinda just have to mess with them on your own to see what will give the better picture, without making the size of the gif too large.


http://img15.imageshack.us/img15/1728/picture23q.png
Now it is time to save!


http://img16.imageshack.us/img16/8021/zending.png
Now there should be a gif file of your clip. Open it in Quicktime to watch it in all its glory. Click the Loop function, to watch it looped like it would be on the internetz.

Then just upload to an image hosting guide, and you're done!

Hopefully this made sense and helped! Let me know if you have any questions.