Background in Animation

DG
Posted By
David G House
May 25, 2004
Views
264
Replies
10
Status
Closed
Hey Guys.. Help me please… I’ve figured out how to animate in Elements, the problem I am having is keeping a background. What I have done is cut out a car (customed 56 Red & White Cev Belaire for those who care about those sort of things…:)) and made separate layers of just the car in different positions and sizes. When I set it up to animate in the "Save for Web" what I get is the Background on its own then it disappears when the car appears and moves across the screen. What I have tried with no success is, in Layers "Link to Previous". I’m thinking I should have put the background in each layer as I created it, but that raises another question. How would I add background or change background.

Thanks,

David
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B
BobHill
May 25, 2004
David,

Just put the background in each and every layer. Unlike movie’s that can apply a cell over another cell, in animated GIFs you need to make each cell (layer) complete.

Bob
DG
David G House
May 25, 2004
Bob…

That’s what I was thinking after the fact. Its too bad (unless there is another way) because I looked at this car.. cut it out of the original image, made the layers ( just the car and that lovely gray and white checkerboard we have all come to know), but hoped to have been able to use the same layers of the car for more then one animated image. Now I suppose the next silly question.. how do I add the background to a layer that already has the car in it?????

David
DS
Dick Smith
May 25, 2004
David,

One way to do it is to create the background image and then copy/paste it below the layer you want. Next, make all of the layers except your new background and its animation layer invisible. Next, click on the "more" button on the layers palette and use "merge visible" and you will have the image with the background. Repeat this process to finish the job.

Dick
PA
Patti_Anderson
May 25, 2004
On the Layers palette, duplicate the background layer and drag it up beneath one of your new car layers, select the car layer above it and Merge down (CTRL+E).

There are several ways to duplicate a layer, but you might like this shortcut when you need copies of the background layer: Select the layer you want to duplicate and then drag it down on top of the Create a New Layer icon (the one in the middle) at the bottom of the Layers palette. Tada!

Patti
DG
David G House
May 25, 2004
Thanks Patti.. I’ll try that… Won’t be unitl Wed. Night as I am going to a Diana Krall Concert tonight…. but I’m thinking.. is what you are talking about in Elements ot PS7?? I don’t recall a "Create New Layer" Icon… maybe I just haven’t seen it… (us dang rookies)….

David
PA
Patti_Anderson
May 25, 2004
I’m referring to Elements, I don’t have PS7. The Create a New Layer icon is down at the bottom right of the Layers palette, it looks like a page with a corner folded up. There are actually 3 icons, Adjustment layer (black/white circle), New Layer (little page w/ corner fold) and Delete Layer (trash can). I have my Layers palette out of the Palette well and in the work area.

A picture is worth a thousand words…

<http://www.pbase.com/image/29373059>

Patti
R
RobertHJones
May 25, 2004
David,

While it is true that in Elements you have to make each layer a complete image, that isn’t a fault of the GIF specification. That’s just the way Elements implemented it. GIF’s do allow for the type of animation you were trying to do using overlay image elements but you need another program to create them.

That’s too bad because adding the background to each layer greatly increases the size of the gif file thereby limiting how many layers are practical. I hope the next version of Elements does a better job in optimizing gifs.

You can get a gif program fairly inexpensively. The grand daddy of them all is the "GIF Construction Set"
(http://www.mindworkshop.com/alchemy/gifcon.html) which goes for $25 for the professional version. You can create individual cells in Elements and combine them into an optimized GIF using this program. The program also has a "super compressor" function that will take your bloated unoptimized Elements created GIFs and greatly reduce the size of the file.

There are other GIF programs, I just happen to know about this one. I’m not advocating any particular one.

Bob
DG
David G House
May 25, 2004
Thanks Bob…. I apprecieate your advise… I’m not certain if I would be looking into another software (or add-on).. I do also have access to Image Ready and PS7.

Patti… Thanks for the pic I know what you are talking about now.. 🙂

David
DG
David G House
May 27, 2004
Patti…

Thanks so much.. IT WORKED!!!!!….. (as if you had any doubt :))… I did find however that I had to put the "eye" on both layers (the car and the Background) then LAYER>MERGE VISABLE… and unfortunatly I had to DELETE the Orginal Image I took the Car from… it seems I could not get rid of that image when I animated (even though I took the "eye" off in the layer pallete)… Is there something else I could do in that regard??????..

David
PA
Patti_Anderson
May 27, 2004
David,
I really haven’t done that many animations, and it seems to me that you already have learned everything I know. 🙂 The animation feature of Elements is very simple: If it’s a layer it’s part of the animation. Turning layer visibility on and off has no effect.

Maybe in a future version they’ll make improvements to the GIF animation feature, but I doubt that it’s a priority.

Patti

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