Animation Possibilities

1. Animation There are several ways to construct animation for the Web. The trick is as in most things with the Web, to minimize the size of the resulting animation. A most popular method is to use the Gif Construction Set (GIFCON) . This is shareware. You can use it but you should pay $20.00 for it. You can download it at http://www.mindworkshop.com. Go to software and then scroll down to the bottom of the page. Download Gif construction Set Classic. Select the 32 bit version.

What you have to do first is to create a sequence of pictures using your image editor. These pictures will represent successive frames of an animation. You need a picture for each frame. Save the pictures as GIF images. Once you have your images you are ready to go into GIFCON.

Use the insert menu item to insert images and controls between the images. Use the loop control for repeating. There is documentation on line. Under block, use the edit of a control block to change the delay.

2. PaintShop Pro, which can be downloaded for a 30 day trial from http://www.jasc.com, actually comes with its own version of Gif animation for the Web called Animation Shop. Find this under the File menu item in PaintShop Pro. Use the animation wizard under the Animation Shop's file menu item. This GIF animation feature also allows you to add transitions. There are separate functions to handle text including transitions for text.

3. Macromedia's FLASH combines techniques from Director's timeline with good techniques for Web development. FLASH converts images to vectors to save space. It is now in its fourth version as of this week. Each version has added more and more function so that FLASH is almost a complete Web authoring system in itself. FLASH can be downloaded for a 30 day trial from Macromedia's site at http://www.macromedia.com

Flash comes with several online lessons. Go to the help and get a guided tour.

4. Dreamweaver, from Macromedia also, uses images on layers and layers in timelines to create animation. Once the layer is on the timeline go under Modify in the menu and select Record path of layer. You can move around the layer and its path will be recorded. Make sure and check autoplay and loop. There is a help demo worth going through. Macromedia's Director for authoring uses a similar timeline.

5. Animation in Asymetrix Toolbook: To learn about animation go under Help and Resource Center and Sample Applications, then more and then select animation.

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