Previous' GIF Animator

[Previous]

So, what is it? As the name suggests, it is a GIF Animator which lets you create animated GIFs from seperate frames. In case you know the Microsoft GIF animator, this one is a lot like that one. Except it is better. One of my favoutite special features is the sheet import functionality which lets you transform an animation from a sprite sheet into a GIF without the need of copying every frame one by one.

Have some screenshots! (These are from v1.5, the example graphics are from I dig this Game)

Pictures! (Click to View)

- The main window.

- Importing frames from one sheet.

- Animation preview.

- Export window.

- Advanced options!

Kinda a Changelog (Click to View)

-- UPDATE --
Version 1.1.1 is out, fixing some tiny-winy details, bringing advanced copy/paste mechanisms (now copying transparency, too!), asking you to save before closing and some other small things! Plus it is now also possible to change the overall animation speed with just one click! And you can save your import settings to a file so you don't have to specify every time where your sprites are on your sheet.

-- UPDATE --
I'm delivering Version 1.2, which covers two suggestions; one being the possibility to make the window bigger, showing more than three frames; the other being selection movement based on ALT+arrowkey.
The new Version 1.2.1 adds larger frame previews when the window is bigger. The even newer Version 1.2.2 now opens a GIF you drop onto the .EXE on startup. Version 1.2.3 fixes two bugs, one concerning the scaled frame previews being displayed incorrectly in certain cases. Version 1.2.4 only adds that a newly pasted frame will be selected automatically.

-- UPDATE --
I hereby present you the fresh release of version Version 1.2.5! This one fixes a few small errors and inconveniences and has some tiny GUI tweaks. The import functionality has been slightly updated to automatically load saved import settings with a file when they have the same file name (save for the extension). Furthermore, the animation preview now supports pausing and frame navigation. I also added a button which lets you 'de-optimize' a GIF file - seperating all frames to be independent from previous frames - which might come in handy when someone wants to extract a frame from an optimized GIF file.
Version 1.2.6 fixes a few small (rather stupid) bugs I hadn't noticed.

-- UPDATE --
Version 1.2.7 is fresh out of the oven and packed with english dialog button captions! Furthermore, you can now add multiple files as new frames in one step! Or just drag your files onto the frame board! It just got that easy! Then there's a new button next to the import: Export! Export all the frames of your animation as seperate PNG files! Just just a destination directory and a base filename and the frames will be saved as 'yourfilename_framenumber.png'! Not that I had the slightest idea why anyone would want to do that - now you can! The usual minor bugfixes should go without saying (but I like to point that out).

-- UPDATE --
Version 1.3, implementing a few user requested features! There's a ton of new stuff! You'd better just download it and check it out!
Fixed some small bugs like the scrollbar not scrolling all the way. Did some other small tweaks. Can't remember everything! Fixed a nasty bug occurring when an animation included an empty frame without a graphics control extension - not that there should be such a thing, but it apparently happens. Some GIF makers just don't do their job right and don't use my neat app.
When exporting frames, they should feature transparency. No guarantee, though!
The frame boxes in the storyboard now are not neccessarily square so small animations don't take up that much space.
You can save all frame durations to a *.txt file and load them, too! This should make it easier to set frame durations for long animations. Just put values (0..65536) into seperate lines (no blank lines, no other characters).
Then there is an option to set the transparency of all frames to the same color with one click!
Last but not least, I added image scaling. Yes, Mighty Jetters, that one is for you. Just enter your desired dimensions and apply them to the animation! Not really suited for transparent images, though, of course! You'd better de-optimize the animation first. Check "simple resamling" for 'smooth' scaling. Yep, I hand-crafted a scaling algorithm from scratch. It is a really simple one, but it kinda does the trick.
Version 1.3.1 fixes a small bug concerning the Advanced tab when no global palette was used. Also, optimization may now create a global color palette if you desire (-> smaller files). I also tinkered with some details you may not even notice!
Version 1.3.2 implements request #61, an advanced export option: You can now export frames as an assembled sheet with settable offsets and gaps and frame delay labeling and whatnot.
I fixed some small bugs with Version 1.3.3: The deoptimization messed up with frames that had their disposal method set to "restore background" and pasting bitmap data caused the stroyboard to jump to the end.
Version 1.3.4 makes the preview window non-modal which means that it will no longer block access to the main window. Thus, you can just leave it open while tinkering with the frames!
I made some tiny changes in Version 1.3.5 to remove a possible bug with the frame preview.

-- UPDATE --
The fresh 2013 release of Version 1.4 fixes various details you won't notice. PNG files with 8-bit alpha channel caused errors and the storyboard scrollbar was somehow off. However, it also brings you the long-awaited multiselection feature! Hold down shift when selecting a frame in order to select multiple frames! Be careful, all changes to the duration, redraw and transparency settings will affect all selected frames and not all options may be available. Further improvements were made on the Importer: You can now select your frames by drawing a rectangle around the first frame! There also is a zoom option that shows you an enlarged version of the image below your mouse coursor, so selecting the frame correctly is easier.
An error with loading reverse-order BMP files has been fixed in Version 1.4.1 and an error with the sheet exporter in Version 1.4.2 - the last line was missing in some cases. The newest version also enables selecting all frames with Ctrl+A (Save As is not Ctrl+Shift+S).

-- UPDATE --
Overall performance has been quire increased in Version 1.5. You may also find some options rearranged. Another addition is the Undo-Redo feature (with five steps because). I fixed and extended the hotkeys and added several advanced manipulation options such as reversing, rotating and flipping. The exporter has been fixed and changed as well as several other detailes.

Get the .EXE zipped in a .ZIP here:
Download from my Dropbox.
A ReadMe is not included as everything should at least kind-of explain itself.
Feel free to report any insects you encounter, too! And suggestions! And everything! Appreciation is appreciated, too! I'm always open for a warm hug!

[Gorsalami]

this should be in the Games Development section; despite it being for games, you can also showcase programs and misc. stuff there

also what the hell, Arthur's tail moves like shit, I'm totally going to remake this

---

Moving it~<3

[FRET]

Saw this in your sig and wondered how I never noticed this, then realized it's only a day old.

[CeeY]

Very organized. Source code?

[Sengir]

(09-05-2010 01:35 AM)CeeY Wrote:  Very organized. Source code?

why should he hand out his source code? that shit's hard work. nobody should give out hard work for free.

on topic:
good job, previous! i have pretty much the same thing going on in my C# engine, but way less user-convenient and doesn't export gif. if you don't mind me asking, what language is this programmed in?



plus the previous arrow looks perfect for an animator, heh

[Kat]

I like this program a lot, thanks Previous

[Previous]

Thanks!

It's written in Pascal using Borland's Delphi 6 IDE (which comes with a User Interface editor and a lot of interface elements such as buttons and everything).
Also, I should mention that all GIF management (even the optimization features) is done by a class provided by someone else (TGIFimage by Anders Melander which I found on the internet). I wouldn't have been able to manage GIF files by myself!
Thus, the work I had to put into this wasn't really that much. Mostly making all those features accessible via a (hopefully) user friendly user interface. Plus the sheet importing.

[Lexou Duck]

Understood the whole program in 2min. Very user friendly. Well done, Previous.

[CeeY]

(09-05-2010 04:55 AM)SengirDev Wrote:  

(09-05-2010 01:35 AM)CeeY Wrote:  Very organized. Source code?

why should he hand out his source code? that shit's hard work. nobody should give out hard work for free.

I guess you have a point, but it would make it easier to identify what methods he used.

[Previous]

It would make it easy to identify that I am terrible at keeping my code clean. D':

Anyways, on other news, I just updated the first post with Version 1.1. The changes aren't big, but include some advanced copying and pasting (with transparency etc and setting Undraw Method to Restore Background by default - Gaia brought that problem up), the shown frames move along when you move a frame out of view (->Move buttons), the filename of the current file is displayed in the caption, you're asked to save before closing and also some minor bug fixes.

[GrooveMan.exe]

I've not played with this much, but is there a control for changing the speed of the gif once exported? I assume that just doubling up the frames would work fine; but having it would be useful.

[Previous]

You can change the speed of every frame individually - there is a spinedit in the frame tab of the main window, labeled 'Duration', the unit is 10 ms (i.e. a value of 20 would be 200 ms), indicating how long the frame is displayed.
There is no option to change the speed of all frames at once, though - I guess that's something I should add for v1.2?

[DerZocker]

(09-06-2010 01:35 PM)Previous Wrote:  There is no option to change the speed of all frames at once, though - I guess that's something I should add for v1.2?

Yeah, this already drove me crazy with Animake. Otherwise this is a great little tool. Thumbs up!

[Previous]

Whelp, such an option will be available in Version 1.2 (while getting rid of the preview speed option). Also, I thought it might be a good Idea to have the import settings being savable so you don't have to input the same values over and over again after editing your sprites.

Whoaheywhatisthis.
You don't even have to wait for Version 1.2! It is in Version 1.1.1 already! (I figured it was too early for a 1.2 and yet that feature just had to be released now). ALSO THERE WAS A TYPO I wrote verion instead of version oops

[Lexou Duck]

Um, let me just say a few things :
1. Could you make it so we can make the window bigger ? It's much more practical being able to see more than 3 frames at once.
2. I don't really get the dithering option. Could you explain ?
3. Could you add a way to move along the frames with the arrow keys ?