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For my ball, I made it shorter, and expanded it out some on both ends. If your subj
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How to Animate in Gimp
Gimp is a free photo editing software that you can download at gimp.org. You can use it for a lot of different things like photo manipulations, drawing, pixel art, etc. Today though, we will be covering the topic of animation!
Note that this tutorial will only show the basics of Gimp animation. How to make the frames, how to save it and the such.
So let's get started!
Start by making the subject. I just used a random black ball, but the subject can be as simple or as complex as you want, depending on what you're making. Make sure you switch over to the layers tab.
Tip: If you do not already have the layers tab there by default, go to any of the tabs and press that little arrow that the green arrow is pointing at. After you click tab press: Add tab> Layers. After that, the layer tab like in the picture should show up.
After making the subject, right click the layer (the one highlighted in blue) and click on "Duplicate layer".
After doing that, click the move tool and move the layer where you want it. Then, right click the layer on top (the one you just made), click duplicate layer, and move again.
Keep doing this until you are satisfied with your project. In the last layer I squished the ball a little just to give the effect that it's boingy and bouncy.
Save it. Press File> Save As.
Tip: If you are using Gimp 2.8 or newer, press "Export" instead of save as.
When naming it, by default, it should say the name of your animation, and have .xcf at the end. Change .xcf to .gif.
Then check "Save as Animation" and press export. It is important that you pay attention to the step, because it defaults to "Merge Visible layers", and if you save it like that it will, well merge the layers.
Meaning you will have no animation.
Check your animation. Press Filters> Animation> Playback.
If you see something you don't like, simply find the problem layer, and fix it. If you like how it is, you are done!
Now what if you are trying to make a picture slide show? Learn how below!
Open up the first picture like you would do any other file. After that press File>Open as Layers... Then choose the next picture you want to show up. Keep importing pictures this way until you think you have enough for your slide show.
Follow the same saving steps as described in the earlier steps. Check it, save it, and you are done!
I Hope you found this tutorial helpful! Any questions please ask below.
Happy animating!
This was so clear and well explained that I was brave enough to try my very first animation!
However, there was some troubles and I am wondering if you could help me...
The problem is that the animation is not showing from exported gif image.
I am using Gimp 2.8.4 and managed to make the animation show in animation playback. So everything was fine to that point.
Then the xcf is exported to gif. I open the gif version but there is not any animation showing, only the background picture.
What could have gone wrong?
Does it matter how big image is? The one I was trying to animate is 650 x 920 pixels.
Hmm, did you make sure you check marked the "Save as animation" box instead of "merge visable layers"?
But thanks anyway; I am sure I will get it work eventually.
I had to had to select “Cumulative layers (combine)” instead of “One frame per layer (replace)” on export phase.
Not sure why but I guess it is because the background of my picture is not transparent.
Anyway, what ever the reason was it works now; learning by trial and error here.
Yeah, when animating on a transparent background to will do that if you don't press replace.