Nitrome Wiki:Creating startup gifs

The intention of this tutorial is to create GIF images for the startups page using the free programs Bandicam and GIMP2. However, this can also be used to create GIF images in general, so long as the image does not require a transparent background.

This tutorial was done in Windows 7, using Firefox. Certain key functions may vary from browser to browser.

Tools used
These are not the only tools that work, but they are free to use and easily downloadable online.


 * Bandicam (for taking pictures)
 * GIMP (for making the GIF)

Preparations

 * 1) Open up the folder where Bandicam stores files. This is generally in a folder under "My Documents", called "Bandicam".
 * 2) Select the small options icon to change the view of the files to "Large icons". This lets you view a preview of each image you take when they are saved.
 * 3) Create a new folder and name it after the game you'll be taking the startup pictures from. Minimize this window.
 * 4) Open up Bandicam and view the settings window. Select the "Image" tab. Ensure the following settings are checked:
 * 5) Hotkey - The default key for this is F11, however, this usually disrupts image capture because it changes the window size for many browsers. You can change the hotkey to almost any key you want. F6, for example, only selects the URL at the top of the browser and does not affect the image capture.
 * 6) Repeat screen capture - Set the number to repeat a screen capture every 0.1 seconds. A larger number decreases the amount of pictures taken, but also makes the animation more choppy.
 * 7) Hide mouse cursor - To hide the mouse cursor in case it accidentally finds its way into the Bandicam window.
 * 8) Format is set to PNG.

Capturing

 * 1) With the Bandicam window active, visit the game page where you want to take the startup from.
 * 2) An advertisement often plays before the game, which will work great in your case. Use this time to position the Bandicam window and resize it by hovering over the edges and dragging them out to fit the game screen.
 * 3) As soon as the advertisement finishes, press the Hotkey you assigned. Sometimes, it's best to wait until the loading screen begins, especially if your browser is slow. Figure out a timing that works. The startup should play.
 * 4) Press the Hotkey again once the startup animation is finished. It's usually best to wait after the transition plays and the game goes to the titlescreen. Close the window, if you want, or just minimize it to listen to the game's music.

Saving

 * 1) Open up the Bandicam folder, which should be minimized on the taskbar. You'll see a large sequence of images that sort of look similar to each other.
 * 2) Using the Large Icons view, delete the images that are not part of the startup animation sequence.