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.

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:
   1. 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.
   2. 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.
   3. Hide mouse cursor - To hide the mouse cursor in case it accidentally finds its way into the Bandicam window.
   4. Format is set to PNG.

Setting the Bandicam window for screen captures.

Selecting the "Large Icons" view size

Pictures

Capturing

The Bandicam window, actively taking screenshots of the Steamlands startup.

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. Often, this includes:
   1. Loading screen/Advertisement thumbnails
   2. Transitions before and after the startup. The transition does not need to be a part of the startup GIF, though it can be included if it signifies a difference between two similar startups (ex: Hot Air and Hot Air 2). For fade transitions, especially, viewing the images in full screen mode by double clicking them is necessary.
3. Select all the images that are part of the startup and right click on the first thumbnail. Using the "Rename" option, rename the files to "Game name startup" and press Enter.

Tips

• To quickly delete a large string of images, select the first thumbnail. Scroll down to the last one you want to delete, and press and hold Ctrl and Shift while clicking. All images in between these two are selected.
• Pressing Shift + Delete permanently deletes the picture files without sending them to the recycle bin.

Putting together the GIF

Selecting all pictures except for the first one within the folder to open as layers.

1. With the files saved, start GIMP and select File, then Open. Use this to bring the first image of the startup into view.
2. Under "File", select "Open as Layers" or Ctrl + Alt + O.
3. If the files are all saved under a single folder, you can press Ctrl + A to select all the pictures, then click on the first one while pressing Ctrl to deselect it.
4. Click the Open button in the window and wait as the program opens each individual picture as a layer. This can take a while, depending on the number of screenshots you take.

Resizing

After all the images are open, you'll want to resize them so that the startup can still play on the wiki page, without having to enlarge it.

1. Click "Image", and then "Scale Image". A window should pop up.
2. Under the "Image Size" heading, ensure the link icon next to the Width and Height numbers is locked. If not, click on the link to put the chain together. This preserves the aspect ratio so that the image does not look distorted when you resize it.
3. Using the arrow keys within the Width field, press and hold them to resize the image. A good size to aim for is about 300 - 350 pixels for the width, which is roughly 60% of the images' original size.
4. Click "Scale" and wait for all the layers to be downsized. If the image becomes too small, undo the process with Ctrl + Z and try again.

Select the Scale Image option.

An ideal size for the pictures.

Saving the animation

1. Under the "Filters", tab, hover over "Animation" and click on the "Playback" option to view your newly put-together animation.
2. If the image looks all right, proceed to save it by clicking "File", then "Save As...". A window should open.
3. Find a place to save the GIF, and change the name to "Game name startup.gif". This can also be any other file name, so long as it ends with the extension ".gif".
4. Clicking "Save" will open a window. In this window, select the "Save as Animation" option as well as the "Convert to Indexed" (which should be the default setting).
5. Click on "Export" when these options have been set.
6. Depending on the size and the amount of images, GIMP may freeze. This is normal, and another window should open after a few seconds of waiting. Another window should pop up to adjust the animation settings:
   1. Make sure both "Interlacing" and GIF comment under "GIF Options" is unchecked.
   2. The image should loop forever ("Loop forever" option is checked).
   3. Delay between frames where unspecified should be 10 milliseconds.
   4. Frame disposal where unspecified: One frame per layer (replace)
   5. Check off both boxes below this option, then click "Save".
7. Your startup GIF is finished, and ready to upload.

Selecting the Playback window option.

Options for exporting as a GIF.

Settings for saving the file as a GIF.

Setbacks

The fastest speed Bandicam can take pictures at is a frame every 0.1 seconds, or 10 frames per second. This speed is often fast enough for most startups, however, some animations have speeds that are faster than this, resulting in slightly choppy GIFs. The speed of Bandicam's capture cannot be increased. Some of these images with laggy animation due to this setback have been noted below.

• File:Yin Yang startup.gif
• File:Pest Control startup.gif
• File:Toxic startup.gif

Video

full

Feedback

Direct feedback about this tutorial here.