LATEST NEWS [4/29/2005]:These pages have just moved to a NEW SERVER. The site might be under construction for some time. LATEST NEWS [2/17/2003]:gAnim8 version 0.3 has been released! Check out the features page for a list of the latest great features. New screenshots added!. Download the latest version. LATEST NEWS [2/16/2003]: All gAnim8 components now feature internationalization/gettext support. gAnim8 now available in SPANISH!Download the latest version. LATEST NEWS [2/16/2003]: gAnim8 Conversion Tool version 0.2 has been released. Download the latest version. LATEST NEWS [2/16/2003]: GtkSnapshot version 0.1 has been released - a new Gtk-based screen capture utility, and a new addition to gAnim8. Download the latest version.
ABOUTVIDEOSUPPORTINGANIM8
IMPORTANTCHANGEINVERSION0.3: As of version gAnim8 0.3, video support is now implemented through the use of the MUCH more advanced FFMPEG. The old 'mpeg2decode' is no longer used, because it is slow, has limited functionality, and supports only a few file types .
The VIDEO support in gAnim8 is still EXPERIMENTAL. Here are the facts:
At this time only videos under 1MB(1200 frames or less) are supported . If you open videos bigger than that, you do so at your own risk (see below) .
INTENDEDUSAGE: The VIDEO support in gAnim8 is NOT intended for opening/editing/saving large VIDEOs . It is NOT intended to turn gAnim8 into a full-fledged 'movie studio' . The VIDEO support is intended for such things as opening a small VIDEO, grabbing 1-25 frames from the VIDEO, and using those frames to make a smaller animation (i.e, an animated Gif from an VIDEO or a smaller VIDEO from the original VIDEO). The VIDEO support is useful for those wishing to grab a frame or frames from an VIDEO, or those wishing to make a mini animated 'preview' of an Video . Any other usage is not 'supported' . So, if you use the VIDEO support for anything other than what I have just described, you do so at your OWN risk . If you try to open a 20MBVIDEO and it crashes your computer, do NOT send in a 'bug' report, as the only thing 'malfunctioning' will have been your reading comprehension .
SOMESUGGESTEDUSES: - Creating a small SWF (Shockwave Flash) or RealPlayer presentation from an animated GIF or small video . - Creating a small animated GIF rendition or 'preview' of a video file . - Making a small video of an animated GIF - Converting a small video of one format to a small video of another format - Recording a short video from a Video4Linux device using gAnim8's 'Record Video.." tool
REQUIREMENTS: In order to do ANYTHING with Videos (opening or saving), you MUST have BOTH 'ffmpeg' and the 'convert' program from ImageMagick installed on your system .
FFMPEG- The 'ffmpeg' package (containing the 'ffmpeg' binary - version 0.4.6 or better - required for video read/write support)
ImageMagick (containing the 'convert' binary, version 5.2.3+, version 5.4.6.1 or better recommended - adds support for 110+ image formats, and is also needed for video support)
IMPORTANT: gAnim8 is NOT intended for opening, saving, or editing large videos . At this time only videos under 1MB(1200 frames or less) are supported . gAnim8 is NOT a 'movie studio' - it is an animation suite, intended for opening/saving/editing SMALL animations and videos . If you choose to ignore this warning - expect to wait a LONG time for your video to open . In addition, LOTS of temporary disk space will be used (possibly hundreds of MBs), and the whole GUI of gAnim8 will run much, much slower . Large VIDEOs over 1MB can take MANY minutes to open . Use at your own risk!
gAnim8 has NO control over the speed of decoding videos . This is controlled by the external program 'ffmpeg' from the 'ffmpeg' package .
gAnim8 has NO control over the speed of encoding videos . This is controlled by the external program 'ffmpeg' from the 'ffmpeg' package .
SUPPORTEDVIDEOFORMATS-FOROPENING (Video types gAnim8 can READ): MPEG AVI (Windows Video) ASF (Windows Video) WMV (Window Media Video) SWF (Shockwave Flash, old, version 1.0) RM (RealPlayer, older format) M4V MOV/QT (Quicktime)
SUPPORTEDVIDEOFORMATS-FORSAVING (Video types gAnim8 can WRITE): MPEG AVI (Windows Video) ASF (Windows Video) WMV (Window Media Video) SWF (Shockwave Flash, old, version 1.0) RM (RealPlayer, older format) M4V
gAnim8 does NOT support any other VIDEO formats . If it's not listed above, it's not supported . The types of videos that can be opened and saved depends heavily on how recent and functional your copy of 'ffmpeg' is . Make sure you have a very recent version of FFMPEG.
OPENINGVIDEOS: To open a video, select "Open..." on the menu, and select one of the supported video types (see above) . Opening an VIDEO can take a moment . Please be patient .A 'preview' window will open . You may then select the frames from the VIDEO video you want to incorporate into your animation . As of gAnim8 version 0.3, you can drag-and-drop frames onto the gAnim8 window: The frames will be automatically imported into the animation . If you select a RANGE of frames to import, it is HIGHLY suggested that you do not choose more than 25 frames (as you will may be waiting a LONG time for all of the frames to be processed and incorporated into the animation) . If you ignore this warning, you do so at your own risk .IMPORTANTNOTE: When opening a video from the menu with the 'Open...' command, gAnim8 will only display the first 200 frames of your video . There is a reason for this: Trying to show more than 200 frames in the video preview window has been known to make the X Server completely CRASH, as too much screen real estate is being used . (I'm working on it!)
IMPORTINGVIDEOS: If you wish to import a whole video at once, you may do so by dragging and droping a supported video from a file manager (such as GMC) onto one of the 'Insert' buttons in gAnim8 . Importing a video will quickly insert a lower-quality version of your video directly into the animation sequence . Basically, what this feature does is quickly convert your video into an animated .GIF, then embeds that animated GIF into your animation sequence . If you are importing a LARGE video, be prepared to wait a moment or more .
For now, If your video is more than 200 frames, and you wish to have ALL the video frames included in the animation (not suggested - gAnim8 isn't a 'movie studio), you will have to IMPORT your video, instead of OPEN your video .
RECORDINGVIDEOS: You can record a video from a V4L device (new in gAnim8 version 0.3!) by clicking 'Tool', then 'Record Video...' on the menu . This feature, of course, requires FFMPEG to be installed on your system . It's not that advanced or fancy, but it gets the job done . Currently, there is no way to 'preview' the video you are recording until after it has been recorded . (Allowing both gAnim8 and FFMPEG to access a V4L device at the same time would take some serious hacking.)
SUPPORTEDVIDEOFORMATS-FORRECORDING: MPEG AVI (Windows Video) ASF (Windows Video) WMV (Window Media Video) SWF (Shockwave Flash, old, version 1.0) RM (RealPlayer, older format) M4V
gAnim8, the gAnim8 Conversion Tool, and GtkSnapshot are Copyright (c) 2003-2005 by Erica Andrews (PhrozenSmoke ['at'] yahoo.com). All rights reserved. See the license file for a copy of the W3C license this software is distributed under. Gifsicle and Ungifsicle are copyright by Eddie Kohler (kohler@icir.org). Any use, modificiation, or redistribution of gAnim8 or it components not in accordance with the license is strictly prohibited.
My 'Technical Playground' projects and their pages are unmaintained and over 14-20 years old. These sites are kept for historic purposes only, were designed MANY years ago, have not been maintained or upgraded, and may or may not function properly. Use at your own risk.
All Open Source Projects on this site and their pages are unmaintained and over 14 years old. These sites are kept for historic purposes only, were designed MANY years ago, have not been maintained or upgraded, and may or may not function properly. Again, these Open Source sites and projects are unmaintained. Use at your own risk.
