How to preserve an existing Animated GIF with other images?

[Jacobs]

I'm trying to combine multiple layers of PNG images with an Animated GIF. I'm not sure how to make PDN recognize GIFs that move instead of making them just a flat picture. I'm not trying to -create- an AGIF with many layers, I'm trying to -preserve- an existing one through basic layer import. When I save, I want to save as an AGIF and have it work anywhere as intended.

 

Is there a plugin I can use to make this work simply?

[Pixey]

Hello @Jacobs and Welcome

 

Please read through this.  I hope it answers your question:

 

 

[Jacobs]

Hi Pixey, thank you for your reply. 

 

I've followed the steps laid out in your link, and AGIFs are now being recognized. The problems I'm running into now are two-fold:

 

1. Once I import an AGIF, I can't seem to move it at all. Though the rectangle selector moves when I want it to, the actual image stays put in the top left corner of my canvas.

 

2. The AGIF loops fine, but the other layer(s) [that I wish to be constant throughout] are looping very briefly along with it.

 

 

I'm using this site to make cards: 

https://cartoon-battle.cards/card-builder?card_name=Hodors Mom&image=https%3A%2F%2Fibb.co%2F87fD4sn&rarity=mythic&fusion=twice fused&level=7&attack=31&health=65&trait=educated&skill_1=weakenall&skill_1_value=25&skill_2=give&skill_2_value=18&skill_3=&skill_3_value=

 

 

I save them to my PC and make the center transparent, as you see in the attached file. The idea is to have the card frame as a first, constant layer, the AGIF always looping as a picture where the transparent center is, and a final, constant layer (a duplicate card image) placed overtop the AGIF to cover where it bleeds over the first layer.

 

How do I make this happen??

 

Edited September 21, 2020 by Jacobs

[Pixey]

Perhaps take a look at this simple tutorial, below.  In order to have a constant 'Background' - you make the first layer //Background.  If you want text, or another item in the foreground, you make your last frame //foreground.  There is a thread where @midora has some tips on naming layers in the order you want the gif to move.  But, a lot of his pictures have disappeared, as has he.  When I get time I will try to replace them.  Also you have to read through the thread

 

 

I'm not sure what's happening when you try to move the image.  If your canvas is larger than the agif imported, you should be able to use the Move Selected Pixels tool

[Jacobs]

21 hours ago, Pixey said:

 

I'm not sure what's happening when you try to move the image.  If your canvas is larger than the agif imported, you should be able to use the Move Selected Pixels tool

https://imgchest.com/p/pwl7lgepyx2

Here you can see the problem I'm having... the AGIF will allow insertion but not budge from its initial position. Also ~

https://imgchest.com/p/ovj4jkr278m

 

Though the background and foreground layers seem fine, the AGIF itself (position aside) is now stuttering at a point in its cycle instead of looping smoothly. I'm not sure why this would happen, or how to smooth it out?

 

https://imgchest.com/p/aljyqxno425

 

The original AGIF can be seen here, for reference.

[LoudSilence]

the first and last layers should not be the same, then it will stay on that one frame for twice the time, don't make the bottom and top layer/frame the same thing

[AndrewDavid]

58 minutes ago, Jacobs said:

the AGIF will allow insertion but not budge from its initial position.

Have a closer look at the active and visible layer.

Remember Paint.Net can only edit the current layer.

By default the first layer is selected but the second last layer is visible. 

I was surprised that the "import from file" for an AGIF actually worked.

[Pixey]

 

 

The above video shows you how to move the image and resize it.  Sorry for the small lag to it beginning.

 

I suggest you have the cat on a transparent layer and it must be imported on its own layer.

 

Ill take a look at your frames to see where the blink is coming from.  You've probably got a layer wrong.

[AndrewDavid]

[Jacobs]

Oh, awesome Andrew! Thank you!

 

19 hours ago, AndrewDavid said:

Have a closer look at the active and visible layer.

Remember Paint.Net can only edit the current layer.

By default the first layer is selected but the second last layer is visible. 

I was surprised that the "import from file" for an AGIF actually worked.

 

Thank you for letting me know. Now all that's left is expanding that Felix the Cat picture to cover the transparent portions left and then do "Alpha Masking" I think it's called to smooth out both the outside of the card and the interior border where AGIF meets card. If it proves too challenging, I might just accept Andrew's work.  

You can see in this card how I've blacked the interior border by hand, as I've been struggling with the masking, smoothing out process. I've been told this masking is simple, but I've only seen it done much with the GIMP application. I imagine more plugin(s) are in order, but I believe there are several out there. Any advice on this aspect?


P.S: Thank you for looking into it Pixey.

[Pixey]

1 hour ago, Jacobs said:

I might just accept Andrew's work.  

 

Actually members are supposed to show you how to make things, not do the work for you 😉

[Ego Eram Reputo]

I'm digging your card design!

 

 

8 hours ago, Jacobs said:

You can see in this card how I've blacked the interior border by hand, as I've been struggling with the masking,

 

Here's how you can do this painlessly....

 

1. Select the interior of the card with the magic wand. If your elements are on separate layers, use the Sampling: Image option in the Tool bar.

 

2. Add a new layer with Ctrl + Shift + N. The selection will remain active on the new layer.

 

3. To the selection, apply Outline Selection from @BoltBait's plugin pack

 

 

[Jacobs]

18 hours ago, Ego Eram Reputo said:

I'm digging your card design!

 

Thanks very much! If I can lick these small issues, I can go further.

 

18 hours ago, Ego Eram Reputo said:

Here's how you can do this painlessly....

 

I've been trying very hard to wrap my head around this, and you've made it so, so simple. THANKS, PAL.

 

 

Now, I'm trying to figure this part out on my own, but I'm hitting a wall. I've done the //background //foreground bit, I've layered things in order, but I don't understand how to get all frames of the AGIF moved the way Andrew did it. It looks perfect with his card, but did he really grab one frame at a time and try to perfectly overlap them as I'm (NOT) doing (successfully)? Unless I make the space around the cat utterly transparent (I don't want to) how do I line the frames all up like he did?

 

[Pixey]

On 9/23/2020 at 11:30 AM, Pixey said:

Actually members are supposed to show you how to make things, not do the work for you 😉

 

 

This is why I made the above comment earlier to @AndrewDavid. 

 

 

 

1.  Import the whistling cat gif you previously saved with the .agif and All Files.  Then it will open up in paint.net.

2.  Import your card.

3.  You will have to - see the video - move the cat on each layer.  I used Ctrl and Move Pixels with six down and 2 right using the arrow keys on your keyboard.  As @AndrewDavid points out use Object Align (Center) on each layer.  So much quicker.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[AndrewDavid]

@Jacobs

For step 3 of @Pixey's directions, I used Object Align (Center) on each layer.

What I didn't do was fill the surrounding transparency with the white because I'm not supposed to do the work for you.

The reason I posted the GIF was to show you the import from file worked correctly.

[Pixey]

27 minutes ago, AndrewDavid said:

For step 3 of @Pixey's directions, I used Object Align (Center) on each layer.

 

Of course - so much quicker

[Djisves]

Align Centre each layer of an existing animated gif may not work for all images (obviously it works for the one in this example). Depending on the animation, you may not want the object to be centered on each frame, for example in a bouncing ball animation).

 

In cases like this, I always default to @MadJik's Paneling plugin.

Use the plugin to position the object on the first frame and repeat for the object on each of the other layers. The plugin settings stick after each use, so simply click on the next layer in the Layers window and hit Ctrl+F.

[Pixey]

10 hours ago, Djisves said:

 

In cases like this, I always default to @MadJik's Paneling plugin.

 

Yes, Paneling works quite well too:

 

 

[Djisves]

6 minutes ago, Pixey said:

Yes, Paneling works quite well too:

Thank you for taking the trouble to illustrate, @Pixey. Videos are always so much easier to understand. 

[Jacobs]

Before noticing all these latest replies, I decided to expand both the AGIF Cat image and Canvas to 160%. Then, I imported the card frame and placed it over the AGIF where I wanted (naming this layer "//Foreground").  Next, I used Outline Selection from the BoltBait Plugin pack and made the card's contour fully white to cover the excess left by placing an enlarged square image beneath a rectangular one. This required creating a background layer, which making the outline did automatically (being then renamed "//Background").

 

Since I ended up wanting the picture enlarged to fit the card frame anyway, this worked out well. Otherwise, that paneling mentioned above is -exactly- what someone would need to move so many frames just right. I've got that pack ready to install and will give it a whirl. Thank you all for helping me! It was frustrating for me at first, but worth it. If my questions seemed overly step-by-step or frequent, it's my own learning style and also my hoping that others reading this later will absorb what they need more quickly than I did.

 

 

See the animated version here:

 

https://imgchest.com/p/gm9yx8v37qn