[IceMetalPunk]

DOWNLOAD: (NO LONGER WORKS. FIND MIRROR BELOW)
*EDIT* V1.1 Released* Updates include VERY SIMPLE GUI buttons and an option to control preview animation speed from 0.55 fps to 10 fps. Download v1.1 here: (NO LONGER WORKS. FIND MIRROR BELOW)

Background Information
My nephew had his second birthday party today, and one of his gifts was a book called "Gallop", by Rufus Butler Seder. It was the first time I had seen the Scanimation technique, and I thought to myself, "I could do that!" So I did. This program lets anyone quickly and easily create paper Scanimations, all for the price of transparencies, paper, and ink.

What is a Scanimation?
A Scanimation is an animation technique which involves two layers: The bars (or "scanlines") and the background image. By splitting the frames of a potential animation up according to the size of the bars, each image is fully revealed between the bars, in order, as the bar layer is moved horizontally over the background image.

An example is the "Gallop" book itself: http://www.youtube.c...h?v=eVG8tMW4Ctw. All those little moving images in the book are Scanimations.

How Do I Use Scanimation Creation, or, Are There Any Screenshots?
Since the program is about animations, it's a bit difficult for a still screenshot to accurately represent it. So instead, I've created a video showing you how easy it is to use Scanimation Creation.

You can find the video here: http://www.youtube.c...h?v=cb8jt94QCcY (Note: I just uploaded it, so if you're reading this soon after I posted, it may still be processing. Give YouTube a little time to do its thing)

Quick Information
When starting the program, it assumes you want to begin a new project and asks you to choose an image. You may cancel this if you wish. At any time while the program is running, you may press CTRL+N to begin a new Scanimation project.

The image you choose should be an animation. Everything else you need to know is written on the screen under your Scanimation preview.

VERY Useful Tips
Technically, Scanimation Creation will work with any images. However, there are some conditions which will create better Scanimations. They are listed below, in order of most effective to least effective:

1) Use images with few frames. The less frames, the better the Scanimation will look. I suggest a 4 to 5 frame maximum for best results.

2) Black and white images also look better, because they don't contrast as much with the black scanlines and white background.

3) Larger images tend to be a bit easier to see. Of course, if you choose an image larger than the screen, you will not see all of it until you save the images with the ENTER key.

How do I get this to work on paper instead of my computer?
Once you save your Scanimation with the ENTER key, two images will be saved. They will be called whatever you named them, plus _background.bmp and _bars.bmp.

Simply print the Bars image on transparency paper (can be bought at any office supply store) and the Background image on regular paper. Once everything is completely dry (I learned that the hard way), place the bars page on top of the background image, and slowly move it from left to right. You should see your Scanimation in action, showing your original animation.

Ahem...the Download?
I gave it to you before, at the top of the post... Okay, okay. It's right here, too:

(NO LONGER WORKS. FIND MIRROR BELOW)
*EDIT* V1.1 Released* Updates include VERY SIMPLE GUI buttons and an option to control preview animation speed from 0.55 fps to 10 fps. Download v1.1 here: (NO LONGER WORKS. FIND MIRROR BELOW)

It comes with a sample animation of a running cat. You can load this image into Scanimation Creation to see how the program works, and maybe print a Scanimation of it for yourself.

-IMP

*EDIT* Wow, didn't think this would be so popular. For those who have waited forever (well, months) for this, here's a working mirror:

http://willhostforfo...hp?fileid=63256

Sorry for the delay.

*EDIT2* Here's yet ANOTHER mirror, since WHFF went down: http://dl.dropbox.co...eation_v1.1.zip

This post has been edited by IceMetalPunk: 01 February 2011 - 04:44 AM

[sneekyllama]

That's really neat. Still messing around with it.

[Prenn Saranda]

Cool

[Paddymay]

<sarcasm>Woah, this is awsome!</sarcasm>
The exact opposite of what's sarcasm'd.
It just prints as black bars!!

[gamer freak]

Looks cool. One question though, will the bars always be the same for every animation? (so I don't have to print out a new one every time)

[THE KAPPTIN]

Paddymay, on Oct 5 2008, 05:40 PM, said:

<sarcasm>Woah, this is awsome!</sarcasm>
The exact opposite of what's sarcasm'd.
It just prints as black bars!!

lol

[cheeserules]

Paddymay, on Oct 5 2008, 05:40 PM, said:

<sarcasm>Woah, this is awsome!</sarcasm>
The exact opposite of what's sarcasm'd.
It just prints as black bars!!

I'm afraid you're mistaken.
Go to the program and turn the bars off. THAT's what it does to the .gif you put in to make the scanimation work. It does it all for you. Go and print some black bars out and run them over a picture not created in this. The picture will not look animated. Now if you import a picture into this program, print that out, THEN run black bars over it, it WILL look animated.
IceMetalPunk, am VERY impressed with this program. 9/10! Might be 9.5, but the UI is... well, not exactly what I'd call polished. I know that's not the point of this, but a program this cool deserves a better user interface. And you left out a very important option... why can't I choose the speed at which the black bars are run over my scanimation in the preview? Add this, make a more attractive user interface, and my rating will be bumped up to a 9.5! But overall, great, very useful program.


THE VERDICT:
9/10
AWESOME

EDIT:
Oh, I think i figured out how you did this. Did you just use draw_sprite_part, and make the black bars in the _bars image the same size as the image index of the imported picture? Still awesome, though, I never would have come up with this! I'm going to try to make one of my own, just for fun to see if it works

This post has been edited by cheeserules: 06 October 2008 - 12:44 AM

[IceMetalPunk]

Let's reply to everyone.

@Sneakyllama: Thanks.

@Prenn Saranda: Thanks.

@Paddymay: Read the post/video before using the program, or at least read cheeserules's post. It does much more than just print out black bars.

@Gamerfreak: No. The bar widths change depending on the number of frames in the image, and the number of bars change with the image widths. So, if two images have the same number of frames and the same widths, THEN you can use the same bars for both. Otherwise, it will not work without printing the correct bars.

But thanks anyway .

@Cheeserules: Thanks . Glad someone read . I did use draw_sprite_part, but the bars are the size of the image_number, not image index. Basically, each vertical column of pixels in the image is from a different frame of the animation, in order (so, the first column is frame 1, the second is frame 2, etc.) and it repeats when it reaches the end. Since the bars cover up the amount of frames in the image minus 1, you always see one whole image as you move the bars, so it looks animated.

I would have made a UI, but I honestly didn't think this would become so popular. I thought it was just a quick, silly thing I made that would end up five pages down in a few days .

I'll add some quick UI and upload v1.1 soon. Shouldn't take too long.

-IMP

*EDIT* Told you it wouldn't take too long . The simple GUI (simple buttons for each of the three program functions: New, Save, and Toggle Bars) is done, along with a small Preview Speed bar addition (can set the preview animation speed between 0.55 fps and 10 fps).

This post has been edited by IceMetalPunk: 08 October 2008 - 02:30 AM

[Chronic]

A few month back i bought Gallop for my 3 year old niece and was impressed at the optical illusions. Today i came across a video showing a few other animations, and with help from mixxedstuff i learned the name of this type of illusion and linked me to this topic.

Very nice to see that someone made an application to create this sort of thing. Good job

[IceMetalPunk]

Thanks . Who would have ever thought that a children's book could inspire a popular Game Maker program ?

-IMP

[mare96]

hallo there!
I am a new member and I need desperatelly this programm to make some gift cards. I download it but it crashes when I double click it, iI have windows xp. What is happening?

Please!!!

Tolis

[IceMetalPunk]

I honestly don't know. Does it give you any error messages?

-IMP

[mare96]

when I try to open it, just crash...
I dont understant what it says.I put it here in the hope of finding something.(I tried to change the compatibility but nothing...)

thanx anyway
tolis

This post has been edited by mare96: 20 November 2008 - 09:21 PM

[score_under]

0EEDFADE is delphi failing to open a file, when all error handling fails (last time I checked).
This is not his fault, it is Game Maker's.

[mare96]

score_under, on Nov 20 2008, 11:25 PM, said:

0EEDFADE is delphi failing to open a file, when all error handling fails (last time I checked).
This is not his fault, it is Game Maker's.

@IceMetalPunk...any chance of trying to fix it? plzzzzz

[IceMetalPunk]

I don't know how to fix it because I've never seen that happen with a GM game before...

If anyone else has, perhaps they can give suggestions or solutions?

-IMP

[IQbrew]

I showed my 11 year old sister this, and explained to her what it was.
She said"It should move off the screen"
"And they should give it 30 images."
She was kicked out of my office so fast....

[CoolGamrSms]

Hm, IceMetalPunk, can you upload what the example pieces are supposed to look like? Mine don't seem to work right, and I think I've already found a possible solution. Before, I was testing a game I had been working on with a friend of mine. He decided to create an 'animated' lava effect by drawing a background, saving to a surface and then moving it. Then he saved the surface to a sprite frame and created an animated (It really just moved to the right) sprite of the lava from the background in-game. Anyways, that worked on his computer but not mine. I think something similar is going on here, as the effect I get is not correct looking.

I guess I can't leave a rating due to this.

EDIT: Saw video, doesn't look anything similar to what mine does.


Think you could go about rendering the images differently maybe?

This post has been edited by CoolGamrSms: 22 November 2008 - 04:41 PM

[mare96]

ok...I don't want to bother the topic. I registered for one reason: to download this program. If someone could help this is my mail: ap_tsivolas@yahoo.gr
Thanx anyway
Tolis

[LegacyCrono]

That's neat. I like it.
I surely could use it to make something to friends and family. xD Christmas is coming, after all. ^^
Overall: 8/10, but I don't know how you could make it better...

@mare96:
Wow, kernel32.dll got a problem?
You're probably with a virus of some sort... Anyway, that doesn't seems to be a problem with the executable. Try either downloading it again or check if your computer is infected.

SEE YA!!!!!