Need Help With Animated Logo

Phoenixx

Starfleet Member
Site Supporters
Joined
Sep 24, 2004
Messages
962
Solutions
4
Reaction score
167
Points
50
According to the polls it seemed like the majority is using the default style and that they would prefer an animated logo for the VIP. Since i wanted something that goes well with the blue of the forum then i didnt consider another DMD style logo so i tried several different things in blue tones but none of them were really satisfying.

Then, yesterday, when i walked by my Raven machine it hit me: Why not make a scrolling-text logo out of blue alphanumeric chars like those in Sys80b machines? Its blue, so it goes well with the forum, and since it is alphanumeric it has a touch of pinball too. Perfect for the purpose. The only problem is; how can one make a GIF that contains several lines of scrolling text without making every single frame by hand? Is there some tool that could do this? Any software? Not that i mind putting some work into it, mind you, i made the old orange one frame by frame by hand too. Its just that there would be a lot more frames to make for several lines of scrolling text, and since it is so f-ing hot here i really prefer to spend as little time as possible in front of the PC right now.


Any and all help appreciated / Any and all tips welcome.

Thanks.
 
I think that guy with the screen name WWW at VPF.org has a cool signature.... I'll see if I can display it here. You'll notice it's two separate gifs and each one is a clickable link in his sig, not the one's below, of course.

Videoadd.gif

TUTADD.gif
 
Thanks, but thats not what i had in mind.

What i need is something to make scrolling text like that in Sys80b displays, meaning a background of maybe 2x20 digits and then have the characters run across. Look-wise it should be similar to that in the attachment, only in alphanumeric format rather than dot matrix.

(...last comment removed...)

attachment.php
 

Attachments

  • dotmatrix.png
    dotmatrix.png
    636 bytes · Views: 596
Last edited:
In case you can specify your own images, (and i think you can), then one of the DMD plugins for VP just might do half the job.

The Idea: Slap it on a default table, have it scroll your text across the display.

The $100 Question: How would one capture the individual frames?

Is it technically possible to devise something that tells the plugin to send each frame as an image into a folder rather than (or additionally to) displaying it on the screen? Something like a plugin for the plugin, perhaps? That would totally solve the problem because once i have the individual frames i can make an animation with ImageReady in no time,...


(On the other hand, the net is full of images with scrolling text and i seriously doubt that they are all made frame-by-frame by hand. That means there are almost guaranteed tools that let you create such scrolling text GIFs, the problem is only i know none. meh.)
 
 

Attachments

  • redmatrix.gif
    redmatrix.gif
    49.5 KB · Views: 621
<code></code>[marquee]
I like scrolling
[/marquee]



 
I did some more testing and i think a large amount of scrolling text sucks.

Plan B: Make one like the old one but based on a blue alphanumeric display rather than an orange dot matrix.

Advantage: Only a few frames needed and i have full control over background and font and overall look and everything,...




attachment.php
 

Attachments

  • vip1.gif
    vip1.gif
    264.1 KB · Views: 587
Yeah, a large amount of scrolling text does suck. Mainly because you have to sit there for 20-30 seconds until you can read the whole thing. Plan B sounds like a much better alternative.

The McD
 
Currently working on it - the new one will be based on this:

(It merely represents the very first step, so rest assured the final result will be a little prettier,...)


attachment.php
 

Attachments

  • wip1.png
    wip1.png
    12.7 KB · Views: 582
Looks nice. Maybe a slight bit hard to read, but that may just be me.

The McD
 
Looks nice. Maybe a slight bit hard to read, but that may just be me.
Agreed, I think it's because the grey unlit segments are a bit too bright.

As for large amounts of scrolling text sucking, yeah, that's true if that's the entirety of the banner. However, if there were static text at the top in larger letters ("VISUAL INSTALL PACK") with scrolling text in smaller letters at the bottom describing the VIP, that might work well...
 
Define 'hard to read'.

Because of the font?

Or is there something wrong with the colors?

I remember the old one looked perfectly good on the TFT i then used, not realizing how crap it looks on a CRT until i switched. If possible i would of course like to avoid this this time so if theres something wrong or odd looking please describe so i can try something else until it looks good on all systems,...
 
Define 'hard to read'.

Because of the font?

Or is there something wrong with the colors?

I remember the old one looked perfectly good on the TFT i then used, not realizing how crap it looks on a CRT until i switched. If possible i would of course like to avoid this this time so if theres something wrong or odd looking please describe so i can try something else until it looks good on all systems,...

For me, I find that the font is fine, but to me there's not enough contrast between the lit blue segments and the unlit gray ones. In other words, the unlit segments are too bright IMO.
 
Thats very helpful, thanks.

The thing is im sort of a 'deep-black' fanatic, (i watch a lot of StarTrek and other SciFi with many space-scenes on the PC), so i have my monitor adjusted so that there is no grey whatsoever over the blacks. Personally i think it looks great that way (in games too) but of course this also results in a generally rather dark picture, from my experience way darker than most other people have it. Therefore it may well be that what i think is a good dark/bright balance looks way brighter on other peoples screens. I will take that into account and post a couple of images, the one which looks best to all people will then be used as the base.
 
For me, I find that the font is fine, but to me there's not enough contrast between the lit blue segments and the unlit gray ones. In other words, the unlit segments are too bright IMO.

Yeah, that's it. I'll be waiting for those other pictures then.

The McD
 
I dont think i will do them today because it got so damn hot in here again that i cant concentrate on anything.

(Blame the PC and the CRT.)

Maybe i will get back to it tonight when it cooled down, but for now i have to switch the PC off or i go insane in here,...
 
Sitting in a class room with windows taped shut because of maintenance working, the door closed because of too much noise in the class, and the class room being wonderfully placed exactly where the sun shines into from 8 A.M. to 1 P.M.

Yeah, I know how you feel. Heat's a bitch.

The McD
 
Its very cloudy today and it even rains every now and then.

But it is still unbearably hot, as a matter of fact the moisture only makes it worse because now i have an almost tropical greenhouse climate in here.

Not the best of premises for sitting in front of the PC - really hope this heatwave is over soon so i can get some things off my todo list,...
 
Well, i seem to have a serious problem with the color proofing again.

Proofed against Windows the grey is WAY brighter than proofed against my monitor profile, and the same also goes for Windows own image viewer versus IrfanView. The question is: What do you other people see?

I made a new image with the webcolors pallette which is limited to grey51, grey102, grey153 and grey204. Of course i used grey51 and i proofed against my monitor profile. In Irfan the saved result seems to be identical to the source whereas in Wins image viewer it is way brighter. What do you see now? Is it brighter than yesterday, darker, still too bright or O.K.? BTW i have also changed the anti aliasing from Strong to Sharp.


--------------------------------------------------------------



Supplemental: I just notice that it looks even darker when displayed in the browser. So now i have one image but three different shades of grey. Great! Exactly what i NOT need in this heat when i can hardly stand sitting in front of my PC anyway. Check out the second image, its all one and the same image:
 

Attachments

  • grey51.png
    grey51.png
    4 KB · Views: 363
  • odd.png
    odd.png
    69.3 KB · Views: 373
Last edited:
O.K., i think i have the color proofing mess straightened out.

The images now look identical in the Workspace, in Irfan and in the browser.

(Windowses image viewer displays everything way too bright so i simply wont be using it anymore.)

---------------------------------

So how does this one look to you?

Its about as low as i can go with the grey or i wont be able to see it on my screen anymore.

(In fact i myself would like to make it a tad brighter again.)


attachment.php
 

Attachments

  • test5.png
    test5.png
    3.6 KB · Views: 557
It looks fine so far, and I'd say a bit more brightness wouldn't hurt.

The McD
 
Thanks.

Is this one still O.K. or is it too bright again?

For my screen this would be about the optimum.


attachment.php
 

Attachments

  • test6.png
    test6.png
    3.4 KB · Views: 535
And here with a little bit of glass effect: (not final - just testing)

attachment.php
 

Attachments

  • test7.png
    test7.png
    4.8 KB · Views: 524
That one was too bright again, but the one with the glass effect added is fine again.

The McD
 
Forum activity
Help Users
You can interact with the ChatGPT Bot in any Chat Room and there is a dedicated room. The command is /ai followed by a space and then your ? or inquiry.
ie: /ai What is a EM Pinball Machine?
  • No one is chatting at the moment.
      Chat Bot Mibs Chat Bot Mibs: Wolfkell is our newest member. Welcome!
      Back
      Top