Intro

.GIF is an image file format with quite a bit of history and a rather strange configuration, specially to users who weren't arround when computers were able to display only a fraction of the colors that they do today. .GIF files accept several subformats, among them one which holds a sequence of images plus a set of basic playback instructions. Programs that read and display .GIF files (such as most web browsers) replay the sequence following those instructions. The system is simple and works well, but it also has its drawbacks.

Animated .GIF files have some hard-wired limitations due primarily to the fact that the format is designed to hold still images, not video loops. Adding sound into the same file is impossible and the number of colors is limited. These are two of the several drawbacks of the format. However, the format has some uses, mainly distributing short animations that will play on most computers without any extra fuss.

There are simpler tools than The Gimp to create these files, and it would be an overkill to suggest installing and getting to grip with such complex application only for the sake of turning image sequences into animated .GIF files. But as I mentioned in the introductory article to the post-processing section ("Making movies"), once the image has been rendered, we are in the realm of 2D bitmaps. And The Gimp is a great tool to not only convert image sequences, but to also manipulate them in ways that exceed basic videoprocessors like VirtualDub.

Still, the fact remains that The Gimp is a extense application. It is beyond the scope of this tutorial to describe even the most basic functions of the program. What you will find here are step-by-step instructions that will take you from loading a sequence of images to saving an animated .GIF file. Along the way , you will find other worthy routes to explore. There are plenty, just as plenty is the documentation found on the internet.

To best follow this tutorial, you should already have a sequence of rendered images (preferrably 10-20) following a numbered naming scheme. Additionally, you should have The Gimp for Windows installed, including the GIMP Animation Package (GAP).

Step 1:

Open The Gimp

Step 2:

In the File menu, select the option Open...

Step 3:

In the Open Image dialog, select the first image file of your sequence. Images generated by POVray will be numbered starting from 1 (preceded by a number of zeroes)

Step 4:

This loads the first image into the program

Step 5:

Now got to the Video menu at right and choose the item VCR Navigator