AVI

[dcahall]

Now I have some more questions about AVI files.......

How do you create a "smooth" aimation in an .avi file? With Flash you can set a frame rate and the software generates a transition from one frame to another thus giving a smooth transition. I have not been able to create that type of smoothness with a .avi file. I did figure out that I can generate a ton more frames and decrease the display time to approach it but none the less, it is not as smooth. Maybe I do not fully understand the phrase "key frame" and what the significance is. I also find that under some codec's, I can set an option for the frame to be every X frames.

Am I heading down the wrong path by trying to create a nice animation with a .avi file? Do I need to install some additional codecs?

Again, my final goal is to create some animations that I can insert in some movies I want to edit.

[Soquili]

Have you ever seen a Disney documentary about how they animate cartoons? Especially the older cartoons all created by hand on cellulose sheets.

Flash animations use tweening to create the frames between "key frames". In .gif and .avi animations the artist must create every frame. For the animation to be smooth you must create the images for every movement taken by the actor.

[handrawn]

following on from what Bill said...

in AVI codec the option to set 'keyframe' every so many frames refers to rendering - that is, in these keyframes the whole image is rerendered, wheras for the non-keyframes only those parts that have changed are rerendered and the rest of the rendering carries over - understanding the ins and outs of this is important its a balance of file size speed and flow - not to be confused with 'keyframes' from an animators point of view which are the drawings that have the most detail in them at key moments in the action sequence

also in the old disney, to get smooth action 24 drawings per second were used; digital animation tends to use 30 drawings [frames] per second to achieve this

[dcahall]

Handrawn, that is some really great information............

I just learned another valuable lesson as well. In XPGD7, the preview function does not show how the animation will play back for a .avi file. After I export the animation and play it under Windows it does show they way I want it to. I am fooling around tweaking the amount of time each frame is displayed to control the speed the animation plays. It DOES build the frames in between. Now will it be a challenge interesting to get a codec that works well with my movie editing software to show the animation at the speed I want it to play.

Slowly, and with a lot of trial and error, I am getting things to work. Does anyone have a recommended codec to use? I have been using Microsoft Movie Maker but am looking at the Magix software as an alternative. Any suggestions you seasoned veterans have is greaty appreciated. I am a retired guy doing this stuff as a hobby. My first realy project was a DVD for my wife's 50th high school reunion but I wanted to be able to add my own "touches".

Again, I appreciate all of the replies and am learning from you all..........

[handrawn]

when exporting from xara, to edit in a video editor, export the AVI with the options setting: 'uncompressed' - this will give you a large file size, but the best result when editing

are you then making videos to author as DVDs to play on standard DVD players; or to play on computer media players [or both] ?

[if you want to export from xara and simply play the videos rather than edit: then, of the options, I'd choose cinepak [which I think is the default] if only because it is pretty universally implemented, which won't edit as well but will be a lot smaller]

[dcahall]

when exporting from xara, to edit in a video editor, export the AVI with the options setting: 'uncompressed' - this will give you a large file size, but the best result when editing

are you then making videos to author as DVDs to play on standard DVD players; or to play on computer media players [or both] ?

[if you want to export from xara and simply play the videos rather than edit: then, of the options, I'd choose cinepak [which I think is the default] if only because it is pretty universally implemented, which won't edit as well but will be a lot smaller]

I would be creating DVDs..........

Another silly question: Is there a way t include an animated gif in an AVI file? When I try to import one, I get sme error mssages.

[steve.ledger]

You can actually import gif animations (some caveats apply) and xara will create a layer for each frame, but you can't add it very easily to an existing animation because you would need to manually add each frame of the gif to each frame of your existing animation before exporting the finished animation to an AVI container.
Xara it not a video editor or authoring package, it simply allows your frame-by-frame animation to be exported to an AVI container for use in an external third party editor or authoring package.

[handrawn]

I would be creating DVDs..........

ok, on the assumption that the DVD authoring software is different from the editing software:

could be that your authoring software will accept uncompressed output from your editor, and compress it directly to VOB - but it will means large file sizes, possibly impractical for long movies and presupposes that the editor has preview player that gives you a true indication of the quality of its output

so in practice you need to look at codec compression at the editor stage

for AVI I have had good results with the techsmith codec, which if you don't use camtasia you can download from here: http://www.techsmith.com/download.html - check first if your editor/author allows custom AVI codecs

I also like the H.264 codec, but I am not convinced that fits well in an AVI container - there is no reason in principle to stick with an AVI container between editor and authoring you could use MOV or MPEG-4

codecs, like file formats, come in lots of flavours - the techsmith codec is 'compressed, but lossless' [rather like a PNG you could say], and the H.264 is widely used for high quality streaming [BBC] and as an option for DVDs [blue-ray]

if you produce video for computer use you need to know that the person who receives the video should have a player that understands the codec - not usually a problem if you stick to the mainstream codecs, always given that the recipient has a mainstream video player

[dcahall]

I am learning a lot from you guys..........I am a little perplexed though by the Frame Gallery. What do the two columns of checkboxes do if I am creating a .avi file?

[handrawn]

working from memory they are 'background' and 'overlay' - I just did a very quick test and they do not appear to do anything in avi.. but it was a quick test like I say

in gif, [and flash as well AFAIK]:

a tick in the first column causes that frame's detail to be carried forward to all subsequent frames until another tick is found, when that frame then 'takes over' henceforth until the next tick... and so on - 'background'

a tick in the second column means that frame will inherit the previous frame - so if there are a series of consecutive ticks there is a build up of detail frame by frame - but as soon as there is a frame in this column with no tick, then all the detail is refreshed - 'overlay' - note though, any detail included by virtue of the 'background' setting will remain

note also that a resetting of the background part way through an overlay sequence will reset that overlay sequence automatically


simple huh?

maybe a quick scroll through the frames in the attached will explain and you can export the AVI/GIF/FLASH and compare.....