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February 2015 Video Tutorial -- Creating a Casino Poster Part 1
Creating a Casino Poster Part 1
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There’s so much to learn about Gary’s method of poster-making, that the video had to be split into two parts. This month, you’ll learn how to create a roulette wheel-style circle to border the text on the poster, and then you’ll see how to create a headline from ordinary text that looks like neon lighting. Don’t gamble on creating your casino night poster without checking this month’s video out first!
Then show us your neon, wheels, cards, dice, chips ......
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Re: February 2015 Video Tutorial -- Creating a Casino Poster Part 1
The tutorial is easy to follow. All you need to do is to get the exact measurement of the wheel.
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Re: February 2015 Video Tutorial -- Creating a Casino Poster Part 1
Thanks for the vote of confidence that the tutorial is easy to follow, fridolph. I was tempted to create the entire poster tutorial in one month, but shuddered at having to produce another half-hour video like January's.
I can simply stand outside and shudder: -9° F (-22.8° C.) this morning in Central New York. February has been worse than January!
So let's duck inside and go gambling!
—Gary
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Re: February 2015 Video Tutorial -- Creating a Casino Poster Part 1
Hi Gary,
Had a go at producing the text element. Didn't follow your tut to the letter but very close. One thing I found interesting is when looking at your method I thought " If the drop shadow is down & right that indicates the light source is up & left, so therefore the bevel should have the same light source which in your tut is exactly the opposite. It's quite a suprise to see how something so simple as the bevel light source direction changes the look of the final image. I attach my example.
On the left is my creation keeping the same direction of all the light sources, bevel, shadow & highlight. This gives a very plasticy look.
On the right is exactly the same image apart from the bevel of the text has the light source the same as in your tut, down & right. This gives a far more glassy look.
By the way the text on the attached xar file has a named colour and it's fun to drag the named colour onto the colour editor to instantly change the look. I'm a great enthusiast of using named colours :)
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Re: February 2015 Video Tutorial -- Creating a Casino Poster Part 1
The Roulette Wheel part is really interesting.
I've never used your 'blend' method to intersect a circle.
That's really, really interesting.
Gonna give that a go, for sure. :-bd
OK. A bit of math is involved, so, I'm gonna see if my method of just cloning and rotating, and cloning and rotating, and cloning and rotating (you get the idea!) is easier or is it worth working out what you want to achieve and then doing that in one go.
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Re: February 2015 Video Tutorial -- Creating a Casino Poster Part 1
Hi Rik, Didn't want to distract from Garys tut so I answered your question HERE I hope :)
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Re: February 2015 Video Tutorial -- Creating a Casino Poster Part 1
Yes Gary I am the same as Rik I found the blend method refreshing to see. I always use a long line which I centre it on the circle then rotate it A.C.W to the value then duplicate it, rotate it, as you did then join together the lines to make one shape. Then I move away from your method I use Ctrl with a set constrain angle set in the Page Options and rotate the shape while right clicking to duplicate.
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Re: February 2015 Video Tutorial -- Creating a Casino Poster Part 1
I was interested in created a mathematical solution to creating the roulette wheel slots, folks, mostly because I found myself growing older using repetitive steps to reach 39 shapes! Okay, also, I was lousy at math when I went to college, my primary reason for dropping out of Pre-Medicine, and ever since I shamed my family I've been dipping my toe into geometry and the Basic Four (+, -, ÷, and ×) to embrace what I fear.
@Egg,
Glass, like water, has a refraction index. Semi-transparent objects bend light quite like a lens and the reason why putting a highlight in a reversed gradient looks like glass is because the drop shadow on liquids is optically flipped like lenses tend to do, the accumulation of light closest to the source of illumination is a specular highlight, and we find this phenomena visually interesting. Airbrush painters have been rendering glossy shapes for decades.
Attachment 106359
The file is attached. Gary Priester taught us how to render "jelly" in Xara in a Xara Xone tutorial a few years ago. Figuring out how to compose it is the hard part, as it is with physical art. Creating it is a set of simple steps, though.
Oh, hell: we only have six posts ans already I'm off-topic. Sorry!
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-g
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Re: February 2015 Video Tutorial -- Creating a Casino Poster Part 1
Yes, that works equally well although I find if the angle of restraint is small it's very easy to make an error.
Meanwhile here's my completed (part 1) poster. The roulette wheel I drew a while back so I just used it here.
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Re: February 2015 Video Tutorial -- Creating a Casino Poster Part 1
Okay and thanks for the info Gary. Staying off topic then, here's the water droplet from your xar file with some adjustments :)
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Re: February 2015 Video Tutorial -- Creating a Casino Poster Part 1
Here's my effort on Part 1, of the tutorial.
I did the roulette wheel, as per the instructions.
Because, what I've never really used before is the 'Fit Blend to curve' and 'Rotate along curve'.
So, that was a new skill.
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Re: February 2015 Video Tutorial -- Creating a Casino Poster Part 1
It looks perfect, Rik, and I'm glad you tried out the blend, which can be used to make any number of slices on a circle, as long as you use the math I figured out and showed.
You're all set for next month where I show how to build a brush out of 3D card suits (spades, diamond and so on).
To go 2% off-topic, now that some of you know the formula for making glass, if you watched the March 2013 Tutorial on making neon, youcould make a shickwave or GIF file of a neon sigh off (showing glass) and then going on (showing neon), like this:
Cheap trikc, huh? The Xara file is a mess and attached.
-g
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Re: February 2015 Video Tutorial -- Creating a Casino Poster Part 1
Here's my effort!
Click the image to see!
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Re: February 2015 Video Tutorial -- Creating a Casino Poster Part 1
The reflection of the text on the "on" part of the animation is very effective Rik. I like that a lot.
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Re: February 2015 Video Tutorial -- Creating a Casino Poster Part 1
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Egg Bramhill
The reflection of the text on the "on" part of the animation is very effective Rik. I like that a lot.
Thanks very much for saying that, Egg.
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Re: February 2015 Video Tutorial -- Creating a Casino Poster Part 1
Lovely, Rik.
See how all this stuff we review has a ceretain convergence? I hesitate to say, "Like, oh, man, it's a synergy", but putting the puzzle piecesin Xara together definitely results in a complex, beautiful product if you think about it and approach it at a moderate pace.
My Best,
Gary
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Re: February 2015 Video Tutorial -- Creating a Casino Poster Part 1
Hi Gary
I am afraid that for me it is not so easy to follow:
I am struggling with the part where you add in writing to your spoken words:
Ctr click (select inside)
then Ctr C
then Ctr Shift V
(whereas in the spoken words you say ´so Ctrl click on the original circle after you have duplicated it´ This is about 4.43 minutes into the video. I have tried both instructions and still do not come up with a circle which I can make smaller like you do which is exactly in the middle of the of the guidelines. Also my blend will not follow the decreasing circle.
I enclose my file. Did I do something wrong?
Thanks
Hélène
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Re: February 2015 Video Tutorial -- Creating a Casino Poster Part 1
Hi Hajeem—
I am attaching the solved problem.
After you create all the triangles around the circle, you hold CTRL and then click on the circle, and the status line says you've selected a shape inside the blend. Without deselectinhg the circle, take a corner control handle, hold Shift to scale equlilaterally from the center of the circle, and then drag toward the center of the shapes.
Watch the video once again, and take a look at the solved circle I've attached. If it still doesn't work for you, contact me here, okay?
My Best,
Gary
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Re: February 2015 Video Tutorial -- Creating a Casino Poster Part 1
I finally found time to give this a shot.
I had the same problem that Hélène did but I did it over and over and finally got it to work.
Anyway you will notice some slight differences but here it is anyway. The black outline around the page is just to show you where it is based on your image.
Attachment 106429
Oops I forgot to do the green background. I'll do that and submit a revision. Tomorrow.
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Re: February 2015 Video Tutorial -- Creating a Casino Poster Part 1
Revised.
Attachment 106430
Well darn, now I'm missing the white part.
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Re: February 2015 Video Tutorial -- Creating a Casino Poster Part 1
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Re: February 2015 Video Tutorial -- Creating a Casino Poster Part 1
My Bad, Larry. Two things: In never covered putting a white circle inside the roulette border, but I will, plus a bonus effect this March middel to late in the month (as usual!). All you do is draw a white circle (hold Shift+Ctrl while uning the Ellipse tool to constrain the ellipse to a perfect circle, and start from the inside point outward, instead of going diagonall from corner to corner. Color it wjite, Press Ctrl+B to put it to absolute back, and then press Ctrl+Shift+F to move it front by one object and do this key combo until the white circle is behind the roulette circle.
Folks, I'll mention it in next months tutorial, but if you want to get a leg up, the text I used was Johnny Lunchpail and Automatic, both fonts I paid for at Stu's Font Diner, which speciaizes in exquisite Retro fonts, nothing even close to them and I used them a lot. However, most of us, and certsinly this tutorial is on a budget, and Stu is kind enough to offer us some dynamite Retor fonts for free.
First, go to The County Fair (no idea why Stu calls i this!) and there are 12 free typefaces, I'd say six of them are invaluable.
Then go to Stu'd archive where there are still mode free fonts. download as many as you like, if you use these fonts extensively, I'm sure Stu would appreciate a sale or two(!), and definitely download Featured Item for the headline in our composition (instead of the $$$ Automatic), and then download either FD Swanky, or Motel King on [url=http://www.fontdiner.com/menu_cfp.html]this page. Oh, and get Dairyland, too, because it might look better than Featured Item in ytour final layout.
Why did Gary chose Retro fonts? Because people who go to Casino Nights at churches, fire houses and other community places here in the US are older people, so they can related better to vintage text. Also, it takes some of the edge, it adds contrast to the slick poster you're making. If you make the design slick and the text a little dorky, you've set up a dynamic poster that resonates and people will take a look at it longer.
Once you download and try out the Font Diner fonts, I think you'll agree that they are captivating in a non-threatening way. They suggest in no way you have to dress up or lose a lot of money. They say "Fun. Come on in."
Fonts say tons about your work, and hopefully this summer I can devot a chapter of the page layout series to just Typography.
In the meantime, just experiment with different phrases with the fonts, and see what you discover. I'll guide you this month (crap, it's March already!), and provide advice at that time on video. I'll just have to rush over to the drug store and get the video developed.
They say one hour, but I think that's horse hockey.
My Best,
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Re: February 2015 Video Tutorial -- Creating a Casino Poster Part 1
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Gare
Hi Hajeem—
I am attaching the solved problem.
After you create all the triangles around the circle, you hold CTRL and then click on the circle, and the status line says you've selected a shape inside the blend. Without deselectinhg the circle, take a corner control handle, hold Shift to scale equlilaterally from the center of the circle, and then drag toward the center of the shapes.
Watch the video once again, and take a look at the solved circle I've attached. If it still doesn't work for you, contact me here, okay?
My Best,
Gary
Hi Gary!
Thanks for the file. I kept it beside the one I made myself for comparison during my efforts. I was successfull in making the shrinking circle. I held the shift key and selected one of the selectorboxes and dragged diagonally towards the circle. My circle shrunk indeed and centered the slots in the middle. However, it did not become a perfect circle. I adjusted the circle in the measurements box on the infobar to get it perfectly round. I proceeded to the point where I filled the band with a black fill. However the command Ctr + shift + E lead me to a saving action of the programme. When I used shift Ctr S I could convert them to editable shapes. Then at 6.18 minutes into the video you mention that one needs to select the red innercircle and something else. This something I simply cannot make out what it is. I hear the word not good enough for me to understand what other item I need to select.Furthermore I noticed that you use DSP extreme 10 (which I also work in). I noticed that you had another drawing tool in your flyout bar that actually works. However much I try to get that pentool into the drawing toolbar, it seems to work a bit like the shapeditortool?
Yep.......I scrutinised your video over and over and over again
I hope I make sense.
Hélène
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Re: February 2015 Video Tutorial -- Creating a Casino Poster Part 1
That's exactly how I put the white circle in there Gare. Thanks for confirming.
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Re: February 2015 Video Tutorial -- Creating a Casino Poster Part 1
There is some nice casino posters in this thread and none sticking to the original colour of the light pinky colour so I too have used a different bevel colour. Can change it when Part 2 is done if it does not suit the final image. :D
Stygg
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Re: February 2015 Video Tutorial -- Creating a Casino Poster Part 1
It works and you did good, stygg.
Now, tuck this guy away for a week or so, because layout composition will be the mainstasy of March's tutorial, and that means both elements location (composition) and use of colours. Now, your color is fine, becuaee there will be white poker chips in the final compositon.
@Everyone: think of what you can do with green, red, black, and white. The palette sounds limiting, but not if you use dropshadows, glows, and gret creative as to shwere you add the colro in the finished design.
I know I'm asking a lot and nobody has all day to do this stuff (except me), but we;'re doing REAL WORLD, professional, published work here. Even if it isn't published, I will take the submissions around and get REAL WORLD opinions from people who might want the poster for an event.
How about that for pressure?
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Re: February 2015 Video Tutorial -- Creating a Casino Poster Part 1
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Gare
And me.
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Re: February 2015 Video Tutorial -- Creating a Casino Poster Part 1
Though I have no idea what Gary is going to do, going forward with this?!
I thought I would add some cards to the scene.
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Re: February 2015 Video Tutorial -- Creating a Casino Poster Part 1
my attempt this evening (i'll save the neon flashing for another night...although i don't think i can share gifs yet coz i've had a post containing one waiting in moderation for a few days now in Gary's March 2013 Neon thread :( )
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Re: February 2015 Video Tutorial -- Creating a Casino Poster Part 1
A little bit late coming but still would like to thanks Gare for the tutorial, especially enjoyed the technique drawing with light pink on the bevel.
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Plus I never used to clone the shadows, that is interesting one too
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Re: February 2015 Video Tutorial -- Creating a Casino Poster Part 1
@Mikeymopar—
If all your posts are in moderation, I can't help that, but if you're having a hard time with posting a GIF that animates, Rik does it and he can help you.
I can also help: export it as a SWF file, and not a GIF. Take not of the dimensions.
Attachment 106548
Then delete the entry I've marked in green, and you're good to go.
My Best,
Gary
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Re: February 2015 Video Tutorial -- Creating a Casino Poster Part 1
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Hajeem
Hi Gary!
Thanks for the file.
the command Ctr + shift + E lead me to a saving action of the programme. When I used shift Ctr S I could convert them to editable shapes. Then at 6.18 minutes into the video you mention that one needs to select the red innercircle and something else. This something I simply cannot make out what it is. I hear the word not good enough for me to understand what other item I need to select.Furthermore I noticed that you use DSP extreme 10 (which I also work in). I noticed that you had another drawing tool in your flyout bar that actually works. However much I try to get that pentool into the drawing toolbar, it seems to work a bit like the shapeditortool?
Yep.......I scrutinised your video over and over and over again
I hope I make sense.
Hélène
It makes perfect sense and I think this is the first time in a video I called out a wrong command. Ctrl+Shift+S is indeed "Convert to Editable Shapes, found under the Arrange menu.
Second flaw: you created early in the tutorial a circle that at this point straddles the black band, yes? I want you to select it, and then select the black band. There are two ways to do this: 1.) go to wireframe quality mode and it's easy to see the center (red) circle and select it), 2.) Hold Alt while the Selector tool is the chosen tool, and the cursor turns upside-down. This means it is in "Scribble select" mode. And all you do is scribble over both the center red circle and the black band and magically, both are selected. NOW, press Ctrl+4, the Slice Shapes command. NOW, you have two alternating black and red circles and they can be rotated as I show in the video.
And everyone should remove the green outline around all the checkers. Select both bands, and then choose None from the outline width drop-down on the Standard Bar.
Oh, my toolbar is not the same as those used by others because I customized it using the Window>Control Bars command, then selected the bottom entry, I checked Tool Palette. The trick with this guy is you need to hold Alt while you drag a button on or off the toolbar or the Standard Bar.
I used the Pen tool a lot in this tutorial although many users are more comfortable making lines with the Shape tool. If you're comfortable editing a line or two in the Windows Registry (do not do this if you're not confident or don't understand Windows Registry—to make the Pen tool stay on the flyout, not just appear on the toolbar as a standalone button, in the Registry, go to (Use Ctrl+F to FIND)
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Xara\XtremePro x64\10\Options\FlyoutBars
Set ShowPenToolOnFlyout value data to 1.
Hélène, my apologies also for my enunciation. I'm American, I speak US English, which can be easy to misunderstand if one is from a different country that also speaks English. Also, I think my voice was a little muffled because I had just finished eating lunch, pastrami on whole wheat with Grey Poupon mustard, and Romaine lettuce.
Sorry for over-sharing and I hope this helps with this tutorial and future ones.
My Best,
Gary
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Re: February 2015 Video Tutorial -- Creating a Casino Poster Part 1
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Gare
...
I used the Pen tool a lot in this tutorial although many users are more comfortable making lines with the Shape tool. If you're comfortable editing a line or two in the Windows Registry (do not do this if you're not confident or don't understand Windows Registry—to make the Pen tool stay on the flyout, not just appear on the toolbar as a standalone button, in the Registry, go to (Use Ctrl+F to FIND)
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Xara\XtremePro x64\10\Options\FlyoutBars
Set ShowPenToolOnFlyout value data to 1. ...
Or use XaReg to edit the various options.
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Re: February 2015 Video Tutorial -- Creating a Casino Poster Part 1
While waiting with bated breath for Part 2 of the Casino Poster I just had to put some extras in as Rik did. Don't take it serious folks, just done for a bit of fun, although it did remind me of a Casino night some time back in Salford, Manchester. Darn it, Big Swing Band gave away my age. :D
Stygg
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Re: February 2015 Video Tutorial -- Creating a Casino Poster Part 1
Oh I dunno. I have listend to swing since I was a teen. I was a teen when rock was king...Summer of Love and all that.
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Re: February 2015 Video Tutorial -- Creating a Casino Poster Part 1
Quote:
Originally Posted by
stygg2003
While waiting with bated breath for Part 2 of the Casino Poster I just had to put some extras in as Rik did. Don't take it serious folks, just done for a bit of fun, although it did remind me of a Casino night some time back in Salford, Manchester. Darn it, Big Swing Band gave away my age. :D
Stygg
The wait won't be long, stygg, as I'm videoing (is that a word?) some of the steps on making a custom brush right now. And yep, if you saw my SWF in post #31, you're looking at the hand-drawn "extruded" shapes we're going to play with. Add to that some Poker chips and a set of dice Rik lent me (he wants them back when we're done Attachment 106560 ), and my Goodness, it wouldn't be a Casino Night without some playing cards...the whole deal will be engaging (Gary hopes) and more than anything, technical tricks will take a back seat to good composition.
By the way, stygg, I LOVE your choice of fonts, really, truly, I could use your piece asd an example of good typography if I do the tutorial I want to in April. The only thing? I don't think tilting the phrase "Happy Hour" contributes to an otherwise thoughtful, delightful composition. Text such as yours (and I did try to match your fonts, but only came close) can "embrace" and integrate with the rest of the written idea. Text that tilts like that detracts from reading the notice as an overall text phrase, it stops the reader for a moment when it should lead the reader into completing this terrific deal on beer!
The other reason why I advise away from text at an angle when everything else is at a different angle, is a personal one, a sorry vision of how layouts were done in te early 1970s. I used to see this done by paste-up artists when I worked at my first ad agency, hated it then, but realize now that because we own programs such as Xara, we can do anything we can imaging with text.
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Thoughts on this revision?
Stygg, this shows great "Thought Work" and that's where all great Art begins.
My Best,
Gary
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Re: February 2015 Video Tutorial -- Creating a Casino Poster Part 1
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Gare
@Mikeymopar—
If all your posts are in moderation, I can't help that, but if you're having a hard time with posting a GIF that animates, Rik does it and he can help you.
I can also help: export it as a SWF file, and not a GIF. Take not of the dimensions....
hmmm....i think it didn't post coz of my post count because i've posted gifs all over the place in other (phone) forums. i'll give the swf format a go here to see if it works any better or if it also goes to moderation
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Re: February 2015 Video Tutorial -- Creating a Casino Poster Part 1
It reads beautifully from where I'm sitting!
Congrats, mikeymopar!
-g
GIFs can play in a pop-up window, but will not play as just embedded files...you need to click the embedded file first. No idea why.
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Re: February 2015 Video Tutorial -- Creating a Casino Poster Part 1
swf it is then. Thx Gary! :)
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Re: February 2015 Video Tutorial -- Creating a Casino Poster Part 1
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Gare
It reads beautifully from where I'm sitting!
Congrats, mikeymopar!
-g
GIFs can play in a pop-up window, but will not play as just embedded files...you need to click the embedded file first. No idea why.
This is due to the forum software creating a thumbnail.
The GIF format has limitations when it comes to resizing on the fly.
Resizing a GIF is not a small task. The software which creates the thumbnails on the server (Imagemagick) would need to strip each frame out from the animated compressed one, resize each frame individually and then put them together and compress to make the resized GIF. So for thumbnails you get a static frame (unless the thumbnail is the same size as the gif).