Gimp Rotoscoping Tutorial

This tutorial I am doing aside an assignment idea I've posted on ds106's assignment bank.
I'm going to explain how you can contour something in Gimp with the Path Tool to gain an exciting animated gif. You also can use a tablet and pen, it is just not what I'll show here. I thought people without a tablet should also be able to do this assignment.

For this tutorial you need to know how to make single images from a video clip and how to import the images into Gimp. You can read about this in the ds106 handbook. Or go to a different tutorial I have created and look for a video on this.

Once you have imported the images do the following:

Choose Shift + the eye symbol of the bottom layer in the layer tab to make only this layer visible.

Next create a new layer by clicking the New Layer symbol (1) in the layer tab. Choose a white background (2) and name the layer 0001 (3).  (The next will be 0002 and so on.)

After This set the Opacity of the layer to 50%..

Now it is a good idea to zoom in where you want to start drawing the outlines. Just enough to keep an overview.

(Zoom Tool or Ctrl + Mouse Wheel together with Space Bar + Left Mouse Button)

After you have selected the Path Tool, click along the outlines. (If possible don't move the mouse while clicking, you may come into the edit mode, where you can shape the path.)

If you reach the edge of the screen just use the Space Bar together with the Left Mouse Button to move the visible part or just use the scroll bars.

Don't overdo this, we are going for the motion, not for the detail. Maybe I've already set too many points.





When you've finished your first outline, click Stroke Path (1)  at the Tool Options palette of the Path Tool. Then choose a Line Width (2) and confirm.  (I've chosen 3 appropriate to the resolution of my image. You may need a different width.)

Normally the stroke will appear in black, which is the default foreground color. For changing the stroke color, change the foreground color.



To position the path tool anew you have to select another tool first and then again choose the path tool. (There may be a better ways which I don't know.)
For the ball you can use the Ellipse Select Tool plus in the Edit menu Stroke Selection.

When you've finished the outline of your first image set the layer opacity back to 100%. The result should look something like this.

You now can delete the layer with the original image or you can do it when you've finished all images.

Go back to the start of this tutorial and do the same with any of the imported images.

When you've removed the original images you can play back the action.

Go to Filters in the menu bar and choose Animation -> Playback.

Maybe you have to scale the image now. For an animated gif the image should not be larger than 800 in width. In the end this is up to your choice, but note if you save something as a gif file the file size is restricted. The more images you need the smaller they have to be.

Just try to save your work as a gif file now (File menu -> Export to -> Filename.gif). If it is too large you will have a pop up window which tells you about this.

Don't forget to check the option As Animation.

You should also experiment with the delay between the frames, to find out which speed is the right for your animated gif.

Go to your gif file and open it in any preview. I personally open it with the internet explorer. If you're fine with the result you're done. If not correct what ever you want, but don't forget that there are many more assignments to do.



Forbidden Social Event

Julie, a government employee and in charge of reducing creative impulses among the citizens, finally becomes uncertain if the attitude that she represents is really valuable for mankind. She starts exploring the world her government despite so much. For this she managed to be a guest on a party which takes place in an hidden underground world.

The people here are wearing strange clothes more like a disguise and are enjoying wild music and dance. Julie is not sure what she should think about this world.

I did the gif according to the assignment "Juxtaposition", where you take a piece of artwork and try to make a video or animated gif corresponding to this. I looked up a photograph in the Internet and later found a video which shows crazy looking people with hats and masks and stars or rather crosses. I also found the colors are similar. From the video I created a gif by looking for appropriate frames. I did this the way it is described in the ds106 handbook.

Julie

The following series of animated gifs is part of my final project, where I am telling a story about a woman who was an integrated part of her country's society but then becomes part of a world which opposes her government.
The gifs show both, the character and the plot of the story in a general way.

	Julie's Career
Julie Underground

When I started searching for material for the gifs I knew Julie should be a strong and skilled woman but not without physical weaknesses like bad eyesight. however, I did not find any videos which combines the image of a heroine and she depending on glasses. I just imagine her now wearing lenses but it is not the same as the visually obvious dependence on a seeing aid.
I was more lucky with the idea that Julie hurts her foot and needs a device for help here. As you can see the last gif nicely combines Julies heroic character with a walking aid.

This work is after the assignment Multi-Frame GIF Story and I did it the way ds106 explains it at the Creating Animated GIFs with (free) Open Source Software page. On my page I arranged it in a table. At blogger you can do this while using the HTML editor and adding the code for a table. After this you can stay in the HTML editor and you can use the option Add Image, which you can find at the menu bar.

I used the following Youtube videos for the above animated gifs.

Julie in School:
Scene from the Pickwick movie
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6u3GAQgZpww

Julie in politics and business:
Interview with Ivanka Trump
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SivCXZeQlmg

Julie and combat:
Report by Global National
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RupHxNZCais

Julie underground:
A "Tatort" movie (german crime mysterie series)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fStfjlNp8ro

Julie after she got hurt:
A commercial by Samsung (disabled people and sports)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SJG7apaV7c

Media Metamorphoses

Click the audio for the story.





For this assignment "Storytelling with Recycled Media" you were obliged to take media from a page on minus.com, where ds106 students earlyer have uploaded media, for which they themselves have no use. Unfortunately there's a lack of videos and I've missed the videos I've upoaded. I presume somthing went wrong during the uploading process.

Still, the media are interesting and because I wanted something move I chose pictures to make animated gifs from them. I used a filter in Gimp to blend two images over a background. You can find it in the menu Filters -> Animation -> Blend. Here you can choose how many steps you need for the blending. After the filter has applied you can playback the animation (menu Filters -> Animation -> Playback.) I saved the file as an animatied gif.

I also chose 3 sounds and mixed them to one file which tells the story requested for the assignment.