Post here if you know of any good freebies for Gif animating or optimizing.


Animated gif is an image file that appears to provide motion through the use of multiple images displayed sequentially.


Optimization is the process by which the file size of an image is reduced to a minimum without changing (much!) the look of the graphic.


Trout's GIF Optimizer


Trout's GIF Optimizer shrinks GIFs without any noticable reduction of picture quality ( depending on settings )

It will even convert other graphics to optimized GIFs:
• Bitmaps (*.bmp)
• JPEGs (*.jpg; *jpeg)
• Icons (*.ico)
• Metafiles (*.wmf; *.emf)

Just drag-and-drop files then Save

Supports animated GIFs



Trout's GIF Optimizer is FREE and will never expire...there is a small nag screen asking for a donation - negligible.

Home page.

SuperGIF

SuperGIF is our newest application for Macintosh and Windows and a very different kind of tool. It is the very first of its kind, and such a simple, easy tool to use that it is difficult to write about. There is little to say in describing SuperGIF past what it does - effortlessly make all your GIF images and animations smaller.



The SuperGIF demo is limited to processing single files. Batch processing is only available in the registered version. Also, after the first thirty images have been processed, a delay is imposed between processing operations. Otherwise, the SuperGIF demo is not limited.

Home page.

Before you start it is a good idea to back up the graphics files, this one won't ask you to save as a new file if you proceed with the optimization.

GIF Optimizer v1.0

Simple little application which removes the unused colors from GIF image pallets reducing the image size. This also works with animated GIFs and removes duplicate frames.



Freeware.

Download page.

Before you start it is a good idea to back up the graphics files, this one won't ask you to 'save as' a new file if you proceed with the optimization.

Ulead GIF Animator (Lite Edition) v1.0 - the well-known Ulead freeware version -
is an easy-to-use tool for creating GIF animations. GIF Animator offers an intuitive drag-and-drop interface. You can easily add images, arrange frames, adjust the animation speed, preview animations, reposition images, and preview your animation. For creating animations from a single image, there are commands for cropping, duplicating, flipping and rotating. There are a variety of transition effects and image filters to add.

Once your animation is ready to save, a GIF optimization command reduces the file size by automatically performing difference analysis. This removes redundant portions from each frame and optimizes the local and global palettes.


Windows 95 or Windows NT 4.0 or higher
. 8 MB RAM (16 MB recommended)
. 16 MB available hard drive space for program files

This freeware version no longer available from the authors of Ulead...
Can be downloaded here:
http://www.soft25.com/review.asp?id=21875

UnFREEz

UnFREEz is a high-speed Windows application that will take any number of images, saved as separate GIF files, and create a single animated GIF from those images. What makes this program unique from its competitors? First and foremost, UnFREEz is freeware, which means you may use it forever without paying a cent or feeling the slightest bit guilty. Secondly, UnFREEz is incredibly tiny, meaning you don't have to spend forever downloading an extremely bloated piece of software. Finally, it is so easy to use. Just drag and drop some GIF files from Explorer, set the frame delay time, and hit Make Animated GIF. UnFREEz will take care of the rest, including automatic interlacing and transparency detection.



Home/download

Microsoft GIF Animator - 1.0.0.101

Microsoft GIF Animator lets you easily create and customize animated GIF files for your Web site.GIF animations are based on the GIF89a file format, which stores timing information to create the illusion of animation like a cartoon "flipbook". With GIF Animator you can make your animations loop, spin, fade in and out; set the size and transparency of your images; and control a wide range of other options. GIF Animator also features automatic or custom palette creation.



Details/download at VersionTracker.

Movies 13

Movies 13 is a GIF-Animator with 98 animation wizards including text and actor wizards. Edit existing animations, create new from imported images or from images created with integrated Movies Draw. Features: GIF explorer, GIF optimizer, quick backgrounds, smart shape (100 shapes with 25 gradient fills, rotated text etc.), animate selected frames; 3 free floating actors for creating cartoons; actor and text wizards;actor paths; AVI to GIF and GIF to AVI converters. NEW: Movies script.



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Beneton Movie GIF 1.1

Beneton Movie GIF is a free GIF editing tool. It is simple, quick, and effective.

Features

* Supports 48 file formats such as BMP, GIF, JPG, PNG, and AVI
* Multiple frames selecting
* Drag and drop frames for a quick editing
* 20 different effects, divided in 2 big categories: normal and animated
* Supports individual frame properties: delay and transparent for each frame
* Save and load a batch of frames (frame1.bmp, frame2.bmp, etc.)
* A complete built-in image editor with many tools (pencil, shapes, airbrush, alpha brush, fill, selection, text)
* A simple preview window that previews individual frames or the animation with options such as zoom, loop, etc.
* Many others!




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Photobie

One of the features of Photobie is an animation control panel where you put together/run the frames you've made and save as an animated gif.

Gif animation feature, create gif animation with/without transparent in a simple way also allow various delays for different animation frames.