Photohunt *BELLS*

Hi everyone, Katie here.

The Saturday Photohunt theme from yesterday is *BELLS.*

I'm afraid Waffle's bell is a little flat.

Wanna play? Visit The Saturday Photohunt Blog to learn about upcoming themes.

Pee S:

We have a new friend and her name is Katie too!  No, not "Katie Too" just "Katie" also. She has a little pig. No, not like Waffles Too. She has a REAL pig.  She's having a cool giveaway on her blog and you could win an Amazon gift card! So please visit Katie & Coccolino the Mini Pig... and say hi from us!

Wordless Wednesday Accusations

Hi everyone, Katie here.

Just in case you've been living under a rock for the past 48 hours...
WE'RE FINALISTS IN PURINA'S THE FRISKIES CONTEST FOR BEST NEW INTERNET CAT VIDEO OF 2012!

Please visit The Friskies Facebook Page - For every comment, every like, and every vote, they are donating 5 cans of food to some very deserving shelters. They're already at over 200,000 cans!

If you haven't already, please CLICK HERE to WATCH & VOTE.

THANK YOU FOR WATCHING, VOTING & SHARING!

Saturday PhotoHunt

::magical::

Teacher's Pets

L-R: Bugs, Malou, Austin, Salem

Hi everyone, Miss Katie here.

Well what do you know! A few of my students were actually paying attention last week to my How To GIF lesson. If they plan on bribing me with that apple to get a good grade, well they've chosen the wrong food group. Speak to me in salmon, pupils.

Apples aside, the students did an awesome job on their very first GIF's.  (that's animation for those of you who slept through class last week.)


Check Out The Students & Their Work

Meet BUGS from Catself

Bugs did his level best to explain the fine art of Giffing to his human.  Must have taken a long time though considering all the extra shuteye he got in.  Not to mention the disinterest he showed when his eyes were actually OPEN.  Half way.

Meet MALOU from Critters In The Cottage  

Malou exhibited by far the most patience with her human's Giffing attempts. Note the erect posture and interested tilt of her head.  But her glazed over eyes tell a different story.  A *do-you-have-it-now?*  *ok-how-about-now?*  *now?*  *please-Cod-now?* story.

And meet AUSTIN, from CATachresis 

With a blog name like that, he BETTER be a good student.  The jury's still out on whether that's an indifferent yawn or a *bloody-hurry-up-already* followed by obvious disdain.  I'm guessing the latter.  Word across the pond is that Austin's human has been playing around with Photoshop into the wee hours.  That can only lead to worldwide web embarrassment.  Given that, Austin's display is appropriate indeed.

Well done, students!  For your efforts I give you each a VERY respectable A-minus. I had to take SOMETHING off for the apple gaff. Next time, show me some salmon. 

Pee S:  If I've missed anyone, just let me know and I'll display your GIF and a link to your blog!  Thanks for coming to class.

BREAKING UPDATE!  

Salem from the Katnip Lounge 

did HIS homework over the weekend! Way to go, Salem!  Not THAT'S how you get extra credit!  Shake your GIF, Salem.

How To GIF - Part 2

Hi everyone, Katie here.

Welcome back!  On Tuesday I showed you how to choose the best photos to make a simple animation.  If you missed the lesson, just click HERE.  Don't worry, it's SO easy, even a human can do it.

Today, I'm going to show you how to MAKE the animation with your two photos.  (it's called a .GIF file)



EASY PEASEY
Here are the two photos I've chosen to use.

Now, just follow the step-by-step screens.  Click to biggify if you need reading glasses.

Step 1:  Go to makeagif.com and click 'Sign Up.'

Step 2:  Create an account. It's FREE.

Step 3:  Click 'Add Pictures' and select two photos from your computer to upload.

Step 4: Watch as your photos load.

Step 5:  When you see your two photos have loaded, click 'Continue.'

Step 6:  Click to pick animation speed; the little square box will blink at each speed to help you choose.  

Step 7:  Click 'Create Your GIF'.

Step 8:  Done! Choose your method(s) of downloading and sharing.  

- Click the blue download button to save the .GIF file directly to your computer; you can upload the .GIF to your blog just as you would a regular photo and you can email it too.  

- OR copy and paste the 'Direct' link for a web link.

- OR copy and paste the 'Website' code into the HTML code of your blog.

If you're not happy with any part of your animation, just start over with Step 3 "Add Pictures."
We've found the slower animation speeds are a little easier to look at and make for better animations.

DONE!

Me and my girl are standing by and are happy to provide technical support.  

Just let us know if you need help! 

How To GIF - Part 1

Hi everyone, Katie here.

Yesterday's animated ears were such a hit, I thought you might like to know how simple it is to create an animation with your OWN photos.  It's SO easy, I swear.  I'm going to split our How-To lesson into two blog posts, today (Tuesday) and Thursday.  That means you've got all of Wordless Wednesday to pick out the photos you want to animate.

  

By Thursday night, if you so desire, you'll have a completed animation.  How cool is THAT!

So Easy A Human Can Do It

This step-by-step is a breeze for cats, dogs, ferrets, bunnies, birds and EVEN humans.  You don't have to be a photographer, artist or designer.  You don't even have to be creative.  Really.

The animated file is called a .GIF file.  It's a file made up of 2 or more individual photos.  Nothing fancy, just the regular digital photos you take with your cameras and phones.



All You Need Are Two Photos 

Pick two photos that are almost identical.  The background should be the same.  Just a little difference in the subject's position.  Like these two photos of me.  See my ears?  They moved just a little bit from one photo to the next.




Here's what the animated .GIF file will look like.












OR take one photo with a plain background and flip it horizontally, like a mirror image. Just use your favorite photo editing program to do the flip and save each individually.






Here's what the animated .GIF file will look like.
I'm DANCING!

OR if you're feeling adventurous, take a photo and manipulate it in your favorite photo editing program so that you have two versions of the same picture.  See my goggles?  All we did was color them in to look dark, saving each photo separately.




Here's what the animated .GIF file will look like.
This is BLINKING COOL!











So that's it for Part 1.  Your homework is to find two photos to use for your animation.  On Thursday, I'll show you the REALLY fun part.  We'll make your pictures MOVE!


PLEASE VOTE!
Please help me decide which cover photo to use for my blog.  Cast your vote at the top of the sidebar. Thanx!