Brycetech: Animated GIFs with Bryce

In this tutorial, the way the above animated GIF was constructed will be shown. We will cover how the safe was modeled and animated. However, the final compilation was made in Corel Lumiere which is an old animation editor, so the way the letters were made will not be covered.

Definition of Animated GIF: A type of GIF image that can be animated by combining several images into a single GIF file. Applications that support the animated GIF standard, GIF89A, cycle through each image. GIF animation doesn't give the same level of control and flexibility as other animation formats but it has become extremely popular because it is supported by nearly all Web browsers. In addition, animated GIF files tend to be quite a bit smaller that other animation files, such as Java applets. When making your animated GIF, it's a good idea to have a story board drawn out so that you know how you would like it to appear. Before I began making the animated GIF above, I thought a great deal on how I wanted it to appear.
I wanted a large safe door to open.
Then I wanted the camera to go into the safe and reveal the prize: the names of the sponsors

and the words "top ten"
When you make whatever animation you want to make, be sure to have a nice idea of what you expect from your final scene.
After deciding on what I wanted the animation to look like, I then had to figure out how to make each part a reality. The first thing I did was begin construction of the safe. I wanted it to look like a hatch with the circular handle.

Make the handle

Let's make the handle first. Set up your work area so that you can get the most out of what you are making. Set the sky color to the default Black background in the sky palette. Next create 8 radial lights and position them to light the center of your scene. Now when you render your trial models, you will have nice lighting to give you a better idea of what you have made.
Create a cylinder at world center for the center of the handle. (Coordinates 0,0,0)
Create two torus...
and align them with the top of the cylinder. To make this easier, go to an orthagonal view and drag them into place.
Next create 3 cylinders and stretch them all the way across the handle body.
Create a small cylinder and resize it so that it spans the two tori. Set its origin to the center of the cylinder. An easy way to do this is to make the origin visible and drag it to center from an orthagonal view. Then rotate it 15 degrees.
Next create duplicates of this cylinder and rotate them to fill in the rest of the handle.
Select all of the handle and group it. Name this group something meaningful so you can later find it easily.
Now we have a handle for the safe. Later we will animate this handle.

Now let's create the safe door. Deselect all then enter solo mode and create a cone. Be sure to make it positive. Create a cylinder and position it so that it intersects the point of the cone. Make this cylinder negative.
Next create two more cylinders and intersect them with the top of the cone. Make them negative.
Group these objects and now you have the beginning of a safe door.
Position your handle at the top center of your safe door.
The safe door is beginning to take shape. The reflective metal is adding to the impression of the shiny safe door. However this door is uninteresting. So let's add some detail.
Create a cylinder and three tori and place them at the top of your door to add some decoration.
Now the door is not as uninteresting as it was earlier. Remember that detail makes the image more appealing.

Brycetech: Animated GIFs with Bryce

Download the PDF of this tutorial.

Animation

Make the handle