Ben's Animated Avatars

benjamminbrown

I've been playing around with GIMP lately, learning how to make all sorts of fun and interesting images and animated GIFs. Many of my avatars of late have been prime examples of my dabbling in the digital imaging arts. Some of them I am quite fond of, and many of you have given me good feedback. Because I've put significant effort into a few of them, I thought that it'd be a waste to keep them all to myself.

In this thread, you'll find copies of many of the animated avatars that I have made in the past. I'll update it as I make others that I think are good. Please feel free to use them as you like!

And if you have any suggestions or requests, please feel free to drop them here (or just send me a PM) and I'll see what I can do.

edit: I'm updating the GIFs with linked BBCode so that their animation doesn't lag as I add more and more to the first post. They're links, so just click what you see and you'll be taken to the original GIF. Enjoy!

Space Dandy

!
! Not a GIF or an avatar, but pretty dandy anyway:
! >!

Super Mario (and a Samurai Jack crossover)

!

Chrono Trigger (these look best on a dark background, try the CP9 theme)

!

I get nearly all of the sprites that I use from Spriters-Resource. Many thanks to A.J. Nitro for the Super Mario Bros. rips, to CRAPCOM and Nitratez for the Super Mario Bros. 3 rips, and also to Ryan914, Toadkarter, and Tonberry2k for the Chrono Trigger ones. You guys rock!

playercena5241

wow. thats awsome.

i want to make pics like that.

benjamminbrown

Thanks, playa'! I've got a couple Mario and Space Dandy ones that I will post soon.

MetaMario

Mario ones? Great!

Curious to see what you make. :D

Sorikai33

I must admit I had taken notice of your recent avatars and thought they were really well done. Same for the ones posted here. It's clear you enjoy making them and put a lot of effort into making them as good as you can.

Keep up the awesome work Ben. :)

benjamminbrown

Thanks, Sorikai! I always enjoy your AV/Sig combos, though I don't always know what games they are from.

I've updated the first post with a couple Mario avatars, Meta.

*Meh*

Very nice work on the Samario Jack! I also like the Ayla and Crono avatars;really great work.

benjamminbrown

Thanks~~~! The Ayla (& Lavos :ninja:) one is my personal favorite of the bunch.

I just updated the first post to include Marle in the CT section. I may add other NPCs that I like if I am interested, I'm open to suggestions!

Ordinary

Your avatars look great!

Interesting to hear about your GIF making hobby, can't wait to see more.

benjamminbrown

Thanks, Ordinary! I appreciate the encouraging words.

I first started messing around in GIMP back when I took a photography class in college. The program can be a little intimidating at first, but you quickly pick up on some of the tricks. There's a huge community that uses GIMP, so it was pretty easy to find lots of help documentation online.

I only started trying animations recently when attempting my own GIF avvies, though. I am having a lot of fun with it!

I also made a couple posts in the help forum about how to animate your own avatar earlier this year. I have learned a lot since then, so I may try to move/copy those posts over here and revise the instructions a little if people are interested.

–- Update From New Post Merge ---

Space Dandy is still incoming, I need to find where I put those GIFs.

Devil G.

Love them, keep it up Ben :D

benjamminbrown

Muchas gracias, Devil-san. I will definitely keep it up!

benjamminbrown

So, I found those Dandy GIFs. First post has been updated, and I made an Ozzie (Vinegar) Chrono Trigger one, as well.

Rogues' Gallery

So you've finally opened up your own Avatar thread, huh? Excellent idea Benjammin!

Wanted to give you a friendly shout-out on your New thread, as thanks & appreciation for modifying my current avatar for me!

Kudos to you man and keep going!

benjamminbrown

Well, shucks, it was no trouble at all! Thanks for the shout out, Rogue :)

MetaMario

@benjamminbrown:

I've updated the first post with a couple Mario avatars, Meta.

Ah yes, those nifty looking ones you've sported recently!

Your avatars look great by the way, especially because they move so fluidly and slowly, they don't freeze up from time to time. Mine has done that sometimes.

benjamminbrown

@MetaMario:

Ah yes, those nifty looking ones you've sported recently!

Your avatars look great by the way, especially because they move so fluidly and slowly, they don't freeze up from time to time. Mine has done that sometimes.

Yeah, I haven't made any new Mario ones yet, was thinking of working with Super Mario World or maybe Mario Bros. 3 for the next one (terribly partial to the raccoon power). You'll be the first to know once I've put something together, let me know if you have any suggestions in the meantime.

Thanks for noticing the fluidity - I try my best to keep that up as much as possible, though I am not always successful. Even some of these are a little jumpier than I'd prefer.

I think your current one looks great!

benjamminbrown

I made a Raccoon Mario AV! Haven't decided yet whether I want to add a scrolling or static sky background, so I'm leaving it transparent for now.

Check the first post for updates~

MetaMario

@benjamminbrown:

I think your current one looks great!

Well thanks, I've had it for a long time now, although I'm partially looking for a new one.

Good ol' Raccoon Mario. What a cool power.

benjamminbrown

@MetaMario:

Well thanks, I've had it for a long time now, although I'm partially looking for a new one.

I'd be happy to help make you something, PM with details if you're interested!

Do you have a favorite Mario game, Meta? Mariokart would be a lot of fun to work with, I think. I've only been dealing with old games, so those AVs look pretty pixelated, but it might be fun to try something more modern.

MetaMario

@benjamminbrown:

I'd be happy to help make you something, PM with details if you're interested!

Do you have a favorite Mario game, Meta? Mariokart would be a lot of fun to work with, I think. I've only been dealing with old games, so those AVs look pretty pixelated, but it might be fun to try something more modern.

Oh I'm not sure on what I would want….currently I'm thinking of so many characters I'd like to have, that I can't decide.

I love pretty much every Mario game, but I'm the most fond of Super Mario 3D World atm. These portraits:
[hide]

[/hide]

are just the bee's knees, and the cartoony-artstyle in particular isn't new; I've seen it on plenty of pictures and t-shirts and stuff. Having it for a more obscure Mario character (Daisy or Waluigi) would be great too.

Rogues' Gallery

@benjamminbrown:

Do you have a favorite Mario game, Meta?

The question wasn't directed at me, but Super Mario 64 is my favorite Mario game!

(I still have both the game and a Nintendo 64)

I love the avatar I have now, but if you merely want me to throw out some creative ideas Benjammin, then try to make avatars of Big Boo, King Bomb-omb, Piranha Plant or the Chain-Chomp.

Just some friendly suggestions~~

benjamminbrown

@MetaMario:

Oh I'm not sure on what I would want….currently I'm thinking of so many characters I'd like to have, that I can't decide.

I love pretty much every Mario game, but I'm the most fond of Super Mario 3D World atm. These portraits:
[hide]
http://fc01.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2014/080/0/f/super_mario_3d_world_character_selection_by_rosalina_luma-d7b3cw2.png

[/hide]

are just the bee's knees, and the cartoony-artstyle in particular isn't new; I've seen it on plenty of pictures and t-shirts and stuff. Having it for a more obscure Mario character (Daisy or Waluigi) would be great too.

I haven't played it, so I'm not too familiar, but it looks neat! Those portraits are really nice, they'd make great AVs.

Don't consider myself much of an artist, but I used to draw/sketch a little back in the day. Perhaps I will try my hand at making similar portraits for those more obscure characters. Stay tuned~

–- Update From New Post Merge ---

@Rogues':

The question wasn't directed at me, but Super Mario 64 is my favorite Mario game!

(I still have both the game and a Nintendo 64)

I love the avatar I have now, but if you merely want me to throw out some creative ideas Benjammin, then try to make avatars of Big Boo, King Bomb-omb, Piranha Plant or the Chain-Chomp.

Just some friendly suggestions~~

Hell yes, I love me some Super Mario 64.

I will definitely give these ideas a try as well, Rogue! Thanks for the suggestions :)

MetaMario

@benjamminbrown:

I haven't played it, so I'm not too familiar, but it looks neat! Those portraits are really nice, they'd make great AVs.

Don't consider myself much of an artist, but I used to draw/sketch a little back in the day. Perhaps I will try my hand at making similar portraits for those more obscure characters. Stay tuned~

Oh I was just throwing ideas out there! No need to frustrate yourself for my benefit. ^^;

benjamminbrown

No frustration, this is a lot of fun for me :)

Rogues' Gallery

@benjamminbrown:

Hell yes, I love me some Super Mario 64.

I will definitely give these ideas a try as well, Rogue! Thanks for the suggestions :)

Super Mario 64 is the best Mario game, Meta is clearly mistaken

@benjamminbrown:

No frustration, this is a lot of fun for me :)

Oh? Then I'll make sure to give you plenty of practice…..with a lot of requests!!! Mwahahahaha

:devil: :devil: :devil: :devil:

DUN-DUN-DUUUUN!

benjamminbrown

Bring it .

MetaMario

Don't worry guys, Super Mario 64 has a special place in my heart.

@benjamminbrown:

No frustration, this is a lot of fun for me :)

Well….if you're sure.

Rogues' Gallery

@benjamminbrown:

Bring it .

Those are fightin' words! You're going to regret it!

@MetaMario:

Don't worry guys, Super Mario 64 has a special place in my heart.

As it should.

benjamminbrown

@MetaMario:

Well….if you're sure.

I'm not promising much, and it may take me a while before I'm satisfied, but I'd like to give it a shot anyway.

Thanks again for the suggestions, you two.

–- Update From New Post Merge ---

Found an old-ish render of Waluigi in a cartoony style, though from what game I do not know. I'll try to use it to make a single color portrait similar to what you've shown me, Meta.

[hide][/hide]

Credits for the render go to Gareth Dent over at xboxachievements.com.

MetaMario

@benjamminbrown:

Found an old-ish render of Waluigi in a cartoony style, though from what game I do not know. I'll try to use it to make a single color portrait similar to what you've shown me, Meta.

[hide][/hide]

Credits for the render go to Gareth Dent over at xboxachievements.com.

well I do love me some Waluigi. Let's see~

benjamminbrown

… looking up N64 sprites, I don't know how I didn't think to make some Super Smash Brothers AVs. That's probably my favorite game from the '64.

benjamminbrown

Raccoon Mario is finished :D

Admiral Issho

Looks very nice

benjamminbrown

Thank you, kind sir! salute

benjamminbrown

@MetaMario:

well I do love me some Waluigi. Let's see~

About 60% done with the Waluigi portrait, here's what I've got so far:

Once I finish the lines, I'll clean/sharpen it up a bit so that it matches the others more closely.

I was thinking that, when I've finished this one, I could do Wario and Daisy as well and then make an animated AV that cycles through all of them.

benjamminbrown

Lines have been completed, now I just need to clean them up a little.

MetaMario

Wow, the art style is virtually identical to that of what I posted…...looks great so far!

Deviant_Mugen

Whoa, a Waluigi avatar is being made here and I wasn't told about it? Foul!

Great stuff, by the way, Ben. :)

benjamminbrown

Thanks, guys! I'm going to let it sit for a bit before I take another stab at it, but I expect that I'll have it finished in another couple days.

benjamminbrown

I've been really annoyed with how GIMP (and apparently most other modern image manipulation programs) don't have the ability to use modern pixel scaling algorithms like hqnx and xbr. Luckily, I just found a really simple tool made by the MAME guys that will do exactly this.

Check out this wiki article if you're interested: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pixel_art_scaling_algorithms#Pixel_art_scaling_algorithms

Let's see if I can't update some of the ones that I've already done with a proper pixel scaling algorithm. Sadly, the MAME tool will only do one image at a time, but most of my AVs don't have that many frames to begin with so it shouldn't be too hard…

--- Update From New Post Merge ---

That was a lot easier than expected, and I am really happy with the results! I'll probably update all of the AVs that look really pixellated eventually.

benjamminbrown

Crono's been depixellated! I should probably get some sleep.

zachri

Your avatar is so trippy…
I-IS THIS WHAT IT FEELS LIKE TO BE ON ACID?

benjamminbrown

Good question; I don't rightly know.

I'm looking at you, CT game designers! We're beginning to suspect that that definitely wasn't just the smell of burning incense and unwashed hair coming from your studio each day.

MetaMario

Yes, I have given Rainbow Dash a break, given many things: my new star, a new month is coming up, school's starting again, and MLP is in the off-season right now.

I am still curious to see what you eventually make, though! I'm not 100% committed to my current one, mainly because of the size….wish it was a little bigger.
[hide][/hide] is the original picture.

Just didn't want you to get the wrong idea, benjamin. ^^;

benjamminbrown

Hey, no worries, Meta!

I hope I don't give the impression that I'm easily hurt.

You'll be pleased, I think, with what I'm putting together (haven't quite finished Waluigi, yet). But, even if you think it's the best thing since sliced bread, I would never try to force you to use it, either.

Really, making these is just fun for me, so I'm doing it more for myself than anyone else. If you want to make use of my results, then go for it, but please don't feel obligated or anything. Thanks for letting me know, anyway!

I can also try editing that one for you! Bigger, you say? I'll see what I can do.

MetaMario

All good to hear! A bigger ava would be super, actually.

benjamminbrown

Marle and Lucca have been depixelated as well. I think that I'll try to finish up those Waluigi lines, now.

benjamminbrown

Decided to take another stab at the lines, since I'm not really satisfied with my first attempt. Here's what I've got so far:

benjamminbrown

Coming along! Should be done later tonight when I get a chance to sit down again.