Gifs with Photoshop CS2 & VirtualDub2
Mar. 2nd, 2021 07:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kiwitutorialsThe first thing to do when getting ready to make gifs in Photoshop CS2 is to ensure you have it installed.
STEP ONE
At the time of writing this, the installation file was no longer available from Adobe directly, but if you Google the file name PhSp_CS2_English.exe you should be met with a direct link to the file hosted on Google Drive.
Once you have downloaded the file, install CS2 with the appropriate serial (Mac or Win) from this Archived url.
STEP TWO
After you have installed CS2, now you want to install a SCRIPT that will allow the application to handle the import of video frames to a single image as layers (which we can then convert to a gif).
The script you need is called 'Import Folder As Layers' and can be found at the following URL.
https://github.com/ES-Collection/Photoshop-Scripts/blob/master/Import%20Folder%20As%20Layers.jsx
Select the text of the jsx file, and paste it into a blank text file in Notepad. Save this out with your preferred filename, in my case I named it 'Import Folder to Layers.jsx'. Then, using Windows Explorer, copy this file in to the following directory :
C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop CS#\Presets\Scripts\
If that directory doesn't exist, you may find it here:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop CS2\Presets\Scripts
STEP THREE
Now you want to process your video into usable image files. Using VirtualDub2 we will extract a selection of frames to a folder that Photoshop can import.
1. File > Open Video File... and navigate to your chosen video file and Open it.
2. With the video file now open, you need to mark the selection you wish to extract. This will need to be done individually for each segment.
You will fold the Beginning and End markers at the bottom of the window, as in the image below:
3. With your selection marked, you can go ahead and save these frames out, but to make things load faster in CS2 it is advisable to RESIZE the selection before extraction.
To resize the video frame's size, go to the VIDEO menu and choose FILTERS. In there, scroll down to RESIZE and set your preferred dimensions.
When you've finished there, click OK to close the resize window, and OK again to close the FILTERS window.
You can use the filters to do other alterations if you wish, but for now resize is enough.
4. Go to the FILE menu, choose EXPORT > IMAGE SEQUENCE...
Define the save directory, file name and file extension. I use BMP to retain the quality of the frames.
Now that your frames have been extracted, it's time to make your gif!
STEP FOUR
Now that we're ready, open Photoshop CS2.
1. Go to FILE > SCRIPTS > 'Folder to Layers' (or whatever you had named the script)
2. Choose the folder containing your extracted frames. Click OK.
3. Let CS2 process the files. It might take a couple of minutes, depending on how many frames you are importing.
Once the images have come in, you want to convert the layers to animation frames.
4. Above the Timeline, click on the little arrow (as in the image below) and choose 'Make Frames From Layers'.
Once the layers have been changed to frames, you are very much set. However now that the layers have been converted to frames, you can add various kinds of adjustment layers to alter the colouring of your gif.
5. Now it's time to save your gif! To do this, go to FILE and click on 'Save for Web...' and tweak the settings within the next window to suit. At the bottom left of the new window you will be given a file size preview to help you make your adjustments.
For the sake of this tutorial, I followed the steps and made the following gif from a short film I shot some years back:
STEP ONE
At the time of writing this, the installation file was no longer available from Adobe directly, but if you Google the file name PhSp_CS2_English.exe you should be met with a direct link to the file hosted on Google Drive.
Once you have downloaded the file, install CS2 with the appropriate serial (Mac or Win) from this Archived url.
STEP TWO
After you have installed CS2, now you want to install a SCRIPT that will allow the application to handle the import of video frames to a single image as layers (which we can then convert to a gif).
The script you need is called 'Import Folder As Layers' and can be found at the following URL.
https://github.com/ES-Collection/Photoshop-Scripts/blob/master/Import%20Folder%20As%20Layers.jsx
Select the text of the jsx file, and paste it into a blank text file in Notepad. Save this out with your preferred filename, in my case I named it 'Import Folder to Layers.jsx'. Then, using Windows Explorer, copy this file in to the following directory :
C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop CS#\Presets\Scripts\
If that directory doesn't exist, you may find it here:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop CS2\Presets\Scripts
STEP THREE
Now you want to process your video into usable image files. Using VirtualDub2 we will extract a selection of frames to a folder that Photoshop can import.
1. File > Open Video File... and navigate to your chosen video file and Open it.
2. With the video file now open, you need to mark the selection you wish to extract. This will need to be done individually for each segment.
You will fold the Beginning and End markers at the bottom of the window, as in the image below:
3. With your selection marked, you can go ahead and save these frames out, but to make things load faster in CS2 it is advisable to RESIZE the selection before extraction.
To resize the video frame's size, go to the VIDEO menu and choose FILTERS. In there, scroll down to RESIZE and set your preferred dimensions.
When you've finished there, click OK to close the resize window, and OK again to close the FILTERS window.
You can use the filters to do other alterations if you wish, but for now resize is enough.
4. Go to the FILE menu, choose EXPORT > IMAGE SEQUENCE...
Define the save directory, file name and file extension. I use BMP to retain the quality of the frames.
Now that your frames have been extracted, it's time to make your gif!
STEP FOUR
Now that we're ready, open Photoshop CS2.
1. Go to FILE > SCRIPTS > 'Folder to Layers' (or whatever you had named the script)
2. Choose the folder containing your extracted frames. Click OK.
3. Let CS2 process the files. It might take a couple of minutes, depending on how many frames you are importing.
Once the images have come in, you want to convert the layers to animation frames.
4. Above the Timeline, click on the little arrow (as in the image below) and choose 'Make Frames From Layers'.
Once the layers have been changed to frames, you are very much set. However now that the layers have been converted to frames, you can add various kinds of adjustment layers to alter the colouring of your gif.
5. Now it's time to save your gif! To do this, go to FILE and click on 'Save for Web...' and tweak the settings within the next window to suit. At the bottom left of the new window you will be given a file size preview to help you make your adjustments.
For the sake of this tutorial, I followed the steps and made the following gif from a short film I shot some years back:
