Using Director > Vector Shapes and Bitmaps > Using animated GIFs |  |

Using animated GIFs

You can import an animated GIF into Director with File > Import, similar to the way in which you import any other bitmap cast member. The only difference is that when the Select Format dialog box appears, you select Animated GIF.

Director supports both the GIF89a and GIF87 formats. GIFs must have a global color table to be imported. You can import an animated GIF within a movie file or link to an external file. You also have the choice of importing the first frame of an animated GIF as a still image. Just as with an ordinary bitmap, you place an animated GIF in the Score in a sprite channel and extend it through all the frames in which you want it to appear. An animated GIF can play at the same frame rate as the Director movie, at a different rate that you specify, or at its original rate.

Director does not support the following inks for animated GIFs: Background Transparent, Reverse, Not Reverse, Darkest, Lightest, Add, Add Pin, Subtract, and Subtract Pin.

You can make an animated GIF play direct-to-Stage, meaning that it is immediately displayed on the Stage instead of being first composed in an offscreen buffer with other sprites. A direct-to-Stage GIF takes less time to load, but you cannot place other sprites in front of it or use any ink effect.

To set properties for an animated GIF:

1 | To specify how Director removes the cast member from memory if memory is low, choose an option from the Unload pop-up menu on the Cast Member tab of the Property Inspector (Graphical view). See Controlling cast member unloading.
2 | To achieve the fastest playback rate, click the Animated GIF tab and select Direct to Stage.
| When Direct to Stage is on, you can use only Copy ink and you cannot place any sprites on top of the animated GIF sprite.
3 | Choose an option from the Rate pop-up menu.
| Normal plays at the GIF's original rate, independent of the Director movie. The GIF cannot exceed Director's frame rate.
| Fixed plays at the frame rate you enter on the right.
| Locked-Step plays at the same rate as the Director movie.
4 | To set additional animated GIF settings, click More Options.
| To change the file of a linked external cast member, enter a new pathname in the Import field or click Browse to choose a new file.
| To import a file from the Internet, click Internet and enter a new URL.