larryb123456

@ jaclaz: These are just my initial reactions to your screenplay, Post # 424. Please, please, pretty please, don't take *each* of my comments and try to come up with 50 "Yes, but" or 50 "And then add that" for *each* comment. The idea is to simplify, not "complexify". As I said, I'm looking for good expressive emoticons to convey what you want -- not to *deviate* from what you want. By finding good emoticons, I won't have to re-invent the wheel. I've found some good ones so far. I should have a little more free time now to work on this. As Leonardo Da Vinci said, "Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication." As far as S and V, I kept forgetting which was which, so I'll just call the characters L (i.e., left side) and R (i.e., right side), as Forrest Gump told me to do. I'm glad you put your scenario in numbered steps, because I can respond to the numbered items.. 1. IMO, there isn't a way that anyone would know what transpired before the first scene opens. I think everything motivational needs to be shown. The first scene opens with L onstage by himself. Then L needs to demonstrate that he's doing something sarcatic, naughty, snappy, provoking, catty etc. *in the direction* of the right side of the stage. (A possibility is that L, immediately after that, could then hold up a little sign with small aliased lettering saying something to the effect "He's a jerk !" Then the sign quickly disappears. The font will be something like aliased Arial.) This should imply to the viewer that there is someone, yet unseen, on the right side. Jaclaz, at the end of your Post where you say "The scope is to convey the idea that what has been said by L is intentionally (and jokingly) said to provoke a reaction from R.", even Karnac The Magnificent in a million years could not have deduced that from what you said in 1 through 7. It's easily remedied though. In 1 above, change the text on the sign to "Your mama wears combat boots!" which everyone knows is a joking expression used to get someone's goat. After the sign quickly disappears, L downright mocks R explicitly as in 7 below, but we need another such mocking emoticon (we don't want to repeat ourselves). Is it OK to use the obviously mocking emoticon for mooning (i.e., the act of displaying one's bare buttocks by lowering the backside of one's trousers and underpants, and bending over)? That's a funny one. If its not OK to use it, I'm sure I can find another mocking one. We can dispense with the sign all together, I guess, if we find an *undoubtedetly-mocking-in-good-humor" emoticon. I kind of like the sign though, because that would make the performance somewhat unique. It's your decision, of course, to eliminate the sign or not. Thus, the performance begins with L mocking R in 1 and ends with L mocking R in 7. L definitely triumphs in this screenplay, in every aspect. 2. Then L tries to look innocent/indifferent/detached by whistling as if he didn't do anything unseemly at all. 3. R is obviously upset/angry/exasperated at L and enters the scene (from the right) in that state of mind. 4. Suddenly R extracts an object (the object could be a ball, but better a knife or a pie) and throws it towards L. I saw a *fantastic GIF* of a red brick being thrown, and I think that should be used, because there would be no doubt as to what the object was. Also, the red of the brick would tie in well with the angry, red face of R at this point. 5. L who was only seemingly minding his own business but actually very attentive to the movements of R, quickly ducks, thus making the thrown object miss him (the object may end it's trajectory outside the scene or splat/crash on a "wall" on the very left side of the scene). IMO, more effective -- (and, believe me, a lot easier to render) -- for the brick to end its trajectory *outside* the scene and also more in line with R who entered the stage from *outside* the scene. Also, L ducks by disappearing downward *out of the scene* either completely or just enough for the brick to miss him. I think it's best for L to completely duck out of the picture, because then R will be onstage by himself so full attention can be given to R as in 6. 6. R is surprised (OK, need to find emoticon for surprised) and [deluded -- (I don't like your symbol for deluded; it's not clear what that expression means)] frustrated and disappointed at having missed his intended target. Need those latter 2 emoticon -- i.e., for "Darn it!". R exits sadly the scene on the right. 7. L straightens up renters the arena moving upward (i.e., the opposite of how he ducked out of the picture) -- (tentatively at first, and looking around, because he doesn't know if R is going to throw another brick). When he's sure another brick isn't on its way, he has a large smile on his face and maybe having successfully avoided being hit. Love your emoticon for "downright mocks him explicitly" !!! (That's what I meant by getting a good cast of emoticon characters. Since the emoticon dialogue is from right to left and left to right, I need a bunch of emoticons facing left or right (of course, I can flip them horizontally as need be), and I've found quite a few so far.

@ jaclaz & dencorso: With regard to the Spoiler pic, if you're warning someone you don't like to duck, the proper expression is "Duck, Turkey!" Jaclaz, I think you did a great job with your Alfred Hitchcock screenplay. I got tied up with other stuff and couldn't address your Post appropriately. I will though. Now, I'm looking online for some character actors (i.e., emoticons) to star in your production. IMO, a good cast will make all the difference. I mean, you want Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, not Elmer Fudpucket and Ima Loser ! Discussion to follow in due time. (Because of all my other stuff going on.)

@jaclaz: I just glimpsed your Post before I Posted this one and there is no way now (or if ever) I can piece it all together. I used all I could from your magician/poof GIF, so many your criticisms of my rock/whistle GIF apply to his also. You are making this much, much, too complex, IMO. I'll try to read your Post tomorrow. In the meantime, if you want, you can work on your precise choreography -- which you don't have yet -- not by a long shot !!! To be honest, I see shades of Devil Text, and in my present state of tirednedness, I don't know if I want to proceed. But tomorrow's another day. If I recall correctly from a cursory look at the left-side emoticon when the magician "poofed" (i.e., disintegrated) him with his magic wand, this, indeed, might be the way to go for him to get flattened as the rock goes overhead and then to reassemble afterwards. I think I like that solution a lot. I can incorporate "whistle" -- and other stuff if you want -- before and aft. The left-side frames are already there to use and it's amazing how many different-colored disintegrating pixels are *scattered* about. So, as a first step in formulating your choreography, think about that route. Watch your original "magician" animation over and over to get ideas for yours. This might not be a difficult project at all, if you don't let dencorso jump in and muddy up the water.

@ dencorso: Me: Maybe you and dencorso could work out together (maybe in PMs) the choreography, because he has a tendency to jump in in midstream anyway as in his recent Post. You: Yes... I guess I do... No, dencorso, that should be Yes... I guess I do... because I know you are just trying to be helpful in as many ways as you can. I guess I just saw Devil Text Redux coming on the horizon, and to be honest, I didn't understand at all what you meant in the closing of your Post. (Please don't try to explain, for I'm sure it will give me a headache ..... ..... lol)

@ jaclaz and dencorso: Based on dencorso's response, it looks like I missed jaclaz's intent, even though my little rock/whistle "melodrama" might win an Academy Award. Jaclaz, what I need from you is an ultra-precise, step-by-step "choreography" (as in a dance) of what you want to happen in the animation and, of course, with which emoticon(s). Leave out any irrelevant BS like the magician with the magic wand -- (you could have at least precisely said to ignore that part) -- for as you can see my Forrest Gumpian mind is easily confused. Maybe you and dencorso could work out together (maybe in PMs) the choreography, because he has a tendency to jump in in midstream anyway as in his recent Post. I will not be able to start on the work for a few days, but I can check in to see what choreography you come up with and we can have back and forth to make *sure* everything is perfectly clear. I will not start until it is is perfectly clear. At that point, there will be no re-dos, no going backs, etc., etc, etc. Make it so there is absolutely no "wiggle room" for me to deviate from your choreography. KEEP IT SIMPLE

The userbar animation in my Post # 410 dealt with the 2 recently-released video games Assassin's Creed III and Assassin's Creed III: Liberation. Many TV ads here have been promoting another just-released game, Call of Duty: Black Ops II. I checked out some of the graphics, liked them, and thought I could make an animation as striking (IMO) as that in Post # 410, by vertically scrolling a large-sized image also at 3px per frame, to keep the total number of frames in the animation low. (BTW, the large animated Dancing Droid GIF in my Post # 411 is also scrolled at 3 px per frame.) Another benefit of scrolling 1 large JPEG or GIF, as opposed to 2 smaller ones in the same animation, is that it is easier, since the movement of 2 objects at the same time is not dealt with. But back to Call of Duty: Black Ops II. The animated GIF userbar I made is shown below, http://i1196.photobucket.com/albums/aa403/larryb123456/AniMS010sec96uniqueframes255colors350x19pxOOED315KB.gif This is a frame-by-frame animation: 96 unique frames, 0.10 sec display time per frame, 255 colors, 350x19px, 315 KB. The figure/logo JPEG is scrolled vertically at the rather fast rate of 3px per frame, since it is tall, at 143px. The fast scrolling rate keeps the total number of frames in the animation low. The background with the moving scanlines is a 2-frame animated GIF. There were 2 resources I chose to use (i.e., scale independently and combine into 1 image): # 1) logo # 2) figure I could have made an image variation on the box cover, but I felt that such a dark image would be hard to see clearly when scrolled in a userbar. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "The obvious objective of video games is to entertain people by surprising them with new experiences." Shigeru Miyamoto “I like video games, but they're really violent. I'd like to play a video game where you help the people who were shot in all the other games. It'd be called 'Really Busy Hospital.” Demetri Martin "Psychos will always be psychos, they don't need video games to help them." Scott Ramsoomair, GameCore Interview "Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent." Isaac Asimov ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

@ jaclaz: I made an animation meeting the specs of your Post # 412, with just a little of my own input to put the meaning of "duck" in better visual perspective. ducking.jaclaz.GIF, http://i1196.photobucket.com/albums/aa403/larryb123456/duckingjaclazani64frames255colors72x22pxOOED25KB.gif This is a frame-by-frame animation: 64 frames, 72x22px, 255 colors, 25 KB. Notice how the right-side emoticon enters the "arena" moving left, after being completely out of sight, from the right side. To balance that out, I have the left-side emoticon duck completely out of the picture, after ducking the rock, and wait a while before tentatively re-entering the arena to start whistling again. IMO, mission accomplished. Aside from adjusting frame display times -- (i.e., speeding certain aspects up or down) -- for various parts of the overall "choreography" -- to suit you -- that is *all* I will be doing on this project. There will be no more characters entering this play, and the ones presently in it will not be performing any different acts. I have absolutely no wish to get involved in "Devil Text Redux". The following is FYI: If you go on the internet to get animated GIFs, they very frequently advertise sets as animated GIFs "for dark backgrounds" or "for light backgrounds". Of course, these are not *true* animated GIFs as the Forrest Text and Devil Text are. These advertised sets have either light or dark irregular, "ziggy-zaggy" outlines around the "GIF" objects. It is in this sense that the 2 resource GIFs used in this project are "for light backgrounds", as can be seen when they are played on a darker (i.e., purple) background, as shown below. jaclaz.duck."transparent.GIF".on.purple.background, http://i1196.photobucket.com/albums/aa403/larryb123456/jaclazduckpurplebkg.gif jaclaz.whistle."transparent.GIF".on.purple.background, http://i1196.photobucket.com/albums/aa403/larryb123456/jaclazwhistlepurplebkg.gif Of course, my animation fares no better than the 2 resource GIFs, since these 2 GIFs are integral components, http://i1196.photobucket.com/albums/aa403/larryb123456/duckingjaclazanimatedonpurplebackground.gif --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Spring is when you feel like whistling even with a shoe full of slush." Doug Larson "I can whistle with my fingers, especially if I have a whistle." Mitch Hedberg “We can choose to throw stones, to stumble on them, to climb over them, or to build with them.” William Arthur Ward ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

@ dencorso: Thanks for your *fantabulous* compliment. But the real praise belongs to the person (or people) who made the 148-frame resource GIF. (That must have been a lot of work.) I was nothing but a "cherry picker" in this escapade. Also thanks, jaclaz.

Android (developed by Google) is a Linux-based operating system designed primarily for touchscreen mobile devices such as smartphones and tablet computers. Their "mascot" is an Android robot man named Droid. It was because of Droid -- (specifically because of an animated dancing Droid) that I made the animated GIF userbar presented in this Post, http://i1196.photobucket.com/albums/aa403/larryb123456/AniMSUB009sec84uniqueframes255colors350x19pxOOED183KB.gif This is a frame-by-frame animation: 84 unique frames, 0.09 sec display time per frame, 255 colors, 350x19px, 183 KB. The Dancing Droid is a 12-frame animated GIF scrolled vertically at the rate of 3px per frame. The background with the moving scanline pattern is a 2-frame animated GIF. My resource Dancing Droid GIF had 148 frames, way too many for me to scroll in a userbar animation. So, I modified the resource GIF by eliminating all but 12 frames to arrive at a reasonable number of frames to deal with. I am pleased with my modification -- (even though it doesn't have all the resource GIF's dance moves) -- because the dancing motion is smooth. The 148-frame resource GIF is shown below on the left and my 12-frame modification is shown on the right. Even though the Dancing Droids have some pretty funky dance moves, they do not have nearly the amazingly funky moves of .

The animated GIF userbar presented in this Post might be of interest to some video-game-player members or visitors to the site. The userbar combines the 2 recently-released games Assassin's Creed III and Assassin's Creed III: Liberation. These games are historical action-adventure video games. Assassin's Creed III is set in Colonial Era America from 1753 to 1783, before, during and after the American Revolution. Assassin's Creed III: Liberation is set between 1765 and 1780, around the end of the American French and Indian War, in 18th Century New Orleans. It features the first female protagonist of the series. The userbar is shown below, http://i1196.photobucket.com/albums/aa403/larryb123456/AniMS007sec100frames96unique255colors350x20pxOOED217KB.gif This is a frame-by-frame animation: 100 frames (96 unique), 0.07 sec display time per frame, 255 colors, 350x20px, 217 KB. The figure/title JPEG is scrolled vertically at the rate of 3 px per frame, since it is tall, at 150px. There were 2 resources used in making the userbar: # 1) the figure image # 2) the Assassin's Creed III: Liberation logo It should be clear by looking at the userbar how I cropped and combined # 1 and # 2 to get the JPEG that I vertically scrolled. The phrase "Assassin's Creed III" from # 2, by itself, is also one of the Assassin's Creed III logos. Of course, I put the word "Liberation" on the left side of the userbar. As far as the letter-pulsing "choreography", I only pulse the "Liberation" panel when the figure image is in view, and I only pulse "player" when "Assassin's Creed III" is visible. I like this userbar because of the great figure image and the "striking" font used in the logo. I'm not a video game player, but the game descriptions discuss assassins with their expected associated forms of violence. I'm sure, however, that these assassins are not nearly as brutal as this one.

Orkin Pest Exterminators are the KILLERS, as demonstrated in my last Post, while Merry Maids are the Cleaners, as demonstrated below, --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Orkin and Merry Maids !!! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Knowing that time was of the essence in eradicating the bugs and thereby saving MSFN, I called Orkin Pest Exterminators to see if they could help out. They certainly did, ASAP, as the result below shows, with all the rapidly-propagating bugs being given a 1-way ticket to bug heaven, where they'll stay until infinity, . --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Orkin !!! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Being worried about the MSFN bug problem, I checked back in to see -- lo and behold -- another drastic multiplication of the little critters, as shown below. If they keep multiplying like this, they will have enough strength, en masse, to push down the dashed-horizontal-lines confining barrier, invade MSFN full force, and wreak havoc on the sensitive computers therein. I think all the bugs are genetically related, since they all share the same quirky behavior of meandering around in a path similar to the infinity symbol, . Something has to be done to stop this bug invasion, before serious damage is done. I think I have an idea that might work. We'll just have to keep an eye on this developing situation. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I checked back in to see if the bug I trapped in my Post # 402 had escaped the confines of the 2 dashed horizontal lines. Not only was the original bug still there, but 2 additional bugs were also trapped. My guess is that these 2 additional bugs were on a rescue mission to free the first bug, but when they entered the 2-dashed-horizontal-line "zone", their IQs were reduced to zip-nada and they also were unable to escape. All 3 bugs just seems content to meander around in a path similar to the infinity symbol, . We'll just have to keep an eye on this developing situation. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

@bphlpt: You're welcome !

I was getting ready to make a Post when I saw a bug crawling around on the MSFN page. I chased after it and confined it between the 2 dashed horizontal lines below. I think that will corral it pretty good because the bug is apparently too stupid to realize it could escape my trap by simply going out the left or right side. The bug just seems content to meander around in a path similar to the infinity symbol, . We'll just have to keep an eye on it. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

With tomorrow being a national election day in the United States, I thought it appropriate to make a userbar for Barack Obama, who's seeking a second 4-year term as President (this comment is just a little FYI for non-USA members and visitors to the site), http://i1196.photobucket.com/albums/aa403/larryb123456/AniMSUB009sec80uniqueframes255colors350x19pxOOED173KB-1.gif This is a frame-by-frame animation: 80 unique frames, 0.09 sec display time per frame, 255 colors, 350x19px, 173 KB. The U.S.A. flag (a 5-frame animated GIF) and the Obama JPEG are scrolled vertically at the rate of 1 pixel per frame. I really like this image of Obama, who is smiling as if he has already won the election. The phrase "Yes We Can !" is an Obama slogan from his 2008 Presidential campaign and I used it in the userbar -- (rather than his current, 2012, slogan "Forward !") -- since it has 11 characters, the same number as Barack Obama has. These 11 characters allowed me to do an interesting (IMO) choreography: as the letters in Barack Obama are "pulsed" forward, the characters in "Yes We Can !" disappear *precisely* in the reverse direction, and vice versa. This choreography would not be as precise with "Forward !", which has 10 characters. I think I could have used "Forward !" and no one would have noticed the lack of preciseness because of the speed of the letter pulsations and letter disappearances, but, being something of a perfectionist, I used the precise "Yes We Can !". --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Some Barack Obama quotes: "If you're walking down the right path and you're willing to keep walking, eventually you'll make progress." "I'm a warrior for the middle class." “A change is brought about because ordinary people do extraordinary things.” “You can’t let your failures define you. You have to let your failures teach you.” “Why can't I just eat my waffle?” ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

@ bphlpt: Glad you like the transparent GIF. I guess I'll just have to watch your Posts to see if you use the animated or the "static" closing line. This dilemma can be solved if, at the end of your Posts, you ask yourself, "What would Steve Martin do?"

I have a friend who has an HTC Wildfire S smartphone that he likes and proudly owns, and he wanted me to make a userbar for him. So, I came up with the following, http://i1196.photobucket.com/albums/aa403/larryb123456/AniMS010sec80uniqueframes255colors350x19pxOOED201KB.gif This is a frame-by-frame animation: 80 unique frames, 0.10 sec display time per frame, 255 colors, 350x19px, 201 KB. The smartphone JPEG is scrolled vertically at the rate of 2px per frame, since it is tall, at 83px. The relatively fast 2px per frame scrolling rate keeps the total number of frames in the animation low. The background with the moving scanline pattern is a 2-frame animated GIF, which I've used before in a few animations. I am pleased with the "choreography" of the letter pulsations on "HTC" and "owner".

I took a little break from what I was working on to make a transparent GIF of bphlpt's closing statement that he puts on his Posts, http://i1196.photobucket.com/albums/aa403/larryb123456/CheersandRegards.gif (bphlpt, you can verify that the background is transparent by e-mailing the GIF to yourself using a non-white background.) I know that bphlpt won't use it since he's rather conservative, but in the rare case he's ever in a wild and crazy mood, he will have it to use, and since the background is transparent, he can use it on *any* of his forums.

The animated GIF userbar I'm presenting in this Post is for all the psychedelic freaks and Op Art fans, http://i1196.photobucket.com/albums/aa403/larryb123456/AniMS016sec80frames255colors350x20pxOOED211KB.gif This is a frame-by-frame animation: 80 unique frames, 0.16 sec display time per frame, 255 colors, 350x20px, 211 KB. A 10-frame animated GIF is scrolled vertically on the left side of the userbar at the rate of 4 pixels per frame. "Op Art Fan !!" is also a 10-frame animated GIF. In addition to all the pretty colors in this animation, I like the fact that you can't tell that the animated GIF on the left side of the userbar is even scrolled vertically. The left side just looks like a psychedelic random color generator. For those of you wanting complete documentation, the 10-frame Op Art Fan resource GIF is shown below, with a 0.16 sec display time per frame, as was used in the above animation (I re-sized the resource GIF a little to use it in the userbar), http://i1196.photobucket.com/albums/aa403/larryb123456/10-frameOpArtFan_ResourceGIF.gif The 10 colors for the letters in the "Op Art Fan !!" GIF were taken from a frame in the resource GIF, as shown below, http://i1196.photobucket.com/albums/aa403/larryb123456/Obtaining10colorsfor10-frametitleGIF.jpg Starting from the center of the frame we have orange, and moving to the right we have red, purple, gray, blue, dark turquoise, light turquoise, green, greenish-yellow, and orange. Since the resource Op Art GIF was 10-frame, I made a 10-frame animated GIF of the "Op Art Fan !!" characters (since this phrase has 10 characters) as shown below, http://i1196.photobucket.com/albums/aa403/larryb123456/10framesfortitleGIF.jpg It's clear from the above JPEG that each frame is generated from the previous frame by simply moving all the character colors, as a unit, to the right by one character. I really like the way the "Op Art Fan !!" colors cycle from left to right as the frames display in the animation.

@ jaclaz: Glad you like "perfect" Version 5A.

To me, all the dots around poof, when it appeared by itself, detracted from the word. So, I made this alternative version to Version 5A: Version 6A, with the pause, http://i1196.photobucket.com/albums/aa403/larryb123456/DevilTextversion6A.gif

Version 5A, with the pause, http://i1196.photobucket.com/albums/aa403/larryb123456/DevilTextversion5A.gif