[Cid]in' picture restrictions...

[shirenomad]

I've been working on this icon for hours, trying to make my first smooth animation. I think it rocks as it is, but damned if I can get it under the 40 KB size limit without making it totally ugly. If I yank out too many frames, the animation gets choppy. If I cut down the number of colors below 32, it's a gravelly mess (and even 32 is a little scratchy). Part of the problem is that the background isn't even a constant, because the entire scene wobbles (for those who never saw the "AzuDai Web" mini-episode, Tomo's filming all this with a video camera and a somewhat unsteady hand). I briefly toyed with the idea of cutting the background out of every last frame, but after attempting it with just one, I realized it would a) be a LOT of work and b) look really weird when I was through.

Ironically, this was going to be my new "angry/frustrated" icon.

Anyone have any suggestions? I've gotten it down to around 50 or 60 KB; any additional ideas might be enough.

[EDIT: Here's the smallest version I've been able to create so far. Still slightly over the limit...]

[EDIT 2: It's up! Thanks, Shadey!]

Comments

[shadeykins.livejournal.com]

Hrm..

Crop it to make it smaller?
There's no rule saying LJ icons have to be that size.

I dunno though, I've never done too much messing around with animations.

[shirenomad]

...

*"why didn't I think of that" look on his face*