I would like to create a small animated GIF or small (pixel-wise) video file from about 100 images. I could just use the images themselves, but each would have to stay on the screen for around 10 seconds or so, because the total length I am shooting for is ~18 minutes. Instead, I’d like to have a series of transition images. The 100 starting GIFs themselves are very simple with only a single line against a white background. I suppose I could describe the source images as a white background with a letter in the center.
As the image changes from, say, U to V, I’d like the transition to look less like a U and more like a V over time, so there might be, say 5 intermediate images each appearing for 2 seconds rather than a U for 11 seconds changing abruptly to a V in the next image. Is there a way to create these intermediate images, or maybe a video editing software program that can start with my 100 images and create the smooth transitions? I already know how to create other types of transitions, dissolve, wipes, etc., but what I’m looking for is a program that can take the two images as starting and ending points for individual pixels and interpolate their positions along a linear path.
I don’t know specifics, but the search term you want to use is “morphing”. There are programs out there that do what you want, but I think most of them are specialized for particular types of images (say, human faces), and they may require some human intervention to work (you may, for instance, have to tell the program which parts of each image correspond to each other). Once you have such a program, though, it should be no more work for you to make a truly smooth transition, such that instead of having 5 intermediate images for 2 seconds each, you could have 250 intermediate images for 1/25 of a second each.
Check out the term “tweening” on Google which is used in both Flash and Adobe ImageReady (the only two programs out of uhm…two…that I know of. I’m sure it’s used all over the place.)
With something as simple as a 2-color GIF, you should be able to get what you want. I think Macromedia Flash has a 30-day full free trial. Adobe ImageReady comes bundled with Photoshop 7 and 8.
WinMorph worked well for me when I needed very simple image transitions, it was fairly easy to use. I’ve only used it as a plugin to Adobe Premier, but I believe there is a standalone version. I’ve never used ImageReady and don’t know how they compare, though.