Tosa: Can I use this avatar?

[Lonewarrior]

http://img5.exs.cx/img5/8221/rtw.gif

[Sasaki Kojiro]

841 KB? No.

[Lonewarrior]

841 KB? No.

That's why I'm asking. But I want to hear from Tosa first.

[KukriKhan]

Hi Lone Warrior. Wicked good bit of work you've put into that avatar. I agree: TosaInu is the final arbiter of avatar choices, sig's, etc., so you should wait for final word from him.

Without wanting to put words into his mouth, I think he'll (regretfully) say 'No'. Here's why:

We have just under 9,500 registered members. At our last survey (about a year ago), about 15% of them connect via dialup modem. That number is probably less now.

If one member gets authorized a 841kB avatar, all must be allowed that same limit, in fairness. If only half of the 400+ regular posters chose similar avatars, the dialup guys would never get (or would very slowly get) a page loaded.

That would defeat one of the main reasons for the Org's existence: offering TW-series game info to all for nothing more than the price of registration.

Again; I applaud your good work on an excellent avatar. Bandwidth and Member Access concerns make approving your avatar at this time not a great idea. Maybe next year, when more of us have broadband, and we've found a way to expand our site's bandwidth allowances.

p.s. how did you make that product; what software did you use, etc.?

[Togakure]

Hi there. Yeah, nice avatar indeed LoneWarrior. I have dial-up though, and it took over two minutes for my connection to fully load that avatar--with only one post. If there were several avatars like that in a thread, boyo ... I wouldn't be able to read the forums effectively anymore.

***

Kuhkrikhan: I have made a collection of animated .gifs like LoneWarrior's, and I made them using freebie tools.

The first tool is VirtualDub, a very powerful movie editor. It might seem a bit overwhelming at first, but once you learn it (particularly how to use filters), you can do a lot with it. I made my own movie from STW movie clips. You can even remove existing sound and put in your own if you're very ambitious. Here's a link:

http://www.virtualdub.org/

You can use the movies you create to make animated .gifs. Here's a freebie animated .gif maker:

http://www.jhepple.com/gif_animator.htm

There are better programs, but this one is free, and free is cool as far as I'm concerned. There are many other cool tools at this site, and some are free. most or cheap. If you like dwinking as I call it, check it out.

Here are some examples of what I made using these two tools:

The first is my trademark sig on ezboards. It and the second are smaller than their original counterparts as Photobucket--my host--shrinks them when I upload (I was surprised that they still worked). Toobad, cuz the color Ninja one looks really good in its original size. The last two are shown in their original sizes. With these tools you can make just about any size you like--even gigantic ones. The bigger the pix though, the bigger the file sizes. The 2nd and 3rd examples are the same clip, except that I applied a grayscale filter to the B&W one (black and white resulted in a smaller file size, so it's bigger here). Note that I reversed the direction of the movement in these from the original Shogun clip using a filter, and used contrast and brightness adjustments to make the small images clearer. In a word, Virtualdub ROCKS. Ok, two words.

https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v139/47Ronin/MidnightSwordsman.gif

https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v139/47Ronin/TogaColor.gif

https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v139/47Ronin/TogaGrayscale.gif

https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v139/47Ronin/Mimesaka.gif

I have about 30 or so more, including some from the MTW opening movie (catapults and colliding charge lines, etc.), but the thread will bog if I post more here.

Enjoy. ~:) If you make some, I'd love to see what you come up with.

[Hosakawa Tito]

Those avatars rock, wish we could use them. ~:cool:

[therother]

Yikes, this thread took a while to load, and I've got broadband!

Well worth it though - those gifs are really quite special TogakureOjonin and Lonewarrior. :bow:

[The_Emperor]

Yikes, this thread took a while to load, and I've got broadband!

If this one is bad, you'd best not see the Tavern Dance Party thread then. ~;)

that one took ages to load for me on BB!!

[YAKOBU]

Hi everyone ~:wave:

The_Emperor - Where did you get your avatar from? I keep being told there are roman ones available but can only find roman rogues ~:confused:

[The_Emperor]

Look for the Roman Categories, there is now one for RTW Roman_Gen

[YAKOBU]

This is frustrating! Not sure why I cannot see it and others can. All I go into is edit avatar. There is no RTW_Roman_Gen on my list ~:confused:

[King Edward]

Hi YAKOBU, Happy Birthday for yesterday! :balloon2:

I think some avatars are unlocked by post count, i know i got a bigger selection when i hit 500 posts.

[YAKOBU]

Thanks for the birthday wishes and advice King Edward ~:cheers:

My weekly post count has dropped since I bought RTW. I must make a bigger effort to offer more advice and ask sensible questions to reach my 500. :charge:

[Lonewarrior]

hmmm ok, I'll wait, I know how it feels like to have dial-up.

Kukri I used some of the programs in Toga's post, they are all quite similar.

[TosaInu]

Hello Lonewarrior,

Nice picture. Sorry, it can't be used as avatar here.

Available avatar choice depends on number of posts and member level (some may be tempted to spam, that's perfectly ok with me, but please do so in a dedicated spamtopic in the Tavern Frontroom and don't flood disussions in other topics).

[Lonewarrior]

Hello Lonewarrior,

Nice picture. Sorry, it can't be used as avatar here.

Available avatar choice depends on number of posts and member level (some may be tempted to spam, that's perfectly ok with me, but please do so in a dedicated spamtopic in the Tavern Frontroom and don't flood disussions in other topics).

I shall never spam, I hate spam.

[TosaInu]

Lonewarrior, my comment was just to say it's ok. Not aimed at anyone.

[Lonewarrior]

Lonewarrior, my comment was just to say it's ok. Not aimed at anyone.

LOL My bad then :bow:

[Mithrandir]

Spamm3r!

[Lonewarrior]

Spamm3r!

LOL here's a nice Spammer Pic

http://img80.exs.cx/img80/9558/Spammer.jpg