Tips For GIMP Spinning Globes

Please note: I cannot find the Script-Fu package for you to download right now. Perhaps you can. Perhaps it comes with GIMP and I have completely forgotten!

I had several people ask me for more details about these spinning globes. I don't know anything about Photoshop but I bet you could make them there. I used Skitch to make the image with my name on it and GIMP to make the globe. For brevity, I will assume that you can figure out how to use GIMP. You will also need Script-Fu scripts. Install them in GIMP. And please remember that I am learning all of this myself. I only am giving you the tips that I have learned. I am not telling you that my way is the only way (my way is probably the crookedest way!). Today I found the GIMP wiki and it seems to have a lot of basic information that I need to learn.

On a Mac? Go here for more GIMP info. MAC OS X users: you need to install the X11 windowing protocol which is available at Apple. If I could do it, you can, too. Just e-mail or scream for help. (Or buy MacGIMP on CD and it'll do all that for you. I'm about at the point of doing that myself.)

On Windows? Go here.

Are you really serious about GIMP? Join GUG (GIMP Users Group). Join the Flickr GIMP Users group. They have lots of help in the discussions but you cannot read the discussions unless you join the group.

Now that you are all set up and running GIMP with Script-Fu, open a window or tab with THIS PAGE. The directions there are perfect, almost.

TIP: Scale your image to 1:1 (a square). Square images make spheres, rectangular images make oblate spheroids.

This is the image that I used for these globes:

Experiment with the smallest size image you can tolerate. I went down to 170x170 (px) and after uploading "small" versions in Blogger my yellow spheres are the size you see here. I heard the comments on my first spinning globe: it makes people nuts! So the smaller the better. It made me nuts, I can't even tolerate having my blog page open now. I have to add a few blog posts to push the spinning off my screen.

Play with the direction that you want your globe to spin. I think text is better going right to left instead of the default left to right.

If you use a photograph, you will get a seam in your globe. If you create a graphic image as I did here, without borders, you won't have a seam.

The instructions for saving in the tutorial Spinning Globe link seem to be off a bit (or perhaps it is different for a Mac). This is how I save my gif image after it has been optimized and after I have played it back to make sure it is what I want:

Hit control/shift/S: a dialog box opens. Type in the name of your image and add the .gif suffix. Select the folder that you want to save it to and hit OK or Enter or whatever it says. Then follow the tutorial directions again.

I set the spin rate at 15 for these yellow globes and you can see how fast they are spinning! In fact, I wanted to see if they are any slower than the 100, 200, and 300 ones I have made but I have not checked that out.


Blogger will host animated gifs but they won't animate! You need to host your stuff elsewhere, like ImageShack. You will probably have to play with the size that you import. I imported my yellow globes as "small."

That is all I have at the moment. I will be revising this again tomorrow when I have more energy and am thinking more clearly. Don't stay up all night making these like I did. You will pay dearly for it tomorrow.

Technorati tags: GIMP Script-Fu spinning+globe photography Flickr MacGIMP

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