How to make animated avatars from start to end with free programs and minimal knowledge needed.  All you need to do is find videos on youttube and download them as described below then you'll be on your way to having jiggling jugglies as an avatar! This looks like a lotta trouble at first, and it is if you were to try and figure all this out on your own but hopefully this is done step by step so easy your 5 yr old could follow the directions.

1. Download these free programs

http://www.afterdawn.com/software/video_software/video_encoders/super.cfm (video converter called SUPER that is amazing, input most video formats and output them into a vast array of formats)

http://www.cd2html.de/moviesnapshot.en.html (movie snap shot program) don't change any of the file path saving sites if you want it the same as the directions below

http://gimp-win.sourceforge.net/ (GIMP2 free image editor)

mozilla firefox browser (program works better with mozilla firefox, can't get it to work with ie just yet)

Once you have firefox up and running open a webpage and modify your browser settings by going to "view" to "toolbars" and make sure bookmarks is checked.  Now you don't have to download anything just have to go to the site and drag the first link that says "all in one video bookmarklet" into your bookmarks right below your website address bar (next to the links like most visited, free hotmail, windows media, etc).  Now you should see the all in one video bookmarklet as a linked bookmark under your website address bar. (All-in-one video bookmark)

Ok now were ready to get downloading videos

2. Find a video on YouTube, Google Video, Metacafe, Myspace, Break.com, Putfile, Dailymotion, Sevenload, MyVideo.de or Clipfish.de    that has a couple second clip that you want as your animated avatar.  While watching the video hit the all in one video bookmarklet button which will bring you to a page that allows you to download the video.  Right click the download link, click save target as, then save it to your desktop as the filename you want.  Try this video (bouncy bags) on youtube b/c I've verified it works.  Doesn't matter how long the video is b/c were gonna be taking snap shots anyways.

3.  Now you've got your video and you're on your way to cool avataredness.  Open that program called SUPER and drag the video file from your desktop you just downloaded into the SUPER program platform anywhere (just see the + sign and you're golden).  This program encodes the video file to the format we want.  The settings for the SUPER program look like a nasa spaceshuttle cockpit, but this is cool if you know a lot about video b/c this program should win programming of the year in my mind b/c NO other FREE programs have the streamlined capabilities this one does.  For ease set your buttons as such (output container-AVI, output video codec-WMV8, output audio codec-mp3, select FFmpeg, then select your prefered setting for audio/video or just leave em as default).  Now check the box next to your document and hit the button in the bottom left called encode.  This spits out an .avi file that our movie snap shot program can handle.

4. Open movie snap shot program and hit the open program folder button at the bottom of the window.  If you didn't change any of the saving folders earlier while downloading you want to go in this order (desktop, my computer, local disc C:, Program files, eRightSoft, super, output, and click your saved file name).  This will open your video to play in the movie snap shot program.  From here find the coulpe seconds you want to take clips of and pause it on the beginning of the scene.  Take a snap shot by pressing floppy disc looking button.  Ok save this on your dektop as filenamethatyouwant1, then with the video still paused hit the >> button a couple times to get another snap shot a couple slides further and save this image again as filenamethatyouwant2.  Do this a couple times over and try to limit the number of slides to say 5 b/c I don't know the total size limit for the avatars on covers.

5.  Now that you've got your 5 snap shot nativity scene open the GIMP2 image editor program.  Take your first/beginning snap shot file and drag it onto the "blank slate".  Now if a side window didn't pop up for layering hit (control L) to bring up the layering box.  Now drag in correct order your files named 2, 3, 4 etc onto the "layers" box.  Now we want to optimize the file for for an animated GIF file by clicking "filters" to "animation" to "optimize (for GIF)".  Now you can x/close the first box that wasn't optimized so not to get confused, yeah it's the one on the bottom of the new one cheif.  Now go ahead you've made it this far, click filters to animation to playback to bring up your work in progress and check it out.  It's gonna be goin pretty fast right now so chill.  Over on your layers box you'll see it says 100ms next to each layered file in parentheses.  To slow your squeezing/bouncing/wobbling down double click the file name in the layer box and change 100ms to say 150ms and then hit enter (if you don't hit enter it will just go back to 100ms).  Do this for each file name as you prefer, as you can see the change if you keep the playback mode up and running while your changing the speed.  Once you're happy with the speed good job.  Now you must resize it to make covers peeps happy (height max 163 pixels and width 126 pixels).  You do this by right clicking the main canvas image and going to the dropdown box "image" to "scale image".  The box brings up a scale AND YOU MUST click the "chain link" next to the parameter so its a broken chain link and the drop down box should say cubic then type in the parameters i just gave you.  This will resize your image to covers parameters.  From here you can play with cropping and other editing feature but you're own your own there.

6.  SAVE THAT BAD BOY.  Click file to save and save it as whatever file name you want but make sure you add ".gif" to the end of the file name.  This will bring up a box where you want to have checked "save as animation" and "convert to indexed using default settings".  Now click export and then save for the next boxes and WHAH-LAH you've got urself an animated avatar and the skills to style out your profile.  Now upload your new juggly set onto your covers my space and gloat about how you just spent a couple hours on an animated avatar.

7.  Please don't ask me detailed technical questions, b/c I probably don't know the answer as I did this soley by trial and error myself.  See this site for instructions (instructions).  There you go, dummy NO MAS.

Saving you the pain and frustration,
Hookemdustin