The instructions provided below will show you how to export your AnimateMe! animations to your PC in order to view them as GIF Files.

In order to do this you will need to download two free programs; the first is called PDATConv (PDA Toolbox Conversion Utility). PDATConv is a program created by Rick Sands, which allows 2-way data transfer between Palm applications and the PC. You can download PDATConv HERE.

The other program you will need is a GIF Animator. There are many free and commercial ones available in Internet. For this tutorial, we will use the Ulead GIF Animator Lite Edition. You can download it HERE.

Please note that it requires the Visual Basic 6 Runtime, which comes pre-installed with many computers. In case you don't have it, you can download it from the Microsoft website.

Install PDATConv in your favorite directory, and open it. You may want to install it in your Palm/Backup directory, as it will probably be the one where your animations will be located.

When you open PDATConv, you will see the following screen.

Select the "Import (PDB to Text)" option. Then click on the "Select" button that is next to the "Palm Database (.PDB) to Convert" legend. A file selection dialog will appear.

 

Select the animation you wish to convert. Animation #1 is animation01.pdb; Animation #2 is animation02.pdb, and so on.

Then select the directory where the images will be located. For this example, let's select the Desktop ("Escritorio" folder in Spanish).

Now that you are ready, click the "Convert Now" button.

 

The operation should be performed without a problem. If so, a message will appear. It will inform you that the database was successfully converted, and it will show the file path.

 

Now, the fun part!

 

Open the GIF Animator, and select "Blank animation".

 

From the "Layer" menu, select the "Add images" option:

A file selection window will appear. From the folder you selected to store your animation images, select all of them and click "Open".

 

Then you will see all the frames from your animation. You can modify the timing of your animation by selecting the delay between frames. When you are ready, just select "Save As..." from the "File" menu, and you will be able to see your animation in your PC.

If you would like to share your animation with me and other users, just send me the GIF file and I will include it in the AnimateMe! showcase.

Enjoy animating with AnimateMe!