Practicing the Black Art (05/01)
Create your own animated screen saver
by Vinny La Bash, vlabash@home.com
Member of the Sarasota Personal Computer Users Group, Inc.
A screen saver displays moving images or text that can hide the information on your screen. Many of them have their own unique sound effects. Screen savers can be configured to start automatically if your computer is idle for a specified amount of time. They were developed originally to prevent a problem called "burn-in". This was a condition which "burned" an image into the glass of your monitor if you left the machine idle too long. Today, "burn-in" is no longer an issue due to better manufacturing methods. So why do we still have screen savers? They can be great fun. They can be even more fun if you create your own. The best part is you don't need any special software, and you most likely have all the equipment you need. Even if you don't, all you need is a helpful friend.
If you're tired of the same boring screen savers that came bundled with your system, you might consider creating your own personalized version with animation. You can try downloading terrific screen savers from various web sites, but no matter how snazzy they may be, they aren't personalized.
These days almost everybody has a scanner, digital camera or both. If you don't have either, you probably know someone who does. You're going to need one of these devices to do the job. Take a picture with your digital camera of a subject you would like as your personal screen saver. If you don't have a digital camera, find a photograph in one of your albums and run it through your scanner. If you're lacking both you can con, er, I mean persuade a friend to help you out. Use this opportunity as justification to buy a scanner. Good ones are available for well under $100. You can't keep imposing on your friends, can you?
When you have your file, you need to store it on your PC. It doesn't matter what version of Windows you're using, store the file in bitmap (BMP) format. It's the only format where this technique will work. The only other restriction is that the image not be larger than 1280 x 1024 pixels. When you store the image, be sure to note the name of the file and the name of the folder where you saved it.
After you have saved your image, it's time to turn it into a screen saver and bring it to life.
- Right click on a clean area of your desktop, and choose Properties from the pop up menu.
- Click on the Screen Saver tab.
- In the Screen Saver list box, select 3D Flying Objects as shown in Figure 1.
- Click on the Settings button next to the Screen Saver list box. Be careful! There are two Settings buttons on this dialog box. Be sure you pick the correct one.
- The 3D Flying Objects Setup dialog box appears. In the Style list box , select Textured Flag as illustrated in Figure 2.
6. Click on the Texture button.
7. The Choose Texture File dialog box appears. From here navigate to the folder where you stored your personalized picture, and select it.
8. Click on the Open button, and close the remaining dialog boxes. Don't forget to set the time interval before closing the last dialog box.
Enjoy your personalized Screen Saver. :
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Copyright 2001. This article is from the May 2001 issue of the Sarasota PC Monitor, the official monthly publication of the Sarasota Personal Computer Users Group, Inc., P.O. Box 15889, Sarasota, FL 34277-1889. Permission to reprint is granted only to other non-profit computer user groups, provided proper credit is given to the author and our publication. We would appreciate receiving a copy of the publication the reprint appears in, please send to above address, Attn: Editor. For further information about our group, email: admin@spcug.org/ Web: http://www.spcug.org/
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