Creating an Avatar Generator

[likethegoddess]

I've an idea for an avatar generator and looking around I see a lot are done in Flash.

Have you created an avatar generator or some similar interactive site? What did you use? Any how-to's are most welcome.

Diana

[LeadMagnet]

I think javascript would be the easiest way to do it. Use it to swap out images or place them on the screen where you want them.
If you need more features (the ability to rotate your images, change the colour of things, do other fancy effects javascript can't do so well), then use flash.

Whichever front-end you use, whenever your avatar is composed, you'll want to send the composition to php and use the gd library or something similar to compose all the parts into a single image file.

Questions?

[jasonized]

hmmm...I know flash(a bit). If I were to make an avatar generator, it would take me years to do it. The logic I see in it are:

-You will need to have a lot of pics
-Frames with a lot of Actionscript
-You will need a XML file
-And a lot of algorithmic codes

Maybe I'll try making a simple one.

Cheers!

[likethegoddess]

Thanks, folks, for the tips. I'm a bit out of my depth, it seems. I'll probably have to find a collaborator on this.

[LeadMagnet]

Nonsense, you can do it. It's really not that hard. First just make a small xhtml page with a box the size of your desired avatar. Inside the box place and position (using CSS) each piece of your avatar together to make a full one.
So you'll have a face, hair, some clothes etc. all together which would give the appearance of a complete avatar (even though you can't save that image without a screenshot yet).
Use every avatar piece you have that's likely to be on every avatar that a person would make. (ignore the pieces that might require position adjustments for now.)

Make sure you give each section its own id, use PNG-24 with transparency to layer them and specify the dimensions of everything.
Get back to me when you've done that. Shouldn't take you long.