Usually, I use plain simple graphic as a signature when foruming. However, it could not stop my urge to try something new such as creating animated signature for the sake of of having fun.
When visiting an anime forum as example, what we will see is animated graphics (in .gif format) are being used by most of the members as their signature or avatar. An animated signature (which was made by me in a few minutes for this tutorial) can be seen here. Not bad, eh? 
If you are interested to create one yourself, then check out this simple tutorial below to learn how. We’ll require a software called Virtual Dub (free) for most of the process, including magic touch from Adobe ImageReady software (shipped with Adobe Photoshop) to create the animation.
How to create animated signature / avatar: The tutorial
Firstly, download Virtual Dub from SourceForge. I suggest that you install K-Lite Mega Codec Pack first to avoid irritating codec problem later. Save Virtual Dub’s archive to a location. Then, extract it. (Note: Don’t run Virtualdub.exe directly from the ZIP file).
Open any video file that you like (anime, movie, etc). For this tutorial, I’d chosen Bleach anime video. Drag the slider to your selected frame. Set the length of the “frames that you want” using the < and > button. I recommend you to set from 5 to 10 frames only since it’s already enough to create an avatar with acceptable file size.
Click [File] > [Save as image sequence].
Note: Create a folder for the output files first (as example “\bleach” in the screenshot below) since there are lots of output files that you have to manage later.
After the process has finished:
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Open Adobe ImageReady.
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Click [File] -> [Import] -> [Folder As Frames]
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Point to the folder where you save the frames just now.
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Select all frames (using shift button and your mouse)
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Click [Image] > [Image Size]
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Set the size just like below (you can modify it according to your linking)
Then, set Optimized setting to “Gif 128 Dither” for the best quality.
Click File > [Save Optimized As] and save the GIF file.
Open it using Windows Fax and Picture viewer to see the result and then upload it to free image hosting such as Imageshack for online viewing. Voila!
April 24th, 2007 at 1:44 pm
When I first started drawing graphics, I used Jasc Paint Shop Pro (now it’s known as Corel Paint Shop Pro). My first animation and avatar was made with it as well and I’m lovin’ it!
Although I’ve shifted to Photoshop, I still make my animations with PSP - because I got too use to it.
April 24th, 2007 at 10:37 pm
@cindy: Previously I heard that Corel Paint Shop Pro can compete with Adobe Photoshop. Thanks for the input.
April 25th, 2007 at 12:54 am
bole tahan gak info ni..tapi kalau ko tgk demo photoshop cs3 lagi dasyat..dia dah boleh buat mcm2 animation lebih hebat dr ini..
April 25th, 2007 at 1:59 am
@chot: Sounds cool jer Adobe Photoshop CS3 tu. Tak sangka pulak aku dia dh upgrade feature dr segi tu gak. Aku tk keep versi beta tu dalam pc aku lagi sebab tak sesuai ngan komp aku yang slow ni.
April 26th, 2007 at 11:27 pm
and i dont have photoshop. kesian kesian. yg ori tu mahal, yg palsu tu mcm mana nak crack eh? kekeke. im so cheapskate.
for simple gif animation, i just use gifanimator. But i still need photoshop. kesian kesian. tulah blog pun semua in text form. kesian kesian. help me pls.
April 27th, 2007 at 12:38 am
It’s not hard to search for crack. Just search Google and you’ll find it right away. But hey, it’s an investment right? If we’re serious in going web designing,etc I don’t think it’s that bad to spend some money for Adobe Photoshop license since the product that we are capable of producing from the software later will cover the cost back.
September 17th, 2007 at 1:23 pm
Thanks for the tip!