Create Cool Animated Avatars Using Your Webcam

create animated avatarYou know you have always wanted to create an animated avatar of yourself to put on your blog, website, MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, or upload to your Gravatar account but you’ve never figured out an easy way to do it – well that is, until now.

Cool Webcam Avatars lets you create animated gif avatars directly from your webcam using their website and you do not have to sign up for an account or install any software.

There are 4 easy steps to create animated avatar and it takes about 2 to 3 minutes from start to finish.

There are lots of things you can record, not just your face, so be creative. You need to take into account that the finished avatar will show up larger on the screen than the smaller size some sites normally require. That means you need to record a clear picture so it is easy to see if a site you use it on resizes it.

Step 1: Go to Cool Webcam Avatars and click the Record Your Avatar! button at the top of the screen.

avatar generator

Step 2: A screen will appear which asks if this site can use your webcam. Click Allow.

Cool Webcam Avatars

Step 3: Click Start. You only have about 2 seconds to record but you can try again if you don’t like the results.

Step 4: When you like your results click Download Avatar! On the next page you can right-click on the avatar to save it to your computer. You do not have to signup for an account but make sure you save your avatar before you leave the page because it will not be saved unless you create an account.

Here is the avatar I created. I actually used the picture of my “evil” cat that is on my cell phone. Pretty cool, huh?

animated avatar creator

Here are some other avatars from their site that people have recorded to give you some more ideas.

If you decide to create an account, your avatar will be visible to the public. It will appear on the Cool Webcam Avatars site and you can show it to the world. Creating an account is easy and free. After logging in, the avatars will be assigned to your account.

If you decide to make an animated avatar, why not upload it and show it here on the MakeUseOf website next to a comment? All you need to do is make a free account on Gravatar, upload your animated avatar there and then use the same email account that you used for your Gravatar account here for your MUO comment. Your animated avatar will then appear next to your MUO comment.

Are you avare of any other animated avatar maker sites? Let us know in comments!

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Wendy Limauge

I have been involved with technology since 1993 when we bought our first Commodore computer and got online with a 300 baud modem (those were the days). I have been a software trainer, computer consultant, in-home troubleshooter, web designer and was known as The Computer Lady (http://www.thecomputerladyonline.com) to many. I love learning about the latest software, web app, or gadget that comes out. I am usually the first one in my area to try out new technology and love sharing my knowledge with others. If a person feels intimidated they won't learn and my job has always been to create an atmosphere where people feel at ease and in turn, they will learn. My husband, Greg, and I own an online lavender business. We only sell online and have a retail and wholesale site. We also have our own product line that I developed - Limauge Boutique (http://www.limaugeboutique.com). The inspiration for that business came after an exciting trip to France valued at $25,000 that I won from Forbes.com back in 2001. Sweepstakes has been a fun hobby for me since 1993 and I average between 200 and 300 prizes a year. You can learn how to enter and win at my site, http://www.sweetiessweeps.com If you ever have questions please feel free to email me or leave me a comment and I will try to answer your questions to the best of my knowledge.

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  • lawiz

    test gravatar ^_^

  • http://www.odanta.com Abs

    Here is another cool site that does something similar. It allows you take pics from your webcam and it gives you a url/link to that pic so you can use it anywhere you like. I think it deserves its own review. ;) Its called Odanta.

  • http://www.funcoolavatars.com Free Avatars

    Another cool site for Free Avatars is Fun Cool Avatars they let you create avatars from any kind of image you may hold on your computer pretty neat tool.

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  • http://twitter.com/tiff_is_on Tiffany

    They are now Blipcam and availible on myspace, facebook, orkut and netlog!! =[ I wish they didnt change!