AVS Files

You can download the original Microsoft Comic Character AVS files here. I have posted 21 zip files of black and white characters you can use to colour. You can even mix up the body parts to make a totally new character like MrBugSir shows how here .

Please note that it is always wise to save your work frequently. Go to 'file/save as' and your character will be saved as an AVS file. You can then open it and work on it at anytime. You can also export your image and save it as a .bmp file. When your character is complete, you may also want to save the AVS file in case you want to make any alterations to it in the future.

Click on 'open' and the AVS will open as in the image below. It is important to note several things in the AVS file. As shown below the pose 'point to other' is displayed. As you will notice, the character is pointing to something. The 'point to self' pose will show Jordy pointing to himself and the 'wave' pose will show a wave and will be displayed in comic chat as a greeting. It is good to have many neutral poses so that your character is not boring. The names of the other poses are self explanatory.

You are now ready to edit this AVS file. This is the fun part! Notice that the background/transparency colour is blue. If you chose to make any part of your character blue, that area will become transparent. Should you decide to use that shade of blue for part of your character you can change the background/transparency colour by going to 'file'properties' and selecting the colour tab.

In the image above, I have used the paint tool to flood fill the lips with pink and the body with yellow. Notice that the colour yellow has been selected from the colour palette.The paint tool will flood the selected area with yellow fill when you right click your mouse. After using the flood fill, I zoomed in on the lips and the body and used the draw tool to fill in any areas that needed more colour.

Note that, when using the flood fill tool, if there are any spaces that are not contained within lines that your image may end up with yellow where you don't want it. If this happens you can go to 'edit/undo'. Beware, the editor will only undo your last move.

To fill smaller areas you will need to use the draw tool as shown in the image above. Here I have selected green to fill jordy's skirt (kilt? lol). I have also selected the smallest line in the box below the tools. Note here that the zoom tool is also selected which opens the image below.

I selected the draw tool and then clicked on the zoom tool. Once you click on the zoom tool another window opens ( as shown above) where you can choose your magnification. The image here shows that I have selected 6X. As you move around your image in the main window there is a box with dotted lines in the zoom window (highlighted here in red to make it more visible). This allows you to see what area of the image you are working on.

The last step before making your character is to position the 'center of the head' on every pose. Click on the 'position center of head' tool. Select the first pose from the pose list and drag the tool to the center of the head. Do this for each and every pose. This allows the speech balloon to be positioned correctly in Comic Chat.

Once you are satisfied with your images it is wise to save your work as an AVS file in case you want to make any changes to it in the future. Go to 'file/save as' and select a destination folder.

Creating the Character File

Now you should verify the AVS properties by going to 'file/properties'. Here you can embed a URL in the character so that it will auto download for other users in comic chat. Make sure that the file path here matches exactly the path to where you will upload the finished AVB file. You can enter your name as the avatar (character) author if you wish and any other information you want to appear.

Go to 'file/Make a Character File (.AVB)'. You will notice that I have selected 16 colours for the Jordy.AVB. This is because I have only used that many colours and it will make a smaller file size. I have selected the box that says "Copy into Microsoft Chat Character Folder'.

I did not select border settings. Border settings had some relevancy back when Comic Chat characters are backgrounds were black and white but is moot now unless, of course, you are making a black and white character.

Click on 'Create Character'.

You now have a copy of this character in your Character Editor file and one in your comic art folder, all ready for chatting!

Adding An Extra Colour Palette

As an aside, I am including a image below of Jordy to show the extra colour palette. This extra colour palette appears when you have selected 256/high colour in the properties (go to 'file/properties' and select the colour tab). This will give you a much wider selection of colour choices but will make your avatar file larger. In addition, you could select black and white (and the colour palette would give you only those two choices) but that would make for a pretty boring character.

Previewing Your Character

It is possible to preview your character (as shown below in my very gaudy Jordy rendition) at any point as it will appear in comic chat. Go to 'view/preview character'. Here you can select your panel size and background as well as zoom in on the character. You can use the emotion wheel to show the different poses.

Click on the links below to learn how to make a character from imported images or return to the Character Editor page.

<< Go Back To The Character Editor Page <<