Making avatars etc

Hey, i'm looking for a way to make videos/DVD's into avatars eg:



any software or something i will need?

Also, i'm looking for the best way to get screenshots.

Cheers, and sorry about the briefness.

 

Here's my method. Others will probably suggest other software.
I rip the section of video I want to the hard drive, usually in avi format, or convert mpg to avi in virtualdubmod.
Strip out audio.
Load avi into PaintShop Pro's Animation Shop.
Cut out unneeded frames, add transitions, text, whatever, save as animated .gif.

 

ok, cheers. i'll give it a whack as soon as i can get a hold of paintshop pro.

Any othere suggestions while we're at it??

 

is it easy to do with adobe image ready?

 

how do u get the part of the dvd onto ur computer as an avi or able to be converted to avi