Making Your Own Android Boot Animation

Introduction

A few days ago, I came across someone who had turned the Arknights: Endfield logo into a boot animation.

哔哩哔哩视频加载中...

I'd previously made my own boot animation using the ATLAS logo from COD, and I've been using it for almost a year. I figured it was time for a change of pace—and a good chance to refresh my memory on how to make one.

How to Make It

1. Trim the Video

The creator of the original animation provided the source video file via a cloud drive in the description of the video.

After downloading it, trim it as needed: cut off the unnecessary parts at the beginning and end, as well as any sections in the middle where the same frame stays on screen for too long.

2. Split the Video into Frames

Use ffmpeg to split the video into individual image frames. Adjust the frame rate as needed.

BASH

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "fps=30" %0d.png

3. Organize the File Names

Since this animation only has one part, put all the images in a part0 folder.

Open PowerShell in the image directory and paste in the code below to standardize the file names.

POWERSHELL

Get-ChildItem -Filter *.png | ForEach-Object {
    if ($_.BaseName -match '^\d+$') {
        $num = [int]$_.BaseName
        $newName = "{0:D3}{1}" -f $num, $_.Extension
        if ($_.Name -ne $newName) {
            Rename-Item -Path $_.FullName -NewName $newName
            Write-Host "已重命名: $($_.Name) -> $newName" -ForegroundColor Green
        }
    }
}

4. Create the Configuration File

Create a desc.txt file in the same directory as part0.

TXT

1080 1440 30
c 1 0 part0 000000

Parameter breakdown:

First line: Global display settings

TEXT

1080 1440 30

This line defines the animation's basic global display settings in the format: [WIDTH] [HEIGHT] [FPS]

1080 (WIDTH): The width of the animation in pixels. Just match it to the image resolution.
1440 (HEIGHT): The height of the animation in pixels.
30 (FPS): The animation's frame rate, meaning 30 images are displayed per second.

Second line: Animation part playback controls

The format is: [TYPE] [COUNT] [PAUSE] [PATH] [BACKGROUND_COLOR] [CLOCK]

TEXT

c 1 0 part0 000000 -1

c (TYPE): Stands for "complete." This part must play all the way through even if the system has already finished loading in the background; it cannot be interrupted. Another option is p, which stands for "play" and allows playback to be interrupted. As soon as the system finishes loading and is ready to enter the lock screen/home screen, it will immediately stop the boot animation whether or not this part has finished playing.
1 (COUNT): Number of times to play the part. 1 means this animation part (the images in the part0 folder) plays once.
0 (PAUSE): How long to pause after playback finishes, measured in frames. 0 means no pause before moving on to the next stage.
part0 (PATH): Tells the animation to load this part from the part0 folder in the archive.
#000000 (BACKGROUND): The screen background color while this part is playing. Here, it's pure black.
-1 (CLOCK): The Y coordinate for the clock display (typically used on watch systems). -1 hides the clock.

5. Package It as bootanimation.zip

Package part0 and desc.txt into a .zip file.

When creating the archive, set the compression level to Store only.

Final structure:

bootanimation.zip
├── part0
│   ├── 001.png
│   ├── 002.png
│   ├── 003.png
│   └── ...
└── desc.txt

Here's the version I made. You can download it as a reference:

Installing It on Your Phone

Since my phone is running the third-party, AOSP-like Rising OS, I can simply select a custom bootanimation.zip in Settings and use it as the boot animation.

For a typical rooted phone, you can create a simple Magisk module and flash it to replace the system's original bootanimation.