What you need:
Animation you like.
A video editing program (I use MAGIX)
Photoshop CS or later.
Imageready.
Patience.
1. Load the movie file or clip that you want to use in your sig into your movie editing program. Cut out everything you don't want and export the file as a Quicktime movie. (For the sake of size your clip shouldn't be more than seven to ten seconds long)
2. Make your sig file in photohshop. It's best to do something with a frame of sorts to hold your animation in. Also you're not limited to a pure square or rectangle shape because the end result will be a GIF file not a JPEG and what isn't covered will take the background color of whatever forum you use the end product on.
3. Import your quicktime movie into Imageready. Do this several times experimenting with only having every third or forth frame. Doing every frame, or every second frame usually results in a huge file size. Also experiment with different qualities; you're probably going to have to settle for lowering the quality a bit again in the name of file size. The goal is to get the sig to be under 200kb or so. Be sure to move all layers that make up every single frame into their own layer group folder.
4. Back in photoshop move, go to Image -> Image Size and write down the size of your image in Pixels. Don't change it, that'll come later. Make sure you're happy with your end product. Now, flatten all the layers that make up your sig file so you're only left with two layers. One holding all the graphics and what-not and another blank layer serving as your empty background. Then go to File -> Edit In Imageready.
5. Here's the really important bit. In Imageready you're not going to drag and drop all the layers that make the animated bit into the Sig File that you just moved from Photoshop. What you do now is change the Canvas Size of the animation so that it's the same as the image you just moved from Photoshop. Now, drag and drop the image that's your sig into the animated file in imageady. Nudge it around a little so the two line up and simply save for the web as a GIF. Fool around with Image -> Image Sizee a bit again to make the final image smaller then Save For Web as a GIF.And you're done.
Using Imageready, Movie editing software and Photoshop together can result in some really nifty end products; even more liberating than photoshop alone.
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