What software do you use in making those in the tutorials? ^_^
Photoshop CS5 :)
Photoshop CS5 :)
You could try a black-and-white gif, or make only a part of the gif move and the rest frozen. If you apply simple colouring, with not too much Hue/Saturation, you could squeeze it under 1MB. Alternatively, try a smaller gif size instead of 500px wide.
Shrek, Donkey & Fiona