i used photoshop cs. it has an animation section in it. go to window >> animation and basicly do it screen by screen progression and u can use motion tween to ease some steps. then when u want to save it as gif, transfer the file over to photoshop image ready and save optimized. I think photoshop has a really powerful gif animation engine, esp with the stuff u can in photoshop @_@.
and thanks for the reps guys , if u want a sig just pm me and supply me with the pics, i'd do a few when i have time