This is a link to an app a dev made that automates the boot animation process. All u gotta do is tell it where your parts folders are, choose a couple settings then save! Let me know if it works for you, then I'm sure we would all love to see it!
I am as the same, however some tools are just too great to pass on. Wigs root toolkit is fabulous for noobs and experienced modders alike. You are sure that your desc.txt file is setup properly and you used the correct compression to zip?
I used the same desc.txt from stock and renamed all my pics the same and used the same amount of pics as well. I even compressed my pics to match the stock KB size. Now as the compression I just did whatever was stock so that might be it.