Welcome to TalkGraphics.com
Results 1 to 10 of 97

Hybrid View

  1. #1
    Join Date
    May 2002
    Location
    Liverpool, NY
    Posts
    2,619

    Default October 2014 Tips and Tricks - Big GIFs, Tiny Animations

    October 2014 Tips and Tricks - Big GIFs, Tiny Animations

    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	2014-10-tt-2-pumpkins.gif 
Views:	1257 
Size:	41.6 KB 
ID:	104342

    This month, Gary Bouton takes you on an animation trip that’s sweeping the Web: creating a large GIF file that is animated in only part of the overall image. The GIF can be advertisement size, but only a few kilobytes when you see how to set up a GIF document in Xara, and customize how the GIF file is written. Work through the tutorial and get carved pumpkins for your efforts!

    See for yourself and then show us how you get your animated GIF on.
    Barbara Bouton
    TalkGraphics Forum Administrator

    The Xara Xone website developer. | TheBoutons.com

  2. #2

    Default Re: October 2014 Tips and Tricks - Big GIFs, Tiny Animations

    Ok, here is my contribution to this.

    As people may have noticed I am lazy person so used little different technique on this.

    Carvings are part of the image and are basically just erased from the picture so that the background can be seen through. After that the image is duplicated and moved a little to get the 3D effect and give some depth for added illusion. Finally the image simulating light is put at the back and the opacity is changed between the frames.

    Result is lazy mans Halloween but could use some extra colours.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Click image for larger version. 

Name:	halloween.gif 
Views:	531 
Size:	128.2 KB 
ID:	104347  

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Oct 2002
    Location
    Liverpool, N.Y.
    Posts
    6,085

    Default Re: October 2014 Tips and Tricks - Big GIFs, Tiny Animations

    Lest anyone’s feeling be hurt (although I’ve noticed this to be fairly thick-skinned crows!), let me provide a definition of the word critiqué before we go any farther; the word criticize is a derivation of critiqué, but not truly the same word. Critiqué (noun): An unbiased evaluation or appraisal of a work or body or work.

    When you remark that something is good and you say it’s good, what you have said is a critique. Similarly, when something is bad, you call a spade a space, not partiality, no extra points because the creator is your friend or something.

    Theinonen, I’m going to take a pass on remarking about your work, because 1.) You’ve stated twice that you’re lazy, and that 2.) you used a “slightly different technique” on your animation. Which means you either disagreed with it or didn’t read it, which sort of defeats the point of me spending time creating a monthly tutorial for you; the word tutorial is a derivation of the word “teach”.

    I have a few questions to throw out for anyone on this area to answer (or to ask me for the answer). And I’d like honest answers, not snarks or jibes.

    1. Why is Theinonen’s piece 10K larger than the one I taught to build, seeing as this month’s tutorial makes the promise to make large animated GIFs that are small in file size?

    2. Why is there clearly banding inside the faces when lit up: hint-it has something to do with a Global Optimized palette and very little to do with the Maximum number of colors used?

    3. Why does the background image appear to vibrate from frame to frame, even though in theory it’s the background and should not change from frame to frame unless an Overlay shape is on top of that area—which is not the case.


    If someone doesn’t learn anything on The Xara Xone, then I am to blame, not the person who is playing student for the moment. It means I’m not doing my job, and this is why I’m tossing out these questions.

    I’m not calling you out, The Oninonen. This is a critique area, I’ve just been prompted to ask questions by your post, and you, unfortunately, chose to go first in “class”. :)

    My Best,

    Gary (frequently a student)

    By the way, I like the fact that Thenonin elected to design his own pumpkin faces. It shows creativity and exploration, and doesn't impact on the gist of the tutorial at all.
    Last edited by Gare; 20 October 2014 at 12:14 PM. Reason: I speled "turtle" rong.

  4. #4

    Default Re: October 2014 Tips and Tricks - Big GIFs, Tiny Animations

    Damn, you made me do another one....

    I was not aiming for masterpiece earlier and it was literally done in less than 5 minutes (includes typing the message), while I was on coffeebreak home as had to go walk the dog. It was just to illustrate another approach and was not intended for anything more.


    File is pretty large but if wanted any smaller then would need to reduce frame count. I can actually optimize your animation with Intergif and the result is over 2 KB smaller without affecting the quality of the file so this is as small this will get without changes and getting it little smaller does not justify the decrease in quality.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Click image for larger version. 

Name:	1.gif 
Views:	813 
Size:	518.6 KB 
ID:	104349  

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Oct 2002
    Location
    Liverpool, N.Y.
    Posts
    6,085

    Default Re: October 2014 Tips and Tricks - Big GIFs, Tiny Animations

    Quote Originally Posted by theinonen View Post
    Damn, you made me do another one....
    This is a terrific post because it spawns a number of discussion points, and I feel great that I said something provocative and offensive to get you to try harder, theinonen. This version is much better artistically than the original one in post #2.

    The artifacting is gone, and it looks like quite a high-quality GIF, although it's five times the size of the target size. Which means it would slog down a page of graphics and text, even on a fast connection. And that really was not the point of the tutorial.

    If you do not care to read a tutorial, and simply recreate media using your own techniques, I should create a new area called “Duplicate this!” or something; it would be a fun challenge and I’m sure there would be a lot of participation, as was done with your SmartCar you rendered.

    But as Moderator as well, I’d suggest that you follow tutorials and post here, because that is the reason for Xara Xone’s existence (which some see cynically, but tough darts): to promote the use of Xara, and my job is to provide examples that can be performed in Xara using some animation “rules” for the GIF file format, such as don’t use high-frequency images because gradients and stuff will tend to produce banding, and only let the current frame create changes in a small area as an Overlay doesn’t write unchanging pixels to the finished file.


    Quote Originally Posted by theinonen View Post
    File is pretty large but if wanted any smaller then would need to reduce frame count.
    It doesn’t have to be, and again, that was part of my tutorial. In a real world situation when you’re hired to create a big animated GIF, and you bring in a 500KB file, your client won’t buy, “It can’t be done”, because they’ve seen it done on the web. There are lots of clever workarounds: limit the number of colors, limit the number of frames, create a low frequency photograph, use a Global Optimized palette, use a third party assembler.

    Quote Originally Posted by theinonen View Post
    I can actually optimize your animation with Intergif
    I’m sure you can, the theinonen. And InterGIF, as far as I know, is a third-party product, the name of this site is The Xara Xone and not The InterGIF Xone, therefore it’s not reasonable that I reach out in a tutorial for an effect that can be done in Xara, written tutorial style in Xara, and I think by now many, if not most, members in TG know that some things can be done faster in programs other than Xara. Third party filters are just fine to discuss here, I encourage any means to an end, within a given context. However, if I can generate an acceptable animation for my client using Xara and only Xara, and getting a small(er) finished file size, using InterGIF is sort of like replacing a light bulb that isn't burned-out.

    I’m deeply troubled by our volley, thetheinonen. It appears to be getting more and more contentious, as though I’m wrong, and being rebuked, when all I did was write an article on how something can be accomplished in Xara, and perhaps that’s the only program a member owns. Again, if you want to duplicate artwork in a tutorial your own way, I’ll start an area on tg for that purpose.

    For this area, though, if any of us wanders, it should be for the purpose of demonstrating, riffing on a principle, sharing a principle, asking for criticism, but if one learns nothing from the tutorial, one has nothing to share about the topic of discussion, and posting finished work here would be better served in a gallery, or a specialized area of tg, would you not agree?

    My Best,

    Gary
    Last edited by Gare; 20 October 2014 at 04:03 PM. Reason: Compulsive behavior. If I don't edit once a day, I will die.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    Urmston, Manchester,England
    Posts
    2,527

    Default Re: October 2014 Tips and Tricks - Big GIFs, Tiny Animations

    Hi Gary, just read through the Big Gifs Tips and Tricks and will be making my attempt at re-creating it tomorrow, it looks pretty cool. I also had a look at the two links you have at the end of the tut., and to have a Tips and Tricks based on these Cinemagraph Gifs would be fantastic but I hope first, time permitting, you will get round to doing the Video on Typography you talked about a while ago, looking forward to that one especially.

    Best regards,
    Stygg

 

 

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •