#mp4?tag=10

[engineering]

Making GIFs load faster

AKA why are some of my GIFs being turned into videos?

Overview

We’re experimenting with serving GIFs as MP4 videos instead of GIFV (which typically serves animated WebP) on the web to a small subset of folks on Tumblr, not everyone. This does not affect anyone using the mobile apps.

The performance improvements from using MP4s in this way are huge, and will make Tumblr load animated images faster and use less data in almost every circumstance, with no discernible loss in quality.

This conversion only applies to specific types of GIFs, such as ones without transparency in the first frame. We’ve tested this conversion on thousands of GIFs, and we’re still tuning it to be virtually indistinguishable from the original GIF.

XKit’s “Vanilla Videos” extension was causing a bug with this experiment, but a recent new XKit version release has fixed that issue.

If you’re served an MP4 instead of a GIF, clicking on the image will still open it in a lightbox, which you can download as GIFV or GIF, depending on what’s served.

Since this is still just an experiment, there is no way to opt-out yet; adding some kind of opt-out (on the creator and/or consumer side) is a possibility though.

If you’re served a GIF as MP4 and it looks wrong, please contact Support with a link to the image and what looks wrong about the conversion. We need examples to help us improve the experience. Also, please do not send duplicate support requests.

What

As a recent Changes post mentioned, we’re experimenting with transforming GIFs into MP4s on the dashboard on web. Our goal is to get GIFs onto dashboards as fast as possible, while retaining as much of the original quality as possible.

For years now, we’ve delivered GIFs using our GIFV format, which transparently transcodes GIFs to more modern formats, like WebP, supported by the <img> tag. We’ve made improvements to that process over the past year, better supporting large GIFs and increasing the quality of the transformation, but conversion to WebP has limited benefits. A typical conversion only halves the file size and animated WebP isn’t well supported by Safari. Meanwhile, MP4 conversions offer even smaller files, often 8 to 10x smaller than the original GIF, as well as faster loading times and broader browser support.

We’re being picky about which GIFs get converted to MP4. We only apply the transformation to GIFs that pass our criteria for transformation. Currently, that means GIFs that don’t use transparency in the first frame, have constant frame rates, and are under 10 seconds long. 

We’ve tested this new process against thousands of GIFs from Tumblr, ranging from your typical TV show gifset to pixel art to animated text, and are confident the transformation looks good for the vast majority of content. However, we’re still tweaking the algorithm and are open to feedback. This is a subjective process, and if you see an MP4 that looks worse than the GIF, please send it our way!

Currently, the change only affects the experience within Tumblr (www.tumblr.com). The blog network (i.e. your-blog.tumblr.com) is not affected and continues to use GIFV to deliver GIFs.

Why are we doing this?

As mentioned above, GIFs are almost always inefficient compared to modern formats. They’re larger in size, take longer to load, are slower to render, and use more cache space. Whereas our GIFV conversion usually halves the size, the new GIF->MP4 conversion is often 8 to 10 times smaller for film- or TV-like content. We have a lot of that kind of content on Tumblr (go check out #filmedit or #moviegifs) and delivering the content as MP4 makes those tag pages load quite a bit faster, especially on slower connections. 

As an example, here’s an original GIF that’s 3.4 megabytes. Converting it to webp using GIFV gets us down to 2.3 MB, 68% of the original. But converting it to MP4, gets us down to 641K, 19% the size of the original and 5x faster to load. On tag and search pages, where we often show many many GIFs at the same time, this makes a huge difference in the loading and browsing experience. 

However, Creators on Tumblr regularly churn out hand-tuned, pain-stakingly optimized GIFs that really take advantage of the format. We really don’t want to make these look bad – they’re works of art, and they’re natively better than these modern competing formats. For now, since this is still just an experiment, we haven’t determined yet how we’ll handle the ability to opt-out of this change (for creators and/or consumers of GIFs), but we have it in mind. 

In the meantime, if you’d like to download the actual GIF version of any GIF, just replace the extension on the image url with .gif. So https://64.media.tumblr.com/af554ca5b0e60d313e40c8c47e13824b/d422d5f60551ce04-12/s2048x3072/4b5293df9726acfe461f7eaf661f92acd060dd21.mp4 becomes https://64.media.tumblr.com/af554ca5b0e60d313e40c8c47e13824b/d422d5f60551ce04-12/s2048x3072/4b5293df9726acfe461f7eaf661f92acd060dd21.gif

When

We’re rolling out this change on the web in phases over the next month. We’re currently only analyzing newly uploaded GIFs, so existing GIFs won’t be affected for a while. And it’s only rolled out to a percentage of users, so you may or may not see the feature yet today.

Guidelines for GIF creators

Reporting bad conversions

If you found a poor quality conversion on one of your GIFs, we’d love to hear about it. Please contact Support with the URL of the post and let us know which GIFs could be better. Please include what aspect of the transformation is problematic.

How can I preview what my GIF will look like after the transformation?

If you want to see how any GIF would look converted to MP4, just find the media URL for the GIF and replace the extension in the URL from gif or gifv to mp4. This works for any GIF on Tumblr, not just the GIFs that we’ve flagged as good candidates, so that we can see what the results could be like.

As a GIF creator, how can I opt-out?

For the moment, adding a single transparent pixel to the first frame of the GIF will opt that image out of conversion to MP4. It will not opt you out of conversion to WebP or other formats that our GIFV implementation may support. We’re still thinking through what another kind of creator and/or consumer opt-out could look like.

That said, we would love to hear from you! So please send in anything that looks wrong. Also, keep an eye on the Changes blog for more updates about this.

#tumblr update

[chenlopez]

Tumblr users uploading gifs:

Step 1 - pay $15+ a month for photoshop

Step 2 - pay $80* a year on a decent vpn

Step 3 - download a file converter app that works on your computer

Step 4 - find a torrent link with seeders

Step 5 - download torrent with your terrible internet speed

Step 6 - convert file from MKV to MP4

Step 7 - scrub through episode to find the clips you want to use

Step 8 - open a clip on photoshop

Step 9 - cut down frame number to something that won’t compromise quality when you need to save it into the file size tumblr allows for upload

Step 10 - change speed

Step 11 - convert timeline

Step 12 - resize to tumblr specific dimensions

Step 13 - play around with sharpening settings suitable for your specific clip

Step 14 - convert frames

Step 15 - recolour and recolour again until it’s perfect

Step 16 - oh wait one character is POC and you need to check to make sure their skin isn’t too red!

Step 17 - you want to add text? Insert a text box and type in what your character has said. Oh there’s no autocorrect? Photoshop is unforgiving. Double check your text is correct

Step 18 - click on the text layer go to layer menu, add a shadow to text

Step 19 - repeat step 18 but choose outline text instead

Step 20 - play your gif through to see if everything is going well.

Step 21 - oh the text layers didn’t stick? Too bad photoshop hates you. Duplicate text layer while having all frames selected so that the outline and shadow actually work this time

Step 22 - they work congrats! Time to save

Step 23 - export your gifs find out that the file is too big. Go back and remove frames or adjust anything until the file is small enough to upload to tumblr!

Step 24 - it’s the right file size? Good. Now repeat steps for every other gif in the set. Make sure they all match and fit in the dimensions.

Step 25 - upload to tumblr and pray it actually wants to cooperate because if it doesn’t you might have to try it a dozen times. How fun!

Step 26 - code the captions on html mode

Step 27 - it’s uploaded yay! Now let’s hope it shows in the tags.

Twitter users uploading gifs:

Step 1 - hold finger down or right click to save

Step 2 - open on twitter and press post

[yappacadaver]

HELLO I AM AN ANIMATOR

do you want me to animate for you??? I do too!!!

PRICES

Base (one character, colored animation under 5 seconds): 90$

5+ Second Duration: +20$ per extra second

Extra Character: +40$ per extra character

CGI Effects (lightning, smoke, etc): +$10

Possible Complexity Surcharge: (up to) +$40

DESCRIPTION

With your instructions I will produce one colored animation for you to use as you see fit. Post it, use it as an icon or an asset, edit it, remix it, whatever you like, the art is yours. I will reserve the right to post it on my blog and other pages for promo purposes. You will receive one looping GIF file and one MP4 file version delivered digitally, both at HD quality (note you may need to compress these to post on some sites).

COMPLEXITY SURCHARGE: This is just to give you an idea of how much extra (up to 40$) a complex animation may be. Some things that may incur a complexity charge include: animated background, complex animated hair, creature designs that are outside my comfort zone, lighting effects, and difficult perspectives with camera movement.

Please note that the price is heavily variable based on the length and complexity of the animation. If the quote I give you is not within your budget, I am more than happy to suggest ways we could make your idea work for less!

HOW TO ORDER

Send me an ask/DM about your commission idea

If I accept I'll give you an ETA (I may need an extension but I will always message you if this is the case)

Once we decide on the details, I'll ask for payment via paypal

For animation commissions I will send you the sketch for your approval before I move to the animation process.

The final deliverables (one .gif and one .mp4) will be sent to you electronically

What I'm good at:

anime style, humans, OCs, nsfw of all kinds and orientations, gore, combat, location/prop design, character design

What I'm not so good at:

mechas, vehicle design, complex creature design, UPA style

Examples (check my #yappa animation tag for more):

#yappa art #yappa animation #commissions open #animation commission #artists on tumblr #bg3 #character art #oc art #oc animation #PLEASE please consider ordering if u want me to animate for you! i am really scared rn my financial situation is not good!! #if you don't want one please consider a rb! it would be super appreciated!!

[twinkodium]

I was tagged by @avida-heidia-5 & @jennarations 🫶🏼 I’m truly honored, thank you very much 🥺

I’m tagging @sebsdaniel @slugesh @formulahuh @norribobs @landoom @jethro-in-the-tardis @481boxboxbaby @izzief1rambles @mctwinkdom @princesspiastri @otterpiastri @someominousecho & whoever sees this and wants to participate (feel free to ignore) 🧡

1. Who or what got you into F1?

My grandpa and my dad. It was a tradition of the family that whenever my grandpa and uncle came to visit we watched f1 together after lunch. My sister and mom weren't too interested, but I somehow got so obsessed I started watching races on my own. I can't pinpoint when it happened, around 2003 or 2004 maybe. I remember following Fernando’s journey to his two titles.

2. Who was the very first F1 driver you supported? Do you support them now? Have your opinions on them differed or stayed the same since then?

Michael Schumacher. I was drawn to the rapid red car winning almost every race. Wish he was still on the grid, he'd be still my biggest favorite. Absolutely loved his passion and dedication to the sport, and what he achieved in his career.

3. Who’s your current favourite F1 driver?

My polite cat, Oscar 🥺 I have followed his career since his f3 season, watched him win both f3 and f2 in his rookie season, and got heartbroken when he ended up without a seat. Celebrated his contract with Mclaren like it was my success and I'm so proud of his achievement in his first year. Many more podiums and wins to come, mark my words.

Lando is a close second, followed by Charles, Alex and Max, rounding out my top 5.

4. Is there a driver pairing or pairings you support? What made you attracted to that pairing in the first place?

Landoscar, not just shipping-wise but also as teammates. They completely charmed me which is not a surprise considering I love both of them. Their dynamic is just so smooth, they're competitive but respectful and show support for each other. Showing up to celebrations despite having a shit race, going over to congratulate even after a disastrous Quali season. Worked so hard to bring back mclaren’s glory days and I’m fully convinced if these two can’t succeed, no one can.

I adore Lestappen too. The enemies to friends storyline will always work for me. They just work so well together, I can't explain why and how it's just perfect!

5. Do your parents, siblings or relatives have a favourite team and/or favourite driver(s)?

Don't think any of them are into f1, but we all shared the same favorites. My sister and I were big Fernando/Michael supporters in the beginning, but then Seb obviously stole our hearts. My dad supported literally everyone who beat Lewis 🫣

6. Do you have any favourite races? Are there any that stand out to you the most?

Have to say the Qatar sprint and the main race this year, also Japan 2023 and Singapore 2023. But my all-time favorite is Brazil 2016. Extremely wet race with a masterclass drive from Max.

Germany 2019, absolute chaos but such an exciting race.

7. Do you have a favourite circuit? Can be from the past or from the current calendar.

Spa, iconic with gorgeous surroundings. From the past, Sepang. Wish we had it back, such a cool one.

8. Have you ever been to an F1 race in real life? Feel free to tell us your experience going to one if you like.

Nope, I was planning to visit my home race in 2020 but we weren't allowed to go due to covid.

9. Have you ever met an F1 driver in real life?

I'd be fainting and get hospitalized if I ever met an f1 driver, especially one of my favorites.

10. Do you have a favourite F1 car? If so, what is it?

MP4-23 chrome Mclaren

&

Renault R27 with the ING livery

Don't ask why, I can't explain.

11. Do you have a favourite one win wonder?

Maldonado was a kamikaze driver with all kinds of reprimands and penalties in his active years of racing. It’s impressive he still bagged a win (legally).

12. Do you have any favourite quotes from the F1 world? This can either be inspirational or hilarious.

‘If you no longer go for a gap which exists you are no longer a racing driver’ Aryton Senna

‘Leave me alone, I know what I am doing’ Kimi Raikkonen

‘Mate, is Carlos blind or what?’ Oscar Piastri

‘I’m trying to get my first win, not my first therapy session.’ Lando Norris

‘I’ve got two balls but none of them are crystal.’ Sebastian Vettel

‘There is something loose between my legs. Apart from the obvious.’ Sebastian Vettel

All DRS tweets from Oscar, but they're from his f3 years so dunno if those count or not.

#tag game #Long post hence the keep reading section

[thinkingaboutfilm11]

GRACE F1 LORE

Thanks for tagging me @wisteria-wisteria <3

1. Who or what got you into F1?

Basic bitch answer but my dad. He was a big fan, and his dad was a fan. I was plonked infront of the TV to watch it as a kid, and grew up never missing a race. That was until Sky Sports braught it off chanel 4, and now my family can't afford to watch it anymore. I have to pirate it now coz I AINT PAYING 50 A MONTH go fuck yourself Sky Sports.

2.Who was the very first F1 driver you supported? Do you support them now? Have your opinions on them differed or stayed the same since then?

Probably Lewis? Or Jenson? I was (still am) a Mclaren fan as a kid, and my dad always cheered on English drivers, so I just copied him. I still love them both now, my opinions havn't changed on them at all!

3.Who’s your current favourite F1 driver?

Current grid? Probably Max, Fernando or Oscar. They are all so so talented, it's just a pivalidge to watch them drive. I think they're all really funny in their own ways too.

My favourite driver ever? Senna, obviously. Or Prost.... Can't ever pick.

4.Is there a driver pairing or pairings you support? What made you attracted to that pairing in the first place?

I support all and any pairings. F1 RPF in all forms is delicious thankyou. My faves are: Prost X Senna, Carlos X Lando, Max X Charles, Peroni X Villeneuve, George X alex, Mika X Michael, and Nigel X Elio.

The only ship I don't really vibe with is Pierre X Charles? Like idk I just don't feel it. But I'll still read it so lol

5. Do your parents, siblings or relatives have a favourite team and/or favourite driver(s)?

My dad supports Mclaren same as me. My sister isn't really into it? She finds charles hot and will watch edits of him but shes never watched a race or really gives a shit about the actual driving. Shes here for the thirst traps and Ferrari merchandise and I respect that so much.

6. Do you have any favourite races? Are there any that stand out to you the most?

Dallas, Texas 1984. What a fucking shit show. Absolute comedy sketch. Everything about that dumb race is so funny to me.

7. Do you have a favourite circuit? Can be from the past or from the current calendar.

Hungaroing! It was the first F1 race I ever attended, and the joy I get out of watching it and screaming 'IVE BEEN THERE IVE BEEN THERE' never leaves. The first race in person was special, so hungaoring is special now too.

8. Have you ever been to an F1 race in real life? Feel free to tell us your experience going to one if you like

Yes. And I don't know why but I was so shocked at how friendly everyone was. I think I was expecting it to be like football, but everyone got along so well no matter the teams ect. I always get general admission now, because its so much fun to sit and make new friends with other F1 freaks!!! Everyone shares food, alcohol, blankets, brollies ect- its alwaus such a good atmosphere at everywhere I've been.

9. Have you ever met an F1 driver in real life?

Yes. Seb and Jenson. In the same day. I nearly exploded, but actually managed to come off very normal and composed.

10. Do you have a favourite F1 car? If so, what is it?

McLaren MP4/4 1988.

LOOK AT IT

The details, the colours, the absoulte perfection of the livery, and of course the V8 underneath that gave way to MCAREN DOMINATION. Shes perfect.

11. Do you have a favourite one win wonder?

Gerhard Berger or charles.

12. Do you have any favourite quotes from the F1 world? This can either be inspirational or hilarious.

Anything that comes out of Alain Prost's mouth. That man should be a fucking poet. Also- "I'm cuming on your camera mate" hahah

I tag @astirian , @bluesourkiwi , @kimizilla , @whobuilthemoon , @penseesauvageand @eliorosb3rg. Or whoever wants to do itttt love u all

#personal

[banesberry-anomoly]

Hello and welcome to hell our blog

We are Banesberry Anomoly, a system of 500+ headmates

We split easily due to stress and the 'tism affects that too. Please interact we love interacting with people we dont bite (this is a lie. We do bite, but its normally a friendly playful kind of biting unless you're being a dick)

COMMISIONS OPEN! Prices under the cut, Cashapp only for now, but also accepting nitro comms for pfps

Current Projects & Other blogs:

@ukulele-made-of-bricks - Sideblog for our main A-Major subsys. Used for spam and general rambling, and Ukulele also uses it to fight assholes (which you should totally go stalk from time to time cause we use it regularly to talk about shit)

@multiversal-traveler-clef - In character ask/rp/gimmick blog for the Timeskipper subsys, which itself is an Amaj subsys within our main Amaj subsys

@matte-blue-scooby-doo-gummy - Headmate sideblog. Its exactly what you think it is

@spamton-spammers - Spam reblog sideblog/partial gimmick blog. Tag it for notes goals games (believe me, we Will help lmfao)

@a-fracturing-incipisphere - SCP Homestuck au has us in a vise grip lmao

Some Frequent Fronter Intros: (Will be updated regularly)

Dr. Alto Clef | Synth 🥮 Amaj subsys - Lockhost - It/Lunar/He/Silk/Eye/Shotgun

Agent Ukulele 👥 Amaj Subsys - Protector - Any X Neos/It/Shadow/He

Francis Wojciechowski 🎧 Amaj Subsys - Comfortor - They/He/Soft

Chimera | Delta 🎆 Amaj subsys - Protector(?) - It/Fur/Claw/Beast

Cryptid ♟ - Splitroject Co Host - It/He/Blood/Cut/They/Bite/Green/Hood

Eden 🛤 - Co Host & Protector - He/Ve/It

Traveler ♾ Timeskipper subsys - Gatekeeper - It/He + Neos

Feel free to send us a frq on SimplyPlural: BanesberryAnomoly

We tag tws as they are, but will try to add other varients if we have room. For ex: blood by itself would be the main tag, but well also try to add other tags aswell for those that dont have the main one filtered, like cw blood, and tw blood

Commisions info, what we post about, Tagging system, and DNI under the cut

I dont have a proper sheet yet, but we're offering commissions for nitro, cashapp, or amazon/other gift cards 8⁰]]

Sketch - $3 bust, $5 full body

Flat Colours - $5 bust, $10 full body

Shaded - $15 bust, $17 full body

Rendered - $19 bust, 35 full body

Lineless +$3

Extra character +$10-20 per depending on complexity

Background (other than simple) +$10-25 depending on complexity

Dm for examples or just look through our art tag 'Banesberry art' 8⁰]]

Art trades are also open if anyone wants to do one of those!

Interests & what we post about: Our art :], SCP, BUCKSHOT ROULETTE FUCK YEAHHHHH, TF2, Plural/System stuff, Minecraft, General Horror topics and fandoms (including analogue horror and liminal spaces), Lgbtq/Mogai/Liom, and Way too many other fandoms

TAGGING SYSTEM (Mostly the important ones and the ones we sometimes forget, will update as needed):

gremlin ramblings - original posts

Banesberry Art - our art

Berry hot sauce - Horny tag. Minors please block this along with tags like 'mdni' 'minors dni' etc. Those posts will prolly be under the mature community label anyways, but for everyones confort and safety please block those tags

Berry mild sauce - Suggestive tag. Block this if youre under 16 please

just chatting - talking tag

name.exe - detonates headmates but 'name' is replaced with the headmates name, there may be multiple of these on a post

reblog haven - reblog tag

pretty art - reblog tag for art stuff

music soup - reblog tag for music stuff

.mp4 - video tag

OCs my beloved <3 - oc tag (Ive half given up on this :sob:. Ocs are also tagged with their name. Might make an oc masterpost later to link here)

know de wae - memes we made, either in response to something or as an original post

heehoo funny go brrr - funny shit goes here

INTERESTING AS FUCK - bottom text

SPAAACE - we fucking love space please tag us in posts about space

Liminal vacation - liminal space tag

train wreck posts - posts and threads that are an absolute train wreck and will probably explode your brain /hj

Personal fandom tags (for sorting purposes and for blocking purposes for my dear mutuals):

p o n y - Ponytown tag

HH/HB - Hazbin/Helluva tag, we post about this often but its here for when we do

BYI

-||| Please block certain tags if youre a minor or we may have to block you if we catch you interacting with those posts

-||| Feel free to make fanart of any of our ocs, headmates, or character interpretations, and make sure to tag us so we see it 8⁰]

-||| You can use art as pfps, banners, etc, but please give credit somewhere, and ask before using headmate specific art. We will likely say yes, but there may be something that we dont want used

-||| We use slurs that we can bodily reclaim, like faggot, tranny, cripple, and retard (also, Queer isnt a slur and we will die on that hill). If youre a close friend yall can use em on us, we dont care lmao (If we talk regularly on discord youre in the green zone, otherwise ask first)

-||| We consume content critically. We may interact with fandoms that have problematic content or creators, but please do not automatically assume we support the problematic aspects of it. We are usually well aware already, and likely the reason we interact with said content is out of our control (like having headmates from said media, or hyperfixtating on it for some reason, etc.)

DNI

Queerphobes, Racists, Anti-Semitic people, Israel supporters, TERFS/RADFEMS, MAP/NOMAP/Etc, Proshippers, Syscoursers, Anti-Endos, people against mspec lesbians/gays and other good faith identities

ScamKiller and Spooky-Hey supporters (SCPblr specific), Wilbur Soot supporters

We block liberally

#tagging system #pinned post #Updated: April 16th 2024

[victorianpining]

20 questions for fic writers

I was tagged by @clueless-mp4 (thank you!!!) to answer some questions about my fic writing, this might get a little repetetive as I only currently have one published work, but it gives me a chance to talk a little bit about Vampire Fic which I am always excited to do.

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

Currently 2, soon to be 3!

2. What's your total A03 word count?

Currently 98k, soon to be 200k (approximately).

3. What fandoms do you write for? BBC Sherlock and its adjacents (Holmes canon and of course BBC Dracula)

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

From a Drop of Water sweep by default!!!

Truly though I am still so touched by the response to that story, it has been beyond anything I ever expected and I am so grateful to have written something that resonated with so many people.

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I do! I get so much joy out of going through my comments, and I try to take the time to respond to anyone who was kind enough to tell me that they enjoyed my writing.

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I'm a big fan of angst with a happy ending. That said, if you've seen Dracula, you know to expect there to be something bittersweet about the ending of The Stories in Our Veins

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

From a Drop of Water was and is pure wish fulfillment on all accounts.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Not yet *knock on wood* which has been a delightful change of pace.

9. Do you write smut?

The vampire fic has exactly one (1) sex scene.

10. Do you write crossovers?

I am currently! But does it really count as a crossover when two stories were meant to be connected? (Yeah I think so).

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not to my knowledge

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes, From a Drop of Water has been translated into Mandarin and Russian which is so so cool to me.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Not exactly, though when working on the early stages of From a Drop of Water, I solicited a lot of feedback from my beta readers, and I would say the feedback @novaviis offered in particular played a huge role in why that story turned out as well as it did! I definitely appreciated all the help while I was still so new to building a story.

14. What's your all-time favourite ship?

Holmes and Watson forever and always, amen.

15. What's the WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

Thankfully none at this stage, though as you can imagine in a writing process as long as the one for The Stories in Our Veins has been there have been several points where I have despaired of it ever actually getting done.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I think my strongest suit is planning out the subtextual language of a story and weaving in references that create interplay between my work and the source text. I've also gained a lot of structural practice with this current story and I think I'm getting pretty good at it! My most niche talent is the written montage, love connecting all the little clues together at the end!!!

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Prose itself, particularly descriptions, though I'd say I'm getting better at both with practice. I also have certain words that I mix up with other words that I cannot for the life of me ever keep straight (homophones are the bane of my existence) so I have to be really careful to search those out, and even then my beta readers still find ones I miss!!!

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I don't think I would do it unless I spoke the language myself, I'd be too worried about getting something wrong.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Actually, I did write one Alice centered one shot for the Twilight fandom back when I was like... 13. I don't think I ever deleted it so it probably still exists out on the internet somewhere, though I have no idea what I might have named that account so have no way of finding it.

20. Favourite fic you've ever written?

Not to oversell it, but I really adore The Stories in Our Veins, and I'm very proud of how it's turning out. I think it's better than From a Drop of Water in just about every way, though I recognize that a crossover with a TV show that only 12 people care about is going to have a lot less of a broad appeal than a TJLC slanted re-imagining of series 4. If you do end up reading it anyway, know that you have my undying gratitude!

I'm tagging @novaviis, @minotaurmutual and @teledild0nix!

#rebs blogging #tag games

[payidaresque]

okay, now it's time for me to add something to the "party"

for those of you who say "it's not that big of a deal, i don't see any difference". I have some examples for you but first, let's figure out what mp4 and gif actually are as formats

MP4 is a file container. The real issue here is the compressing format its using, most of the time, it's AVC. Now, after doing some researching (click on alt button for descriptipn)

AVC is a popular lossy compression method (i took this one as an example). As the name suggests, lossy = losing data that was originally put in during compression. For that exact reason, I DO NOT convert any of my material when making gifs not to lose any data (i work with 1080p files, usually 10+ GB in size, .mkv), I use Avidemux to change the container (.mkv, .ts, -etc), and that is all. I leave everything else untouched. ANY KIND OF COMPRESSION IS BAD FOR GIFS OR FOR HIGH QUALITY FILES IN GENERAL, i learned that during my film shooting courses back in school. In fact, anything you see on streaming services, or on web in general is ALREADY COMPRESSED for the audience convinience AND for technical matters, the point is that some compression algorithms do a better job at it, and some not, depending on what are you trying to achieve. Now imagine compresing something that was already compressed? Doesn't sound like a good idea does it?

Now, to GIFs

GIF IS GRAPHICS INTERCHANGE FORMAT. AN IMAGE FORMAT, NOT VIDEO FORMAT. It was made SPECIFICALLY for animations! And since it's AN IMAGE FORMAT, it uses a different compression method bc it was made for different purposes. GIF IS NOT A "LOOPING VIDEO", GIF IS A GIF. IT'S A SEPARATE FORMAT.

Now, to examples i had for you. I did not apply any coloring not to mess up with the colors

(THEY ARE THE SAME SIZE, 268x268)

And this is how it looks in my photoshop, 100%

Zoomed in 200%

Still don't see any difference? WE ARE NOT MAKING THIS UP. If staff actually rolls this out globally, there will be no point in sharpening, coloring or basically any effort that we put in our work because .mp4 will mess it all up. ANY LOSSY COMPRESSION METHOD WILL MESS UP OUR WORK, HUNDREDS OF HOURS, HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE. So please, would you be so kind and stop calling us "dramatic" JUST because we don't want it to go to waste. I'm tagging some gifmakers to spread the word because this SHOULD NOT happen

#userbecca #userlarri #icedbrilatte #usermorgan #userelenagilbert #userdanni #tuserheidi #tusereste #signal boost #honestly it's ridiculous how people don't see it

[f1version]

THE FORMULA 1 TAG GAME! 🏎️

rules. answer the questions below!

tagged by @vinvantae tagging: everyone that wants to do it, just say i tagged you. also, @goldsainz @formulaforza @carlosheinz @chrysanthemonza

1. Who or what got you into F1?

-> my family! they've been enjoying motorsports for years so naturally, i ended up falling in love too. something about forced proximity lmaoo

2. Who was the very first F1 driver you supported? Do you support them now? Have your opinions on them differed or stayed the same since then?

-> kimi raikkönen!! as a child i would get really excited to see him on tv or on track, my parents said i recognized his car and all. i supported him always, followed his years out of f1 and all, he’s 100% my favorite of all time.

3. Who's your current favourite F1 driver?

-> i have two 2023/24 favorites: lewis hamilton and oscar piastri.

lewis has been a favorite of mine from the beginning, his racecraft has always been enjoyable to me. also, he’s one of the reasons why (alongside nico and schumi) i decided to support mercedes. he’s a big big inspiration for me, all of the things he has done are wonderful so i’ve never doubted him as one of my favorites.

oscar, on the other hand, is ofc a new addition to the ‘fav f1 driver’ list but is one that doesn’t surprise me! i saw him go up categories and loveeed his driving style. i was never a diehard fan but a supporter of his career for sure. when he got to f1 (and seb left) i knew who my new favorite was gonna be! (now i am, in fact, a diehard fan)

4. Is there a driver pairing or pairings you support? What made you attracted to that pairing in the first place?

-> not a pairing but…a boy band…

they live on my head rent free, the videos (and the lore) were so funny (iconic). BUT, if i had to choose a pair, i would go for kimi and seb!! i had always wanted to see them as teammates bc of how well they got along, when it happened i was the happiest. also nico and lewis were my number ones back in the day and by consequence my biggest heartbreak.

5. Do your parents, siblings or relatives have a favourite team and/or favourite driver(s)?

-> everyone in the family likes something different. some have their special reasons but in general they vary.

dad’s favorites are mclaren, lauda, and senna, my oldest sister’s are mercedes and button, my older brother redbull and alonso, younger sister ferrari and verstappen (don’t even ask), and my mom’s favorites were ferrari, prost, schumacher, and häkkinen. <3

6. Do you have any favourite races? Are there any that stand out to you the most?

-> this is such a hard question but i’ll go for the ones i rewatch the most: united states 2018, canada 2011, suzuka 2005, abu dhabi 2010, turkey 2020, and germany 2019.

7. Do you have a favourite circuit? Can be from the past or from the current calendar.

-> hockenheim, suzuka, sepang, interlagos, istanbul, spa, silverstone. my lovers fr.

8. Have you ever been to an F1 race in real life? Feel free to tell us your experience going to one if you like.

-> i have! i went to my first gp when i was almost one year old, it was france 2003 — nevertheless, the first one i remember going to/experiencing (faintly but i do) is the 2007 brazilian gp!

i’m lucky enough to have gone to multiple over the years and i’m so grateful to my family for it. 2022 and 2023 were the first years i was able to go by myself or with my friends/colleagues to races! (i did go a couple with my family + i go with my brother everywhere but yeah) it’s been amazing!

9. Have you ever met an F1 driver in real life?

-> i’m very lucky to say yes, i have met a couple over the years and it’s been great! from the current grid i’ve met everyone but zhou and hülkenberg!!

10. Do you have a favourite F1 car? If so, what is it?

-> FW14B, MP4/4, W11, F2002, RB19 AAAAAAAHQHEUJW. i believe this question goes more towards the liveries but i love those cars, they were such a wonder and the WAY they were driven. ugh. amazing. i love rewatching their races.

11. Do you have a favourite one win wonder?

-> ok so, i would say george but since he’s still racing i’m not counting it. i’ll go with pastor maldonado. HEAR ME OUT. it was an insane day, i was ten but i still remember how crazy everyone felt there in barcelona, like what just happened. also insane to think about how it was pure pace, like yes he was lucky on saturday but sunday was his. ALSO having kimi on the podium is a huge bonus.

12. Do you have any favourite quotes from the F1 world? This can either be inspirational or hilarious.

-> “we have to remember these days. there is no guarantee they will last forever. enjoy them as long as they last.” — sebastian vettel, 2013.

“that’s for all the kids out there who dream the impossible, you can do it too.” — lewis hamilton, 2020.

“i’ve always believed that you should never, ever give up and you should always keep fighting even when there's only the slightest chance.” — michael schumacher, 2007.

“just leave me alone, i know what to do.” — kimi raikkönen, 2012.

“bwoah” — kimi raikkönen, always.

#‎ ﹒✶ ˖ ࣪ steph talks ! #tag game #f1

[heavenknowsffs]

Tagged by @brainmoss thank you 🥰

Rules: You can usually tell a lot about a person by the type of music they listen to. Put your playlist on shuffle and list the first 10 songs, and then tag 10 people. No skipping! 

I'll do the comments too eheh (and choose many playlists bc i have about 200 i made)

Peacemaker // Scorpions (very scorpions mood tbh it's like it was made back when but it's new! - this was from my 2022 releases playlist)

Master of Puppets // Metallica (what is there to say ❤️ my beloved, absolute masterpiece cannot wait to own this album in vinyl so i can annoy my neighbours but alas i cannot spend +50€ in a record right now - taken from the eddie playlist which is funny ahjsksja)

Tractor Amarillo // Zapato Veloz (i am laughing so much ahskkahaga why did i try this playlist.... this is a joke between me and my cousin so yeah - and i took it from my village playlist which has a bunch of memes and dance songs and bops all mixed)

Sandstorm // Darude (BRO WHAT A FUCKING BOOPPPPP i go insane when this comes on the club europeans unite - also from another village playlist which was to play in public at village parties and not just me and my friends)

Los Ageless // St. Vincent (oooh this was shown to me by someone i miss and shouldn't miss but i like it a lot! It kind of feels like a message i should have to myself. And well i saw it played live and they didn't so a win for me? - since i did it for all of them, this one came from Hot Girl Shit)

London Calling // The Clash (timeless, amazing, showstopping, never the same, etc the song everyone uses when they set foot in london and post on ig stories ✌🏼 but it's a classic for a reason - from songs for when the queen dies)

Funhouse // P!nk (oh YEAH BABEY i miss old pink tbh i loved loved her old songs, the recent ones are not my thing but we grow don't we? I haven't yet and she has and good for her - from "POV: my mp4 in 2010")

Run to the Hills // Iron Maiden (madness absolute madness live ❤️❤️ love love - took it from the covid playlist help ajsjkaahga)

Is This Love // Whitesnake (absolutely a song to make babies to as the playlist - from Músicas de fazer bebés)

Russian Woman // Manizha (vibesss i think that was a good eurovision year, it's only going downhill from there; feminist icon - from the eurovision playlist)

I tag @langdonsluxiouslocks @imdistressed @totostales @iamnoangel @overb0ard @roxyandelsewhere and anyone who wants to join!

#this was very fun #ask game

[equipebrasil]

Fazendo os GIFs carregarem mais rápido

Também conhecido como “Por que alguns dos meus GIFs estão sendo transformados em vídeos?”

Visão geral

Estamos experimentando oferecer os GIFs em formato de vídeos MP4 na web, e não mais GIFV (que normalmente atende WebP animado) para um pequeno número de pessoas no Tumblr, não para todos. Isso não afeta ninguém que usa os aplicativos móveis.

A melhoria de desempenho do uso do MP4 dessa maneira é enorme e faz com que o Tumblr carregue imagens animadas mais rapidamente, além de usar menos dados em quase todas as circunstâncias, sem perda perceptível de qualidade.

Essa conversão se aplica apenas a tipos específicos de GIFs, como aqueles sem transparência no primeiro quadro. Testamos essa conversão em milhares de GIFs e ainda estamos fazendo ajustes para ser que seja praticamente impossível fazer a distinção do GIF original.

A extensão “Vanilla Videos” do XKit estava causando um erro nesse experimento, mas a nova versão recente do XKit corrigiu esse problema.

Se você receber um MP4 e clicar na imagem, ela ainda será aberta em uma caixa de luz, e você pode baixá-lo como GIFV ou GIF, dependendo do que for oferecido.

Como ainda se trata apenas de um experimento, não há como optar por não participar; estamos analisando a possibilidade de adicionar essa opção (tanto para o criador quanto para o consumidor).

Se você receber um GIF como MP4 e houver algum tipo de erro, entre em contato com o suporte com o link da imagem e explique o que deu errado na conversão. Precisamos de exemplos para nos ajudar a melhorar a experiência. Além disso, não envie solicitações de suporte duplicadas.

Do que se trata?

Como mencionamos num post recente do Changes, estamos experimentando transformar GIFs em MP4 no painel na web. Nosso objetivo é colocar os GIFs nos painéis o mais rápido possível, mantendo o máximo possível da qualidade original.

Há anos, usamos nosso formato GIFV, que transcodifica GIFs de forma transparente para formatos mais modernos, como o WebP, suportados pela tag <img>. No ano passado , fizemos melhorias nesse processo, suportando melhor GIFs grandes e aumentando a qualidade da transformação, mas a conversão para WebP tem benefícios limitados. A conversão típica reduz apenas pela metade o tamanho do arquivo e o WebP animado não é bem suportado pelo Safari. Já as conversões para MP4 oferecem arquivos ainda menores, geralmente 8 a 10 vezes menores que o GIF original, além de tempos de carregamento mais rápidos e suporte mais amplo ao navegador.

Estamos sendo exigentes sobre quais GIFs são convertidos para MP4. Aplicamos a transformação apenas a GIFs que passam por nossos critérios de transformação. Atualmente, isso significa GIFs que não usam transparência no primeiro quadro, têm taxas de quadros constantes e têm menos de 10 segundos.

Testamos esse novo processo em milhares de GIFs do Tumblr, desde coleções de GIFs típicas de programa  de TV até pixel art e texto animado, e estamos confiantes de que a transformação parece boa para a grande maioria do conteúdo. No entanto, ainda estamos ajustando o algoritmo e estamos abertos a comentários. Este é um processo subjetivo, e se você vir um MP4 que parece pior que um GIF, avise para a gente!

Atualmente, a mudança afeta apenas a experiência no Tumblr (www.tumblr.com). A rede de blogs (ou seja, seu-blog.tumblr.com) não é afetada e continua a usar GIFV para oferecer GIFs.

Por que estamos fazendo isso?

Como mencionado acima, os GIFs são quase sempre ineficientes em comparação com os formatos modernos. Eles são maiores em tamanho, demoram mais para carregar, são mais lentos para renderizar e usam mais espaço em cache. Enquanto a conversão GIFV geralmente reduz o tamanho pela metade, a nova conversão GIF para MP4 geralmente é 8 a 10 vezes menor para conteúdos semelhantes a filme ou TV. Temos bastante conteúdo desse tipo no Tumblr (confira #filmedit ou #moviegifs) e oferecer o conteúdo como MP4 faz com que essas páginas de tags carreguem um pouco mais rápido, especialmente em conexões mais lentas.

Exemplo: este é um GIF original de 3,4 megabytes. Se o convertermos como webp usando GIFV, ele diminui para 2,3 MB, 68% do original. Mas se o convertermos para MP4 ele diminui para 641K, 19% do tamanho do original, sendo ainda 5 vezes mais rápido para carregar. Nas páginas de tags e pesquisa, onde geralmente exibimos muitos GIFs ao mesmo tempo, isso faz uma enorme diferença na experiência de carregamento e navegação.

No entanto, os Creators do Tumblr criam muitos GIFs meticulosamente otimizados que realmente tiram vantagem do formato. Realmente não queremos fazer com não sejam bem exibidos - são obras de arte e são nativamente melhores do que esses formatos concorrentes modernos. Por enquanto, como se trata apenas de um experimento, ainda não determinamos como lidaremos com a opção de desativar essa alteração (tanto para criadores quanto consumidores de GIFs), mas estamos analisando.

Enquanto isso, se quiser baixar a versão GIF real de qualquer GIF, basta substituir a extensão no URL da imagem por .gif. Exemplo: O link https://64.media.tumblr.com/af554ca5b0e60d313e40c8c47e13824b/d422d5f60551ce04-12/s2048x3072/4b5293df9726acfe461f7eaf661f92acd060dd21.mp4 se transforma em https://64.media.tumblr.com/af554ca5b0e60d313e40c8c47e13824b/d422d5f60551ce04-12/s2048x3072/4b5293df9726acfe461f7eaf661f92acd060dd21.gif

Quando?

Essa mudança será lançada em fases na web ao longo do próximo mês. No momento, estamos analisando apenas GIFs recém-carregados, o que significa que os GIFs existentes não serão afetados por um tempo. E a mudança será implementada apenas para uma porcentagem de usuários, então, pode ser que você ainda não veja o recurso.

Orientações para criadores de GIF

Como relatar conversões ruins

Se você encontrou uma conversão de baixa qualidade de um de seus GIFs, avise para a gente. Entre em contato com o Suporte com o URL do post e nos avise para a gente quais GIFs podem ser melhores. Inclua qual aspecto da transformação ficou problemático.

Como posso visualizar a aparência do meu GIF após a conversão?

Se quiser pré-visualizar um GIF convertido em MP4, basta encontrar o URL de mídia para o GIF e substituir a extensão no URL de gif ou gifv para mp4. Isso funciona para qualquer GIF no Tumblr, não apenas para os GIFs que sinalizamos como bons candidatos, para que possamos ver como ficariam os resultados.

Como criador de GIF, como posso optar por não participar?

No momento, adicionar um único pixel transparente ao primeiro quadro do GIF exclui essa imagem da conversão para MP4. Ele não o exclui da conversão para WebP ou outros formatos que nossa implementação GIFV possa vir a suportar. Ainda estamos analisando outra forma para criadores e/ou consumidores optarem por não participar.

Gostaríamos de saber a sua opinião! Avise se vir GIFs que contenham erros e fique de olho no blog da Equipe Brasil para mais atualizações.

Fonte: Tumblr Engineering

#atualização do tumblr

[dagonet]

le tuto gifs d'amy ✨ [photoshop cc] (1/3)

il y a un moment, on m'a demandé un tuto sur comment faire des gifs : le voici !! c'est pour photoshop (cc, mais les autres photoshop sont sensiblement pareils) (on peut faire des gifs sur plein d'autres logiciels, mais moi c'est cuilà que j'utilise !) vous avez des tutos gifs un peu partout sur tumblr, donc j'ai essayé de mettre aussi mes petites astuces personnelles. obvi hésitez pas si vous avez des questions, que vous êtes bloqués, etc. promis c'est moins long que ça en a l'air, j'ai juste beaucoup jacassé

_____________

       partie 1 (comment faire un gif) ← vous êtes là !        partie 2 (ajouter du texte et améliorer la netteté)        partie 3 (ajouter des effets (ex : améliorer luminosité et couleurs))               retrouvez les trois parties du tuto sur mon tag #tuto gif de dags !

_____________

► Avant de commencer, notez que :

vous devrez avoir le fichier vidéo de ce que vous voulez giffer sur votre ordinateur

plus ce fichier est de bonne qualité (720p, 1080p, voire 2060p), plus votre gif sera net

si jamais vous voulez enregistrer votre travail en cours de route (conseillé), enregistrez-le au format .psd

tumblr acceptera au maximum 30 gifs par post

le poids de votre fichier .gif final ne devra pas dépasser 10 Mo (sinon tumblr ne joue pas le gif)

_____________

       Allons-y !

Téléchargez la vidéo qui vous intéresse, de préférence en 1080p (surtout si vous comptez faire un grand gif) : plus la qualité est élevée, plus votre gif sera net. notez que photoshop galère à ouvrir les .mkv et parfois les .mp4, à choisir je vous conseille plutôt le .mp4 ou des trucs moins courants comme le .wmv ou le .mov utilisez un convertisseur vidéo si besoin : j’utilise personnellement freemake video converter en cracké, mais il y a aussi formatfactory qui est gratuit apparemment. si votre vidéo est longue ça vous permet aussi de prédécouper les passages qui vous intéressent. _

Importez la vidéo dans photoshop : Fichier > Importation > Images vidéo dans des calques _

Une petite fenêtre s'ouvre, cochez la case plage sélectionnée seulement puis limiter à toutes les … images et choisissez 2 images. Puis, avec les petites coches sous l'aperçu, déterminez grossièrement le début et la fin du passage que vous voulez giffer (on pourra supprimer les images en trop par la suite, donc au pire, prenez plus large)

au préalable je découpe donc généralement ma vidéo pour ne garder que les passages qui m'intéressent, quand on travaille avec un film de 2h les petites coches sont trop peu précises sinon ! _

Photoshop transforme tranquillement votre vidéo en plusieurs calques (si vous voyez pas les différents calques, ouvrez la fenêtre Calques (Fenêtre > Calques)), chaque calque y correspond à une frame de la vidéo _

Ouvrez la fenêtre Montage (Fenêtre > Montage) _

La timeline avec les différentes frames s'ouvre, vous pouvez jouer l'animation via les boutons play/etc en bas, et supprimer les frames dont vous ne voulez pas dans votre gif via le bouton poubelle

_

Recadrez votre image : quand vous avez bien enlevé les frames inutiles et gardé uniquement celles que vous voulez dans votre gif, rognez les bords de votre image selon la forme globale que vous souhaitez lui donner : outil Recadrage > déterminez la zone de découpe que vous voulez > clic droit > Recadrer (avant de recadrer pensez à décocher la case supprimer les pixels rognés dans la barre du haut, comme ça vous pourrez rajouter de l’image si vous avez trop croppé par exemple)

moi j'ai tendance à toujours recadrer à quelques pixels des bords, parce qu'après on va réduire la taille de l'image et quand photoshop fait ça alors que y'a pas de rab d'image, les bords deviennent un peu transparents... et généralement ça produit des pointillés disgracieux une fois transformé en gif :/

_

Choisissez la largeur de votre gif : selon le gifset que vous voulez faire, voilà les largeurs présentes sur tumblr :

_

Réduisez la largeur de l'image : Image > Taille de l'image… > indiquez la largeur voulue et cochez la case Rééchantillonnage en sélectionnant Bicubique (dégradés lisses)

il y a plusieurs modes de rééchantillonnages avec des effets plus ou moins nets, vous pouvez utiliser celui que vous préférez mais moi j'aime bien la netteté que donne "‘bicubique", donc voilà

_

Augmentez le temps entre chaque frame : en cliquant sur les trois petites barres en haut à droite de la fenêtre Montage > Sélectionner toutes les images, puis cliquez sur la flèche bas d'une des frames (n'importe laquelle) > Autre… > entrez la valeur que vous voulez (généralement entre 0,09 et 0,12 c'est ok)

la vitesse à laquelle le gif joue dans photoshop vous parait peut-être déjà ok, mais ça correspond pas à la vraie vitesse une fois qu'il sera enregistré, donc moi généralement je double le délai (parce qu'on a limité à toutes les 2 images en important la vidéo, rappelez-vous !), et après vous pouvez prévisualiser le vrai résultat via Fichier > Exportation > Enregistrer pour le Web (hérité)… et jouer l'animation dans cette fenêtre (si c'est pas bon vous fermez et vous réajustez le délai)

_

       Félicitations !

Vous avez terminé un gif. Si vous en êtes déjà satisfait, vous pouvez l’enregistrer grâce aux indications ci-dessous. Si vous voulez aller plus loin en apprenant à améliorer sa netteté, sa luminosité, ses couleurs, ou à y ajouter du texte, rendez-vous dans la partie 2 du tuto !

Enregistrez votre gif : pour pouvoir le publier sur tumblr, vous allez devoir l'enregistrer en fichier .gif. Pour ça, ça se passe dans Fichier > Exportation > Enregistrer pour le Web (hérité)… Dans la fenêtre qui s'ouvre, cliquez sur l'onglet "2 vignettes" et modifiez les paramètres sur la droite pour que votre gif final (aperçu du bas) ait la meilleure apparence possible (c-à-d, la plus proche de l'aperçu du haut). Personnellement, j'opte souvent pour les paramètres suivants :

(Le tramage de transparence choisi est le deuxième, "tramage de transparence motif"). Mais, encore une fois, n'hésitez pas à bidouiller pour trouver ceux qui vous paraissent les meilleurs.

Vous devez aussi garder à l'esprit que votre gif doit peser moins de 10 Mo : le poids du fichier s'affiche en bas à gauche de l'aperçu.

Si le poids est supérieur à 10,000 Mo, changez les paramètres pour le réduire (par exemple, en diminuant le nombre de couleurs, le pourcentage de tramage, en décochant "entrelacé"...). La qualité de votre gif s'en ressentira, mais c'est parfois nécessaire pour les très longs gifs. (et si vous ne voulez pas perdre en qualité, vous pouvez aussi faire 2 gifs au lieu d'un seul !) Une fois satisfait, cliquez évidemment sur Enregistrer.

Et voilà le résultat final !

On améliore ce résultat dans la partie 2 👁️

#les copain.e.s gif makers hésitez pas à rajouter votre grain de sel aahhh je sais qu'on les fait tous différemment 8) #tuto gif de dags ! #photoshop #french side of tumblr #what the france

[applejongho]

hey!! I want to start making gifs but i don’t know how, are websites like ezgif frowned upon here in the gif community? do we make them in a specific software?

hi anon!! thanks for asking!

I would say that yes, ezgif is generally frowned upon to make gifs, but if that's the only option available for you then it's whatever works. People frown upon it because the quality of the gif is reduced in ezgif software (converting from mp4 to gif) and there are very limited coloring options. You also can't sharpen a gif because the sharpening software simply doesn't exist on ezgif. I want to reiterate that ezgif isn't like, the worst thing in the world, but it's moreso limiting your toolbox greatly.

There's two paths that you can take: get Photoshop somehow, either paying the enormous amount of money yearly for a subscription, getting it from your school if they offer it, or getting a cracked (not legal) version of it. There are a lot of downloads available here (Tumblr link) and in my tag called #resources.

Your second option is photopea, which is a free online version of photoshop and is similar to Photoshop. I used photopea for years until a friend gave me access to her Photoshop account, and I personally prefer Photoshop over photopea due to the accessibility, the filters available for coloring and sharpening, and the saving options (which I know sounds really stupid, but the exporting options for Photoshop are generally better than those of photopea. IE you can make the same gif from both softwares but photoshop's will just be better quality by nature because of its export, ie when you click 'save as gif'). However, photopea's usefulness and breaking down that barrier for people who want to get into gif making or editing graphics in general when they can't get Photoshop is very powerful and I'm glad that photopea exists, I recommend it highly for people that cannot get Photoshop/aren't comfortable with getting a cracked version of it because it's similar (not the same) to Photoshop.

I have an old photopea tutorial on YouTube if you'd like to use it to learn! It's old not because of the age but because I do things differently now than I did when I made the video and if I could, I would add more to the video, the biggest being cropping and aspect ratios. Here's a detailed post on gif sizing since I didn't include it in my tutorial, and here's my YouTube tutorial on how to make a gif on photopea. There are a bunch of tutorials on how to make a gif on Photoshop, I'm sure, since it's a better known software. Maybe I'll redo my photopea tutorial at some point. That's a mighty fine idea tbh.

Another big tip, if you for some reason have a software related question, you can literally email the CEO and creator of photopea at support[@]photopea.com. I've done it before lol. He's really helpful. That's the perk of a small software, the CEO is behind the support email. He has literally changed the software when I've asked, for example you couldn't upload videos with a frame rate greater than 10, and I made him change it to the frame rate of the video. Lmao.

Sorry for all of these words lol, I hope they helped and feel free to reach out again if you have more questions!

#nameless being #photopea #photoshop #gif making