Creating GIF animation in Photoshop. Overlay gif animation on video in Adobe After Effects
Earlier on the site we looked at third-party ones, but most of them can easily replace regular Photoshop. Animated GIF files can be created quite easily and quickly with its help. They usually consist of several images (frames), which, when changed step by step, form the final result. Today we will try to consider this issue from A to Z in as much detail as possible:
The screenshots below are from Photoshop CC, but working with GIF animation in CS6 and other versions of the program is similar, plus or minus. Perhaps the visual tools will be slightly different, but in general, the principle and algorithm of actions are similar. As an example, consider the trivial task of how to create a GIF animation in Photoshop from photographs replacing each other. Recently, using this guide, I made a gif about my adventures for the final post for 2016 on my personal blog.
The process took literally 5-10 minutes. The important thing here is to just follow all the steps carefully. At the end of the post you will find an English video tutorial on this topic.
Adding GIF Animation Images in Photoshop
First of all, you need to load into graphics editor all pictures/photos that will participate in the animation. Add them to one project in different layers - this will be the frames for the resulting GIF file. Check the size of the pictures and their display so that everything is as you need. Layers can be hidden (using the eye icon to the left of the layer) in order to view all objects.
In the center of this panel there is a drop-down list where you need to select the “Create Frame Animation” option and click on the button. As a result of this action, the Timeline will change a little, and you should see the image from the topmost layer as the first frame.
In the next step, select all layers in the project (click on them while holding Ctrl key). After that you open context menu in the right top corner Timeline window and select “Make Frames From Layers”.
From all visible and selected Adobe layers Photoshop will create animated GIF frames. As a result, you will see them in the Timeline panel.
GIF animation settings in Photoshop
Here you will need to specify 2 things: the duration of display of different frames + the number of repetitions of the gif. Let's start with the first one. Under each picture object in the Timeline you will find the display time and a down arrow. Click on them and select the card duration in the pop-up menu.
Elements can be specified different time or set the parameter for several of them simultaneously (joint selection as in layers - using Ctrl).
To “loop” a GIF in Photoshop when creating an animation, select the Forever value in the appropriate setting as shown in the screenshot below.
There you can also specify any number of repetitions you need. Nearby is Play button, which allows you to play an animated GIF and see what the final result will look like.
Saving GIF animation in Photoshop
In the final part of our guide, we’ll look at how to properly save GIF animation in Photoshop. For this purpose, the familiar Save for Web tool is used, but in latest versions Adobe Photoshop CC it is located in a new menu location (File - Export). Luckily Alt + Shift + Ctrl + S still works.
In the settings window that opens, select GIF format, and also make sure that the Looping Options setting is set to Forever. In the lower right corner of the window, there is an option to run the animated GIF you created in Photoshop for a preview.
If everything works as expected, click Save and save the file to local computer. To check the functionality of a GIF, you need to open it in a browser, because... built-in viewer Windows animation doesn't lose.
By the way, you can also easily export your project to video format. The procedure is the same as for saving GIF animation, but in the Photoshop menu select File - Export - Render Video.
In the window that opens there will be different settings video, but you don’t need to change anything additional, just click on the Render button. As a result, you will receive an mp4 file with a slideshow of photos/images.
Finally, we suggest watching an English-language video tutorial about creating animated GIFs in Photoshop. The algorithm for working there is the same as in the article, but perhaps it will be easier for you to perceive the information from the video.
If you still have any questions about how to make GIF animation in Photoshop or have any additions, write in the comments.
Export GIF animations
Before you worry about the tips below, try exporting your GIF animation. If it's the right size, great job! Continue in the same spirit. Otherwise, try the following methods.
5. Remove duplicate frames
Most likely your animation stops or remains motionless for some point in time. If you look closely, you will notice that this moment consists of several identical frames with a duration of 0.03 seconds. If there are 10 such frames, then delete 9 of them and set the duration of the remaining frame to, for example, 1 second.
If that doesn't help, try importing the video again, but this time select the option Limit To Every 2 Frames( Limit to every 2 seconds ). This should reduce the file size significantly.
Advice: It's simple and quick rule, but if your animation consists of more than 150 frames, it will be difficult to keep the file size to a minimum.
6. Fewer colors
When you save a GIF animation in Photoshop, you will see a drop-down menu next to the “Colors” option. Experiment with the values, try the smallest possible number of colors that will not turn the entire file into garbage.
7. Change the Lossy* parameter
To be honest, I don't even know what this parameter means. But I exactly I know that if you set it at a level between 1 and 10, you will get rid of extra kilobytes without losing quality.
Captured with digital camera Photoshop certainly won't open the video. This concerns telephone video, video from web cameras, etc. The answer suggests itself. We need to convert. There are many converters, both paid and free, and, basically, they are designed to convert a certain format into another specific format, which the converter developers, for obvious reasons, do not tell us about.
And here the free video converter XviD4PSP 5.0 comes to our aid, you can download it or on the official website of the developers. For this converter to work, you need the AviSynth 2.5.7 utility, which can be downloaded.
We install these two programs in the usual way.
Here is the interface of this wonderful converter:
Open the program. Click File-->Open and select the file. In the main program window you need to select the following settings:
- Format - AVI DV PAL
- Color Correction and Filtration - Desabled
- Video encoding - DV-Video
- Audio coding - don't care
And click on the "Encode" button. The program will prompt you to select a save folder, select it, OK. We receive a file with the dvsd DVC/DV Video codec in the DV Type 2 AVI Multipart OpenDML AVI container. With a 90% probability, Photoshop will eat a video with these parameters.
Let's move on to next problem. This is the file size. The fact is that Photoshop, when opening a video in layers, uses RAM computer If you have x64, then there are no questions, you can install tiles up to 128GB. But on various reasons, people cannot switch to x64 and sadly sit on x86, not because it’s a mistake to switch or religion doesn’t allow, but for other, completely objective reasons. For example, the author of these lines, with all his high desire for the beautiful and new, does not use x64 due to the lack of warez plugins for 3ds max for it. However, we digress.
Naturally, for tasks performed using Photoshop, long videos are not required, but only a few dozen frames at most are needed. But they need to be cut out somehow. Normal video editors like Adobe Premiere Pro require knowledge and experience, and also take up significant resources from the RAM and processor. I’m simply embarrassed to say that they are paid (and cost a lot). In short, for rare use there is no point in messing with such programs. Simple editors standard type Movie Maker let me not comment.
But there is a wonderful easy VirtualDub program, however, with one drawback. It works with a very limited set of AVI codecs. And here we again remember about the XviD4PSP converter. With the settings indicated above, the video will work with it. We select the necessary parts of the video, cut them out, save them, and open them in Photoshop. You can do it differently, save individual video frames using VirtualDub, and then assemble an animation from them in Photoshop. For example, put the learned files in one folder and open them in batches in Photoshop in one document on different layers, but, as a rule, this takes more time, but, in any case, we cannot do without the XviD4PSP converter.
Compression type
Selects the video compressor (codec) to compress the video.
Frames per second
Specifies a number individual images, displayed in one second. The standard NTSC video format has a frame rate of 29.97 fps. The European PAL video format has a frame rate of 25 fps. The standard for films is 24 frames/sec. A QuickTime movie is sometimes created at a lower frame rate to reduce throughput and CPU load.
Movies with more high frequency frames convey movement better, but have big size file. If you select a frame rate lower than the current one, the frames are deleted. If you select a frame rate higher than the current frame rate, existing frames are duplicated (not recommended because it increases the file size without improving quality). In most cases, your video will look better if you choose a number by which its frame rate is evenly divisible. For example, if the source frame rate is 30 frames per second, you must select a frame rate of 10 or 15. You should not select a frame rate higher than the source material.
Keyframe rate
Specifies the keyframe frequency. Increasing the key frame rate (smaller number) improves video quality but increases file size. Some codecs automatically insert additional keyframes if the image has changed too much from the previous frame. Usually one key frame every 5 seconds is enough (multiply the number of frames per second by 5). If you are creating a file for RTSP streaming and you have concerns about the reliability of the connection, you can increase the key frame rate to one key frame every second or two seconds.
Limit data transfer rate to
Sets the playback data transfer rate (in kilobits per second). A higher baud rate provides more high quality playback, but it is not recommended to exceed the maximum bandwidth.
Depth
Sets the number of colors in the exported video. This menu is not available if the selected codec only supports one color depth.
Quality
If an option is available, drag the slider or enter a value to adjust the quality of the exported video, and therefore the file size. When using the same codec for capture and export and having a rendered sequence (for preview) can reduce rendering time. To do this, export quality settings and initial settings the grip qualities must match. If the quality exceeds the original recording quality level, the quality of the generated footage will not improve and processing time may increase.