Animated GIF

What is an Animated GIF?

An animated GIF (Graphics Interchange Format) is basically just an images which can be animated by adding a number of different frames to it each showing the image in a different position. GIF animation isn't designed to give the same amount of control and other animation formats, however, it is very popular as pretty much all web browsers use them.

Animated GIF's are designed to be a lot smaller of a file than other animation files like Java scrips, this is because they're not designed to be incredibly detailed, they're designed to be simple and short.

GIF's are used on the internet for webpages, an example of this would be when you go onto a website and see an image moving, this is what's called a GIF, it is basically just a sequence of frames put together to make an image move.

An animated GIF is its own little file, it is a single file with a number of images set out in a specific order so that when the images is played to move, the animation in it is fluent, depending on how many frames (images) you put in the sequence is what will determine the outcome of the GIF (if the images moves fluently or if it is jumpy).

Animated GIF's are designed to continuously repeat themselves, they're on a never ending loop, however, you can design GIF's to go through the sequence once or a few times and it finishes.

Animated GIF's are commonly used on websites, such as them being an animated banner at the top of the page with the page title on them, these are commonly at the top of the page on a continuous loop going from one side of the page to the other and back.

Animated GIF's are actually fairly easy to create compared to Java and Flash animations, this is because the file is a lot smaller and doesn't have to contain as many frames.

Animated GIF's actually only have a small amount of colours that are able to be used, only 256 colours are available so that the colours on the GIF's are easy to see and don't blend with each other.

Using GIF's is actually a good way for you to create a website which will look a lot better than it would without a GIF's, depending on how good the GIF's is, is what will determine on how pix-elated it will be when it is finished or zoomed in/out from.

Even though using a GIF can make a website look better, if you use too many of them then the website won't look as well and work as effective as you had hoped, this is because they would take over the main activity on the website and be a big distraction to the website viewer.

GIF's are actually designed to support a background where you can still see what is behind it; this is so that they don't cover any vital information that may be on the website. Because GIF's attract the younger audience, the websites that contain them have a lot more viewers as it is mainly the younger generation that would be using them.

Another good thing about GIF's is the fact that the file size of them is actually really small, this is an advantages because it means that they don't take up as much room on the system/website as most other images/animations that may have been saved.

Advantages

Using GIF'S is actually a good way for you to create a website which will look a lot better than it would without a GIF, depending on how good the GIF is, is what will determine on how pix-elated it will be when it is finished or zoomed in/out from.

Even though using a GIF can make a website look better, if you use too many of them then the website won't look as well and work as effective as you had hoped, this is because they would take over the main activity on the website and be a big distraction to the website viewer.

GIF'S are actually designed to support a background where you can still see what is behind it, this is so that they don't cover any vital information that may be on the website. Because GIFS attract the younger audience, the websites that contain them have a lot more viewers as it is mainly the younger generation that would be using them.

Another good thing about GIFS is the fact that the file size of them is actually really small; this is an advantage because it means that they don't take up as much room on the system/website as most other images/animations that may have been saved.

Disadvantages

The disadvantages of GIF's are basically the fact that it is difficult to keep the size of the file small so that you can use more of them (save them), for this reason it's a lot more difficult to upload them onto your website or they may not load correctly and function how they are meant too.

GIF's are only able to contain a limited amount of colours on each, you are also only able to choose from 256 colours, any other colour that you have chosen which isn't recognised won't be displayed on the GIF that you have created.

You're not able to add large amounts of sound in with your GIF's unless you add it into the background on something such as a YouTube video. GIF's are designed to move, they are just an image which can move and display different images on a single screen, they're not able to contain a large sound type, it can only be a small sound file inserted in with it.

Formats

There are a wide range of different format types for animated GIF's, such as Flash animation, which is commonly used throughout IT industries for creating moving images, it tends to be used a lot in areas of teaching so that the IT students can learn about the basics of creating GIF's.

Shockwave animation is basically what enables you to use a range of different multimedia players, such as creating GIF files, sound files etc. Shockwave is what enables you to play the games that you find on the internet, which are all just animations put into a big sequence. It isn't only gaming websites which use Shockwave files, sales websites and advertisement websites also use them.

Quicktime animation files are basically allow you to link up your GIF's to sound files so that you have an animation and also sound behind it. To use quicktime you have to use the internet so you can download the correct files onto the system to add with your GIF's so the file is the correct size.

Dynamic HTML animation files are basically what allow you to add annotations (text files) to your GIF's, this is so that you can make the GIF look like it is talking (if it is an animal or human etc.). Dynamic HTML files are what makes the GIF interactive, basically meaning that in order for the GIF to proceed onto the next stage of it you must control something that is going on with it (it may be a tiny game created through GIF animation, this is commonly used on certain events on GOOGLE).

Different Uses Of Animation

Advertising

I have chosen this advert as it displays a wide range of animation within it, the entire advert is basically just an animation other than the cola bottle itself, the dragon and 2 opposing sides are all animated and both interact with the cola bottle, however, they remain animated and the cola bottle remains un-animated, this is a perfect way to display what it is that is being advertised as it stands out more on the screen.

Creative Arts

Creative arts is basically just the way in which ananimation actually moves, from each different movement there must be a whole new image there to display the image to look as though it is moving. A lot of animations which you see contain a lot of creative thinking and each different animation generally tends to have its own designer. Creative arts animation doesn't have to be a computer animated image, it can be shown through the use of a comic strip in a news paper or a comic book, the way in which this is possible is because each different drawing frame contains a whole new image displaying something different and the images in a different position/place than the one before.

Entertainment

Animation is used throughout a wide range of movies and games, such as Assassins Creed where you're the main character of the game and the game play is actually based on real events that have happened in the past, only difference is that have been created to be a computer animation for your own amusement, everything from the character itself and what is around him (buildings, rocks and terrains) are all animated, along with everything that you interact with, this is a key element to displaying computer animation.

Education

Animation is actually used in a lot of areas which you would least expect it, such as in areas of education, the way in a lot of aspects get explained to those in education is actually through the use of animation, whether it being clips from YouTube of specific aspects, such as how to do something in an animated way (making it more understandable and simple). Animation is used in areas such as Power-Points, there is a wide range of animation required for this, from different slide transitions to little images that may be inserted which move about the screen.

Simulation

Computer simulations and animations are basically the main way in which education gets created and taught, they are the main tools that are required. Animations display sequences to diagrams, images and number in a step by stem frame animation which makes it easier to display what is happening rather than to explain them which may be difficult. Simulations are a design of a system for a user, basically, the user enters specific details into the computer and then computer will find all of the consequences or all of the changes for that specific set of information entered.

P1 - Different Types Of Animation

Animations

Animations are basically just multiple images put together in order to create a sequence which makes it look like the image is moving (commonly known as frames), basically a series of images grouped together to cause them to act together and create an animation/sequence of moving images.

The Coka-Cola advert that was released in 2006 is a very good example of animation, this is because it shows the Cola bottle as an un-animated object but everything else around it is animated. It was created by Dutch creators: the beginning of the advert begins with a man (un-animated) putting money into a vending machine to get the bottle of Coke, the moment the money enters the machine everything but the Cola bottle becomes animated, from the beginning, through to the Coke bottle leaving the machine for the man to collect his drink, thus, everything becoming un-animated again.
A clip of this is displayed as the YouTube link below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iX2xS9vPQ-Y

William Horner - Zoetrope - 1834
William Horner created the Zoetrope in 1834, it was one of the first simple animation techniques created (with what looked like moving images). A Zoetrope is basically just a device that displays an illusion which makes images look like they're moving, it is basically just an improvement to the simple Phenkitascope, (created in 1832 by Dr Roget which was basically just a disk that has images drawn on it in different attitudes which makes it look like the images are moving when the disk is spun around, when in reality they'r not, it's just an illusion, the figures from this are also able to be projected up onto a screen), however, the Zoetrope is much easier to hold and the images on it are displayed more clear which makes the animation appear a lot more clear than that of the Phenkitascope. The Zoetrope later went on to produce the Praxinoscope, (it is a typical toy that was created in 1976 by Charles Émile Teynaud after the Phenkitascope and the Zoetrope. it is basically just a cylinder which has a strip of paper with it, displaying 12 separate frames in which will display the animation. While the cylinder rotates, mirrors that are placed in the center of the Praxinoscope reveal an image in single motion), the Praxinoscope made it much easier to look at the animation that was being displayed, this is because it had smaller slits on the sides where the person was able to look inside of it, it also gave a better result than the Phenkitascope. There are a number of designs created for the Zoetrope, from animals and workers, to football players and children playing. Back in 1834 when the Zoetrope was first invented, because nothing like that had ever been created or seen before, the people who owned them thought that they were some form of magic as the images were moving before their eyes even though they weren't real, but in reality, it was just a simple illusion, a trick of the mind which lead the viewers to believe the images was moving when in reality it wasn't, it was just a series of images looping over and over, producing something that looks like it is moving.
Zoopraxiscope
Eadweard Muybridge invented the Zoopraxiscope in 1979. All that he did was use the movement that was used in moving toys, and basically combined it with the projection of what was called the 'magic lantern', what he then did after this was draw a series of pictures in which he would then place into the motion of 'moving' images, basically for the first time ever, making it seem like images were actually moving before your eyes, this was done by drawing a number of pictures, and putting them together so that it's like each image is its own frame. The Zoopraxiscope is actually the beginning of a moving image, what is considered to have been the missing link of slide projection and cinema.
Tweening
Tweening is the abbreviation of in-betweening in animation, it is basically just the process of putting frames in between the major frames which will make the animation look more effective and fluent, which would give the images a more smooth moving look instead of it jumping from place to place, this is done so that when the animation is playing, it is smooth and each steady movement is recorded in between for a full effective animation process. Tweening is a very important process in the area of animation, this is because it displays tiny animations like a short movie clip.
Morphing
Morphing is the abbreviation of metamorphosing. Morphing is basically just the changing of an animation, such as an image slowly changing into something which is completely different from the first frame which you started out with. The majority of animation programs that are used today support at least 1 type of morphing feature when it comes to animating images. With cartoons, animation is what is used entirely to create it, so the entire series is created with a series of frames, all holding a different image so that the character actually moves and interacts with things, however, each time the character moves, it is actually morphing, this is because each different movement makes the character change, therefore the character is morphing into a different position. With morphing, the effect is basically the entire changing of a character, so the first drawing of before, and the final drawing of after get drawn up first so that you're able to build up the frames between to get the morphing effect that is needed for the change.
Masking
Masking is basically just a feature which is designed to allow you to block a specific part of one layer so that you're able to put another layer there in its place to get an effective animation. You're able to use masking to hide any object in the animation that you don't wish to use or you don't need. you're actually able to place a variety of different masks in each different masking animation so that you can get the animation that you want. Masking is used so that you're able to add effects into your animation, such as making a specific character be the main aspect on the screen, or make something in the background more visible than the rest. Masking is actually used to be a window of your animation, each different window contains a different piece of animation which will be seen on your final animation once it is played. With masking, each different layer is only able to contain 1 item for animation, you're not able to add any more animation onto your window.