Disaster from duplicating all the frames of a GIF

[HavingTooMuchFun]

I had something that I wanted to do with a gif that has only 3 frames, so I though, why not just duplicate each frame, then I'd have a 6-frame gif to work with...  right?  WRONG:



I DID unoptimize before doing anything, and the frames all looked perfect. I kept them all as "combine," since that's how they came, BUT, when I optimized at the end, Gimp switched a couple of frames to "replace"...?!! (This was the 2 frames that weren't the copy of the Background frame.)

So, I thought, ok, it wants to do replace, I'll make them ALL replace...:



So much for THAT idea, LOL!! I'm clearly missing something important here... I'd sure be grateful if someone could tell me WHAT!

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[rich2005]

Looks like you are half way there: Too enthusiastic perhaps.

For just the first three frames. The text moves, background remains static.

I would go.
Un-optimise.
Convert to RGB,
Rename the layers (I used 0, 1 , 2 but anything a, b, c for example). Save as a xcf.

Now, add to the 3 layers by File -> Open as Layers that xcf you just saved.
That gets you something like this screenshot. https://i.imgur.com/wnRvTzo.jpg

(any editing, extra text etc, now is the time to do it)

Still in RGB mode, optimise that. https://i.imgur.com/Y3iDN1E.jpg A single layer will look 'speckled', there is a new set of layer names so..Go and export that as an animation, setting disposal to combine and delay to some value. https://i.imgur.com/bTiurLq.jpg

Open your Indexed gif and it should be OK. Layer names correct format..etc https://i.imgur.com/xqPY1aS.jpg

edit. moved those additional layer, bit of colouring, added some text, delay upped to 200 ms

[HavingTooMuchFun]

(03-16-2018, 08:39 AM)rich2005 Wrote: Looks like you are half way there: Too enthusiastic perhaps.

For just the first three frames. The text moves, background remains static.

I would go.
Un-optimise.
Convert to RGB,
Rename the layers (I used 0, 1 , 2 but anything a, b, c for example). Save as a xcf.

Now, add to the 3 layers by File -> Open as Layers that xcf you just saved.
That gets you something like this screenshot. https://i.imgur.com/wnRvTzo.jpg

(any editing, extra text etc, now is the time to do it)

Still in RGB mode, optimise that. https://i.imgur.com/Y3iDN1E.jpg A single layer will look 'speckled', there is a new set of layer names so..Go and export that as an animation, setting disposal to combine and delay to some value. https://i.imgur.com/bTiurLq.jpg

Open your Indexed gif and it should be OK. Layer names correct format..etc  https://i.imgur.com/xqPY1aS.jpg

edit. moved those additional layer, bit of colouring, added some text, delay upped to 200 ms

I'm thrilled to have a method that works, thank you!! The color is a nice touch! Why does just duplicating all the layers NOT work?

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[rich2005]

(03-16-2018, 09:36 AM)HavingTooMuchFun Wrote: I'm thrilled to have a method that works, thank you!! The color is a nice touch! Why does just duplicating all the layers NOT work?

Just guessing, looking at the first gif and the mixed up dispositions combine/replace that confused Gimp.

Rule number one keep everything simple. Once you have the layers RGB, un-optimised and solid get rid of any animation 'layer names'. No reason why you should not duplicate layers, edit (Save as a xcf here) optimise then exporting as an animated gif.

[Tas_mania]

Hi HavingTooMuchFun
"Why does just duplicating all the layers NOT work?"
I guess the simple answer is you want the layers to be different to each other in some way or you want to change them in some way.

In my experience deconstructing a GIF is as difficult as making one.
You do use a common background as Rich says and it is 'combined' with your finished layers.
The good thing about GIFs is that the concepts are the same as animation and movie making.

People making high quality GIFs with Gimp often have extensive toolkits of scripts and plugins like Gimp-GAP.
Knowing about transparent layers is pretty important when doing titles and combining layers.
The terms 'layers' and 'frames' are interchangeable in Gimp animation.

This is a recent GIF I made showing a common background combined with the layers sequence.
https://thumbs.gfycat.com/BaggyUnitedAmp...x-14mb.gif

The quality is much better when its played in HTML5.
https://gfycat.com/BaggyUnitedAmphiuma

Unfortunately YouTube don't like looped videos which is good as well because GIF makers are potentially movie directors

[HavingTooMuchFun]

I don't know the slightest thing about moviemaking… I barely know anything about GIFs, LOL! Because I can't create art, the best I can do at this time is small alterations to other people's GIFs.

Thanks for the help! :-)