GIF size

[Jeff Pulera]

This is not something I have done before, but I’m thinking that when you exported the anim from AE as H.264, it got compressed (of course) and that would introduce artifacting – noise and blockiness that maybe is not apparent to the viewer but is still there due to lossy compression. Then when you convert to GIF, the noise/compression errors in the H.264 requires more bandwidth to encode to a GIF.

In your example, the background is solid gray. But if that image were compressed to H.264 first, that “solid” gray may no longer be solid under closer inspection and now there are more “different” pixels to encode that are no longer a solid color area.

So what I’m saying is could you export from AE as an IMAGE SEQUENCE, meaning a series of uncompressed stills, such as PNG. That way the frames would be clean originals without lossy H.264 compression applied. Then you are starting with CLEAN frames that will maybe compress to GIF more cleanly resulting in a smaller GIF size? That’s what I would do, definitely skip encoding to the lossy H.264 intermediate clip and go straight to GIF.

Thanks

Jeff Pulera
Safe Harbor Computers

[Steve Bentley]

You can do almost the opposite too. You can “debabelize” the exported image sequence and confine the pallet of the images to a smaller 256 color pallete rather than the 16.7 million pallet of a png. The run your gif compressor and you will a much smaller file.

[Andy Baumgartner]

Davide you should export from the source or a lossless version if possible. I’ve done animated gif’s like this before, and the solid colors get efficiently compressed if they’re actually solid.

[Andy Baumgartner]

Davide, you can export animated gif’s straight from Media Encoder if you’re on the latest version.

[Davide Rivolta]

Yes, Andy, I know I can export GIF from Adobe Media Encoder, but my goal is not simply creating a GIF but creating a high resolution and very lightweight GIF. Exporting GIF from AME resulting in file too heavy for me!

Thanks for the tips, everybody! I will try what you suggested me… I will report you if I will reach my goal! ????

[Roland R. kahlenberg]

AME does not have optimization features for its GIF output. Photoshop allows you to lower the number of colors in your GIF’s and this will reduce your file size. It should be noted that H264 output will often provide smaller filesizes than an animated GIF. So, if filesize alone is your concern then an animated GIF is not ideal.

PathSlicer – Advanced AE Shape Layer Effect
https://www.broadcastgems.com/pathSlicer
– create highly customizable custom animated typefaces
– create amazing transitions
– create cool lower 3rds and panels
– create burst effects
Do it all on a single Shape layer with minimal keyframes.

TypeGEMs – The Most Complete Type Tool Effect for AE
https://www.broadcastgems.com/typegems/

Intensive mocha & AE Training in Singapore and Other Dangerous Locations
Adobe After Effects CC ACE/ACI
BorisFX mocha Certified Instructor