Contest Triathlon Challenge #3: Transformation!

I've finally made the gif but now that it's finished, I realized that the gif's file size is too big.

 

Same or less for height.

 

For anyone wondering... I was doing some research and it looks like if your'e at 500px you'll get around 20-25 frames. So.... if you want more frames go smaller! A gif at 245px will get you around 80-100 frames and a gif at 160px will get you 100+ frames.

 

Mission accomplished. Had to finish this one early. Good luck, everybody!

 

Got my entry in, hopefully everything turned out all right.

 

Everyone is in here talking about submitting and I'm sitting here with a concept and no work done >_< Busy, busy week... I'll have to make up for it tonight.

 

Hoping to finish everything Saturday afternoon.. my schedule at work this week sucks so it's taking away the usual time I would have to work on my entry.. aww well making it work anyway

 

Figured it out... almost finished! I am in it just for fun because it is clear I am way out of my league!
Can't wait to see what all you talented artisans come up with for the final challenge!

 

I can't believe some of you are finished!
I'm still in the crafting stage, but hopefully I will get my pictures done tomorrow and editing done Saturday so I can slide in at the last moment... Again

 

Is music allowed? Some gif makers offer it.....

 

bahhhhh uploaded it privately and it's blurry i'm so sad. Idk how to fix this... I've resized it so many times

 

Does anyone have any gif making advice? Using gimp is resulting in the most disgusting gif quality ive ever seen, and my photoshop is having weird difficulty opening any of my pictures... Maybe there's another alternative which won't kill the quality?

 

I used an app called gif maker. The quality isnt great but its not terrible. Idk if it can get much better though. This app was really easy to use and you can rezize in it as your making the gif.

 

I tried widows movie maker and that failed in terms of quality so now im trying gifmaker online :/ I'ts taking forever and idk how much better it will look

 

I was finally able to take my photos today. I'm actually pretty happy with them...but I buggered up and forgot to take a photo of all the bits I used before I used them! So now I have to start from square one in terms of that photo...

 

Hang in there everyone! I'm super excited to see everyone's transformations.

We made it to the end!!

 

Eep - need a couple more photos and then it's onto the scary process of gif making and trying to force the pictures into a coherent narrative...

 

Incredible that so many already submitted their entries. Kudos to you! I only started today as work has been horribly busy this week. Yet I'm confident that I'll be able to finish everything tomorrow .

 

I just started today also.

 

Editing my gif... It's currently twice as big as the size limit! Not convinced the narrative is all that obvious, but bar doubling it's length I'm not sure there's any real way to make it more coherent. Just need to add a couple more frames and resize it down and I think I'm done.

Good luck to everyone still working! I'm really looking forward to seeing the stories that people came up with given some of the themes that seemed to be emerging in the past couple of rounds!


Edit:
...And submitted - hope my gif actually works, it was an absolute pain to resize!

 

Agh, frustrated with the whole gif part of the process (just because I have no clue what I'm doing ) Soo, is it normal to have somewhat awful picture quality ? Or am I doing something horribly wrong? I have tried multiple platforms and can't figure out how to get clear photos at the required size. The photography geek in me is crying at how pixelated mine is, lol. Good luck everyone!!

 

I'm having the same problem! I believe to get it clear you need to resize the images before making it into a gif but that's not working out for me

 

I think its normal to have some resolution problems. I also had some issues too. Good luck!!!

 

I need advice. I have the sizing correct but in two different formats. One is really small but clear, the other is bigger but blurry. Idk which one to submit? What if the small one is too hard to see?

 

I finally submitted mine. I forgot to take a picture the other day so I waited until today.

I had trouble with the size too. I ended up going with the smaller one since tumblr wouldn't upload the slightly larger one. For you I think it depends on how small the image is. But if it's still big enough to see, I would go with the smaller one especially if the bigger one is blurry.

 

Ok thanks! It's currently a little bit bigger than our avatar/ profile pictures displayed right here on this thread... what's your opinion on that?

 

Well I'm out, I tried working on it a bit this week but my heart just wasn't in it, I was so inspired by the first two challenges but not this one, photography just isn't my forte. I'm so happy with what I made for the first two challenges and with myself for completing them. I feel a little bad not finishing but I'm happy I made it this far, and I'm so excited for what you guys come up with, and for next year's triathlon. Good luck everyone!! You guys rock!

 

Yeah, it's normal. GIF format generally has a limited color range, as it isn't really intended for photos. It's for graphics with large, flat areas of color (hence "graphics interchange format"), and the limited range helps it occupy less memory when storing the multiple images needed for animation, for one because it's less overall data, and for two because with flat graphic styles it can reuse pieces of multiple frames, thus cutting the file size further. (JPGs are generally better for photos because of the different compression format that doesn't limit the colors used (hence "joint photographic experts group"), but will tend to be larger than a comparably sized GIF, and don't support animation or transparency.)

This has been your educational post of the evening. Keep going, everyone, I can't wait to see what you've all done!

 

I managed to get my "construction" done tonight. I hate leaving the hard part all for the last day, but such is life. At least I get off of work with the better part of the afternoon to take my pictures.

I couldn't help but reflect tonight on how much of a tradition the triathlon has become for me. Every year around the end of July I start reminding myself that the anniversary is coming, it's almost contest time. I think that speaks to the fun I have every year with these crazy challenges I'm almost sad it's about to be over again... or I will be when I submit my entry tomorrow XD

 

I am so proud of myself for competing and completing this years challenge! Congrats to everyone else who's given it their best effort! I can't wait to see the finished narratives!

 

If it's the size of the desktop version of our avatars, I think it should be fine. If it's the size on the mobile version, it might be a little small.

 

Yeah desktop (far too many frames) I'm gonna go with it. Thanks!

 

Well, for better or worse, it's in. I had a blast! Maybe now my family can get some home cooked meals instead of me just hiding in my room with my dollies! Good Luck Everybody, I can't wait to see everybody's masterpieces!

 

What are the sizes of your images? @kedrian They need to sized on the smaller side if you have several frames to fit into the 2mb requirement

 

Well, I think I have everything done crafting-wise and everything I need has been gathered, so, tomorrow is just setting it all up, the photoshoot, and gif editing. "Just".

 

I'm still working on my entry but for those that are struggling with file size just make your gif smaller... I think 300px is what I'll end up going with... It's small but remember its a short gif not a HD movie! And everyone is in the same boat as you. Gifs only have 256 colours (or less) which is why it looks so pixalted/burry/crappy. Keep going friends! Just rememeber that you can save your artful photography skills for the styled shoot, and collage - That is where you can show off your work, the gif is for story telling

 

And I'm finally finished! This challenge was a lot of fun!
I learned a few new things though this whole triathlon process!
Cant wait to see everyone's entries! Good luck everyone!!

 

And, if you have software that supports previewing, you might find that your image quality is actually okay with a lower number of colors than the full 256, which can save you a little on your file size. (And by okay, I mean you don't see any significant difference between a lower number and the ones above it, so you may as well stay with the lower number and nudge your file size down a bit more.)

 

I'm out. Good luck to everyone. I just had a rough week and there was no way I was going to get this last challenge done. I can't wait to see what everyone does. I'm still going to hopefully do the "transformation part" in the future to my doll and the idea I had about it. I had a great time doing this challenge. Life just got in the way.

 

Oh my gosh!! I finished! this was a thought one with my work schedule and family event the rest of today but i just submitted my entry. good luck everyone. I'm so exited to see everyone entry i think it's my favorite part so many creative people in the community! and to everyone still working keep it up your in the home stretch!

 

If only we were allowed to use .webm format instead of .gif people could have produced feature length films with high quality imagery under 2mb but with old formats gotta make it do what it do. The more colorful your previous entries the more imaginary effort you'll have to put into the last challenge as color range effects file size a lot.

 

Submitted! Boy this was the toughest one yet, getting my GIF to shrink down to 2MB was hard. Technically I think it's 1.95MB It was originally 8 or 9 times that size, my camera takes big photos haha. Good luck to everyone, and for those who haven't submitted yet, you still have time! You can do this!

 

When you host your GIF somewhere, does it change into a jpeg when you load it on the entry form?

 

Whooa all done! That was well... a triathalon! I had such a good time this year! Good luck everyone and I can't wait to see what everyone created!! If you are still working, keep it up! Go, go, go! You're almost at the finish line!

 

Well, I've submitted mine. Time to drink a gallon of orange juice, hope my cold doesn't get any worse, and sleep for 24 hours, LOL. It's been a rough...month, honestly, but I probably leveled up my crafting skills a little and I will probably be proud when I am more rested. Good luck everyone!

 

Done, done and done. It's 2 am here, but the countdown clock claims I was on time, so hopefully it's right. Bed now.

 

Congrats on reaching the finish line everyone! Now on to cleaning the disaster zone I used to call my craft room!

 

Aaaand done! I'm pretty pleased with what I managed to do

 

Yayyy I'm done too! Good job everyone best of luck!!!

 

Whelp, I am definitely out of my league, but I am proud that I finished! Good luck to everyone else, this one was hard.

 

Whoooooo done! Looking forward to seeing what everyone has come up with! Good luck to us all!

 

i'm having problems with the entry form, it's asking me match the correct format, but i'm using the photobucket url like i have before. is it me or is something off?

 

Are you using the URL called "direct link" ? That's the one without any extra tags or other garbage around it that the form won't accept.

 

i'm just using the photobucket link where it says share and copies it. it worked for the first two challenges.

 

It's possible that we corrected it for you the first two times, though. The filename might be too long this time.
Share should give you a menu of four link types. The second one is the direct link version.

 

photobucket isn't giving me any share options it will only copy the one link type

 

ok looked in the settings and think i found it!

 

Thanks for the help St James, i don't use photobucket enough to keep up with the changes. Just once a year in August really.....

 

welp, that totally sucks. i tried so hard and my pc didnt load the page fast enough and now im out. EDIT. also super sad bc my clocks didnt say the right time i guess. curses.