Issues exporting a GIF

Wondering how to accomplish a certain animation task? Ask here.

Moderators: Víctor Paredes, Belgarath, slowtiger

User avatar
yearn2animate
Posts: 17
Joined: Mon Jun 21, 2021 7:49 pm
Contact:

Issues exporting a GIF

Post by yearn2animate »

Hi all,

Working on a piece I need to use a gif as one of the elements. I ran a quick export animation early in the process and the results came out as expected, but the subsequent Gifs either come out as silhouettes or dithered black and white versions. MP4 renders correctly but unfortunately I need it in Gif for the project. Any ideas what might be causing the problem?

Using Anime Studio Pro 11

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/ ... sp=sharing

Most recent export settings shown here but I have changed them around a bunch to try and solve the issue.
I think the image names speak for themselves but if there is any confusion let me know.
User avatar
yearn2animate
Posts: 17
Joined: Mon Jun 21, 2021 7:49 pm
Contact:

Re: Issues exporting a GIF

Post by yearn2animate »

Thanks for the suggestion, but it didn't correct the issue. I bumped up the colors to the max and now it doesn't render at all. Will reset the comp again and double check my image transparencies next.
User avatar
synthsin75
Posts: 10253
Joined: Mon Jan 14, 2008 11:20 pm
Location: Oklahoma
Contact:

Re: Issues exporting a GIF

Post by synthsin75 »

Did you ctrl+R and sample gif colors?
User avatar
yearn2animate
Posts: 17
Joined: Mon Jun 21, 2021 7:49 pm
Contact:

Re: Issues exporting a GIF

Post by yearn2animate »

When I Ctrl- R it renders shows the image correctly.
User avatar
yearn2animate
Posts: 17
Joined: Mon Jun 21, 2021 7:49 pm
Contact:

Re: Issues exporting a GIF

Post by yearn2animate »

When I run Export as Gif now, I don't even get a render window and no file is made. I am puzzled.

Thanks for the help, but the deadline is looming. I am going to cut my loses for now and redo my work in After Effects. I will come back to share a solution later if I figure out why its misbehaving.
User avatar
synthsin75
Posts: 10253
Joined: Mon Jan 14, 2008 11:20 pm
Location: Oklahoma
Contact:

Re: Issues exporting a GIF

Post by synthsin75 »

Ctrl+R and look around the render window. Do you see the "Sample Gif Colors" button?
User avatar
yearn2animate
Posts: 17
Joined: Mon Jun 21, 2021 7:49 pm
Contact:

Re: Issues exporting a GIF

Post by yearn2animate »

Yes, I pressed it and it didn't seem to make any change. The missing render window is really throwing me off as well.
User avatar
yearn2animate
Posts: 17
Joined: Mon Jun 21, 2021 7:49 pm
Contact:

Re: Issues exporting a GIF

Post by yearn2animate »

I had some dinner and tried again. Still not a 100 percent better but now there are colors. Maybe the original SVGs had some transparency I didn't know about and that is causing issues? I will keep tweaking the settings and see if I can make it work. Thanks again for the help!


Kris
User avatar
Greenlaw
Posts: 10384
Joined: Mon Jun 19, 2006 5:45 pm
Location: Los Angeles
Contact:

Re: Issues exporting a GIF

Post by Greenlaw »

The way the Sample GIF Colors button works is that you go to a frame that has all the colors you wish to see in the GIF, press Ctrl-R and then click Sample GIF Colors. This will create an internal palette based on that frame, which Moho will use for the GIF animation render. If you use a frame that doesn't have all or most of the colors, the palette will not include the 'missing' colors. If you're not getting the result you expect, try sampling a different frame.

Note that the GIF format is limited in the number of colors it can display (256 max) and it's never going to faithfully reproduce a detailed or fully shaded animation.

The Dithering mode can help simulate the appearance more colors but the image will also look noisy.

Hope this helps.
Last edited by Greenlaw on Tue Nov 02, 2021 4:54 pm, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
SimplSam
Posts: 1218
Joined: Thu Mar 13, 2014 5:09 pm
Location: London, UK
Contact:

Re: Issues exporting a GIF

Post by SimplSam »

Another option is to use a site/service like EZGif: https://ezgif.com (free)

I have used it a number of times, especially when Moho is faffing around with colors.

It has lots of interesting options, and you can upload/convert MP4s and Image sequences.

p.s. The Moho 'Sample Gif Colors' - has never resolved color issues that I have had.
Moho 14.3 » Win 11 Pro 64GB » NVIDIA GTX 1080ti 11GB
Moho 14.3 » Mac mini 2012 8GB » macOS 10.15 Catalina
Tube: SimplSam


Sam
User avatar
synthsin75
Posts: 10253
Joined: Mon Jan 14, 2008 11:20 pm
Location: Oklahoma
Contact:

Re: Issues exporting a GIF

Post by synthsin75 »

The sampled colors don't have to be only from one frame of the animation either. If colors are missing, you can always add temporary shapes to the render for Moho to sample.
User avatar
Víctor Paredes
Site Admin
Posts: 5814
Joined: Wed Jan 26, 2005 12:18 am
Location: Barcelona/Chile
Contact:

Re: Issues exporting a GIF

Post by Víctor Paredes »

This is an old tutorial, but maybe can help you:
Image Image Image Image Image Image
Moho co-owner

Previously Rigged animation supervisor: My father's dragon, Wolfwalkers & Star Wars Visions "Screecher's Reach"
My personal Youtube Channel
User avatar
Greenlaw
Posts: 10384
Joined: Mon Jun 19, 2006 5:45 pm
Location: Los Angeles
Contact:

Re: Issues exporting a GIF

Post by Greenlaw »

synthsin75 wrote: Tue Nov 02, 2021 5:37 pm The sampled colors don't have to be only from one frame of the animation either. If colors are missing, you can always add temporary shapes to the render for Moho to sample.
Ah! Good tip...I think I've actually done that for troublesome clips. :D
User avatar
SimplSam
Posts: 1218
Joined: Thu Mar 13, 2014 5:09 pm
Location: London, UK
Contact:

Re: Issues exporting a GIF

Post by SimplSam »

Maybe I was a little harsh on Moho. It is normally quite good and makes small files, but when I do have problems ...

One GIF I recently had issue with was Clay Crocodile. I could not - and still can't get the sheen (shine) on the jacket and shadow on the floor correct.

The colors on the snout (nose) are not as good with EZGif, but the overall look is better.

Image
(Moho 600x half-rate-render 256 colors non-dither 506KB)

Image
(EZGif 600x half-rate-render MP4>GIF 10% opti 583KB)
Last edited by SimplSam on Wed Nov 03, 2021 4:47 am, edited 1 time in total.
Moho 14.3 » Win 11 Pro 64GB » NVIDIA GTX 1080ti 11GB
Moho 14.3 » Mac mini 2012 8GB » macOS 10.15 Catalina
Tube: SimplSam


Sam
Post Reply