notes on converting two GIFs to ambient-style video pieces. in the real world these would both be on CRT screens (for the toronto collaboration with john parker). the bleaching on the TV images on the left is just my digicam not being able to shoot the screen.
bathtub sticker animation (222 X 345, sized at 450 X 700 in the video). the red circles on the left and right are outside the title safe area, but it looks OK cropped like that, don't want to shrink it anymore than I have to. the frame rate is the same on the GIF and the video, 20 fps; don't think it needs to go faster.
spinning disc animation: originally sized at 350 X 348, white background: [.mov file stopped working -- thanks, Apple -- here is a 97 KB GIF]
sized at 441 X 442 for video, black background: [.mov file stopped working -- thanks, Apple -- here is a 144 KB GIF]. The larger .mov looks much better on video than it does on the web. the .web mov spins more regularly than the TV version; on the TV the disc is slowing down and speeding up slightly, as if the equipment were struggling to keep up with the high frame rate (100 frames per second in the original GIF--30 fps in the video--the max TV allows). this "wowing" is good--it makes the disc more alive, like it has a will of its own, but is constantly on the verge of breaking down. i let it loop for three minutes and when it hits the "chapter repeat" point the image briefly freezes, then revs back up to full speed as fast as it can. it looks like a little vibrating bitcrushed planetoid, i'm especially happy with how this one came out as a video piece.
Update: the music that goes with this video pair is here.
These look great! A quick nerd note - unless using PAL or some sophisiticated 24 frame pulldown method, both DVDs should be working at 29.97 (~30) frames per sec, so there's either going to be some interpolation or some time stretching to get the 20 or 100 frames to 30. You might experiment with using numbers that divide into 30 (like 15 fps) or mutliply cleanly from 30 (like 90) if you want to keep things more predictable (though it seems like that unpredictability in the conversion is becoming a part of your practice, which is pretty cool).
Also, as far as showing pixel animations on a wall, I just discovered these which are pretty neat: https://www.westinghousedigital.com/pc-50-6-80-digital-photo-frame.aspx.
Digial photo frames that play video. They require some compression (can't play animated gifs) but I'm playing with one and so far the results are far cleaner than DVDs (if you want to go for that pixely look). They're small though ....
Funny you should mention that, my brother got one of those frames for Christmas and already has some fine art loaded in it....
Thanks for the info on the frame rates. Adobe Premiere, the cheap version, which I used for some of this, saves at that 29.97 frame standard.
Camtasia Studio, which I use to convert GIFs to .avi or capture moving GIFs off the web, allows saving at different multiples of 5.
The 100 frames was only in the GIF program; I knew that would have little bearing on the finished product.
'Cause ultimately whatever gets spat out of those programs has to go through my DVD writer (Intervideo WinDVD), which is for the consumer/beginner and isn't customizable as to frame rates or much else. I figured it was using some industry default, just wasn't sure what it was.
And you're right, I'm trying to push the grunge factor of anything that will be shown on a TV. But there might be something I want to run evenly and that multiples/dividends of 30 thing is good to know.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NTSC#Refresh_rate
oh yeah, and also:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interlacing
One of my favorite sources on video is Video Demystified.
|
notes on converting two GIFs to ambient-style video pieces. in the real world these would both be on CRT screens (for the toronto collaboration with john parker). the bleaching on the TV images on the left is just my digicam not being able to shoot the screen.
bathtub sticker animation (222 X 345, sized at 450 X 700 in the video). the red circles on the left and right are outside the title safe area, but it looks OK cropped like that, don't want to shrink it anymore than I have to. the frame rate is the same on the GIF and the video, 20 fps; don't think it needs to go faster.
spinning disc animation: originally sized at 350 X 348, white background: [.mov file stopped working -- thanks, Apple -- here is a 97 KB GIF]
sized at 441 X 442 for video, black background: [.mov file stopped working -- thanks, Apple -- here is a 144 KB GIF]. The larger .mov looks much better on video than it does on the web. the .web mov spins more regularly than the TV version; on the TV the disc is slowing down and speeding up slightly, as if the equipment were struggling to keep up with the high frame rate (100 frames per second in the original GIF--30 fps in the video--the max TV allows). this "wowing" is good--it makes the disc more alive, like it has a will of its own, but is constantly on the verge of breaking down. i let it loop for three minutes and when it hits the "chapter repeat" point the image briefly freezes, then revs back up to full speed as fast as it can. it looks like a little vibrating bitcrushed planetoid, i'm especially happy with how this one came out as a video piece.
Update: the music that goes with this video pair is here.
- tom moody 4-10-2006 12:55 am
These look great! A quick nerd note - unless using PAL or some sophisiticated 24 frame pulldown method, both DVDs should be working at 29.97 (~30) frames per sec, so there's either going to be some interpolation or some time stretching to get the 20 or 100 frames to 30. You might experiment with using numbers that divide into 30 (like 15 fps) or mutliply cleanly from 30 (like 90) if you want to keep things more predictable (though it seems like that unpredictability in the conversion is becoming a part of your practice, which is pretty cool).
Also, as far as showing pixel animations on a wall, I just discovered these which are pretty neat: https://www.westinghousedigital.com/pc-50-6-80-digital-photo-frame.aspx.
Digial photo frames that play video. They require some compression (can't play animated gifs) but I'm playing with one and so far the results are far cleaner than DVDs (if you want to go for that pixely look). They're small though ....
- mbs (guest) 4-10-2006 9:31 am
Funny you should mention that, my brother got one of those frames for Christmas and already has some fine art loaded in it....
Thanks for the info on the frame rates. Adobe Premiere, the cheap version, which I used for some of this, saves at that 29.97 frame standard.
Camtasia Studio, which I use to convert GIFs to .avi or capture moving GIFs off the web, allows saving at different multiples of 5.
The 100 frames was only in the GIF program; I knew that would have little bearing on the finished product.
'Cause ultimately whatever gets spat out of those programs has to go through my DVD writer (Intervideo WinDVD), which is for the consumer/beginner and isn't customizable as to frame rates or much else. I figured it was using some industry default, just wasn't sure what it was.
And you're right, I'm trying to push the grunge factor of anything that will be shown on a TV. But there might be something I want to run evenly and that multiples/dividends of 30 thing is good to know.
- tom moody 4-10-2006 10:03 am
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NTSC#Refresh_rate
- paul (guest) 4-10-2006 11:37 pm
oh yeah, and also:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interlacing
- paul (guest) 4-10-2006 11:41 pm
One of my favorite sources on video is Video Demystified.
- mark 4-11-2006 10:07 am