I am new to this form of animation. My system is Linux:

System:
  Host: XPS Kernel: 5.15.0-91-generic x86_64 bits: 64 Desktop: Xfce 4.18.1
    Distro: Linux Mint 21.2 Victoria
CPU:
  Info: quad core Intel Core i7-6700 [MT MCP] speed (MHz): avg: 3700
    min/max: 800/4000
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel HD Graphics 530 driver: i915 v: kernel
  Device-2: NVIDIA GK208B [GeForce GT 730] driver: nvidia v: 470.223.02
  Device-3: Logitech C920 HD Pro Webcam type: USB
    driver: snd-usb-audio,uvcvideo
  Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 1.21.1.4 driver: X:
    loaded: modesetting,nvidia unloaded: fbdev,nouveau,vesa gpu: i915
    resolution: 1: 1920x1080~60Hz 2: 1680x1050~60Hz
  OpenGL: renderer: NVIDIA GeForce GT 730/PCIe/SSE2
    v: 4.6.0 NVIDIA 470.223.02

What is the best (preferably free) software for turning png frames into an
animated png file? Are there different codecs?

I intend to upload my apng to Imgur. Are there upper limits on framerate,
resolution, file size? Do viewers need specific browsers?

I made a 10-second clip at 6 fps, 198Hx264W pixels, using apngasm. I tried
viewing it with tacentview but it was super slow, several seconds per frame.

I am currently generating the frames for the same clip at 60 fps, 600 frames
total, 990x1320. It should be finished on Saturday morning.

I would be grateful for your advice!

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"Jonathan Bush" <djb### [at] gmxcom> wrote:

> What is the best (preferably free) software for turning png frames into an
> animated png file? Are there different codecs?

ImageMagick
https://manpages.ubuntu.com/manpages/bionic/man1/apngasm.1.html
others popped in my search

> I intend to upload my apng to Imgur. Are there upper limits on framerate,
> resolution, file size? Do viewers need specific browsers?

No idea, but I would imagine it would have more to do with file size than any
other specs.  I'm sure there are animated png (apng) files that you can search
for to determine what browsers support them, or just search "animated png
support [browser]"

> I made a 10-second clip at 6 fps, 198Hx264W pixels, using apngasm. I tried
> viewing it with tacentview but it was super slow, several seconds per frame.

Maybe there are settings that have to be set to get a smooth, faster view.
Any particular reason you're choosing that format?
I think ImageMagick or even ffmpeg can convert the png files to any other on the
fly, and a lot of people have had great success with those.
I've managed to make pretty decent animations, and even remove whatever bloat is
inherent in the files to make the file _size_ smaller, but keeping the same
apparent resolution and image quality.

> I am currently generating the frames for the same clip at 60 fps, 600 frames
> total, 990x1320. It should be finished on Saturday morning.

Also search for 'animated png' here on the forums - I got a good number of hits.

- BW

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> Maybe there are settings that have to be set to get a smooth, faster view.
> Any particular reason you're choosing that format?
> I think ImageMagick or even ffmpeg can convert the png files to any other on the
> fly, and a lot of people have had great success with those.
> I've managed to make pretty decent animations, and even remove whatever bloat is
> inherent in the files to make the file _size_ smaller, but keeping the same
> apparent resolution and image quality.
>
> > I am currently generating the frames for the same clip at 60 fps, 600 frames
> > total, 990x1320. It should be finished on Saturday morning.
>
> Also search for 'animated png' here on the forums - I got a good number of hits.
>
> - BW

Thanks for your help! The resolution 1320x990 was originally just for two
images, before and after, to demonstrate a concept from a board game. I wanted
to see the whole thing on my 1920x1080 screen within its own image viewer
window, and keep the aspect ratio of 4 to 3.

The 600 frames at this high resolution are complete, but first I want to test
the low res version, which I made with apngasm. It's supposed to be a 6 second
clip at 10 fps. Can anyone view it as a video?

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Attachments:
Download 'lr.png' (3298 KB)

Preview of image 'lr.png'

hi,

"Jonathan Bush" <djb### [at] gmxcom> wrote:
> ...
> the low res version, which I made with apngasm. It's supposed to be a 6 second
> clip at 10 fps. Can anyone view it as a video?

yes, clicking on the image in a Chrome browser window shows the animation.


regards, jr.

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"Jonathan Bush" <djb### [at] gmxcom> wrote:

> The 600 frames at this high resolution are complete, but first I want to test
> the low res version, which I made with apngasm. It's supposed to be a 6 second
> clip at 10 fps. Can anyone view it as a video?

Seems to work fine, just by clicking the link in my Brave browser.

- BW

Post a reply to this message

"Jonathan Bush" <djb### [at] gmxcom> wrote:
>
> The 600 frames at this high resolution are complete, but first I want to test
> the low res version, which I made with apngasm. It's supposed to be a 6 second
> clip at 10 fps. Can anyone view it as a video?

It works for me in Firefox on GNU/Linux.

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Op 10-1-2024 om 12:48 schreef Jonathan Bush:
> 

> The 600 frames at this high resolution are complete, but first I want to test
> the low res version, which I made with apngasm. It's supposed to be a 6 second
> clip at 10 fps. Can anyone view it as a video?

Works OK om Windows 11 / Thunderbird by clicking on the attached png.

-- 
Thomas

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Thank you all for your feedback!

Here is a high resolution version, 1320x990, 600 frames at 60 fps. I put it on
my Google Drive.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Rt9OUUljyQhDRS72sNfAxC7JAAvrkvSW/view?usp=sharing

I can view it but it is a little slow, perhaps because my hardware is limited.

Post a reply to this message

"Jonathan Bush" <djb### [at] gmxcom> wrote:
> Thank you all for your feedback!
>
> Here is a high resolution version, 1320x990, 600 frames at 60 fps. I put it on
> my Google Drive.
>
> https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Rt9OUUljyQhDRS72sNfAxC7JAAvrkvSW/view?usp=sharing
>
> I can view it but it is a little slow, perhaps because my hardware is limited.

That's a large file-- 504MB. The download took about 4 minutes for me, with my
*supposedly* hi-speed internet connection. :-[

The animation plays OK on my fast Windows 10 system, and lasts about 10 seconds.
I guess it's playing back at the proper 60 fps speed. What surprised me is that
the file has a .png file suffix, rather than a more standard MPEG; I didn't know
such a file could be used for animation. Apparently, it is an .apng file-- an
'animated portable graphics' file format. I had to look it up!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/APNG

From what I see there, such a format may not play back (as animation) in some
apps. I happened to use SMPlayer for Windows, which does recognize it.

I like the animation...but I'm not so sure it really needs a 60fps playback
speed, as the movements are rather slow. Nicely done though.

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