It's the middle of the night. I've been working on this for 2 months straight. I have like no followers lol, but I needed to put it on the internet. Here's my working VapourSynth installation guide on arm64 macs (yes, the ones that didn't work anymore. crazy right).
HackMD gives you a real-time Markdown editor for collaborative work. Working with Markdown files in HackMD is simple, straightforward, and f
Anyone willing to give it a go, please DM me before !!! I haven't had the chance to let anyone test out the installation, so message me if you do before I can send it to any resource accounts or make an official post 😭
HELLO & WELCOME ♡
to an all inclusive giffing guide, which includes:
- vapousynth installation on windows / mac
- how to source giffable material
- resizing / deinterlacing / denoising / sharpening on VS
- step by step breakdown of how to use VS
- giffing after you've used VS
- giffing using only photoshop
- simple colouring guide
- watermaking and blurring captions
( a better and updated version of the previous one )
GIFFING USING VS + PS
1. VAPOURSYNTH & ITS INSTALLATION
VS is free to download and use. it is truly an amazing tool which allows you to resize, denoise, sharpen your gifs all at once and save the output in gifs, frames , mp4 and mov.
You can install vapoursyth from here. The site has download software and installation guide for both MacOs and Windows. Please watch and read the installation guide thoroughly, it is a very well written one and if you follow along, installation will be done easily.
It is best to use a video with minimum resolution of 1080p but a good 720p would work sometimes. This is how gifs look after sharpening a normal 1080p video:
2. SOURCING GIFABLE MATERIAL
➞ You can start with downloading a 4K Video downloader. It will allow you to download clean and best available resolution videos from youtube.
➞ If you don't want to download a software, you can use screenrecording.
- Windows : windows key + alt +R
- MacOs: shift + cmnd + 5
➞ .TS files
- for seventeen .ts files, you can go to rosebay
3. TUMBLR SIZING
Tumblr has it own resizing rules so that your gifs aren't blurry after you've uploaded them. Keep this in mind when you're using VS resizing tool.
4. USING VAPORSYTNH
After you've installed the VS properly. You'll have a VS script shortcut on which you'll drop your video file for giffing.
Once you drop your video file on the VS shortcut, a window like this will pop up:
After you've put your timestamps and gif duration, a resizer will open up in chrome ( or your default web) along with a VS Script Window (sometimes it’ll take a min to open).
GIF Size: WIDTH (left space) and HEIGHT (right space). Use the bottom left triangle to adjust you clip.
Make sure 'Preprocessor' is set to 'None' and "debilinear'.
Use KNLM for denoising and FineSharp for sharpening by selecting them and ticking the small check box beside them. DONOT mess with the denoise and sharpening cursor on the resizer tab, we'll adjust setting on the VS Script.
There are CCs who use BM3D for denoising but it never worked for me. Always gave me an error. KNLM has worked without an error for years for me.
NOW, there are CCs who like to set frame per second ( qtgmc) on the resizer itself but qtgmc is designed to work with interlaced video. Don’t waste your time with fancams, it won’t do shit.
[ Interlaced content: live performances, variety shows. Typical formats: .ts/.tp/.m2ts
Progressive content: fancams, vlive/instagram videos, some variety shows (basically 1080p/720p/480p/…, anything with a p. Typical formats: .mp4/.avi ]
Copy whatever code that comes on the top right.
YOUR VS SCRIPT:
First, remove the # on line 9 to increase your cache size so that your VS doesn't slow down or crash. It is already removed in mine, but you'll have to remove the # on the start of line 9.
Remove everything from line 17 till before "video = core.fmtc.bitdepth(video, bits =16)" and paste the code you copied from the resizer on line 17.
After you've pasted the code, we put in our denoise and sharpen settings by changing these things.
denoise: 2, 6, 4 , 2
finesharp: 2
Now, Encoding aka Saving the output. Script > Encode Video and another window will pop up which allows you to select in which way you want to save your ouput.
I would highly suggest using the PNG sequence because it is easily editable and is saved in hd from. GIF output can often be dithered.
Ensure that header in in Y4M mode
Click on Start to start your encoding process. Don't close any of the window tabs before the encoding is completed.
Your output will be saved under "D:\VapourSynth64Portable(200722)\gifs\output".
Before you start encoding another batch of frames or a gif, please cut and paste the previous output in another folder because each new batch of output gets saved in the same folder with the same name, thus, automatically replacing the files.
after you’re done with accessing your output PNGs, close all the windows and repeat the same for a new set of PNGs for another gif.
TRIMMING GIFS
If your saving as PNG sequence, you can simply trim your gif by removing the unwanted frames!
If you're saving as a GIF output, after loading your gif and converting it into a smart object, you can cut it using the 'scissors' button on the timeline.
Place the cursor thing from where you want to cut the gif from and press the scissors button.
It will split the gif in two. Select the unwanted one and press delete.
REMOVING FLASES FROM GIFS
To remove flashes in gifs in a simple and easy way is to save them as a PNG sequence. With that you can clearly see which frame has a flash and simply delete that before loading in photoshop as stack.
5. LOADING THE GIFS IN PHOTOSHOP
Firstly, turn on your timeline mode. WIndow > Timeline
To LOAD GIF FILE IN PS FOR COLOURING
File > Open > Select GIF > Enter
( a normal gif output will have a 0.02 FPS delay )
(if you want to sharpen or add any effects to the gif then:)
- Click the small button on the left bottom of the timeline to convert into into video timeline.
Select all frames on your right and convert them into a Smart Object (select all > right click > covert to smart object)
Add whatever filters you want.
Add your colouring and save.
TO SAVE AKA EXPORT GIF
File > Export > Save to WEB
6. LOADING PNG SEQUENCE FRAMES FOR GIFFING
File > Scripts > Load into Stack > Browse
Browse will open your File Manager. Select the frames you want to be loaded as a stack. Let them load and click OK.
After PS is done loading your frames, Follow these steps:
Click create frame animation. It’s show only one frame so you have to click this ≡ symbol on the top right of the timeline.
Then click Create Frames from layers and it’ll make all frames.
Then click ≡ again and click “reverse frames” because ps loads stacked frames in reverse so you have to un-reverse it.
4. Most importantly, we need to set frames per second because we didn't set anything on the resizer. Frames per second can make a huge difference in how fast or slow you want your gif to be.
0.05 FPS is just my preferred setting.
To input your desired FPS settings, select all frame from the timeline, right click on any frame > Other > Input your desired setting.
( anything above 0.08 will make the gif too slow )
5. Click on 'Create Video Timeline' to turn this into a video timeline. (bottom left of timeline)
i made an action that does all steps from 1 to 5. Download it here <3
6. Then select all your layers from the side panel and convert it into a smart object so that you can sharpen it and add other filters.
7. Add your adjustment layers for colouring and save it!! Saving process as same as before. (File > Export > Save to WEB)
GIFFING USING ONLY PHOTOSHOP
If you don't want to go through hassle of installing and using vapoursynth, you can use this photoshop only method. You can simply cut the video and load them as frames.
File > Import > Video Frames to Layers
A window like this will pop up:
Use the triangle cursors to set the start and end of your clip. Make sure Make frame Animation is check. Press OK.
IMP: After you frames have loaded, you'll see the frames have loaded at a 0.04FPS. You can change it according to your preference but the speed is different (slower) for these gifs even if they're both at 0.05fps, that is because the number of frames is different than number of frames from a VS png sequence for the same clip.
You can adjust the fps the same way mentioned above.
You can see the difference even with the same FPS settings. The frames in the second gif are VS generated whereas the first one is PS generated.
After setting you desired FPS, click on the Make Video frame animation button at the bottom left on the Timeline tab,, Select all frames/ layers on the right and convert them into a SmartObject.
Now comes the main part, Resizing the gif according to tumblr.
For this, Image > Canvas Size. Input your desired dimentions and press OK.
Then, Click of CTRL + T (Free Transform) and adjust the gif along the canvas. like this:
Press Enter. You gif is set. all you need to do is, add your sharpening (filters > smart sharpen).
You can also refer to this amazing tutorial by @jeonwonwoo for photoshop giffing.
BLURRING CAPTIONS IN GIFS
For this you only need a gif in a Smart Object, Marquee Tool and Gaussian Blur.
Marquee Tool is the small dotted rectangle tool. Click on it and then make your selection around the caption by clicking and dragging your cursor.
normal selection
Add to selection (to the normal selection)
( best for multiple captions, it lets you select in multiple places at once) Example:
after selection, go to Filters > Blur > Gaussian Blue > 3.0
IMP: If you want to add Blur using marquee tool on a smart object that already has a smart sharpen filter (or any filter) on then you need to convert that smart object into a smart object again.
after you've added your colouring adjustment layers, save your gif. File > Export > Save for Web
WATERMARK
To make you custom watermark shape, you can follow this wonderful tutorial by @yunaevis
How to set the custom watermark or any watermark, you can follow this tutorial by me. ( bonus: it'll also teach you how to use actions for watermarking)
BASIC COLOURING
Start off Curves.
Click and drag the curves from the middle to upwards. This will increase the brightness .
For skin, we begin with Selective colours. Messing with Reds and Yellows, give the skin more even saturation. You can accentuate blacks and increase brightness + contrast too.
BEFORE AND AFTER:
for a detailed basic colouring tutorial, you can follow this tutorial!
DONE AND DUSTED,,,, THANKYOU <333
I hope this was somewhat helpful <3 if anyone has a doubt, they can always contact me!
VAPOURSYNTH INSTALLATION TUTORIAL (macOS)
— if you’ve always wanted to try vapoursynth but have been intimidated by the installation process, then this tutorial is for you!
— target audience: macOS from High Sierra and later (ie: Catalina, Mojave, Big Sur, Monterey)
About Vapoursynth (VS)
vapoursynth is an application for video manipulation. for gif makers it helps to resize, crop, sharpen, denoise, and clip videos into small gif-able segments with minimal loss to the original file quality. for more information visit the official site here. the application works for both mac and windows (however this tutorial is meant to guide mac users since the installation process can be more confusing on that OS). for users familiar with avisynth, this is a similar program (however unlike the former, it is also compatible with macOS)
This two part video tutorial references this HackMD tutorial by nibreon throughout tutorial. (you will also find how to download on windows there).
To access the tutorial please access the following YouTube links:
hi!! thank you for your tutorial!!! I have just gotten into vapoursynth and have the same error that you mention here /post/665072451699556352/hey-so-for-all-you-experienced-vapoursynth-users but copying the script didn't work for me and it says that "NameError: name 'source' is not defined", do you know what I can do to fix this? thank you!! no pressure if not <3
hello! i'm so sorry, but i really don't know how to fix it after that point :( i suppose i could recommend that you try to uninstall and re-install vapoursynth and try it again?? but after that, i don't know, sorry! i do hope that you figure it out though!
Hello!! I was asked to make a little tutorial on how do I work with the Vapoursynth settings when I gif so below the read more you’ll find how I work with it and a lil before & after of the gif!
Hope you understand! ☺️
First things first, you need a video to work with (lol). I always like to cut the video parts I want to gif first and then put them through VS one by one to make it easier to work with (and to spare my laptop from dying processing everything) but I know people that prefer to run the entire original video through VS first, then cut the part they want to gif. Whichever you prefer is totally fine!
To add a video to VS all you need to do is drag it to the VS icon and drop it. You’ll get this window where you’ll have to specify the length of the video section you want VS to work on (yes you’ll have to write all the zeros):
Start of the section:
End of the section:
This will open that exact section on the program and you’ll be able to start to work with it from here.
You’ll get this window next (it’ll open on Chrome):
(Gonna add that, apart from this window, the Vapoursynth Editor will open too, but I’ll get to that later, just don’t close it)
You’ll have the settings on your left, your video in the centre and then another bunch of settings on the right.
The first bunch of settings allow you to modify the size of the gif (in this case I’ve chosen 268 (width) x 400 (length), to make a 2 gif gifset, but you can do up to 540 (width) and basically any length you want...idrk if there’s a length limit on tumblr tbh...). I don’t touch anything else apart from the Denoise Filters and the FineSharp setting.
You need to tick those and then you’ve got two options: either change the settings using that sliding circle OR change them on the second settings bunch on the right. I do it there because I find it faster and more precise but you do you.
NOW to change the settings on the right side, what you ONLY want to change is the part where it says “1.6″ and “0.22″ because the values correspond to the Denoise Filters and FineSharp settings I told you before (if you use the sliding circle on the left side you’ll see these values changing automatically as you move the circle from left to right).
The Denoise Filters (the “1.6″ you want to change) are gonna smoothen the surface of the video, they’re gonna get rid of those little grains you see on videos that are not hd.
The FineSharp setting (the “0.22″ you want to change) is gonna harsh the lines and make them more defined.
Here, it depends on the original video you’re working with and the quality it has: if you have a very high quality video you’re not gonna want to use a very high value for any of those settings bc you’ll end up with a super blurred gif that’s gonna look weird. If the video is lower in image quality, you’ll have to play with the values.
The sh*tty thing about this is that, as you start changing the values, the result doesn’t show up on the gif in the middle immediately, meaning that you’ll have to run the code and open the gif on Photoshop to see the result. So it’s a matter of trial and error. If your resulting gif doesn’t show up on PS the way you want it to show up, you’ll have to go back to VS, change the combination of both settings, run it again through the software and check it again on PS.
The values I normally use for both settings usually range from 1.5-1.8 for the Denoise filter and 1.6-1.9 for the FineSharp. It really depends on the original video you’re working with, so always try to find the highest quality videos you can to make gifs from them.
Now once you’ve got your settings ready, all you need to do is copy the code,
open the Vapoursynth Editor window I told you about at the beginning and paste it where it says “#Resizer content goes here”:
Then, at the top bar, click on “Script” and in the drop down menu chose “Encode video”:
This will open yet ANOTHER window:
All you have to change here is where it says “Header: No Header”. you’ll want to click on those blue arrows and chose the option that says “Y4M”.
If you don’t chose this option, the encoder will give you an error message and won’t work, so if you ever get any errors check out you don’t have this unselected.
Once you have this all you need to do is press start (at the bottom right of the window) and let the program do its magic. It’ll start encoding the video and giving you lots of words and stuff and you’ll feel like a hacker breaking into some Country’s Government security system.
The moment it finishes encoding it’ll give you a “Finished encoding” message in green and you’ll have to press “Save” (in the middle right of the window) for it to save the video to your VS Output folder.
From here all you have to do is open PS, import the video and start working with it there!
This is the comparative with and without VS:
I haven’t used any PSD on top of them just so you can see the real difference.
vapoursynth anon, I got it to work!! not with the same downloaded version I previously tried though. I downloaded the 200722 version from here and it suddenly just worked properly! no idea if it's the version or something else, i just chose it randomly (I have Windows11 64bit btw) :D in case you see this I hope this really simple solution works for you too asjhklg
edit: still doesn't work with all videos though rip...so maybe its because of the files and not vs 😒
