How Long Can A GIF Be (And Why)?

How Long Can A GIF Be (And Why)?

Exact Answer : Unlimited

Animated gifs are basically a fast-moving slideshow of static pictures, similar to a movie but in its most basic form. The longer the animation, the more frames you’ll save, and hence the file size will be higher. If the gif’s size is huge, this can quickly mount up.

Apart from file size, there are no constraints on gif length. Many gif-making software packages have limitations that prevent you from successfully posting gifs to social networking. The larger the file size, the higher the gif quality, and the longer the gif.

Basically, GIF Animation is like a Video file without Audio. And the length of the GIF animation is based on the Memory and dimensions of the animation. if the size is too small as per dimensions then you can use as much you want.

As a result, there is no hard and fast rule for GIF duration; it all depends on file size and RAM.

How Long Can A GIF Be

How Long Can A GIF Be?

PlatformGIF Length Supported
Discord30 seconds
Facebook15 seconds
Email6 seconds
GIPHY15 minutes
IMGUR30 minutes
Twitter3 minutes

Basically, GIF Animation is like a Video file without Audio. And the length of the GIF animation is based on the Memory and dimensions of the animation. if the size is too small as per dimensions then you can use as much you want.

Uploads are limited to 15 seconds, however, no more than 6 seconds is advised.  Uploads are restricted to 100MB, however, it is recommended to keep them to 8MB or less. The original video resolution should be at least 720p, although we suggest 480p. Keep in mind that material will be displayed mostly on tiny displays or message windows.

The overall number of frames displayed in the final picture is determined by the number of frames per second in a GIF. As a result, a frame rate of 30 will result in a bigger image than a frame rate of 24. GIFs have a frame rate of 15 to 24 frames per second. Overall, the lower the quality of your GIF file, the smaller it will be. 

If a file is too small, it can’t contain all the data necessary for an animated GIF. It’s all about getting the lowest file size feasible without compromising too much quality while making GIFs for the web.
Our smartphone apps optimize material for size, which might result in minor modifications to the size and speed of the GIF, which is why adhering to our best practices is encouraged.

When shrinking and reformatting, reducing the overall number of frames will help us maintain your material. A-frame count of fewer than 200 works nicely. It’s much better if there are less than 100!

Why Can GIF Be So Long?

GIF Animation is essentially a video file without the audio. The duration of the GIF animation is determined by the animation’s memory and size. If the size (dimensions) is too little, you can use it as much as you wish.

If you examine the proportions of the GIF animation, if you use a tiny size (for example, 100px x 100px), the memory required will be minimal, allowing you to run as long as you like. If the dimensions are raised, the file size of each frame will be large, and the whole GIF file size will be enormous. For lengthy GIF files, it’s best to utilize modest dimensions.

GIF animations aren’t meant to be played back like a video. It’s also slow since the following frame must overlay or merge with the prior frame’s ‘disposal version.’ Secondly, because the animation is ‘looped,’ it must be restarted from the beginning.

As a result, most GIF animation programs read the entire animation and prepare it before beginning to animate it. Instead of being of very high quality, they are frequently engineered to be as compact as possible to ensure a quick download.

Conclusion

Web banners come in a few basic sizes that are commonly used in marketing, while GIFs may be made in any size and with a variety of color depths. This allows us to create GIFs with various file sizes and durations. The file size and frame rate, however, are what are truly important.

The longer the animation is, the larger it will be and the longer it will take to load. GIFs with a frame rate of more than 15 fps won’t come close to the file size of a GIF with similar dimensions and effects.

The size of the GIF should be as small as feasible because pictures on a webpage take time to download and we don’t know the speed of the user’s connection. The average file size is 20 kilobytes, although animations of up to 500 kilobytes may also be suitable.

References

  1. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1470412914553365
  2. https://dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.1145/2964284.2967195
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