FAQ
What is an animated gif?
A gif or in our case an animated gif is a type of image file format, sort of like the .JPG or .JPEG files that come out of most consumer photo cameras. While there are many technical differences which you can read all about on Wikipedia if you wish, the main idea is that an animated gif can have multiple image frames which can animate at different speeds. Sort of like mini videos without audio, which can play without requiring a separate player or plug-in. Gifs have the file extension .GIF or .gif. Gifs will animate immediately when viewed in a web browser, most email clients, and operating systems, without the need to download or install anything.
How do you get started with WeGIF?
Just go to the Create page and select one of the three options. You can create gifs by taking snapshots from your webcam or uploading a few different photos from your digital camera and combining them into an animation right on the site. At least 2 photos or snapshots are needed in order to create an animation. Play with changing the speed and timing of your animation and when it feels right, click the Done button.
How do I get my webcam to work?
For a webcam to work properly on the Create page, it must not be simultaneously used by any other program. This means you can’t have Skype or some other similar program running at the same time. If you still can’t see your camera in the Create From Webcam screen, you may need to change the default camera used by Adobe Flash Player. The following article was written for Mac people but it applies to everyone and will tell you how to select a different camera until you find a working one: Troubleshooting Mac Computers With iSight.
What can I make with WeGIF?
Animated gifs can be used in a variety of ways. Just look at the Browse page on WeGIF.com to see what others are making. Here are few examples.
- Create a family pictures slide show.
- Making faces at your webcam to show your current mood.
- Send a thumbs up message to a friend.
- Capture a funny scene and repeat it over and over.
- Show a how-to with multiple steps to illustrate a task.
- Use the animated gif medium to add more to a photo through motion.
- Use photos from different angles to make a scene look more 3D.
Why animated gifs and not video or just photos?
Most likely we will have a long article about this topic since we are very passionate about it, but the quick idea is that it really represents a unique expression medium, quite different from the other two. Consider this:
High quality video takes considerable effort to produce. You need a good camera, microphone, editing equipment, lots of time and even something clear and concise to say, or you may end up with a boring clip that nobody other than you cares to see or even has time for. Just go on YouTube and try to watch 2 star videos. As a culture we’re exposed constantly to high production values and people expect a lot more from a video than what you can do with your own webcam at home in 5 min time.
Photos are great but they fail to convey action, movement and time to the degree that a video can. Often we take a lot more photos than we publish because adding 15 photos of the same scene to a gallery won’t add any more value. You probably picked your best one to share in the first place anyway, but kept all the other ones.
Animated gifs can be created very quickly. You can tell a story without a script, you can make something beautiful move, you can edit on the spot through timing changes and make something funny. You can make faces and share them with the world without sounding stupid. You can try things, without wasting time.
More to come soon; there’s a whole science to this! 
Here’s an article about this topic using some examples.
How should I take photos specifically for gifs?
There are really two broad gif categories, a gif scene or a gif slide show. For slide shows it really doesn’t matter, just make sure you pick a long enough delay between the frames when making the gif so that it doesn’t overwhelm the viewers.
For shooting a scene with movement, the only rule is to try to keep the amount of change between the frames as small as possible.
For example:
- Try to keep the camera in the same spot if capturing a subject.
- If panning, only move small increments in each frame.
- Don’t bob up and down unless you’re intending for this effect.
- If you can’t help a sudden jerk, you may want to slow down the timing for that frame.
- If your camera or cellphone supports it, try switching into continuous frame mode.
Experience is really the best teacher, so just experiment and observe your creation. Try speeding up and slowing down the animation to see what works best. Soon you will learn to take multiple frames that will assemble nicely in a gif.
I have older photos, can I make gifs with them?
Definitely! If they are scanned and already on your computer, you should be good to go. If the frames are completely different in nature, pick a much slower slide show speed. The default speed may be too fast in this case.