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N.A.N.Y. 2015 / NANY 2015 Release: apng2gif and webp2gif
« on: December 31, 2014, 08:24 AM »
NANY 2015 Entry Information

Application Nameapng2gif and webp2gif
Version 1.0
Short Description Batch-convert animated PNG and WebP images to GIF
Supported OSes Windows
Web Page a bit more about the software
Download Link apng2gif.exe and webp2gif.exe
System RequirementsNothing special, just Windows 2000 and later
Version History1.0 for apng2gif and webp2gif.
(The other 4 conversion tools -apng2webp, gif2webp, gif2apng and webp2apng - were available since summer.)
Author https://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?action=profile;u=27425


Description
Check out these 3 animated pictures (actually 2, because I cannot upload a .webp as an image apparently - despite the png extension, it is a WebP).

campfire.gifcampfire.png

I bet you can't. That's because the companies behind the 3 most widely used internet browsers are unable to reach a consensus about what file format should web designers use for simple animations. There is GIF, but that is limited to 256 colors, the compression is not stellar and it does not support full alpha. Then there is animated PNG introduced in Firefox years ago. Adopted by Opera, but who cares now, right? Chrome did not want to lag behind, but for reasons unknown to me and apparently many others, instead of adopting animated PNG, they created their own format WebP. Firefox (of course) refused to adopt WebP. Internet Explorer (as always) plays dead and does not care about innovation, so neither animated PNG nor WebP is supported.

So, here we are. If you want to have a small animation with more than 256 colors or full transparency channel on your web page, you are in trouble. You can either give up on the quality side and just use GIF. Or, if you absolutely want the best quality, you can prepare 3 separate files and pick the right one on the web server depending on the web browser used by the visitor (you can also do it on the client side with javascript, but eeek).

Here, webp2gif and apng2gif come to help you. If you decide to use for example WebP as the primary format for your graphic assets, you can use webp2gif to quickly generate GIF alternatives for all WebPs.

The tool(s) can scan all files in a folder and convert them. There are ways to skip already converted files so you can re-run the same command after you have made changes to your animations and it will convert just the changed/added files. It can also skip all non-animated images.

Either command line switches or hacky renaming tricks can be used to adjust the behavior of the tool. More info on the home page (or just ask in this thread).

Features
Converts animated images in PNG or WebP format to GIFs for those conservative Internet Explorer visitors to your website/blog.

Planned Features
Open to suggestions.

Screenshots
Command line tool, so nothing to see here.

Usage
Installation
Not needed.

Using the Application
You can either use it from a command line or you can drag and drop files or folders on it.

Uninstallation
Delete it.

Tips
Rename it, put it on the desktop and drag and drop folders with animations on it.

Known Issues
All issues are still unknown.


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N.A.N.Y. 2015 / NANY 2015 Pledge: apng2gif and webp2gif
« on: December 18, 2014, 02:03 AM »
Hi all,

The web-designers among you already know that using an animated asset in your web page design is a pain. We have GIF (supported by all browsers, but limited to 256 colors and 1bit transparency), animated PNG (supported by Firefox) and animated WebP (supported by Chrome).

If you actually want to have an animation with semi-transparency (smooth edges, something appearing or smoothly changing from one thing to another thing, ...) on your web page, you have a big problem. You have to serve different files to each browser.

Earlier this year, I made some command line tools for batch-converting gifs to animated pngs and webps and now I am thinking the opposite direction may actually be more useful. The scenario I am imagining is this:
* you create your animations in WebP or animated PNG using full colors and smooth transparency
* you run a command that coverts all WebP or PNG files to GIFs and places them into the same folders <- that would be the NANY
* you use browser-specific CSS hacks (or PHP) to serve the right files for the user's browser
* profit (max. quality of your design for as many people as possible)

So, what do you think, is it worth doing? Would you use it?

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Living Room / Game (& reviews) industry's silent scandal
« on: September 02, 2014, 07:42 AM »
So, have you heard yet about Zoe Quinn and her little escapade and the massive sh*tstorm it turned out to be in the last two weeks?

If not, go ahead and search for youtube for 'quinnspiracy' or just her name. Or start for example from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKmy5OKg6lo and click your way through the ton of material there is now.

The worst thing is, I do not know what game review site is at least a bit trustworthy. I was a visitor on firingsquad, but that ended years ago, later I liked gamespy, but that is now closed also. Most of the other popular sites are publishing propaganda articles, nobody seems to concern themselves with professional journalism ethics or just common sense.

V.

(you may find https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqtPB94LyPA funny, but only after you know what was happening)

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Developer's Corner / Looking for the best widget for numeric input
« on: April 25, 2013, 03:41 PM »
Hi guys,

I have a problem, I cannot design a good control for numeric input and I need your help. Look at these concepts I have drawn - they suck.
The classic Windows controls are marked by 0, possible alternatives are marked 1, 2, 3, 4.

number-control.png

My goal is to have a widget for numeric input that:
1. works with keyboard - at least as good as the "classic" edit box with spinner
2. works with mouse - quickly adjust value by dragging something/clicking somewhere; ideally, it should be possible to somehow specify "good" numbers like 100, 10, 5, etc. with mouse (imagine doing that with a normal slider - it is not trivial to select exactly "30" if your slider goes from 1 to 100)
3. works with touch input - areas that need to be touched must not be tiny
4. looks good - good presentation of current value, simple design without too many distracting or eye-hurting details

My question: Do you know a program with a great widget for numeric input?

Thanks for all opinions.

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Announce Your Software/Service/Product / RealWorld Paint 2013.1
« on: March 21, 2013, 11:16 AM »
Hi coders,

a new version of my freeware image editor is here. This time, the big new feature is vector layers. There is also a new tool called Shape that is similar to the Pen tool in Photoshop (= allows you to create arbitrary shapes from Bezier arcs). There are also a couple of simplifications in the user interface, which should lower the sensory overload new users may experience.

My goal for this version was to make the software usable for semi-professional logo designing and I have a good feeling about it. While it is no Corel Draw or Adobe Illustrator, the results you can get from it are often good enough. I also improved the .psd codec - it now understands vector masks in Photoshop files and can import them as vector layers.

Here is a screenshot showing my adaptation of Hally's Robo Cody. It consists of a couple of vector layers with layer styles applied and the shading is in a separate raster layer.

editing-cody.png

I have no video showing the latest version in action, but here is one I recorded few months ago with a beta version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMjtuKnwZyU More tidbits in my blog.

Download at the usual place: http://www.rw-designer.com/image-editor
You can pick an installer (digitally signed for the first time) or a portable version. No adware ;) !

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