Animated GIFs…

[PerspexSphinx]

Hi there…
this is my fist post and my first question.

Why do so many e-reader programs (at least on android) not display animamated GIFs in epubs (2 or 3)?

The only one that I have found that actually shows animated GIFs "animating", is MIXplorer's eBook Reader's PDF add-on (adds EPub, MobiPacket and PDF reader capabilities).

[Aleron Ives]

Generally speaking, EPUB was designed to replicate the capabilities of a printed book in an electronic format. Animations do not exist in paper books, so even though EPUB does technically support animated GIFs, most developers might not even think to implement them, since that's generally not something you would find in an e-book.

[Quoth]

Also they are really annoying, so most readers of novels are glad they don't work. Harry Potter is fiction.

I don't think epub2 supports animated gifs. Amazon has over 90% of the English speaking ebook marked and the KDP upload works best with epub2. They don't support transparency or animation.

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by Aleron Ives

Animations do not exist in paper books, so even though EPUB does technically support animated GIFs, most developers might not even think to implement them, since that's generally not something you would find in an e-book.

Flip books?

(But animated GIF in an ebook would be annoying.)

[PerspexSphinx]

> Animations do not exist in paper books…

Actually animations do exist in paper books, known as Flip Books and they have a rather colourfull history.

Flip Books - Museum of the History of Science:

http://www.mhs.ox.ac.uk/exhibits/fan...n-toys/kinora/

History:

http://www.flipbook.info/history.php

> Also they are really annoying…

Isn't that a matter of opinion?
Ideally if your reader supports animated GIF's there sould be an option to just show the 1st frame (or pause on any frame you like), to display it as a static illustration, so that it dosen't "annoy you".

But enough about that, is it only available in epud 3?

[Quoth]

Flip books are a novelty item. They are not really books as such, just a non-film method of animation. One GIF, video or MPNG is equivalent to a flip book.

And yes, video or a gif that can't be stopped on a web page you are reading is evil and extremely annoying!


I think epub3 supports animated gifs, it certainly supports video, animation and interaction, but then few devices will play it. An app is easier to publish. Amazon has over 90% of English language ebooks and normal kindle formats won't support it. Regular ebooks published as ebooks via the main channels don't support animation.

Either you are doing

• A novel
• A text book
• An Audio book
• A mixed text and stills
• Some kind of graphic novel
• A video/movie
• A interactive multimedia system
• A game

A novel with animation or video doesn't work.
The odd animation might work in a text book.

[theducks]

And e-ink would suck power if there were animations (prevents standby between page turns)

[Aleron Ives]

Even if simulating flip books were the goal, animated GIF wouldn't really work for that purpose. A flip book can be flipped both forwards and backwards at a speed chosen by the reader. Animated GIF only plays in one direction and at a fixed speed.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by theducks

And e-ink would suck power if there were animations (prevents standby between page turns)

Originally Posted by Aleron Ives

Even if simulating flip books were the goal, animated GIF wouldn't really work for that purpose. A flip book can be flipped both forwards and backwards at a speed chosen by the reader. Animated GIF only plays in one direction and at a fixed speed.

Both very excellent points.

[PerspexSphinx]

> a gif that can't be stopped on a web page you are reading is evil…

Of all the things about this world which could truely be considered evil, animated GIF's in epubs are, I think, the least of our problems.

One could always put a warning label in the frontispiece or something so as to not lure the reader into the dark side of moving illustration. Or perhaps the cover could have a gentle (subtle) animation, so that the reader's sensibilities are not shocked when they delve deeper.

> A novel with animation or video doesn't work.

I obviously disagree.

> Either you are doing:
…Some kind of graphic novel

Yes, precisely, something like that (I hear they are quite popular). I was just wondering if it was technically possible to have animated GIFs augmenting the story and if so, why hardly any ereading programs seem to support it.

Now, it appears from what has been so eloquently said, that it can be done in epub3. It is just not very commonly done, am I correct in this understanding?

In which case, which ereading programs do support it, since if it is part of the epub3's standards abilities, shouldn't it be supported?

> The odd animation might work in a text book.

To this… I agree entirely.

> Animated GIF only plays in one direction and at a fixed speed.

Isn't this dependant on the player. OmniGIF for android (Cucumber SW) can change speed, pause, play forward and backward etc.

> And e-ink would suck power if there were animations (prevents standby between page turns)

Ok, this I did not know. Would this still be true for subtle animations? Or the newer e-ink screens?

[theducks]

> And e-ink would suck power if there were animations (prevents standby between page turns)

Ok, this I did not know. Would this still be true for subtle animations? Or the newer e-ink screens?

e-ink spins the balls that make up what you see. You can remove the battery (models that allow) and the screen stays as last set.

Yes, they have done video on e-ink. But they were not worried about power consumption then.
My non-lit readers ran for WEEKS of use (WiFi OFF).
Long time reading between charges is WHY e-ink is so good

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by PerspexSphinx

> Animated GIF only plays in one direction and at a fixed speed.

Isn't this dependant on the player. OmniGIF for android (Cucumber SW) can change speed, pause, play forward and backward etc.

I don't think any ereader app supports that. An Android app would be better (and need not use the cluncky GIF format). I've written animation SW and it's not hard. Also iOS and Andriod have free frameworks to do that sort of thing, easier to distribute an app than an ebook that's not really an ebook.

Originally Posted by PerspexSphinx

> And e-ink would suck power if there were animations (prevents standby between page turns)

Ok, this I did not know. Would this still be true for subtle animations? Or the newer e-ink screens?

Yes, and newer screens might take more power. Doing nothing on eink takes no power, if front light, BT & WiFi is off. Changing content on eink can take more power than LCD, and if you want to avoid ghosting and have the full grey scale (Kaleido colour is a filter on a regular panel) you have to erase the entire screen (gives a flash) and redraw it which is 55ms for very power hungry controllers or a 150ms for regular panels, at absolutely best. OLED and LCD can update a pixel in 0.3ms or less and LCD or OLED can refresh the screen at 200 fps (5ms) with zero flicker. Faster non-eink than 200 fps is possible.

Just because something is possible in epub3, or any platform, doesn't mean it's a good idea.

Yes, there are evils millions of times worse than stupid web pages or bad design decisions on ebooks, but that doesn't give a licence to add small evils to the world.

[PerspexSphinx]

Did Maren Uthaug and Misha Hoekstra with the book… The Bright Side add "another small evil to the world"?

The Quest for the Animated GIF Ebook | by Maria Hagsten Michelsen | Medium

https://medium.com/@mhmichelsen/the-...k-31161a3b03fd

The book is available on the Kobo book store, but at $19.99 I can only afford to downloaded the preview and guess what. The Kobo app on my phone doesn't show animated GIF's but rather the animations frame by frame à la Flip Book style. Which is quite charming, but not what I was expecting.

I'm getting confused, I was expecting actual animated GIF's…