On a mobile? Click here to see the animation
https://365project.org/discuss/tips-n-tricks/31387/cinemagraphs-on-365
This was quit an experience!
@Scrivna Ross' upload script does some strange things to animated gifs with fixed backgrounds, like this one. They are called cinemagraphs by the way. I used an old animation uploaded back in 2015 that works fine
https://365project.org/projectx/365/2015-10-03 as a starting point. Every time I replaced the images with new ones the 365-upload went crazy. I got half images almost entirely black or white without the animation working
https://365project.org/mastermek/365/2017-03-28 I knew the gif was fine because it worked everywhere else.
It took me while to figure out what was happening.
This is what I did:
I started with the LSD animation (4 frames). It worked like a charm after upload.
I replaced the last frame with a new image. It still worked fine. Hurray.
I replaced the first image with a new one. It still worked.
I replaced the second last image. Bang. It seemed the second last frame was causing problems. It didn't make a difference which new image from the animation above I was using.
Again, I started all over and replaced the images one by one from the first frame to last. This time the animation only stopped working when I changed the last frame. Again, this last frame could be any picture but the ones from the animation above. What?!
The preview of the bad animation was half the orininal height, mostly pitch black. But I could see all the non-transparent elements from the last frame in my PS document which was strange because the GIF didn't have transparency enabled.
So I flattened the last frame in my PS layers and added some text on top the floor on the lower side of the image. Wow. The animation was still corrupt but the text showed up in the thumbnail which was now higher but not square yet.
I figured it had to do something with 'updated' pixels in the last frame. In my cinemagraph the lower side is a fixed background. Each pixel is exactly the same in each frame. Each pixel in the last frame that was different from the second last frame showed up in the preview.
So I changed the upper left pixel and the lower right pixel to white and the preview was now the full height of the animation. Still mostly black though. But now the animation was also working! That was the breakthrough.
Things to remember:
For a successful upload of a cinemagraph the last frame is crucial. The bounding box of all the pixels that differ from the second last frame determines the size of your preview and whether your animation will work. They MUST be the same size so you will have to change the upper left and lower right pixels of the last frame.
If you don't care about the preview you can leave it at that. The preview will only show the difference between the last and the second last frame but the animation will work.
If you like a preview the two frames must be completly different. Doing so will make the last frame your preview. I did accomplish this by by darkening the last frame with 2%. This affected all pixels which you can see if you look closely at the animation above. It will 'flicker' a bit at the last frame. It's a bit annoying but it increases the hypnitising effect :-)
Also remember not to go larger than 1024 [UPDATE 07-2019: Max size is now 926]. pixels if you create an animated gif. 365 wil downscale your gif and make a jpg to use instead of your original animation.
Don't go smaller than 640 either. You can try but it will probably break your preview. I don't know why and I didn't look into it.
The preview in 'latest photo's' or monthly overviews will never animate. You will always have to click on the image first.
The animation won't work on a mobile since you cannot click an image to 'view on black' anymore (I remember it used to work in 2015). It will work on an iPad.
And finally, if you like to include the animation in a discussion, use the link under 'share & more options' as normal. Then alter the 'src' inside your img tag with the correct link to the animation. You'll find that link by right-clicking your (working) animation and selecting 'copy image location'. The correct link should end with .gif instead of .jpg. This one, copied to a discussion, will work on a mobile too.
Happy animating!
