I vote for gif's. But only if they are good.
This could be going from detail to humor (similar like what Rey described)

I agree with you that quite often, some gif's get overloaded by votes while they shouldn't. But doesn't that go for some crappy non-gif's aswell?

Fact: A lot of people here do nothing but 'vote + next image' button-clicking.

Few weeks ago, I got someone commenting on my entry: 'sorry out of votes'.
I updated my image a few minutes before that. There were 26 images in the contest.. 25 votes to spend. Go figure...
I looked at my other votes and compared them and noticed that some others follow the same voting-pattern.

So I simply stopped posting here

To hell with crappy vote-power. I rather get 5 votes from ppl who actually have a look at it, then getting 40 from those who just vote for anything that fills their screen-display.

Blah.

Lol, i'm done now...

For once I agree with The202... j/k I do think that people have the right to vote for whatever they want to vote for. That absolutely should have been in the pole and it would probably have the most votes... (especially if you animated the choice or somehow made it shiney).

I couldn't care less about the quality of a gif if it makes me laugh. For that mater, I couldn't care less about the quality of a static image if it makes me laugh. The one thing that is a certainty at this site is that the voting will always be what it is and all the whinning in the world is not EVER going to change it. I say get over it or find a way to control the mind of the voter... good luck with that.

On that note... here are just a few of my own gifs...
http://photoshopcontest.com/view-entry/105922/pow.html
http://photoshopcontest.com/view-entry/94957/beam-me-up-back.html
http://photoshopcontest.com/view-entry/68270/display.html
http://photoshopcontest.com/view-entry/98493/and-his-number-is666.html
http://photoshopcontest.com/view-entry/50760/display.html?nocache=1

I don't think Sean's whining, I think it's an interesting discussion.

I suppose voting sort of levels itself out between those who are mesmerised by a little movement, and those who steadfastly refuse to vote for gifs under any circumstances.

Gifs are chops. Sometimes significantly more difficult than a static chop. All mine start big, and I chop as though it is a normal static entry. Attention to detail/shadows/reflections etc.

This one was a static entry at first.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b230/bigbuckster/redlight2.jpg

I thought it was a tad boring so it became this...


So I could have entered this one as a jpg. But instead, I spent quite abit of extra time trying to coordinate these different lights turning on/off at different times.

I had to do quite a bit of perspective change/clean up work on this source.


and then I had to try to animate it with a realistic looking movement and realistic looking shadows. Again, done at high res, like any normal chop, and then a whole lot extra work on top to get this.

Even a stupid gif like this one...


from this source


...required cleanup/reconstruction work, done at high res


Sometimes this sort of stuff is overlooked when looking at gifs.[/img]

I agree bigbuck. I wasn't picking on anyone. I just think that anytime anyone complains about or poses concerns about voting is undertaking a useless endeavor. I've been posting gifs at this site for 7 years. The complaint used to be that people posted gifs in the first place and I dubiously pointed out the FACT that image ready is as much a part of photoshop as the clone stamp. There have been many people (long gone) who posted nothing but gifs. I don't even have a problem with people who continuously post sh*tty gifs. Like anything, it is a learning endeavor. Some even actually improve. As for voting, anything goes and always will unless we figure out how to do what the republicans did back in 2000.

I even did what you did once. I started with a static chop and thought it was too boring so I animated it for a comic effect. It only animates once, which is unique as gifs go, but the effect was as desired. There is even a link to the original static version...

http://photoshopcontest.com/view-entry/95580/web-cam.html

Yeah thanks for that... I'd put that up there if I could. BTW you did in fact just participate.



where have you guys been? You think this is some sort of rant about me loosing a contest and bitching I didn't win or something?
get serious.

like buck said, I wanted to have a discussion about something different. A whole different animal here at PSC. THE GIF. And the special treatment we seem to give it...

when it comes to this entity. we seem to have a few different styles when it comes to viewing them and voting for GIFS
1) those who will not vote for them no matter what
2) those who will vote for anything that moves regardless of quality
3) and those who judge gifs in the same exact way they vote for their static images (regardless of how THAT may be)

because after all they are your votes, I'm not arguing that here or bitching about who or what you put your stamp of approval on.

I would just like to see static images get a fair shake instead of loosing to something that if it wasn't moving wouldn't have even competed with it. But alas as Jerry & 202 have eloquently said... that will always be the mentality around here. AND because of that people will always rest on knowing if they have no skill, they can just animate it. Cause I'll still get great results!

again, I'd love to show the examples of really bad work that i've been seeing lately that has been placing in the top three... (and I have not participating in these contests mind you) so I was just curious....

carry on.

i vote for gif's because ...of the time it takes to create them....

as long as it looks good enough to 1 be believable or 2 not crappy
and i respect the usual gif artisted here alot

I don't disagree with anything here. in fact I've done the same exact thing with some of my best gifs. they start as static images, then I end up animating either for comic effect or just because there were too many of that kind of image going already...

all I wanted was a friendly discussion about how you look at these gifs and what criteria if any you use to vote on them. I'm really not asking for people to stop voting for them ok.

I hope that you do not think that I was picking on you Sean. I wasn't. I just think that anytime anyone starts a thread about voting for any reason is pissing into the wind so to speak... and this thread did start out about voting (hence the loaded poll).

I do think that this topic is interesting for different reasons or I wouldn't have chimed in. I happen to like gifs and will always vote for the ones I really like. I don't care about quality anywhere near as much as I care about theme or idea. That holds true for any image as well. It's just that gifs have a much greater site restraint which makes them exceedingly more difficult to do well.

As for thinking that you were in any way complaining about loosing a contest or any other kind of similar rant, I didn't, nor did I elude to it. There was a time when several people (also long gone) who posted nothing but illustrator pictures (pictures created in illustrator), which received the same sort of negative vibe. Some were very well done and others less so. As for the voting it was equally as disheartening as any other voting around here. Go figure!

I voted for what I like to see.
Don’t care about text like: 12 hours of work, 500 layers… etc.
Couldn’t care less… it’s the result at the end what I like or don’t like. Either it is a gif or a static.

Conclusion: I like it here big time

Maybe it is a good idea to make a ‘gif-day’, once @ the month… And I don’t know anything about gifs. But I respect the gif(makers) and like the idea.

Just my 2 (euro)cents…

(Sometimes, as in this case, I like to tell you what I really think, but the language stopped me).

It's just the same as voting for a static image for me. If I like it, I'll vote for it(not that I do much voting lately). And I defiantly wouldn't vote for something just because it was animated.
I hated GIFs when I first came here. I sort of seen it as cheating. After being here a while and realising that you do get some great ones with a lot of work gone into them I thought I'd give it a go myself!
Some of my mine I like:
http://photoshopcontest.com/view-entry/131602/breakintransmission-gif.html
http://photoshopcontest.com/view-entry/112941/infinite-growth-gif.html
http://photoshopcontest.com/view-entry/97582/catch.html
Good thread btw!

I didn't think that you were... and we both know that it would be futile to try.

Great gifs!!! and I agree this is a good thread 'cause normally I wouldn't be up this late.

ok we're cool. I'm glad this is being discussed though.

and you should know, i love great gifs idea or otherwise. I love making them too. they are a passion of mine. I too started just like anfa hating them. but grew to love them after trying them myself.

I like the idea of a gif day. I think that would be fun!!!
maybe thats the best idea out of this whole thread.

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