Embedded Files
GIFs don’t get nearly enough love in sign language linguistics! They’re a powerful way to capture signs in motion, delivering information that’s quick, clear, and visually engaging. Here is all the information you need to create easy, accessible GIFs for your presentations and manuscripts!
Advantages
Advantages
No supplemental media needed (just drop in the presentation)
No action or clicking needed to activate it (unlike movies)
Repeats to your liking
Easily shareable
Can be a quick reference
Smaller file size
Do not need an external software to play the media
Croppable; less bulky than videos
Pitfalls
Pitfalls
May be distracting if left to loop infinitely (but there's a way to make it loop finitely!)
Video quality may be compromised
More effort to produce GIFs from videos
GIF makers
GIF makers
See guides for each below!
Canva: A user-friendly, high-tech GIF maker that functions similarly to iMovie and other similar video editors. You have to have an account.
EZGif: A bare-bones GIF maker, a bit less user-friendly, but allows you to be more exact with your gifs. You do not have to have an account. IMPORTANT: EZGif allows you to dictate how many loops your gifs can have: a powerful presentation tool!
Be sure to check for these common mistakes:
Be sure to check for these common mistakes:
Is this video private or public? Always be sure to use publicly available videos.
(Lexica & corpora, Youtube, publicly available social media)
Are the hands fully visible throughout the GIF, without touching the edges?
Is there too much space above the head or below the elbows?
Is it too fast or too slow?
EZGif
EZGif
My personal favorite - an easy, no-fuss GIF maker. Here’s a quick video of my typical workflow.
EZGif workflow.movDownload a .mp4 or .mov file
Upload onto EZGif
Convert to a .gif
Trim start and end times
Crop
Adjust speed
Set number of loops
Download to a dedicated gif folder
Canva
Canva
Google Sites
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