#also idk if it's noticeable but i'm experimenting with my sharpening and coloring

[aliciavikander]

Hi Szabina! I wanted to ask you a somewhat technical gifmaking question but it's totally okay if you don't want to answer, i simply don't know if you answer these kinda questions or not.

You are one of the few gifmakers I follow who has really quality edits --regardless of color settings etc, which is sth personal i think. I really like gifs that similarly look like when we're watching that scene, sharp but like smooth sharp. Like a 4k quality of tumblr idk.

I'm new to gifmaking game, and i've found some people kindly sharing tutorials, and i've been experimenting on ps too. But i haven't quite figured out that 'smoothly sharp' thing. I had a 4k video, and it looked really shitty --like pixels-- when i sharpened it so edited it without sharpening settings but it still didn't look the way i hoped, and i'm not sure if it's about coloring or contrast etc either. And at this point i guess adding grain woulf make it even worse? Idk

So I was wondering if you could have any advice on that or perhaps you know some people here who have tutorials on that kind of details. I'm constantly trying stuff myself but i'm one of those people who best learn with some guidance so i thought i just asked.

Thank you for yor time in any case ✌🏻

Hi! Thank you for your nice words, and let me start by saying I'm really bad at explaining stuff, so I apologize if I say something confusing and feel free to send me an ask again if that happens <3

First, there are a few questions that popped in to my head: which version of PS are you using? (i have cs5) Do you use clips or frames? And how do you normally sharpen your gifs?

You usually don't really have to sharpen 4K clips a lot since it's already pretty sharp and clear. But when I do work with them I just sharpen them with my regular sharpen settings (put it under the cut) and then I adjust the opacity if it's too sharp.

What I've noticed over the years that the more adjustment layers you use the more "grainy" or "lossy" your gif will be. It could be that you have a lot of adjustment layers? Idk if you use brightness/contrast layer but too much of that will also have a negative effect on your gif. I usually use exposure or levels instead.

Since I don't see your gif it's pretty hard to tell the root of your problem tbh. If you want to, you can come off anon and send me a link/screenshot to it or something (I will answer to your privately and I promise I won't judge or anything <3).