GIFMAKING FOR BEGINNERS

GIFMAKING FOR BEGINNERS 

as requested! this is a super super detailed tutorial for the a-z of gifmaking basics, starting from getting photoshop & downloading hq movies/videos alll the way to tagging & scheduling your gifsets on tumblr for max interaction. if you’ve wanted to get into gifmaking but feel intimidated or you don’t know where to start, this is the tutorial for you!!! making gifs might seem overwhelming at first, but with practice, it’s quite easy to get the basics down. for reference, this post is up to date as of nov. 2020. please rb if this helps!

TUTORIAL UNDER THE CUT:

software needed

how to download hq movies/videos

screencapping

importing to photoshop

cropping & resizing

animation

gif speed

actions

sharpening

coloring

text

exporting the gif

fixing gif speed

captioning gifsets

how to tag gifsets on tumblr

when to post gifsets on tumblr

other helpful tutorials/resources! 

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baby girl i cut pears in ways you couldn’t imagine

There is truly something to stepping away from the arguments on-line in fandom over stupid stuff (important matters still discussed, but the non-essential stuff can go) that has brought back my passion for Star Wars. I was so burned out on all the stupid fucking discourse, all the snippy vagueblogs aimed in the direction of fans like me, all the racing to the least compassionate take one could find, all the leaping to treat real people like crap over fictional characters. But I stepped back for a few months. I spent a couple more months in other fandoms. I took my time on-line down to a fraction to focus on IRL projects and recovery from family stuff. And when I wandered back into the thick of it again, I was going back with the idea that my time was more important than wasting it on stupid arguments or people who cared more about fictional characters than they do about real people. I have my friends that I vibe with, I don't need to care about what new Star Wars says or does, my only job with Star Wars anymore is to find the things I enjoy. If I don't like something, boom, it's gone from my mental landscape, it's garbage and I don't care if other people love that garbage, I don't want it in my house, it's outside now. As cliche as it is, taking time to step back, not even fully leaving, just distancing myself for awhile, then coming back with the mindset of "enjoy it or don't, I don't have to take any of this into my mental landscape of what Star Wars is to me", has allowed me to find that love again. Tell fandom to fuck off, but then you actually have to take that garbage out of your mind, too. It's garbage, you don't need to argue with it, you don't need to adapt it into your house decor, you don't need to acknowledge it beyond bagging it up and taking it outside, whether it's fandom nonsense or something stupid Star Wars itself did. Take a break, find something else to do for a month or two, and it might help you realize, oh, you can hit the bricks if something sucks. Even if you stay with the rest of Star Wars, you don't have to get into that nonsense over there, just like the movies you like, the shows you like, the books you like, and genuinely ignore the rest, it no longer exists. You can just stick with your five friends to discuss things with, you can just make your own content about the parts you do like, that's all fandom needs to be. And doing that has made me love Star Wars all over again.

One thing that caught my attention while watching The Phantom Menace in the theater, a movie I didn't expect to find anything new with after how many times I've seen it and analyzed it, was that Sidious mentions multiple times that he has to change his plans to fit the new circumstances. It got me to thinking about how Palpatine gets credit for his carefully crafted plans, but often times not for how flexible he is in changing them on the fly, especially in time travel fics where someone destroys one of his plans and that's the end of it. Which, I'm not advocating against, I love a good Take That Wrinkled Walnut The Fuck Down However You Gotta Do It fic and I don't want them to change! But in canon Palpatine makes note of things he's not expecting, like:

When Valorum sends the Jedi as ambassadors, it's not part of Sidious' plan: DAULTAY DOFINE: This scheme of yours has failed, Lord Sidious. The blockade is finished. We dare not go against the Jedi. DARTH SIDIOUS: Viceroy, I don't want this stunted slime in my sight again! This turn of events is unfortunate. We must accelerate our plans. Begin landing your troops. NUTE GUNRAY: My lord, is that… legal? DARTH SIDIOUS: I will make it legal. NUTE GUNRAY: And the Jedi? DARTH SIDIOUS: The Chancellor should never have brought them into this. Kill them immediately!

On the Trade Federation ship, after Queen Amidala has disappeared from Naboo, Palpatine originally planned that she would be forced to sign the treaty, and then brings in Maul to deal with this. DARTH SIDIOUS: And Queen Amidala, has she signed the treaty? NUTE GUNRAY: She has disappeared, My Lord. One Naboo cruiser got pat the blockade. DARTH SIDIOUS: I want that treaty signed. NUTE GUNRAY: My Lord, it's impossible to locate the ship. It's out of our range. DARTH SIDIOUS: Not for a Sith. This is my apprentice. Darth Maul. He will find your lost ship.

On Naboo, after Padme allies with the Gungans: NUTE GUNRAY: We've sent out patrols. We've already located their starship in the swamp....It won't be long, My Lord. DARTH SIDIOUS: This is an unexpected move for her. It's too aggressive. Lord Maul, be mindful. MAUL: Yes, my Master. DARTH SIDIOUS: Be patient... Let them make the first move.

Palpatine's plans aren't static, they adapt and change with the events that happen, just as the other characters react to new information and head in new directions for it, so too does Palpatine and I think it's interesting to note that part of what makes him such a good villain is that he has an outline for what he wants to do, he sets up the dominoes of what he needs, but even when they don't fall precisely into place, he generally gets what he wants. He originally intended that Padme would sign the treaty, the Jedi wouldn't be involved, and that would lead to a vote of No Confidence to oust Valorum, using the sympathy for Naboo as a way to boost himself into the position. But he didn't really need her to sign it and still managed to use the sympathy for Naboo to get elected, it ultimately didn't matter what happened to the planet, so long as it was in danger while he needed it to be, he could use it either way. Nor, honestly, do I think he ever planned for Anakin Skywalker's existence, he had no idea they would find such a boy on Tatooine or how useful he was going to be, that was another way he changed his plans once the opportunity arose. Or a lot of his plots in TCW--he has Cad Bane steal the list of Force-sensitive children and kidnap them, bringing them to Mustafar for some sort of program to use them probably not too unlike how he uses the Inquisitors later. That plan is foiled by the Jedi, the babies are returned to their families, and Sidious' plans fall through, but that doesn't really change the outcome. tl:dr: I don't think Palpatine gets enough credit as a villain whose plans shift and change along with the new events that happen, just as much as the heroes' plans shift and change when new things happen. Yeah, he's a great villain because he creates an impossible trap for people, but also because the thing about him is that he's incredibly charming and charismatic and he knows an opportunity when he sees one, that any one given plan might fall through, but it's not necessary to his overall plot.

"Nothing in Star Wars is consistent anyway, make transportation take however long or short a time as the plot requires, half-ass logistics like the writers do, make your own canon and do whatever you want" I constantly say to other people yet I act as though in my own fanfic if I don't learn everything there is to know about the interiors of Star Wars ships, refrigeration, technology, and the economy in order to determine exactly what equioment a cargo ship carrying medicines would have I will simply DIE

late night study