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Downloading my artwork - Thumbnail/Animation issues
a year ago
I keep getting notes/comments/etc about my animation files not playing when downloaded/saved, or only the thumbnail is downloaded. So, rather than continue to address each one individually, I figured it was time to make a journal I could link back to.
Custom thumbnails on FA are still very broken and have never worked in my time on the site (since 2017). I just have a clever workaround. There's actually only one image file containing both the CW and the full image which have been assembled into an animated PNG file. That animated file is actually set to skip frame one (the CW) but the automatic thumbnail generator doesn't understand this and thus uses the CW image as the thumbnail. Your browser does understand this though so it skips frame one (the CW) and displays the only other image in the animated file, that being the full image without the CW.
When you download the PNG file onto a Windows, Mac, Iphone, Android, Etc - almost all pre-installed local photo viewers don't understand APNG as it's typically only used on the web (hence web browsers do understand it). So, you're going to see the thumbnail and not the main image, just as the thumbnail generator on FA does. If you want to see the full image, you need something that does understand APNGs like Irfanview.
This is due to the very same thing. I rarely use GIF as I want to do custom thumbnails, I want the MUCH higher quality of APNG, and I upload animations over 250~ frames which when done with GIF break the thumbnail generator on FA entirely. So, what you are downloading is the full animation file itself in a singular .PNG file. And again, Windows, Mac, Iphone, Android, Etc - almost all pre-installed local photo viewers don't understand APNG as it's typically only used on the web (hence web browsers do understand it). So, you're going to see the thumbnail and not the animation, just as the thumbnail generator on FA does. If you want to see the full animation (which will skip the thumbnail just like your browser and play the animation), you need something that does understand APNGs like Irfanview.
https://www.furaffinity.net/journal/10626591
https://www.furaffinity.net/journal/10535480/
How am I doing custom thumbnails?
Custom thumbnails on FA are still very broken and have never worked in my time on the site (since 2017). I just have a clever workaround. There's actually only one image file containing both the CW and the full image which have been assembled into an animated PNG file. That animated file is actually set to skip frame one (the CW) but the automatic thumbnail generator doesn't understand this and thus uses the CW image as the thumbnail. Your browser does understand this though so it skips frame one (the CW) and displays the only other image in the animated file, that being the full image without the CW.
When you download the PNG file onto a Windows, Mac, Iphone, Android, Etc - almost all pre-installed local photo viewers don't understand APNG as it's typically only used on the web (hence web browsers do understand it). So, you're going to see the thumbnail and not the main image, just as the thumbnail generator on FA does. If you want to see the full image, you need something that does understand APNGs like Irfanview.
Animation files are not playing when I download them?
This is due to the very same thing. I rarely use GIF as I want to do custom thumbnails, I want the MUCH higher quality of APNG, and I upload animations over 250~ frames which when done with GIF break the thumbnail generator on FA entirely. So, what you are downloading is the full animation file itself in a singular .PNG file. And again, Windows, Mac, Iphone, Android, Etc - almost all pre-installed local photo viewers don't understand APNG as it's typically only used on the web (hence web browsers do understand it). So, you're going to see the thumbnail and not the animation, just as the thumbnail generator on FA does. If you want to see the full animation (which will skip the thumbnail just like your browser and play the animation), you need something that does understand APNGs like Irfanview.
How can I make custom "thumbnails" using APNG?
I wrote a whole guide on it and put that in a journal you can find on my main account here:https://www.furaffinity.net/journal/10626591
How can I upload animations with APNG?
Again, I wrote a big journal on my main account you can find here:https://www.furaffinity.net/journal/10535480/
The_GMan
~thegman
Uh! This is like the first time I'm hearing someone else that uses Irfanview to view stuff locally 😎
