Export to Animated GIF Dialog Box

Using the Export to Animated GIF dialog box, you can export your scene, or an excerpt of it, as an animated GIF image.

Animated GIFs are a portable format commonly used for exchanging short animations and clips on the web. They can be played in any web browser and in many image viewers.

Animated GIFs are a convenient sharing format, but they are not a publishing format. They are not as optimized for fast download and playback as movie files, cannot contain audio and, most importantly, can only contain up to 256 different colours throughout the entire animation. Hence, if your animation contains textures or gradients, it is likely to lose quality when exported as an animated GIF, as Harmony will have to limit the amount of different colours used in the exported image.

NOTE For steps on how to use the Export to Animated GIF dialog box, see Exporting an Animated GIF.

  1. In the top menu, select File > Export > Animated GIF.

    The Export to Animated GIF dialog box appears.

Parameter Description
Output

Output

 The full path and file name of the GIF file to export.

Browse

Opens a dialog allowing you to browse to the desired export directory and enter the desired file name.

Display Source

Export from Display Node

Allows you to select the display node from which to render your scene.

NOTE If there is no Display node in your scene, the only available option will be Display All. This renders all the nodes in your scene, including ones that are not connected to anything. You can add other Display nodes to your scene and connect them under specific parts of your scene to be able to render these parts only.
Export Range

All

Exports all the frames in your scene.

Frames

 Allows you to specify a range of frames to render.
Resolution

Resolution list

Lets you specify a resolution to export in relative to your scene's actual resolution:

  • Same as Scene Resolution: Exports a movie in the same resolution as your scene's resolution.
  • 3/4 of Scene Resolution: Exports a movie at 75% of the scene's width and height.
  • 1/2 of Scene Resolution: Exports a movie at 50% of the scene's width and height.
  • 1/4 of Scene Resolution: Exports a movie at 25% of the scene's width and height.
  • Custom: Allows you specify the preferred resolution of your exported video file, in pixels, in the Width and Height fields.

Width

If you selected the Custom resolution, use this field to specify the width, in pixels, of the exported movie.

Width

 If you selected the Custom resolution, use this field to specify the height, in pixels, of the exported movie.
Options Options

Dithering

Since GIF images can only have up to 256 colours, you have the option to add dithering to the rendered image. Dithering blends pixels of different colours where the image contains gradients to simulate colours that do not exist in the GIF image's colour palette.

  • None: No dithering will be applied. Each pixel rendered is rendered with the colour in the palette that is the closest to its actual colour.

  • Diffusion: Blends pixels in irregular patterns to blend pixels and simulate the colour as closely as possible.

  • Pattern: Blends pixels in regular checkered patterns to simulate the colour without created clusters of pixels.

Loop

 If this option is checked, the exported GIF animation will loop when previewed in web browsers and other image viewers that support animated GIFs. Otherwise, it will only play once and stop.