Cool new GIF maker app from Google Research
6Hi, Google Research has a very cool looking app for making auto-looping gifs from the iPhone’s Live Photos feature.
From the blog:
Today we are releasing Motion Stills, an iOS app from Google Research that acts as a virtual camera operator for your Apple Live Photos. We use our video stabilization technology to freeze the background into a still photo or create sweeping cinematic pans. The resulting looping GIFs and movies come alive, and can easily be shared via messaging or on social media.
It’s planned to be rolled into other Google products once it’s fully tested.
One of the sample gifs:
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No Android?
@jbartus It wouldn’t be the first time!
@jbartus it’s sorta taking advantage of the semi-useless “live pictures” feature on ios…
@jbartus Really? I thought the post was pretty darn clear on that point- it depends on a particular feature that is only available on select iPhones. Once the technology is proven, it’ll get rolled into Google Photos at least.
@jbartus
@dashcloud but is it available on android now?
/giphy tongue in cheek
@mfladd
Stay classy!
Here’s what’s going on.
Google makes some awesome stuff. But they still only know one way to make money.
Apple makes great hardware and has a great operating system, but sometimes i think no one in the UI/UX department actually uses their own stuff. Apple also knows lots of ways to make money.
Every year, reports show that more people are on Android, but more work is getting done on iOS. Apple devices just get used more.
Apple had its first revenue did in ten years, and still made more money than Google, Facebook, and Microsoft combined.
So this is google’s problem: most folks surveyed prefer Google maps over Apple maps, but Apple maps is still used more, simply because it’s the default map on iOS.
Google’s strategy therefore is to constantly remind folks that they have cool stuff that works on iOS. Apple users will see this, realize that Google spends as much time contemplating the usefulness of their competitor as they do on moonshots, and maybe next time you’re in East Butt Nebraska and need to find a coffee shop, you’ll use google maps instead of the one that came with your phone.
Here’s a thought piece about Amazon, but in it, Ben talks about how google’s strengths and apple’s strengths complement each other.
https://stratechery.com/2016/podcast-episode-081-we-have-always-been-at-war-with-amazon/
When the iPhone first came out, Steve Jobs came right out and said that Apple was not going to compete with Google in the services realm because that wasn’t their strength. But he forgot that google’s ceo was on Apple’s board.
Another good column on why different companies are good at different things.
https://stratechery.com/2016/the-curse-of-culture/
Podcast pro tip: Marco Arment’s Overcast has the best audio fine tuning. Can play most everything at 2x and still understand everything. Knock out that hour-long podcast during a 30 minute commute.
https://appsto.re/us/jhe90.i
@MehnofLaMehncha Also I see it has volume boosting. Somehow my car plays podcasts just low enough that when a big truck is near on the highway it drowns out the podcast. Checking this one out, thanks!
@MehnofLaMehncha East Butt Nebraska is lovely in the spring.
@MehnofLaMehncha Trust me, staying classy is not something anyone will ever accuse me of.
Google photos already creates gifs of my photos when taking in a series.
Yeah that’s what it immediately reminded me of. Not sure what “Apple Live Photos” are.
@trisk
Based on what I’ve heard and seen (nobody I know uses it though), you can record a few seconds from after a picture is taken, and when you tap on it, it plays back the video to make the picture “come to life”
@FruityFraug correct. If it’s turned on it will automatically record (video and audio) a few seconds before and after you press the “shutter” button. The thumbnail image will be the photo you took and if you press it you’ll see the full live photo.
@Ignorant
Wasn’t aware of the recording done before you capture the picture. Hmmm…
@FruityFraug yes so most live photos are videos of the phone being raised into photo taking position and then lowered back down.
My kids love Live Photos. Basically a low rez 3 second movie using a 12 megapixel photo as the thumbnail.
But the only use case I can come up with for anyone older than 6 is capturing lightening.
The camera is recording but not saving regardless of whether you clicked the shutter release. So when you click a pic, you’re then retroactively saving the 1.5 seconds before you clicked.
So, aim it at the clouds, click as soon as you see the lightening bolt, and you probably caught it.
Only benefit over video is that you’re not creating huge files that have to then trim and cut.
Having said all that … just realized … maybe maturity wise, I’m not as much over 6 as I thought I was.
This app takes all the live photos that you and I probably almost never look at and brings those clips to the front. I now have so much weird looping ‘found’ video - it is awesome
I’m slightly disappointed in limited features of stock Google Android camera app. Why rely on 3rd parties for time-lapse, for example.
it does decently cool panoramas and such but that’s about it
is there a good app for chromebook to make gifs from downloaded photos?
// Based on what I’ve heard and
// seen (nobody I know uses it
// though), you can record a few
// seconds from after a picture is
// taken, and when you tap on it, it
// plays back the video to make the
// picture “come to life”
Actually, lots of people use it, in the sense of taking pictures using it. Problem is looking at them. That’s where no one knows how to use them. Not intuitive to click and press a photo, and the giphyness is stripped when you post them anywhere.
Great example of Apple thinking they did something cool but then not following up to tweak it based on user experience. Huge problem with them lately. 90% Eddie Cue’s fault. He’s the services guy.
@MehnofLaMehncha Either I still can’t figure out how to do it, or the iPhone 6 just doesn’t do it.
I’m not bothered because all the iPhone photos i take are for work stuff, but I’d play with this app sometime for fun.
@djslack only on the 6s and 6s Plus (3D Touch phones)
@MehnofLaMehncha
I was referring to the people I interact with on a daily basis.
When I said that, I was taking into consideration that many people may not realize that they are using it. However, just because you are using it, if you don’t actually view the live photo, I don’t know if it can really be considered “using it” (or at least, not in the full sense).