And More: How To Pronounce "GIF"

I find it amazing and entertaining that this is still debated, I almost don't want to clear things up... but I suppose with only this little post on this lowly blog that is mostly about games (with the odd article on editing), I won't really change things.. so here'goes:


The reason this came up at all, was I was looking around for more recent ways to create Animated GIFs, possibly with free applications, just to change things up from JASC's Animation Shop (which I have been using from years ago). I found some tutorials for using GIMP and amusingly found huge discussions/arguments on the pronunciation of GIF (Graphics Interchange Format).

Eventually, to clear things up a bit, I answered someone's question/comment about GIF (and GIMP) on one of the tutorial videos, at YouTube:

"GIMP is pronounced "gemp" because the G comes from GNU, which is pronounced "guh-new", hence it is a 'hard-g'. GIF is pronounced "jiff" because it comes from the computing term Jiffy (unit of time), not the word in it's name 'graphic'; because unlike a static picture, a GIF must utilize "time" to display itself :) " ~Me

[Although it can be argued that GNU can be pronounced "new" (like the animal), the G from GIF still does not come from that etymological standpoint, it comes from the term "Jiffy", as the unit of time, as the picture requires time to be displayed]

There was even a helpful link in the video information section, put up by the tutorial/video creator, linking to a page that explains it all, by a Steve Olsen:
http://www.olsenhome.com/gif/

So there you go, and feel free to ignore the Canadian coming out of me at my spelling of "pronounciation" (how we say it)...

This has been a Public Service Announcement by The Game Tips And More Blog

GTAM Minute Tutorial - Editing Textures (Repairing A Deleted Branch In Leaves) with The GIMP

Playing around with editing textures for Minecraft (Tutorials on how to do that Coming Soon!) something happened that I think others would run into - it was a pretty minor/specific thing, but I'd like to share what I did and how I fixed it, just in case anyone ever runs into this little problem.

The GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program, changed from General Image Manipulation Program) is a free editing application that is quite capable to stand up against most of the functions of Adobe's Photoshop and similar programs. Using it to edit the general Leaf texture portions of Minecraft's texture source, I accidentally selected and deleted a section of branch. Wanting to change the colour anyway, I replaced it but then thought that this might be something that could happen to other people, especially those new to graphic editing. I wanted to erase it again and record what I had done to repair the poor deleted branch and share it.

Perhaps for you it was deleted and then the file was saved, or perhaps you didn't notice it until a later step, where it was then inaccessible as a layer or similar problem. No matter what the situation, if anyone happens to run into this specific minor misfortune or even similar, it has spawned what will now become the first in a new series of videos I'd like to start, called Game Tips And More Minute Tutorials.

GTAM Minute Tutorials will be very short (60 seconds or less!) instructions showing how to do something very specific. I don't mean completing a quest or mission, I mean one thing, or at least a small number of steps, that complete one specific task. It may be editing or troubleshooting (the "And More" portion of this blog's namesake) or it may be how to jump high or shoot something in a specific game. Whatever it may be, in this time of short attention spans (who doesn't get crabby when the computer takes more than a second to do what you just told it?), all the tutorials/walkthroughs will be less than one minute. Really. Guaranteed! Not really.

In this tutorial, I show how to easily replace a deleted branch in a photo of leaves. That is something pretty specific; but the concepts presented, such as shading, blending and some general GIMP usage can be applied to many other situations and projects as well:

It is played back at 4x speed and states the steps being taken and basic concepts behind them. Being very specific in nature, not a lot of extra information is given, but this video is targeted towards people already editing [Minecraft textures for instance] and familiar with programs and games such as GIMP and Minecraft.
(I would like to do a full tutorial on how to extract, edit, import and save your own textures for use in Minecraft in the future)

Recorded with: Bandicam
- 'Rectangle On A Screen', 'For Edit Premiere/Sony Vegas' Preset
- 1280x720 (720p HD), 60fps, no Audio
- compressed to 720p, 30fps, 10Mbps, h.264/AVC for smaller upload size


Check back for more Game Tips And More Minute Tutorials in the future and See you in the games!