14 DAY TRIAL // Imgur is throwing out how it has looked at GIFs so far and rebuilding it from scratch. Say good bye to the old GIF format and welcome Project GIFV.
The company is bringing the iconic looping video into the modern web by converting the files on the fly straight into MP4 videos for better quality.
The converted MP4s are significantly smaller than their equivalent GIFs, which allows for faster loading and better quality, while also lowering bandwidth usage, which is particularly helpful for mobile users.
Basically, the MP4 videos will look and behave exactly like regular GIFs, but you will certainly notice from now on that they load much faster, they’re crisper and clearer and even bigger.
New 50MB upload limit
Not only is Imgur introducing Project GIFV, but it’s also allowing users to enjoy the benefits of it by increasing the traditional upload limit of 5MB to a massive 50MB, which opens the door to huge quality boosts.
The content is also getting optimized for social channels. Basically, uploads to Imgur will now fully animate on channels like Twitter and Facebook, thus allowing the sharing of the full GIF experience throughout the social media sites.
“Consistent with how Facebook and Twitter display video across their platforms, we'll be appearing with a ‘play’ button. We'd love it to appear without a play button but unfortunately we have no control over that,” the company told Softpedia over email.
The .GIFV extension will signal all converted MP4s. “The intention is to signal to users throughout the Internet that these links will feature a GIF experience that incorporates all the current and future enhancements made through Project GIFV. Imgur plans to submit an accompanying specification to relevant standards organizations before the end of the year,” the announcement reads.
As Tim Hwang, head of special initiatives at Imgur, points out, the GIF format was never intended for animation in the first place. On that note, the company’s new project is reimagining the looping GIF video with all the richness it deserves as a key piece of Internet culture.
Imgur isn’t the only one embracing MP4s over the traditional GIF format. A few months back Twitter announced that it would start accepting GIF uploads straight up on its platform, rather than via a link from Giphy. What the company didn’t reveal from the get go was the fact that the GIFs were actually MP4s which the company used for their speed and heightened quality.