Can't Add GIF to Observation

Bug Reports
1

Platform: Website

Browser: Chrome

I’ve been trying to add a gif to this observation: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/370486907 , but every time I get this message:

294
2941364×993 176 KB

The gif is 8.31 MB. I’ve tried adding the gif to another observation and get the same message.

2

8 MB is a lot.

3

8Mb is well within iNat limits - individual images cannot be greater than 20Mb.

There are two ways to upload to an existing observation on the web - have you tried both?

  1. Click on the image icon under the existing images and then choose the gif to add (I have found this a bit hit and miss with gifs).
  2. Click on Edit (top right) and add the gif there. I have found this works, though you may need to wait a long time for it to load.
4

Are you trying to add an animated GIF? Recent discussions on this Forum have suggested that animated GIFs are not well received in iNaturalist observations and are discouraged, at least by a part of the iNat population (including me). I don’t think there are any prohibitions for animated GIFs but they elicit diverse and conflicting opinions.

5

If that (animated gif) is the case I’d suggest putting the short clip on a Peertube instance (or YouTube if you trust them) and then linking to it in the description.

6

GIFs aren’t officially supported, so there’s no guarantee that they will work.

7

GIF upload is very finnicky. Generally larger ones won’t work. Smaller ones may require multiple attempts or there may be something about a specific file that the uploader doesn’t like - try resizing it slightly or some other minor edit.

See previous threads discussing this:
How to upload GIF files?
I can’t upload GIFs because of “Loading metadata” that doesn’t finish

8

I’ve never had problems uploading animated gifs before, and I’ve uploaded some that are very close to 20 MB (although, granted, they do take awhile to upload). For this specific gif I’ve made it, cropped it, and optimized it at least twice, and waited a couple weeks before trying again.

I’ve only ever done the 1st option. I’ll try the 2nd and see if it works.

9

Are you able to upload it as a new observation?

10

The 2nd option cause a time out:

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2951233×836 31.7 KB

11

No, it generates the same ‘Failed to save record’ error.

12

I don’t know how you’re generating your gifs. If you’re not using GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program), then try it out. It’s free :-) Download the package for your OS.

  1. Then open the gif in GIMP.
  2. You may get an error message at the bottom that a frame or two is corrupted, which may be the problem. Gimp just leaves those frames out.
  3. Then click on File → Export as…
  4. Choose gif under File type
  5. Click on animated and leave the rest of the settings as is
  6. Rename the file so that it’s different to the original
  7. Gimp will then save as animated gif, which takes a while.
  8. You’ll see a window come up that says “Delay inserted to prevent evil CPU sucking resources” - just click OK.

Try uploading the new gif.

I have not had any problems uploading gifs since I started using Gimp. Though I had loads of problems before when using other processes.

You also need a good internet connection.

13

I’ve had the same error in the past with a .gif file I generated on my Samsung phone.

My workaround was uploading my video file to https://ezgif.com/ and generating the .gif file from there instead.

Additionally I assume you could upload your already generated .gif and make some change to it on that same site, then try upload the new modified output version to iNat

14

I was able to add some gifs to: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/375339092, but then I got the same error.

I actually use https://ezgif.com. I would try GIMP, but unfortunately my laptop is running out of space.

I’ve tried this and still get the same error.