GIFs are used to illustrate documentation and visualize information as well as show step-by-step processes.

Getting Started

• You can use two different softwares to create GIFs: Camtasia or Snagit. We recommend using Camtasia, as it produces better results.
• If you haven't done so already: download your preferred program from the software center and familiarize yourself with it.

Working with Snagit

1. Open Snagit and select > .

2. Select a random part of the screen (your selection should be brighter than the rest of the screen).

3. Capture Width: 1280 x 720

4. Press Start Recording.

5. After you have showed what you wanted to show, the Snagit Editor opens.

6. If you want to cut a piece of the video, you use the regulator: Use the red or green extension and mark the part you want to cut. Make sure the video is still consistent and has no hard breaks (e.g. the mouse jumping) after you've edited it.

7. Select .

8. Activate and click .

Uploading your Gif

Prerequisites:

Make sure you have installed your personal share on RDP server:

Mapping your personal folder on the RDP Server

Action:

• Add your file to your personal share.
• Import the gif like you would import an icon (make sure the correct buildable map is visible). Upload it to the CMS by selecting LowRes.
• If you want to add it to a topic use the Oxygen Editor. Simply put the cursor where you want to add the gif in your topic.
• Right click on image (Recent Operations) > Oxygen Editor > Insert as Image
• Add a title: <figure><title>This is a gif</title>.

Working with Camtasia

Prerequisites:

You need to buy a licence for Camtasia.

Recording the GIF

1. Open the and click on 1280x720. This way, Camtasia will not record the entire screen but just a small portion of it.

2. Adjust the window showing the screen you want to record to match the Camtasia selection. Make sure you cannot see the bookmarks or anything else apart from the service itself in the window.

3. Click on record:

4. A countdown will count back from 3: Start to move your mouse and showcase the functionality you want featured in the gif. If you are done select .

Editing the Gif

Prerequisites:

• Make sure to have installed the SAP presets for Gifs in Camtasia: you find them in the UA Dashboard.
• After installing you should see them in Camtasia:

Actions:

1. When you are done, will open automatically. If not, open it. In you will find your recording.

2. Right click .

3. You now have two tracks, Audio (Track 2) & Video (Track 1).

Select Track 2 (Audio only) and delete this track. A gif does not have audio anyways, but we want to make sure the finished file is as small as possible and therefore we do not need audio.

4. Cut: if you have made mistakes, you can cut your video. In order to do that, select the controller on either the green or the red flag and pull until you have selected the part you want to delete. Press Entf or Del or select.

5. You might want to show the users in more detail what they need to do. Therefore, use Zoom:.

This part is very interactive. In the window you can scale and decide which part of the video you want to show: The space shown is highlighted in white:

Depending on where the regulator is positioned, this part of video will be zoomed in. For zooning out, just increase the white space again. Put the regulator where you want to video be increased again and increase the window in View.

6. : Gifs always fade in from black and fade out to black. .

Select and drag it directly onto your video in Track 1 at the beginning at the end. You need to add the effect twice. Camtasia will show you where you can put the fading effect by marking the spaces in yellow. Drag and drop the effect. Camtasia will highlight the space in green:

: if your recording is too slow, you can speed up certain parts or the entire video.

Note: If you want to speed up only a certain part in the middle, you need to cut the part into a separate section first. Put the regulator at the start of your section and press the symbol marked in red in the image below. Your video is now cut in two pieces. Put the regulator at the end of your section and press the same symbol again. You now have three parts. Select your middle part, right right click and choose .

You see an additional orange bar. Select the little clock icon on the right and move and enlarge or reduce the clip.

: If you have reduced the clip speed, the clip will no longer need 6 seconds (as an example). Make sure that all your clips follow right after another in the Track 1 bar, or else you will have breaks into between. This is how it is not supposed to look like:

Just click on your third part and push it against the end of your second part. It should look like this now:

8. After the editing process, select .

You should see, this window -- if not click

Select Reduce frame rate to 15 (this will make the gif smaller) and select .

In this next window, do not change anything. If you have recorded correctly, it will show 1280x720. If you select that now, your clip will no longer work, as it will be zoomed in. Select .

Ideally, your gif should have .

Uploading your Gif

Prerequisites:

Make sure you have installed your personal share on RDP server:

Mapping your personal folder on the RDP Server

Action:

• Add your file to your personal share.
• Import the gif like you would import an icon (make sure the correct buildable map is visible). Upload it to the CMS by selecting LowRes.
• If you want to add it to a topic use the Oxygen Editor. Simply put the cursor where you want to add the gif in your topic.
• Right click on image (Recent Operations) > Oxygen Editor > Insert as Image.
• Add a title: <figure><title>This is a gif</title>.