The ubiquity of animated GIFs on the Internet is sure to be familiar to anyone who spends a lot of time on the web, and while the image format lends itself perfectly to quick hits of animals doing funny things or people paying an often times humorous price after making a questionable decision, GIFs can also be very useful tools.
News outlet websites have been using them for years to trim the fat and show only the most important information. Did an athlete do something unbelievable? Use a GIF to show the exact moment it happened. Was there a police chase that ended in a spectacular crash through a store window? Put the window crash in a GIF and bring the reader right back to reading the story.
A GIF has the ability show a lot of information quickly and in a simple format, which is the exact reason why, as ArchDaily reports, they can make such useful tools to improve an architect’s project presentation. In fact, ArchDaily has come up with seven different ways animated GIFs can be applied to and improve upon a presentation.
In the same way a GIF can be used to show the exact moment the athlete hit that milestone homerun or precisely when the car crashed through the window, architects can also use GIFs to eliminate all the extra data and focus attention on the main asset, ArchDaily’s Danae Santibañez explains.
As a presentation tool, animated GIFs can be used to exhibit:
- Context
- Design concept
- Spatial relationship between levels
- Detail
- Program
- Construction and structure
- General project view
For example, to show the context in which a building will exist (meaning the specific surrounding environmental characteristics) in one drawing can quickly lead to something more closely resembling a page out of a Where’s Waldo book than architectural plans. An animated GIF, however, can clean up and simplify the presentation while still showing the crucial information:
GIF courtesy GRND82 via ArchDaily
While GIFs may have a bit of a never-ending duck season/rabbit season debate going on with how to pronounce the word (is it a hard <g> or a soft <g>?) that even the creator of the format was unable to completely settle, their usefulness as a presentation tool to aid in clean, simple project presentations is not quite as contentious.
Read the full list of ways to use animated GIFs in presentations here.
Related Stories
BIM and Information Technology | Feb 24, 2016
5 tips for creating photorealistic architectural renderings
Storytelling, authenticity, and detail are vital to producing lifelike project artwork, according to a digital art specialist.
Augmented Reality | Feb 17, 2016
Startup Meta unveils holographic augmented reality prototype
The startup is an underdog in the AR battle but has a range of investors and fans.
Game Changers | Feb 5, 2016
London’s ’shadowless’ towers
Using advanced design computation, a design team demonstrates how to ‘erase’ a building’s shadows.
Game Changers | Feb 4, 2016
GAME CHANGERS: 6 projects that rewrite the rules of commercial design and construction
BD+C’s inaugural Game Changers report highlights today’s pacesetting projects, from a prefab high-rise in China to a breakthrough research lab in the Midwest.
Drones | Feb 3, 2016
A new volume measurement tool makes drone imagery easier to analyze
DroneDeploy’s latest app is available for all mobile devices.
BIM and Information Technology | Jan 27, 2016
Seeing double: Dassault Systèmes creating Virtual Singapore that mirrors the real world
The virtual city will be used to help predict the outcomes of and possible issues with various scenarios.
BIM and Information Technology | Jan 26, 2016
How the Fourth Industrial Revolution will alter the globe’s workforce
The next great technological metamorphosis will be unlike anything humankind has experienced before, due to the sheer size, speed, and scope of disruption.
Great Solutions | Jan 20, 2016
Skanska’s new app helps construction teams monitor and meet environmental quality standards while renovating hospitals
App allows users to track noise, differential pressure levels, vibration, and dust
Augmented Reality | Jan 19, 2016
Will Generation Virtuals' office be a pair of glasses?
A waning need for office buildings may be on the horizon, thanks to the possibility of working remotely via new technologies like Google Cardboard, writes HDR's Rachel Park.
BIM and Information Technology | Dec 21, 2015
Laser scanning and in-shop prefabrication a boon for the WellStar Paulding Hospital
Contractor Brasfield & Gorrie’s use of BIM and prefabrication on the Hiram, Ga., hospital shows how digital tools can lead to savings, safety, and better construction.
