Dex Blueberry
Animations > Info & FAQ
F.A.Q. (Fully Anticipated Questions)
- Read the Terms of Service
- Message me on Telegram (preferred) or send an email
- Send original PNGs of desired stickers and description of what animation you'd like
- Pay invoice (Stripe for UK/EU, PayPal everywhere else)
- Wait patiently...
- ???
- Results!
If you don't care about technical details, there's nothing really of note.
Animated stickers are made from vectors, video stickers are just WEBM videos.
Chances are, any static sticker you may have is a PNG, which is made of pixels, while
vectors are instructions on how to draw shapes.
Pixels and vectors aren't interchangable, so I must convert your static stickers into vectors if you
wish to have an animated sticker made.
Video stickers are easier to make since they're also just pixels, meaning you can skip the whole
process of making everything vectors, but then you don't get a high quality result.
| Animated Stickers | Video Stickers |
|---|---|
| Pricier | Cheaper |
| Infinite Quality | Limited to 512px |
| Smaller filesize | Larger filesize |
| Rendered in real time losslessly | May have compression artifacts |
| Limited effects | Any effects |
| Limited gradients | Complex gradients |
| Can only be 30 or 60 FPS | Any framerate |
| Complex stickers may degrade performance | Playback can be slow on the mobile app |
Creating animated stickers is no easy task. I'm required to take the static sticker given to me,
chop it up into layers (making sure to fill in any gaps), then I must convert these layers into
vectors, and then I can finally animate them. Many limitations are imposed by Telegram, such
as no images, no effects, and the final product must be below 64KB.
Unfortunately, converting to vectors isn't an easy task either. You're essentially telling the
computer to interpret a bunch of pixels into a smooth line. Sometimes it gets it right first try,
sometimes I stay awake late at night pulling my hair and questioning why sticker artists use gradients
and thin lines.
While video stickers are less restrictive, I still have to go through the process of chopping up layers and meeting a strict 256KB limit.
After all this, I should be compensated for my time, thus I try to set my prices fairly.
TL;DR: It's not easy.
Many factors can determine this, but it's best to ask me if you are unsure.
I'm a motion-tween animator, meaning that I move things around instead of drawing frame-by-frame.
I have very limited artistic ability outside of that.
Ask yourself this question: can the animation I want be feasibly done by transforming what has
already been drawn? If not, you should consider commissioning a new sticker from a
partnered artist, as they can provide me with additional art to aid the animating process.
I'll animate pretty much anything except for certain fetishes or things outside my skill range.
There's no shame in asking, and I can keep commissions private if you wish.
I tend to put off working on things. For what reason? Even my therapist isn't 100% sure.
My theory is that I get burnt out really easily, and my work lives rent-free in my head,
contributing to that burn-out. (Yes, you can get tired without even doing anything.)
I feel that if I don't provide a service up to par, I would've let people down, so I end up not letting
people commission me in the first place, as I have very high standards for myself.
If you have any tips on how I can fix this habit, please reach out! Mental health is a serious issue
that gets overlooked. Artists are humans too.
Woah woah woah, slow down there buddy. I can only handle so much! I'd like to slowly increase my workload over time, but there will be limits on how many stickers I can take at once. Best check my Trello queue first before commissioning me with a lot of stickers. My commissions aren't strictly on a "first come, first served" basis, so be warned that commissioning a high amount of stickers will take a lot of time to get through, and I may wish to refund them depending on how I'm feeling.
Unfortunately static, animated and video packs are seperate and cannot be mixed.*
Use /newanimated to create a new animated pack (for .tgs files) or /newvideo to create a new
video sticker pack (for .webm files).
*As of April 2024, the mobile app can mix sticker packs of different formats together.
Create an animated/video pack with the sticker you wish to add, then preview the pack you wish
to add it to, tap the plus button, then select the sticker from the pack you created.
Animated stickers can be turned into video stickers without issue, but video stickers cannot be turned into animated stickers because of how the format works. If you need a PNG sequence, Animated PNG, MP4 or GIF (etc), I can do those too.
Of course! If you have an animated sticker then you'll probably need it converted to another file format, just ask!
Unfortunately there's no real way to combat this on Telegram. I've done my best effort to
watermark my animated stickers by inserting a comment in the code which can be viewed
when uncompressing and reading the sticker file. The best thing you yourself can do is advise
people who use packs containing stolen stickers to stop spreading them and instead seek out
the original sticker packs, as people usually don't realise that these packs are harmful to artists
(where credit is missing).
Sidenote: I may make a bot that will help you find the source of a sticker. If you make animated/video stickers and this interests you, let me know so that I can help track your work.
When I can get off my lazy ass and edit a video together, sure.
Stripe is a trusted payment processor that I use for domestic payments (UK/EU), as it has lower
transaction fees compared to PayPal. Payments are handled via a link sent to your email.
No signup is required.
First off, that ain't a question, that's a statement.
Secondly, you can contact me for any enquiries you may have.