how to add a gif

Sometimes your plot needs a celebratory gif.

I have just finished the vizwhiz module for #RYouWithMe and to top off the series I worked out how to add an RLady Wizard to our final plot.

Just so I’ll remember for next time, here is a step by step how to…

knitr::include_graphics("beachwiz.gif")

how to add a gif to your ggplot

1. Install the magick package and load it with ggplot. Install and load the beepr package too so you can have RStudio beep at you when it has finished rendering your gif (it can take a long time).

library(ggplot)
library(magick)
library(beepr)

2. Plot your graph and use ggsave to save it as a .png file

raintemp %>%
    na.omit() %>%
    filter(beachbugs > 500) %>%
    ggplot(aes(x = rain_mm, y = beachbugs, color = temp_airport)) +
    geom_point() +
    geom_smooth() +
    theme_classic() +
    scale_colour_distiller(name = "Temp (C)", palette = "RdYlBu") +
    labs(title = "Mean enterococci bacteria levels at Eastern Suburbs \nbeaches as a function of rainfall and temperature", 
         subtitle = "only day > 500", 
         caption = "data from https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/beachapp/report_enterococci.aspx", 
         x = "Rainfall (mm)", 
         y = "Mean enterococci levels")
    
 ggsave("beaches.png")

knitr::include_graphics("beaches.png")

3. Find a gif you like and save it as a .gif file. Read the image files into Rstudio.

knitr::include_graphics("ladywiz.gif")

beachplot <- image_read("beaches.png")
wizgif <- image_read("ladywiz.gif")

4. Make a composite image that puts the beach plot and wiz gif together. Use the offset to move the gif.

frames <- image_composite(beachplot, wizgif, offset = "+600+200")

5. Animate the frames and write to a new gif. It will take ages, so you might like to install the beepr package and add a beep to alert you when it is done. The default sounds is a “ping” but if you like mario, try beep(sound = 8)

animation <- image_animate(frames, fps = 10)
image_write(animation, "beachwiz.gif")

beep()