GIF fanciness!

This bonus VizW(h)iz lesson is a shout-out to R-Ladies Sydney cofounder Lisa Williams. Back in May, she tweeted:

Your wish is our command, Lisa! [pun intended!]

We are quite certain that you’d appreciate knowing how to perform this whizzy wizardry, so here you are: a step-by-step guide to adding a gif to a ggplot!

A step-by-step guide to adding a gif to a ggplot

  1. Install the magick package and load it with ggplot. While you’re at it, install the beepr package (you’ll appreciate this at Step 5!).
library(ggplot)
library(magick)
library(beepr)
  1. 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")
  1. Find a gif you like and save it as a .gif file. Read the image files into Rstudio.
beachplot <- image_read("beaches.png")
wizgif <- image_read("ladywiz.gif")
  1. 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")
  1. 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()

Voilà!

GIF-enhanced ggplot!

Next up- MarkyMark