Is it possible to insert an animated image into Mathematica notebook?

Question

I find it very convenient to use Mathematica notebooks to organise the codes + results.

I was wondering if it is possible to insert an animated image (say an animated gif) in the middle of a notebook.

(I tried dragging and dropping an animated gif into a notebook, the gif itself was created using Mathematica. Mathematica Import[] s it and I see a bunch of images in the notebook). This suggests, one solution namely using a Manipulate[] or Animate[], with those bunch of images. But is there an less tedious and more elegant way?

Thanks!

Answer 1

The credits go to belisarius and the Mathematica help (ref/format/GIF), but I thought the comment would be worth an answer.

Import["ExampleData/cellularautomaton.gif", "Animation"]

Answer 2

Unfortunately I don't know of any simple and convenient ways.

You can import the GIF first:

frames = Import["http://i.imgur.com/ivfdq.gif"];

Then you can use ListAnimate to get an animation:

ListAnimate[frames]

For completeness I'll mention that pre-6 versions could also animate. Scan[Print, frames] will give you each frame in separate cells. Now close the cell group by double clicking its bracket and press Ctrl-Y or Ctrl-Shift-Y to start the animation. This still works in version 8.