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When I make an animation of Plot3D using ListAnimate it looks decent. But when I export the same frames with Export, the z-axis tick labels jump back and forth. Here's a minimal example:

f = Table[
  Plot3D[(1 + Sin[2 \[Pi] t]) E^(-(x - Sin[2 \[Pi] t])^2 - (y - Cos[2 \[Pi] t])^2),
    {x, -2, 2}, {y, -2, 2}, PlotLabel -> t, PlotRange -> All, ViewPoint -> {-2, -2, 1}]
, {t, 0, 0.95, 0.05}];

ListAnimate[f]
(* looks OK *)

Export["f.gif", f, "AnimationRepetitions" -> \[Infinity]]
(* looks bad *)

enter image description here

Any idea how I can get Export to behave like ListAnimate?

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    $\begingroup$ Try a fixed PlotRange, like {{-2,2},{-2,2},{0,2}} instead of All $\endgroup$ – flinty Jul 8 '20 at 2:26
  • $\begingroup$ @flinty But what if one just needs PlotRange->All? $\endgroup$ – xzczd Jul 8 '20 at 2:49
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    $\begingroup$ @JimB The weird thing is the changing height of the z-axis doesn't cause ListAnimate the same problem where the ticks switch back and forth from the left to right side. Luckily @TimLaska's answer fixes the problem. $\endgroup$ – Chris K Jul 8 '20 at 3:21
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    $\begingroup$ @ChrisK But just using PlotRange -> {All, All, {0, 2}} gives the desired result with ListAnimate and Export (Mathematica 12.0, Windows 10). $\endgroup$ – JimB Jul 8 '20 at 3:30
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    $\begingroup$ It might be that several things reduce the jumpiness. Just adding in SphericalRegion->True reduces the jumpiness in ListAnimate. So does adding ImagePadding -> 30 (by itself without SphericalRegion). $\endgroup$ – JimB Jul 8 '20 at 3:44
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You could try adding ImagePadding and AxesEdge to prevent the axes from jumping around.

f = Table[
   Plot3D[(1 + 
       Sin[2 π t]) E^(-(x - Sin[2 π t])^2 - (y - 
           Cos[2 π t])^2), {x, -2, 2}, {y, -2, 2}, PlotLabel -> t,
     PlotRange -> All, ViewPoint -> {-2, -2, 1}, 
    ImagePadding -> {{40, 0}, {0, 0}}, 
    AxesEdge -> {{-1, 1}, {-1, 1}, {-1, 1}}], {t, 0, 0.95, 0.05}];

ListAnimate[f]

Export["f.gif", f, "AnimationRepetitions" -> ∞]

enter image description here

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  • $\begingroup$ Seems that ImagePadding isn't necessary? $\endgroup$ – xzczd Jul 8 '20 at 2:53
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    $\begingroup$ @xzczd Maybe. I saw some vibrations with the box when I commented it out on my windows machine (12.1.1 for Microsoft Windows (64-bit) (June 19, 2020)). I also saw some clipping of the z-axis. $\endgroup$ – Tim Laska Jul 8 '20 at 2:57
  • $\begingroup$ Perfect, this fixed both my minimal example and my real problem. Thanks! $\endgroup$ – Chris K Jul 8 '20 at 3:19
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    $\begingroup$ This solution does not visualize the height changes. Just number at the z-axis is dancing, but this is bad way. I guess the fixed PlotRange at highest value will give the best. $\endgroup$ – Rom38 Jul 8 '20 at 4:30

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