What does Video to GIF do?
Make a GIF from a video in your browser. Choose start time, up to 30 seconds, 5 to 30 fps and width. Uses an optimised palette for cleaner colours.
- Price
- Free
- Account
- Not required
- Processing
- Entirely in your browser; your data and files are not uploaded
- Works on
- Any modern browser on desktop, tablet or phone
- Category
- Video and Audio Tools
How to use the video to gif
- Drop a video (MP4, MOV, WebM, MKV or AVI, up to 300 MB).
- Enter the start time and the length (up to 30 seconds). Play the preview to find the moment you want.
- Pick the frame rate (5 to 30 fps), width and loop behaviour.
- Click Make GIF, check the result and download it.
Worked example
A 5 second clip at 12 fps and 480 px
5 seconds x 12 fps = 60 frames, each 480 pixels wide with the height from the video's aspect ratio (270 px for 16:9). Halving the frame rate to 6 fps halves the frame count; halving the width to 240 px quarters the pixels per frame. The output size is shown after conversion.
How it works
FFmpeg seeks to the start, reads the chosen length and runs one filter graph: fps=12,scale=480:-1:flags=lanczos,split[a][b];[a]palettegen=stats_mode=diff[p];[b][p]paletteuse=dither=sierra2_4a:diff_mode=rectangle. palettegen picks the best 256 colours for the whole clip, paletteuse maps every frame to it with dithering, and diff_mode=rectangle only redraws the changed area. -loop sets the loop count.
Assumptions
- GIF supports at most 256 colours per frame, so gradients and photos show dithering.
- Sound is not included; GIF has no audio.
- Frame timing is stored in hundredths of a second, so some frame rates are rounded slightly.
Frequently asked questions
Are my files uploaded?
No. The file is processed by FFmpeg compiled to WebAssembly, running inside your browser. Only the engine itself is downloaded (once, from cdn.jsdelivr.net); your video, audio or images never leave your device.
How do I make the GIF smaller?
Lower the width, the frame rate or the length; all three reduce the number of pixels stored. Bayer dithering or no dithering usually compresses better than smooth dithering. For an existing GIF, use the GIF Compressor.
Why is there a 30 second limit?
GIF is an inefficient format and long GIFs quickly reach tens of megabytes, which is slow in the browser and too large for most sites. For longer clips, a compressed MP4 is a better choice.
Why does the first run take longer?
The first time you use any of the video and audio tools, your browser downloads the FFmpeg engine, about 31 MB. It is stored in your browser, so later runs on this device start without downloading it again unless you clear site data.
Limitations
- FFmpeg runs as single-threaded WebAssembly in the browser, which is much slower than desktop FFmpeg. Processing time depends on the file length, resolution and your device; long HD videos can take many minutes.
- Browsers limit how much memory a page can use. Very long or high resolution files can fail with an out of memory message, especially on phones and tablets.
- Clips up to 30 seconds.
- GIFs are much larger than videos of the same clip; many sites convert GIFs back to video.