Video to GIF

How to turn a video into a GIF

1. Choose a video file, or drop one onto the box.
2. Set the start time and how many seconds to keep.
3. Pick a frame rate and width.
4. Press Make GIF, then download it.

Making a GIF from a video

A GIF is a short, silent, looping animation, which is why it suits reactions, demos, and clips embedded where video is awkward. As a gif maker this tool takes a section of your video and renders it as an animated GIF, so you can convert video to gif, mp4 to gif included, without uploading anything. It builds a colour palette from your specific clip first and then applies it, which keeps colours much closer to the original than a naive conversion would.

Keep it short and narrow

GIF is an old format and not an efficient one: it has no real motion compression and is limited to 256 colours, so files grow quickly. A few seconds at 480 pixels wide and 12 frames per second is usually the sweet spot. Ten seconds at full width can easily run to tens of megabytes, which is worse than the video you started from. If you find yourself fighting the size, the honest answer is often that you want an MP4 rather than a GIF.

Frame rate and width

Frame rate controls smoothness and size together. 8 frames per second looks choppy but stays small; 12 is a good balance; 20 is smooth and noticeably heavier. Width works the same way, and halving it removes roughly three quarters of the pixels. Because GIFs are usually viewed small, 480 pixels is plenty for most uses.

Runs on your device

Nothing is uploaded. The first use downloads a converter of about 31 MB, once, which your browser then caches, and nothing downloads until you choose a file. The palette pass adds a little time but is worth it. Long clips take longer, so trim before you convert where you can.

FAQ

How do I make a GIF from a video?

Choose the video, set a start time and a length of a few seconds, pick a frame rate and width, and press Make GIF. The clip is rendered as an animated GIF you can download.

Why is my GIF so large?

GIF has no proper motion compression, so size grows fast with length, width, and frame rate. Shorten the clip, narrow it, or drop to 8 to 12 frames per second. For anything long, an MP4 is far smaller.

Does the GIF have sound?

No. The GIF format has no audio at all, so the sound is dropped. If you need sound, keep it as a video instead.

What frame rate should I use?

12 frames per second suits most clips. Use 8 for the smallest file, or 15 to 20 when smooth motion matters more than size.

Is my video uploaded?

No. The whole conversion happens in your browser and the file never leaves your device.