Video to GIF Converter
Pick a few seconds of an MP4, MOV or WebM video and turn them into a looping GIF with a palette made for that clip. Set fps, width and dithering.
The interactive tool loads here when JavaScript runs.
About this toolWhat is Video to GIF Converter?
Load a video, scrub the player to the moment you want, press Here to set the start and end, and the tool turns that slice into an animated GIF. You choose the frame rate (5 to 25 fps), the width (240 to 800 pixels, never enlarged past the source), the dithering style and whether it loops forever.
Quality comes from a two-step palette. GIF can show only 256 colours per frame, so a generic palette makes skin tones blotchy and skies banded. This tool first runs ffmpeg's palettegen over your exact clip to choose the 256 colours that matter most in it, then paletteuse maps every frame onto that palette with the dithering you picked.
Everything runs in your browser with ffmpeg compiled to WebAssembly. The engine (about 32 MB) is fetched from the jsDelivr CDN on first use, and the video and GIF stay on your device. The finished GIF appears on the page so you can check it before downloading.
- Clip range picked from a live player or typed as times
- Per-clip 256-colour palette via palettegen and paletteuse
- Frame rate 5 to 25 fps, width 240 to 800 px, three dithering styles
- Loop forever or play once
- Instant on-page preview with real pixel dimensions
- Runs locally after a one-time engine download from a CDN
How to use Video to GIF Converter
- Drop a video on the upload area or record the 3-second sample. It appears in a player.
- Play or scrub to the start of the moment and press Here next to Start; do the same for End. You can also type times such as 12.5 or 1:04.
- Choose frame rate, width and dithering. Watch the frame count under the settings: more frames mean a bigger file.
- Click Make GIF. If you left End empty, the tool takes up to 10 seconds from the start.
- Check the preview, then click Download GIF. Change settings and run it again to compare sizes.
Worked examples
Reaction clip for chat
Input
2.5 s from a 1080p MP4, 12 fps, 480 px wide, Smooth dithering
Output
30 frames at 480x270, typically 1 to 3 MB depending on motion
Dropping from 1920 to 480 px wide cuts the pixels per frame sixteenfold, which matters far more than any other setting.
UI demo for a README
Input
6 s screen recording, 10 fps, 800 px, Patterned dithering
Output
A crisp GIF where only the cursor and changed areas are re-encoded each frame
Flat interface colours suit GIF well, and rectangle diffing keeps static toolbars from being stored again in every frame.
Background and insight
GIF dates from 1987, and the GIF89a revision of 1989 added the frame delays and transparency that made animation possible. It compresses with LZW, which works well on flat colour and badly on noisy video, so a few seconds of camera footage can easily become several megabytes. An MP4 of the same clip is often five to ten times smaller, which is why sites like Twitter/X and Giphy quietly convert uploaded GIFs to video.
Frame timing is stored in hundredths of a second. 10 fps (10 cs per frame), 20 fps (5 cs) and 25 fps (4 cs) are exact; 12 or 15 fps alternate between neighbouring delays to average out. Browsers also treat delays of 0 or 1 hundredth as "too fast" and slow them to about 10, so asking for more than 50 fps backfires. 10 to 15 fps is the usual sweet spot for reaction clips and UI demos.
The palette is built with stats_mode=diff, which weights colours in the parts of the picture that change, and frames are written with diff_mode=rectangle so only the moving region of each frame is re-encoded. Both keep size down for screen recordings where most of the frame is static.
Common use cases
Bug reports and READMEs
Show a UI interaction in a GitHub issue, pull request or README, where autoplaying GIFs work and video embeds often do not.
Reaction GIFs
Clip a moment from your own footage to share in Slack, Discord or a forum that accepts GIF.
Email and slides
Add a short animation to a newsletter or presentation tool that plays GIF but not video.
Product and tutorial snippets
Turn a few seconds of a product demo into a looping preview for a landing page or documentation.
Tips and limitations
- Width is the strongest size control. Halving the width roughly quarters the file.
- Keep clips short. Over about 15 seconds, GIFs get large quickly; for long clips, an MP4 or WebM made with the Video Converter is the better format.
- Patterned (Bayer) dithering compresses better than Smooth because the pattern repeats; None is smallest but bands gradients badly.
- Videos your browser cannot play (some AVI or WMV files) still convert; type the start and end times instead of using the player.
- GIF has no sound. If you need audio, keep the clip as video.
Frequently asked questions
How do I make a GIF from only part of a video?
Play the video in the preview, pause where the moment starts and press Here next to Start, then do the same for End. You can type times such as 1:04.5 instead. Only that range is converted; without an end time the tool takes up to 10 seconds.
Why is my GIF so much bigger than the original MP4?
GIF uses LZW compression from the 1980s and stores every frame as indexed pixels, while MP4 uses motion-compensated codecs that store only changes. A GIF is often five to ten times larger. Reduce the width, frame rate or clip length to bring it down.
What frame rate should a GIF be?
10 to 15 fps looks smooth for most clips and keeps the file manageable. GIF timing is in hundredths of a second, so 10, 20 and 25 fps are exact. Browsers slow down frames shorter than two hundredths, so very high rates do not play as asked.
What does the dithering option change?
Dithering mixes palette colours in small patterns to fake colours the 256-colour palette lacks. Smooth (Sierra error diffusion) looks most natural, Patterned (Bayer) compresses better, and None gives flat bands but the smallest file. Try two and compare the sizes.
Is the video uploaded to make the GIF?
No. The ffmpeg engine is downloaded from the jsDelivr CDN the first time and runs inside your browser tab. The video is read locally, the GIF is created in memory and you save it with a normal download.
Can the GIF keep the sound from the video?
No, the GIF format has no audio at all. If the sound matters, trim the clip with the Video Converter and share it as MP4 or WebM instead, which also gives a much smaller file.
Is there an in-depth guide to Video to GIF Converter?
Yes. “Video Formats Explained: Containers, Codecs, Bitrate and CRF” covers the background, how it works, common pitfalls and worked examples. Read the full guide.
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