How to convert a video clip to GIF
- Drop your video file on the box above, or click it to choose the file — or press Load a sample to try it first.
- Check the settings below the box; the defaults suit most files.
- Press Convert. Long jobs show a progress bar and can be cancelled; you then see what was made and its real size.
- Download the .gif file.
What is kept when you convert a video clip to GIF
- Choose the start time, the length (up to 30 seconds), the frame rate (up to 20 frames per second) and the width; frames are captured from your browser’s own video decoder at exact times.
- Each frame gets its own 256-colour palette with optional dithering; only the changed area of each frame is stored, which keeps file sizes down.
- Sound is dropped (GIF has none). The video must be in a format your browser plays — MP4 (H.264) and WebM work almost everywhere; HEVC/H.265 often does not.
About video and GIF files
MP4, WebM and MOV are containers; what matters is the codec inside. Browsers decode H.264, VP8, VP9 and AV1 widely; HEVC (H.265) only on some systems. It opens in every browser and media player.
A GIF holds one or more frames, each with up to 256 colours, a display time in hundredths of a second, and a rule for what happens to it when the next frame appears. It plays everywhere, which is why it survives. It opens in every browser, chat app and image viewer.
Good to know
- Trim the clip to the moment you need first: every second at 10 frames per second adds 10 full frames to the GIF.
- Browsers play frame delays of 0 or 10 ms as 100 ms, so 20 ms (50 frames per second) is the fastest a GIF really plays.
Privacy and limits
The file is read and converted by this page in your browser; there is no upload and no account. The video is decoded by your browser’s own media engine, the same one that plays videos on websites. Clips are up to 30 seconds at up to 20 frames per second. Files up to 200 MB are accepted; a file of the wrong type or a damaged file is rejected with the reason.