Drop a video on the box above. The first 5 seconds are selected for you; change Start and End, or play the video and press Use current time, to pick a different part of up to 30 seconds. Choose a width, frame rate and speed, then press Make GIF. The GIF plays on the page when it's ready, and it loops forever like most GIFs.
Why GIFs are so large
GIF is a format from 1987. It stores each frame as an image with at most 256 colours and compresses it with a method that knows nothing about motion. A 5 second clip at 480 pixels wide and 15 frames per second is 75 separate pictures. The same clip as an MP4 is often ten times smaller. GIF survives because it plays everywhere without a play button: in chats, emails, README files and forums.
This tool keeps the file down in two ways. Every frame shares one palette of 255 colours chosen from frames across the whole clip, and any pixel that hasn't changed since the previous frame is stored as transparent, so a still background costs almost nothing after the first frame. Frames that are exactly the same as the one before are merged into a longer pause.
Settings and their effect on size
| Setting | Choices | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Width | 320, 480 or 640 pixels | Doubling the width gives each frame four times as many pixels |
| Frames per second | 10, 15 or 20 | 15 looks smooth for most clips; 10 suits slow movement and screen recordings |
| Speed | Half speed, normal, 1.5× or 2× | Faster playback uses fewer frames for the same part of the video |
| Length | Up to 30 seconds | Size grows with every second; 3 to 6 seconds is the usual reaction GIF |
If the GIF comes out over 10 MB, the tool says so, because many chat apps and forums refuse files that large. A shorter clip, 320 pixels or 10 frames per second brings it down quickly.
Colours and smooth gradients
256 colours is plenty for screen recordings, cartoons and most clips, but skies, skin and dark scenes show banding. The tool adds a fine regular dither pattern that hides the steps between colours. The pattern stays in the same place on every frame, so it doesn't shimmer the way random dithering does.
Which videos work
MP4, MOV, WebM and MKV files open when your browser can play their video. Videos from iPhones recorded in HEVC open in Safari and in Chrome or Edge on most recent computers; if your browser can't decode a file, the tool tells you before you start. The video stays on your device the whole time.
Related tools
When the GIF is too big for where you're posting, an MP4 is often accepted instead: Compress Video makes a small one. To keep only the sound, use Video to MP3. The Image Converter handles still images, and keeps only the first frame of an animated GIF.
