How to use it
- Click Choose a file and pick the video, or drop it on the box. The video appears with its controls.
- Play the video to the moment the GIF should start, click Start at this frame, then do the same with End at this frame. You can also type the times in seconds.
- Set the Frames per second (5 to 15) and the Width. Smaller values give a smaller GIF.
- Click Make the GIF, wait while the frames are read and encoded, then download the GIF.
Frame rate and width
A GIF stores every frame, so the file grows with the number of frames (the frame rate times the length of the clip) and with the width. Ten frames per second for a 5-second clip, 320 pixels wide, gives 50 frames. The GIF format stores the delay between frames in hundredths of a second, so 15 frames per second is stored as 7 hundredths: the GIF plays a little slower than 15 per second.
Colours
A GIF frame holds at most 256 colours. The tool picks a palette for each frame, so the colours of a photograph are reduced: smooth gradients can show bands. GIF suits short, simple animations better than photographs.
Memory and length
The frames are kept in memory until the GIF is written. A 30-second clip at 15 frames per second and 640 pixels wide needs more than 200 MB, so the tool refuses it, while a shorter clip or a smaller width works. A clip can be at most 30 seconds long and make at most 450 frames.
Example: a 5-second clip
A 5-second clip from a 16:9 video, at 10 frames per second and 320 pixels wide, gives 50 frames of 320 × 180 pixels. Each frame needs 230,400 bytes, so the frames take about 11 MB of memory. The GIF shows each frame for 10 hundredths of a second.
Frequently asked questions
Is my video uploaded when I make a GIF?
No. The video is read in your browser, its frames are drawn and encoded on your device, and the GIF is saved there. You can check by turning off your internet connection after the page has loaded and making a GIF from a short clip.
Why is the GIF much bigger than the video?
A GIF stores each frame as a separate picture, without the compression that video uses to skip what does not change. A GIF of a long clip is therefore large, so keep the clip short, the width small and the frame rate low.
Why can I not choose a clip longer than 30 seconds?
Each frame is kept in memory until the GIF is written, and a long clip at a large width needs more memory than a browser tab can hold reliably. The limits of 30 seconds and 450 frames keep the work safe on most devices.
Which video formats work?
The formats your browser can play. MP4 with H.264 video is the most widely supported, and WebM works in most browsers. MOV files play in Safari, and in other browsers only when their codec is supported. If the page cannot read the video, convert it to MP4 first.
Why does the GIF look less smooth than the video?
A GIF frame holds at most 256 colours, and this tool makes at most 15 frames per second. Colour gradients can show bands, and fast motion can look choppy. A shorter clip and a higher frame rate within the range keep more detail.
What does the Start at this frame button do?
It copies the current position of the video into the start box, so you can find the first frame by playing and pausing the video. End at this frame does the same for the end of the clip.
Sources
- W3C: the GIF89a specification
- MDN: the seeked event of a video, when a new frame is ready
- gifenc: the GIF encoder this tool uses (MIT licence)
Figures and text last checked on Tuesday, November 10, 2026.