Video to GIF Converter
Pick a moment from any video, choose the size and frame rate, and get a looping GIF. The tool can also build an animated WebP and a short MP4 of the same clip and show you which file is smallest. Everything runs in your browser; nothing is uploaded.
How to make a GIF from a video
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Open the video
Choose a file or drop it on the box. MP4, MOV, WebM and MKV work.
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Pick up to 15 seconds
Drag the handles on the filmstrip, or play to the moment and press Start here and End here. Play selection loops through the part you picked.
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Set width, frame rate and colours
For chat and social, 480 px at 10 fps is a good start. Fewer pixels, frames or colours make a smaller file.
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Make the GIF
Press Make GIF. When it is done you see each format with its file size. Download the one that suits where it is going.
What makes a GIF big
GIF is an old format with no real video compression, so size grows fast. These settings matter most, roughly in this order.
| Setting | Effect on size | Suggestion |
|---|---|---|
| Length | Doubles when you double the length | Keep it to the moment: 2 to 6 seconds |
| Width | About 4× when you double the width (twice the pixels across and down) | 320 to 480 px for chat, 640 px for blog posts |
| Frame rate | Doubles when you double the fps | 10 fps for talking and reactions, 15 to 20 for fast motion |
| Colours | Fewer colours compress better | 256 for video, 64 to 128 for screen recordings and cartoons |
The relationships are arithmetic (pixels × frames); actual sizes depend on how much the picture changes from frame to frame. The tool shows the real size of your file.
GIF, animated WebP or MP4?
Tick “Also make animated WebP and MP4” and the tool builds all three from the same frames so you can compare.
GIF
Plays almost anywhere, including email and old chat apps. Each frame is limited to 256 colours, so gradients can band. Usually the biggest file.
Animated WebP
Full colour and usually much smaller than GIF. Plays in current browsers, but some apps and older software do not accept it. Made only in browsers that can encode WebP images.
MP4 (no sound)
Real video compression, so it is normally the smallest by far. Use it wherever the site takes video; set it to loop and mute.
How the converter works
The video is decoded in your browser with WebCodecs at the width and frame rate you chose. Each frame gets its own palette of up to 256 colours, picked from that frame alone, which keeps skin tones and scene changes from turning blotchy. The frames are then written into one looping GIF with gifenc, a small open-source encoder.
The animated WebP is built from the same frames, each compressed by the browser’s own WebP encoder. The MP4 is encoded separately from the source at the same size and frame rate, with the sound removed.
GIF stores frame timing in hundredths of a second, so 15 fps plays at about 14.3 fps (7 hundredths per frame). 5, 10, 20 and 25 fps divide evenly and play at exactly that speed.
The 15-second limit keeps the file usable: at 480 px and 10 fps that is already 150 frames. For anything longer, a video clip is the better format; cut it with the video trimmer.
Making GIFs from a long video? Make Shorts from it too.
Short.now finds the best moments in a long video, reframes them to 9:16 with face tracking and adds captions, ready for TikTok, Reels and Shorts.
Questions
Open the video on this page, drag the handles to pick up to 15 seconds, choose width and frame rate, and press Make GIF. Download the GIF when it is ready. Nothing is uploaded.
Shorten it first, then lower the width or frame rate. Dropping from 480 to 320 px roughly halves the size. If the place you are posting accepts video, the MP4 version is usually far smaller.
No. The GIF has no watermark and there is no account to create.
GIFs grow quickly with length, and long ones are slow to load and often rejected by chat apps. For longer clips, keep them as video.
No. This tool works on video files on your device. Download your own video first, then open the file here.
Yes, in Safari 16.4 or later, which supports WebCodecs (per MDN browser compatibility data, checked November 2026). The animated WebP option appears only if the browser can encode WebP images.
