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TinySolve

Video to GIF

Turn a few seconds of video into a looping GIF, with a palette built from the actual frames.

Runs in your browser — your files are never uploaded

Drop a video file here

or

MP4, MOV, WebM and most other formats, up to 500 MB. Converted on your device.

GIF has no audio and only 256 colours per frame, so it is always larger and worse-looking than the video it came from. It exists because it plays anywhere and loops by itself. The engine runs entirely in your browser and is served from this site rather than a third-party CDN, so your file is never uploaded and nobody else ever sees it. That does mean the work happens on your own device, so a long video takes a while and a phone will be slower than a laptop.

About the Video to GIF

A GIF plays anywhere, loops by itself and needs no player — which is why they refuse to die despite being a format from 1987. This takes a few seconds out of a video and makes one.

The part most converters get wrong is the palette. A GIF can only hold 256 colours per frame, and using a generic palette produces the banded, dithered mess that makes converted video look cheap. This builds a palette from the actual frames of your clip in the same pass, which is the difference between a GIF that looks like your video and one that looks like a fax of it.

Choose where to start and how many seconds to take. Keep it short: GIF compresses badly, so every extra second costs real megabytes. A two-to-five second loop is the usual sweet spot, and it is also what reads well as a reaction or a demonstration.

Width and frame rate both multiply the size. Four hundred and eighty pixels at fifteen frames a second looks good and stays reasonable; the same clip at six hundred and forty and twenty frames can be three times larger for very little visible gain.

The conversion happens inside your browser, using a WebAssembly build of ffmpeg served from this site rather than anyone else's. Your video is never uploaded — worth knowing, since the clips people turn into GIFs are usually personal.

How to use the Video to GIF

  1. Add your video

    MP4, MOV, WebM and most other formats. Scrub the player to find the moment you want.

  2. Set the start and the length

    Two to five seconds is the usual sweet spot — GIF compresses badly, so every second costs real size.

  3. Choose the width and frame rate

    480px at 15 fps looks good and stays reasonable. Both settings multiply the file size.

  4. Make it and download

    The result is previewed as an actual looping GIF, so you can see it before saving it.

Frequently asked questions

Why is my GIF so large?
Because GIF is a terrible format for video. It has no motion compensation and only 256 colours per frame, so it is routinely larger than the video it came from. Shortening the clip, narrowing it and lowering the frame rate all help, in that order.
Why do other GIF converters look worse?
Usually the palette. A generic 256-colour palette produces heavy banding and dithering. This builds one from the frames of your own clip, which is what keeps the colours looking like the video.
Will the GIF have sound?
No. GIF has no audio track at all — it is an image format that happens to support animation. If you need sound, a short MP4 plays inline on every platform that matters.
How long can the GIF be?
There is no hard limit, but the size grows roughly in step with the length, so a thirty-second GIF is usually unusable. Under five seconds is both more practical and better as a loop.
Is my video uploaded?
No. The conversion runs inside your browser using an engine served from this site. The clips people turn into GIFs are usually personal, so nothing is transmitted or stored.

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