Convert MP4 to GIF

Every setting explained

Start time and Duration

Set in seconds, in steps of 0.1 s. Duration starts at the full length of the video, so trim long videos before you create the GIF.

FPS

5, 10, 12, 15, 20, 24 or 30 frames per second. At the same duration, 20 fps produces twice as many frames as 10 fps; compressed bytes also depend on the images and colour settings. As a starting point, try 10–15 fps for reactions and screen demos, 24–30 fps for fast motion. A value above the video's own frame rate only repeats frames.

Width

240, 320, 400, 500 or 640 px, or Original to keep the video's width. Height follows the aspect ratio: 1920 × 1080 px becomes 500 × 281 px, a portrait 1080 × 1920 px video becomes 500 × 889 px. A video narrower than the chosen width is scaled up, which adds size but no detail.

Quality

Sets the palette: Low 64 colors, Medium 128, High 256 (default), each shared by the whole clip. Original builds a separate 256-color palette per frame, which keeps colors closer to the source when the scene changes but usually makes the file larger.

Dithering

Mixes palette colors to fake missing ones. Sierra (default) and Floyd smooth gradients, but their fine noise changes from frame to frame and costs size. Bayer uses a fixed pattern that usually compresses better. None usually gives the smallest file but shows visible bands in skies and shadows.

Optimize transparency

Reserves one palette entry for transparency, so pixels that don't change between frames are stored as transparent instead of repeated. This can shrink GIFs of still scenes such as screen recordings; with camera movement the gain is small. It does not remove the background: MP4 has no transparency.

Reduce static frames

Drops frames that are almost identical to the last kept frame. The rest keep the chosen frame rate, so pauses get shorter or disappear and the GIF plays for less time than the clip. Leave it off when timing matters.

Crop

Turn on Apply crop and enter X, Y, Width and Height as percentages of the video frame (0–100 %); the area is outlined on the preview, and only that area ends up in the GIF. Width then scales the cropped area.

Editing single frames

Extract frames captures up to the first 30 seconds of the selected clip at the chosen FPS, so 10 fps gives up to 300 frames. The thumbnails come from your browser; for the GIF, the server reads each frame again from the MP4 at full resolution. Width, Quality, Dithering and crop still apply. Optimize transparency and Reduce static frames belong to the standard conversion, because in the frame editor you decide yourself which frames stay and how long each one is shown. Clear frames returns to a standard conversion.

Selecting and ordering frames

Click a frame, Shift-click for a range, or Ctrl/Cmd-click or tick checkboxes for several. Select all and Current only are in Frame. Frame edits the selection; All edits every frame. Match delays under Output sets 1000 ÷ FPS ms. Drag or focus a frame and use Left/Right to reorder; its bin deletes it. Add image frame inserts uploaded images after the active frame.

Delay (ms)

How long a frame stays on screen, 20–5000 ms, set in the tabs or in the field under each thumbnail. It starts at 1000 ÷ FPS (100 ms at 10 fps). GIF stores delays in hundredths of a second, so values are rounded to 10 ms. A longer delay on the last frame adds a pause before the loop restarts.

Brightness, Contrast and Saturation

0–200 %, 0–200 % and 0–300 %; 100 % leaves the frame unchanged.

Blur and Filter

Blur goes from 0 to 10 px. Filters: None, Sepia, Grayscale, Vintage, Cold and Warm. The thumbnails show the effect of every adjustment, so you can compare frames before you build the GIF.