Video to GIF

Converting video to GIF is one of the most common FFmpeg operations. There are two approaches: simple (faster, larger file) and high-quality (slower, smaller file).

Simple Method

# Basic GIF from first 10 seconds
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -t 10 -vf "fps=15,scale=480:-1" -loop 0 output.gif

High-Quality Method (Recommended)

The palette method generates a custom color palette for better quality:

# Step 1: Generate palette
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "fps=15,scale=480:-1:flags=lanczos,palettegen=stats_mode=diff" palette.png

# Step 2: Create GIF using palette
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -i palette.png -t 10 \
  -lavfi "fps=15,scale=480:-1:flags=lanczos[x];[x][1:v]paletteuse=dither=bayer:bayer_scale=5:diff_mode=rectangle" \
  -loop 0 output.gif

One-Liner (Using Palette)

# Optimized one-liner
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "fps=15,scale=480:-1:flags=lanczos,split[s0][s1];[s0]palettegen[p];[s1][p]paletteuse=dither=bayer:bayer_scale=5" \
  -loop 0 output.gif

GIF Parameters Explained

Parameter	Description
fps=n	Frames per second (15-20 recommended for GIF)
scale=w:-1	Scale width to w, height auto (-2 keeps divisible by 2)
flags=lanczos	High-quality downscaling filter
-loop 0	Infinite loop (use -loop N for N loops)
-t n	Duration in seconds

Extract Specific Portion

# GIF from 5s to 15s
ffmpeg -ss 5 -t 10 -i input.mp4 \
  -vf "fps=15,scale=480:-1:flags=lanczos,split[s0][s1];[s0]palettegen[p];[s1][p]paletteuse" \
  -loop 0 output.gif

Trim by Frame Count

# First 100 frames
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vframes 100 \
  -vf "fps=15,scale=480:-1:flags=lanczos,split[s0][s1];[s0]palettegen[p];[s1][p]paletteuse" \
  -loop 0 output.gif

Mobile-Friendly (Small Size)

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -t 5 \
  -vf "fps=10,scale=320:-1:flags=fast_bilinear,split[s0][s1];[s0]palettegen[p];[s1][p]paletteuse" \
  -loop 0 output_small.gif

Text Overlay on GIF

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -t 5 \
  -vf "fps=15,scale=480:-1:flags=lanczos,drawtext=text='Hello':fontsize=24:fontcolor=white:borderw=2:bordercolor=black,split[s0][s1];[s0]palettegen[p];[s1][p]paletteuse" \
  -loop 0 output_text.gif

Batch Convert All Videos in Folder

for f in *.mp4; do
  ffmpeg -i "$f" -vf "fps=15,scale=480:-1:flags=lanczos,split[s0][s1];[s0]palettegen[p];[s1][p]paletteuse" \
    -loop 0 "${f%.mp4}.gif"
done

Output Quality Comparison

Method	FPS	Resolution	Typical Size (10s)
Simple	10	320p	3-5 MB
High-quality	15	480p	1-3 MB
High-quality	20	480p	2-5 MB
Low-quality	10	240p	0.5-1 MB