How to make animated GIFs from avi & mpeg files etc?

[Neil_Allen]

Is there a program that will capture frames as jpeg of GIF images then put them together as an animated GIF? I used a GIF animator in the past, the only way I was able to catch frames was by capturing the screen using Power DVD after each frame, this took ages though and wasn't any good on files other than VOB.

Any help is much appreciated!

[Capmaster]

The only way I'm aware of is to use a screen capture app to grab selected still images, then you can use one of many freeware GIF animators that are out there.

Peruse the tools section here in case there might be something that will make this easier for you.

[Neil_Allen]

TTT for more help.

Is there a program that will easily extract still frames and if so what would be the best animator to stick them together to create a GIF?

[canadateck]

Tmpgenc Will output a image sequence.that what you are looking for?

[daveoggy]

Why not open the vid file in some flavour of vdub, select your desired clip and then use 'save image sequence' under the file menu?

Then you can use the gif animator you've used before.

[Noahtuck]

I know WinDVD Platinum 6 has this feature in it, i don't know about other versions.
When you hit capture when playing any video file in it, it will make a gif the length of time you let it capture, but the size of the gif can get very large depending on how long you want it.

And to open up a file other than a vob just right click on it and choose what program to open it with, i watch .avi & .mpg with mine.

Here is one i made from an animated menu, took as long as the clip is... about 5 seconds or so.
707kb


Well, it's too big to upload here....

[upshot]

Premiere will export animated gif.

[elkfir]

I thought most half-way decent GIF animation programs allow you to import AVI or MPG, and export animated GIF.

That's how I made my grainy little avatar. I imported an MPG file into JASC Animation Shop, then sliced and diced within the program, and was able to export an animated GIF small enough to use as avatar.

You can get a 30 day trial of Animation Shop, and I'm sure there's other GIF animation programs that will work as well.

[Neil_Allen]

Tmpgenc Will output a image sequence.that what you are looking for?

Thank you all, I'll try this suggestion to begin with.

[dun4cheap]

ulead gif animator will import avi files.

[Neil_Allen]

OK I managed to output a sequence into individual JPEG files using Tmpgenc. I found a free program named GIF Animator but it's got very few options, it can convert direct from AVI, however, it doesn't allow many options to optimise the animation for the net.

[Stormin Norman]

Optimize the video first in like virtualdub,*avisynth* ,tmpegenc, first then make your animated gif with your fav gif animator.

[celtic_druid]

mplayer can output an animated gif, however as said most gif creation programs will allow avi import and have more options in terms of optimising the palette, etc.

2D/3D animator if I recall does a decent job. Just import the avi and use the slider to select the ratio of size vs. quality.