Converting video to high-quality gif using ffmpeg
📅️ Published: February 13, 2021 • 🕣
1 min read
Converting videos to GIFs using ffmpeg is a pain in the ass if you don’t know what’s happening. GIF size getting 10x the size of original video ? Don’t worry, I got you!
Below are few points that can help:
- Always create a custom palette
- Don’t increase/decrease file dimensions
- Save unnecessary frame conversion by skipping timeframes (using
-t). - Experiment with
fps(default value is 24)
# Get video dimensions
ffprobe -v error -select_streams v:0 -show_entries stream=width,height -of csv=s=x:p=0 video.mp4
# generate a palette
ffmpeg -i video.mp4 -vf "fps=22,scale=1024:-1:flags=lanczos,palettegen" palette.png
# use the generated palette
ffmpeg -t 29 -i video.mp4 -i palette.png -filter_complex "fps=22,scale=1024:-1:flags=lanczos[x];[x][1:v]paletteuse" output.gif
A more generic version in a simple bash script
#!/usr/bin/env bash
# Utility to convert video files to GIFs using ffmpeg
#
# Usage: convert-to-gif.sh <video-file-path>
# To skip frames: convert-to-gif.sh <video-file-path> <time-in-seconds>
# Example:
# convert-to-gif.sh video.mp4 28
if [[ -z "$1" ]]; then
echo "No video file specified"
exit 1
fi
# get everything after last /
video=${1##*/}
# remove everything after .
filename=${video%.*}
echo -e "$(tput bold)Getting video dimensions $(tput sgr0)"
# Get video dimensions
dimensions=$(ffprobe -v error -select_streams v:0 -show_entries stream=width,height -of csv=s=x:p=0 "$1")
echo -e "$(tput bold)Generating Palette $(tput sgr0)"
# Generate palette
ffmpeg -i "$1" -vf "fps=22,scale=${dimensions%x*}:-1:flags=lanczos,palettegen" "$filename".png
echo -e "$(tput bold)Converting Video to GIF $(tput sgr0)"
if [[ "$2" ]]; then
ffmpeg -t "$2" -i "$1" -i "$filename".png -filter_complex "fps=22,scale=${dimensions%x*}:-1:flags=lanczos[x];[x][1:v]paletteuse" "$filename".gif
else
ffmpeg -i "$1" -i "$filename".png -filter_complex "fps=22,scale=${dimensions%x*}:-1:flags=lanczos[x];[x][1:v]paletteuse" "$filename".gif
fi
echo -e "Removing palette"
rm "$filename".png