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Animated GIFs...
[Another voice] Um, it’s pronounced JIF!
Whether you prefer to say GIF (GHIF) or GIF (JIF), Snagit 13 can help you create your own.
In this tutorial, we’re going to start with a video, then isolate a 3-7 second portion of it, and use that to produce an animated GIF.
Let’s get started.
If you already have a video that you’d like to turn into a GIF,
you can open it from Snagit Editor by going to File > Open and then selecting your video.
You can also use Snagit to record a video of your screen.
When recording a video for a GIF, it’s best to select just enough of your screen to show what is happening.
A smaller frame helps to keep the focus on the action and limit the file size, which can be a challenge.
As you record, keep in mind that processes involving around 2-5 simple steps are the ideal length for a GIF.
Once you’re done recording, click stop to bring your video into Snagit Editor.
Now you can use play head handles to choose the footage for your GIF.
One way of doing this is to remove sections of the video you don’t need by selecting them and then clicking Cut.
Another technique is to simply select the section of the video you would like to turn into a GIF.
Usually, 3-7 seconds of video is an ideal length.
Once you’ve isolated the section you need, click the GIF button.
This dialog asks whether you’d like to use your selection to create your GIF or the entire video.
We’ll choose Use Selection.
Snagit gives you a few options to help produce an optimal GIF based on the video you’re working with.
Before we go through the options, it’s good to note that, although it will differ based on your settings,
GIFs will usually appear at a lower quality than their source video.
With that in mind, let’s go over the production options.
If you recorded your screen, select screen video.
For real world video or recordings of video games, High Motion Video is a good choice.
If the dimensions of your video are relatively large, or you’re concerned about file size,
you can choose Reduced File Size, which scales the frame to a maximum width or height of 400 pixels.
The Custom option allows you to take control and decide settings individually.
This can be helpful, but, depending on what you choose, can also result in large files.
For this one, let’s choose Screen Video.
Finally, checking this box will add a short fade to black at the end of your GIF.
It’s not always necessary, but is something to try if it is hard to tell where your GIF starts and ends.
We’ll leave it blank for this one.
When everything is set, click Create.
Snagit produces your GIF and displays it on the Canvas.
You can also find both the GIF and the original video in your recent captures tray.
Click play to view your GIF.
It will play repeatedly, or "loop," just the way it would in an email or instant message and on a blog or website.
If you like what you see, you can use the Share menu to save your GIF to your computer
or send it to the web using Screencast.com or Google Drive for immediate sharing.
If you're excited about GIFs, but not quite sure how to use them, check out "Ways to Use Animated GIFs"
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If the dimensions of your video are relatively large, or you’re concerned about file size,