So, I've been making gifs again and I thought how easy it was. And considering I have time to waste, I will share with you my expertise.
Preparation:
- Download Adobe Photoshop CS5. I do not encourage piracy but do what you gotta do. You also won't need CS6 as CS5 is 100x more than enough.
- Download your video. I strongly recommend http://clipconverter.cc because you can download 1080p/720p videos on multiple video providers. And not only that, you have the option to download only fraction of the movie, which will save you a lot of time (A 3min 720p is 70~75 MBs, while you will probably not need more than 5-10 seconds)
- Make sure you have QuickTime, it won't work if it's not installed. If you have iTunes on Windows you can easily open the Apple Software Updater from the start menu and download it there. Or if you don't, here's a link
The proces:
- Open up PS, File>Open (or Ctrl+O) and choose the video (I recommend MP4)
- Drag the diamond icon to visualize the video and choose your moment.
- If you don't have the Animation window, go to Window>Animation.
- There are 2 handles which indicate where the video should start and end at the limits of the video TL, drag them to choose your duration. (skip this if you want the full gif)
Tip: If you wanna be precise, use the diamond, keep it in place then use the sliders, very handy.
- Click the menu (list icon in top right corner of the Animation window) and select Trim Document Duration to Work Area
- Click Flatten Frames Into Layers in the menu. (delete the original layer because it's useless)
- Crop the frames. If you want an avi, use shift+click. If you want the full gif area, skip this step.
- Click Make Frames From Layers in the menu.
- File>Save for Web & Devices You will get a menu, don't forget to set the resolution at 125x125 if you want an ATRL avi, and remember to set looping to "forever" (the option for looping is just under the resolution menu)
- Enjoy
Ask me if you find this tutorial unclear.
