Simplest way to create animated GIFs for this forum?

Forum Admin
1

Recently I’ve been impressed with helpful animated GIFs posted by @thankful_dude and @JMichaelTX.

So motivated to ask, what is the simplest, the absolute simplest, method to create GIFs in OSX?

I’ve already searched for GIF methods.
Some very complicated.
Some look simple, and probably worked many OSX versions ago, but don’t work on Sierra 10.

So I’m asking, what’s best now?

(Paid software, okay, as long as simple.)

Thank you.

2

It’s been discussed elsewhere, but here are a few choices:

  1. SnagIt. Animated GIFs are larger than I’d like.
  2. ScreenFlow, although the Animated GIFs are large.

My preferred method, because I’m completely and totally anal:

  1. Use ScreenFlow, then export an mp4 file.
  2. Pull the mp4 into Final Cut Pro X (FCPX), trim out unwanted stuff, then export an image sequence.
  3. Use GIMP to convert the image sequence to an animated GIF. (Details available on request.)
4

LOL. Go ahead, Mark, you can say it - I'm nuts! I know it!! :wink:

5

I use Droplr! You can screencast as movie or gif.

6

I like and use SnagIT because it is easy to use, and offers the ability to cut frames before creating the GIF.

Before that, I used LiceCap, which is great and very lightweight. And, it is FREE!.

7

Okay, I just had a look at Dropir.

Requires an account, is that correct?
Can not simply use stand-alone, is that right, or not?

8

Yes it requires an account

9

Thanks, @thankful_dude.

I’ll keep looking for simple and stand-alone.
Account is unnecessary complication.

10

There’s nothing complicated about Droplr :slight_smile: Evernote, Onenote, Airmail, TextExpander, Dropbox etc are all standalone applications and require accounts.

All the best

11

YO I heard you like screencasts and gifts so I made a screencast of me making a screencast of a gif so that you can watch me making a screencast in a gif.

Screencast: http://d.pr/v/slGf

Gif: http://d.pr/i/pJWI

12

Take a look at Claquette.

  • Easy to use
  • High quality
  • Standalone
  • No account needed

It does cost money for the basic ($10) and pro ($30) versions. Well worth it in my opinion.

1 Like
14

@jim -

A good fit.
Thank you very much for the suggestion.
I just purchased on the App Store.

2 Likes
15

Droplr looks very interesting.

Perhaps you could answer a question I could not find the answer to on their web site.

The FREE Account states:

Are you limited to how many Droplr screenshots, videos, or GIFs that you create locally on your Mac? IOW, if I do NOT upload to the Droplr site, can I create, and store as files on my Mac, as many as I want?

Thanks.

16

Droplr is a sharing tool mainly so I don't think it's possible not to upload. If you want to create screencasts, quicktime is excellent.

If you are really concerned you can set your droplets to auto-destroy in X days. It's super easy to share files with droplr and alfred, you just drag the file to the droplr icon on the menubar and bam.

17

That's too bad.
With a limit of 10 "Droplets" per month for the Free Account, it pushes you to the Pro Account ($10/month) if you use the tool often.

I also don't like being limited to store the videos/GIFs/etc to the Droplr cloud. I would always want to store them locally, where I know I will always have them.

Guess I'll stick with SnagIT.

18

I use droplr to upload what I have already saved on my mac. You can upload it anywhere you want, it’s just easier to do it to droplr if you want to share it.

I go for the yearly plan!

19

Sorry, but now I'm confused. That statement appears to contradict your earlier statement:

So, please let me ask the question this way to clarify:
Can I create as many Droplets (videos, GIFs) as I want, stored only on my Mac, using the Free Plan?

Thanks.

20

I just got this reply from Droplr Support:

From: Harrison Sanford harrison@droplr.com
Date: Tue, Dec 6, 2016 at 3:57 PM

Thanks for reaching out.

With the free version of Droplr you will be limited to 10 drops per month, and these drops will expire after 7 days of creation. There's also an upload size limit which is 50mb per drop.

The free version of Droplr does not allow for storage in your own storage solution either.

So, for me, the Droplr Free Version is definitely not a viable solution.

21

A few more options:

Macworld: How to make an animated GIF on Mac

-ccs

22

Or, for those who like to keep it natural

(Quicktime to gif, with bash tools)

( could be wrapped up in a custom Keyboard Maestro plugin ? )