Video to GIF converter that adds captions and loops
A moment from a phone video makes a perfect reaction GIF for your group chat, team Slack or a newsletter. Send the clip to your todo.is agent in any format, say which seconds you want and what the caption should say, and it makes a looping GIF sized for where you will share it.
The prompt
- Make a GIF from the attached video: [ATTACH THE VIDEO]. Use the moment from [START] to [END]. Crop it to [SHAPE]. Add the caption "[CAPTION]" in bold white letters with a black outline at the bottom. Loop style: [LOOP]. Keep it under [SIZE LIMIT]. Also send a still of the best frame so I can use it as a thumbnail.
What to change
- [ATTACH THE VIDEO]: Attach the clip: MOV, MP4, WebM, AVI or MKV all work, or a video someone sent you on WhatsApp.
- [START]: E.g. "0:12".
- [END]: E.g. "0:15". Short moments (2 to 5 seconds) make the best GIFs.
- [SHAPE]: E.g. "square 1:1", "keep the original" or "vertical 4:5".
- [CAPTION]: The text to show, e.g. "Monday mood". Write "no caption" to skip it.
- [LOOP]: E.g. "normal loop", "boomerang (forward then backward)" or "play once".
- [SIZE LIMIT]: E.g. "8 MB", or "small enough for Slack".
Example result
- Video to GIF: "Monday mood"
- Source: IMG_5520.MOV · 4K vertical · 41 s
- Result: monday-mood.gif · 480 × 480 · 15 fps · 3 s boomerang · 2.8 MB
- What your agent did
- • Converted the iPhone MOV (HEVC) with ffmpeg; no need to convert it to MP4 first
- • Cut 0:12 to 0:15, where the dog slides across the kitchen floor
- • Cropped square around the dog, following its position across the shot so it stays in frame
- • Caption: "Monday mood" in bold white with a black outline, so it reads on light and dark parts of the video. The text was added as real text after the frames were made, so no letters are garbled
- • Boomerang: the 3 seconds play forward then backward, so the loop has no jump
- • Palette: colours optimized for this clip to avoid banding on the wooden floor
- Thumbnail
- monday-mood-still.jpg: the frame at 0:13.4, mid-slide, 1080 × 1080 px.
- Sharing sizes
- • Slack and Discord: under 8 MB works well; this one is 2.8 MB
- • Email newsletters: aim for under 1 MB; ask for a 320 px version
- • Some chat apps turn GIFs into short videos automatically. That is normal and keeps the loop
- Only share clips you have the right to use
- GIFs from films or TV shows are copyrighted. Your own videos are always fine.
How to do it with todo.is
- Copy the prompt and set the start and end time, shape, caption and loop style.
- Attach the video in the todo.is app, or forward it to your agent from a WhatsApp chat.
- Your agent cuts, crops, captions and encodes the GIF, plus a still frame.
- Ask for another moment or caption from the same clip anytime.
Tips for a better result
- 2 to 5 seconds is the sweet spot. A GIF is a moment, not a scene.
- A boomerang loop hides the jump between the last and first frame, which makes short clips feel endless.
- Keep captions to 2 to 4 words. Longer text is hard to read before the loop repeats.
- Use the still frame as a thumbnail for emails, where some apps only show the first frame.
video to GIF converter: FAQ
- Which video formats can I turn into a GIF? MP4, MOV, WebM, AVI, MKV and most phone and screen recording formats work.
- How long can a GIF be? There is no fixed limit, but every second adds size. Most good GIFs are under 6 seconds.
- Can I add text to a GIF? Yes. Your agent adds the caption as real text, in the font, colour and position you choose.
- Can I make a GIF from a YouTube video? Only use videos you have the rights to. If it is your own video, send the file and your agent makes the GIF from it.
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