MOV to GIF
Make a looping GIF from an iPhone or QuickTime MOV clip. Nothing is uploaded.
Drop MOV files here
Converted on your device. Files are never uploaded.
Up to 20 files at a time.
iPhone videos and Mac screen recordings are saved as MOV, which many chats, wikis and READMEs won’t play inline. FormatJet turns a short stretch of your MOV into a looping GIF that shows up anywhere an image can. The frames are decoded in your browser, so the clip never leaves your device.
About the formats
MOVQuickTime movie
MOV is Apple’s QuickTime video format, the one iPhones record in. It holds the same kinds of video as MP4, but some Windows apps and websites don’t accept it.
GIFGIF image
GIF is an old image format best known for short animations. It’s limited to 256 colours, so photos look grainy and files can be large.
Converted with Mediabunny, Browser video decoder (WebCodecs), gifenc, Media engine (FFmpeg).
Questions
Will a portrait iPhone video come out sideways?
No. The rotation stored in the phone video is applied, so a clip filmed upright stays upright in the GIF.
How long can the GIF be?
Up to 15 seconds. Choose where it begins with “Start at” and how long it lasts with “Length”; by default it takes the opening 15 seconds, or the whole clip if it’s shorter.
Can my browser read iPhone MOV files?
It needs a recent Chrome, Edge, Firefox or Safari, because the frames are decoded by the browser’s built-in video decoder (WebCodecs). If it can’t handle the video in your MOV, you’ll see a message saying so.
Is the GIF as sharp as my video?
Not quite. It’s scaled to the “Width” you pick in Options, never wider than the video, with the height following its shape, and each frame is limited to 256 colours, so fine gradients can band.
Does the GIF repeat?
Yes. It loops without end and plays silently, since a GIF carries no sound.
MOV to GIF with the API
The conversion API opens later this year.
curl https://api.formatjet.com/v1/convert?to=gif \
-H "Authorization: Bearer fj_test_…" \
-F file=@input.mov -o output.gif