Orangeinks

GifSoup: Create Animated Gifs from YouTube Videos

Creating animated images are getting easier and easier. There are several online tools that you can use to make animated images or animated GIFs. Most of them can be used by simply adding images as frames for your animated GIF. But what if you want to create an animated image (GIF) with frames taken from a video.

GifSoup is a special tool that you can use to convert your YouTube videos into an animated GIF file. With this tool, you won’t have to screen capture portions of the video just to create a frame for your animated GIF. You can simply find a YouTube video you want to convert into an animated GIF, paste the YouTube URL of that particular video on GifSoup and begin converting immediately.

You can add a title for your animated GIF and include it in its proper category. The processing takes a couple of minutes to finish. The duration of the conversion will depend upon the length of the video that you chose. Once the processing is completed, you can choose the Start Time and End Time of the animated GIF that you’ll grab from the video. You only have a 10 second limit on the time length so choose your timeline carefully. You can preview your animated GIF and save it when you’re satisfied.

GifSoup is great for converting short videos into animated GIFs. You can simply upload your video clip on YouTube and use GifSoup to make the conversion for you.

Tags: animated gif, GIF, GifSoup, youtube

Photoshop: Create your own Loading Screen Animation

This tutorial teaches us how to create our own animated loading style GIF using just Photoshop. You’ll be surprised on how easy it is to do if you take the right steps.

Tags: animated gif, animation, GIF, loading, Photoshop

Different Ways to Create Animated GIF Online

I compiled a list of web apps that can be used to easily create animated GIF. The tools featured here will not require you to register or sign up. Just upload the images and create your animated GIFs. Here they are.

Gickr

Gickr is a YouTube and Flickr tool which allows you to generate animated GIF images using Flickr photos or turn a YouTube Video into an animated GIF image. You can select photos by using your Flickr username or by using a keyword which will display a gallery of photos from other users. Select from the photos displayed and they will be included in your animated image. As for YouTube videos, just place the link of the video that you want to convert into an animated image.

Gickr comes with the usual sharing tools so that it’ll be easy for you to share your creation. This is a pretty cool service and very easy to use.

AjaxLoad

AjaxLoad is not your average animated GIF creator or editor. What it does is allow you to easily generate and customize your own animated ajax loader icon. You can select from a list of indicator, choose a background color (or make it transparent), and place a foreground color. That’s pretty much it. When you’re satisfied with your creation, all that’s left to do is to download it.

Online Image Editor

This particular tool is not only focused on helping you create animated images. It also have several editing features that you might find useful. It may not be a looker design-wise but as long as it works, who am I to argue. But I’m not here to discuss editing features of Online Image Editor. The OIE Animation wizard is what we’re here for.

To use the animation wizard, just upload your images and every image that you upload will be considered as a frame. The engine will only allow you to upload images not bigger than 250x250px. You must resize your images if they are bigger than the said limit. After uploading your images, It will bring you to the image editor where you can choose to add more effects, do a bit more of editing to your animated gif or just save your image.

GifMake

GifMake was featured here a couple of months back. It’s a simple animated GIF creator which allows you adjust the frame rate speed of your animation and how many number of times the images will loop (animate) before it halts to a static image. Read more about Gifmake.

Smirk

Smirk lets you create an animated GIF image directly from your webcam. It will display your recorded video as an animated image for you to share with your friends. Read more about Smirk.

Tags: ajaxload, animated gif, gickr, gifmake, online image editor

Smirk: Video Icons for your Mood

Smirk is a simple and small service which allows you to create video icons of yourself directly from your webcam. You can then save those icons in your Smirk profile and share them with your friends.

Just head over to their site and you can immediately create your own video avatar. It just takes a few seconds of recording to create one. You can record a video depending on a mood caption available. You don’t have to worry about making mistakes when creating your video icon. You can replace a previously created icon with a new recording. However, I cannot seem to find a way to delete the icons that I’ve created. It seems that the only way to get rid of my silly face on Smirk was to replace the previously created icon with a blank recording. So, if you want your face removed from the service, just rerecord the video with your cam facing the wall.

Sharing is very easy, an embed code and a URL of your video icon will be available to you. You can also get an animated GIF version of your video icon for use as an avatar in forums and other services which allows animated GIFs.

Smirk is a different way of expressing yourself on the web. If you want to have some fun with your online avatar, better check it out.

Tags: animated gif, getyoursmirkon, icon, online avatar, smirk, video icon

GifMake: Online Animated GIF Maker

Want a quick solution in making an animated GIF file? Try GifMake. It’s a simple web application which turns your images into an animated GIF. It supports gif, jpeg and png image file formats. You can easily transform the mentioned files into a single animated GIF file by using the service. You can also use GifMake to decompose existing animated GIF’s.

How to Use:

Simply upload an image file from your computer or use an existing online image file by placing in the URL of the image. Once the images are properly uploaded, place the length of time (measured in milliseconds) you want the images to appear before displaying the next image. You can also enter a value in the Animation Loop to limit the amount of times the image will animate. If you want an infinite loop then just leave the Animation Loop value at zero.

If you happen to decide to change an image in the GIF file, you can just put a check on the checkbox located on the right side of the image and click the button Picture Replace. This will also be helpful when decomposing existing animated GIF files and changing or removing images in the animated file.

This is a very useful tool for easily creating animated GIF images. You don’t have to seek professional help or read/watch an image editing tutorial just to create your own animated images. Bloggers can also produce animated banner ads or animated favicons for their sites. I would suggest though that before uploading images to GifMake, make sure that the sizes of the images are about the same size if not the same. This will make your creation process a lot faster and with less or no distorted images. Check out the sample I made using GifMake.

Tags: animated gif, gifmake, web app, web service