This gist shows how to create a GIF screencast using only free OS X tools: QuickTime, ffmpeg, and gifsicle.
To capture the video (filesize: 19MB), using the free "QuickTime Player" application:
- Open "Quicktime Player",
- Go to File -> New Screen Recording
- Selected screen portion by dragging a rectangle, recorded 13 second video.
- Go to File -> Export -> As Movie
- Saved the video in full quality with the filename
in.mov
- Saved the video in full quality with the filename
To convert in.mov into out.gif (filesize: 48KB), open Terminal to the folder with in.mov
and run the following command:
ffmpeg -i in.mov -s 600x400 -pix_fmt rgb24 -r 10 -f gif - | gifsicle --optimize=3 --delay=3 > out.gif
Notes on the arguments:
-r 10
tells ffmpeg to reduce the frame rate from 25 fps to 10-s 600x400
tells ffmpeg the max-width and max-height--delay=3
tells gifsicle to delay 30ms between each gif--optimize=3
requests that gifsicle use the slowest/most file-size optimization
The conversion process requires the following command-line tools:
- ffmpeg to process the video file
- gifsicle to create and optimize the an animated gif
If you use homebrew and homebrew-cask software packages, just type this in:
brew install ffmpeg
brew cask install xquartz #dependency for gifsicle, only required for mountain-lion and above
open /usr/local/Cellar/x-quartz/2.7.4/XQuartz.pkg # runs the XQuartz installer (YOU NEED TO UPDATE THE PATH)
brew install gifsicle