gifcast

#!/bin/sh

# gifcast - easily create gif screencasts from a selected area
# 
# The first run lets you select a rectangle and starts recording while the second run stops the recording.
# Tested on Fedora 24 with GNOME
# Dependencies: xrectsel, byzanz, convert (ImageMagick)

FILE="/run/user/${UID}/$(basename $0).pid"

if [ -f $FILE ]; then
  PID=$(cat $FILE)
  DEST="$(cat /proc/${PID}/cmdline | xargs -0 -n1 echo | tail -n1 )"
  kill $PID
  rm -rf $FILE
  sleep 1
  convert "${DEST}" -loop 0 "${DEST}"
  exit
fi

AREA=$(xrectsel "--x=%x --y=%y --width=%w --height=%h")
DEST="$(xdg-user-dir PICTURES)/Screencast from $(date "+%F %H-%M-%S").gif"

byzanz-record $AREA --duration=600 --cursor "${DEST}" &

CAST=$!
echo $CAST > $FILE
trap "kill ${CAST}" 2
wait $CAST

convert "${DEST}" -loop 0 "${DEST}"

rm -f $FILE

Fedora packages:

sudo dnf copr enable stbenjam/xrectsel
sudo dnf install xrectsel byzanz