Recently, I wanted to take part of an AVI video file (probably XviD or DivX, but who can tell these days) and convert it into a GIF. The Internet turned out to be less than helpful on the subject.
As it turns out, you can open AVIs in Photoshop and then use “File -> Save for Web and Devices” to export to GIF. This, however, only works for certain codecs. Presumably these do not include DivX/XviD, because Photoshop will just pretend to load the file and then silently fail. Of course, information on what Photoshop can and cannot open is nowhere to be found online.
Anyway, after many attempts to transcode, remux, and other nonsense, I decided to take the ghetto route and use Capture Me and VideoLAN Client (VLC) to do the dirty work (both free). Yes, VLC can theoretically transcode and remux, but it had trouble finding the proper codecs. Yes, that could have been fixed, but effort.
Anyway, to continue on with the description of the ghetto solution:
- Open up the AVI (or other movie file) in VLC
- Position the file correctly to the time where you want to start recording
- Fire up Capture Me
- Move some windows around:
- Hit play on VLC
- Hit Cmd+R to get Capture Me to start recording
- Hit Cmd+R again when done
- Now save the file, open in Photoshop, and “Save for Web and Devices”
None of this is anywhere near rocket surgery, but trying to Google up a quick fix is a pain in the backside.
