curiosityy

So, this is my first attempt at a tutorial. A couple of people at anythingdisney had asked me try and make one. Please let me know if it isn't detailed enough or if something isn't working for you. Enjoy.

For this tutorial I am going to make a GIF from the Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince trailer here.



First step: Once you find the video you want to use, you have to rip it from YouTube. The best place I've found for this is http://www.keepvid.com. Copy and paste the URL of the video into the bar. Important: At the end of the video URL add "&fmt=18" minus the quotes. This will make sure that it rips the high quality version of the video and just make your life easier. Once it is done ripping click on the Download MP4 link and save it somewhere on your computer.




Second step: To make caps of the video I use VLC Media Player which you can download for free here. Once you have VLC installed you will need to set your preferences. To get to the preferences panel click Settings and then Preferences.



Third step: The first preferences you need to set are your Snapshot Properties. To get to these click the Video tab in the preferences menu. Select Overlay Video Output and then decide a folder for your caps to be saved in. Mine is saved in a folder called JBCaps in the My Pictures folder. The Video snapshot file prefix should be vlcsnap- and then I have my Video snapshots format set to png. Lastly, check the Use sequential numbers instead of timestamps box. This makes it so that you can cap a bunch of videos and then make caps afterwards instead of having to cap a video and make the gif's immediately. Once these properties are set, you won't have to mess with them again. They will be saved for every time you open VLC.



Fourth step: After you have your Snapshot Properties set, you need to select a hotkey preference for your caps. This allows you to just hold down a keyboard button to make caps rather than keep clicking video -> create cap. For mine, I used the letter S. So, to make caps of a video I just hold down the "S" key during the parts I want. Once these properties are set, you won't have to mess with them again. They will be saved for every time you open VLC.



Fifth step: Once you have all your properties set up, you are ready to make the caps. Open your video in VLC and cap the parts you want by holding down whatever you selected as your cap hotkey during the clip you want.

Sixth step: Alright. Once your caps are done you are ready to start putting them together to make a GIF. I use Jasc Animation Shop 3 to make mine, it seems to be the easiest program out of all the ones I've seen. You can download it for free here. IMPORTANT: This program is for Windows XP and earlier. If you're on a different system than that, I really don't know of any other good programs. Apparently it works on Vista, so gif it up, bitches. Install it and then you will be ready to start making GIFs.

Seventh step: Open up Animation Shop. At the top left there will be an icon called Animation Wizard, that is what you will use to make your GIFs.



Eighth step: Once you open the Wizard you will go through 7 screens. None of these really need messed with other than the picking out your caps screen. ALSO, make sure that the last cap in your animation is at the top of the list once you select them all. This will make it flow better when it plays instead of being choppy.



Ninth step: Hit the Finish build. Once your GIF shows up click on the View Animation icon. This will show you what your finished GIF will look like. If you are happy with it, you can save it right now. If you are going to save now, skip to step eleven so you know what to expect.



Tenth step: In this case, the GIF seems a bit slow to me, this one uses a lot of caps. I'm going to adjust it to go from 12 100ths of a sec/cap to 7 using the Frame Properties menu. This will make it run a bit faster. It is also a bit on the large side, I can resize it using the Resize Animation menu. I can also crop it using the Crop icon.




Eleventh step: Now that I'm happy with the speed and size of the GIF, I'll save the finished product. First, click File -> Save As. This will bring up a menu that lets you name your GIF and choose where to save it. It will then take you through 4 screens, just click Next through these. Nothing needs changed.




Twelfth step: You're done! Upload and share it where ever you want. This is my finished GIF for the HP and the HBP trailer.





Post what you did. I want to see if it works for everyone. Let me know if anything is unclear.