MOV to GIF

Convert MOV video to GIF for free — pick the range and create it in your browser, no upload.

MOV is Apple's QuickTime container, and whether it becomes a GIF depends on the video codec inside. An iPhone set to Most Compatible records H.264, which browsers decode widely; the default High Efficiency setting records HEVC, which only some browsers and devices decode; ProRes, recorded by Pro iPhones and used by cameras and editors, is not a codec browsers decode. Nerulio reads the MOV container itself, so a MOV your browser will not preview can still work when its codec is decodable.

Drop video files hereProcess many files at once

No upload · processed on this device

Making a game?

Nerulio is a 2D game asset studio first: draw pixel art, cut sprite sheets into animations, pack texture atlases, check autotile tilesets and export them for Godot, Unity, Phaser and other engines. It runs in your browser; files stay on your device.

Open the game studio →All game tools GIF to sprite sheet Sprite animation preview Sprite sheet packer

Why the same .mov works on one computer and fails on another

A .mov file is a QuickTime container. MDN lists QuickTime as a format that only older Safari played in the browser, but Nerulio does not rely on the browser for the container: Mediabunny reads the MOV structure itself and hands the compressed frames to WebCodecs. What decides success is the video codec.

The WebCodecs codec registry defines AV1, H.264 (AVC), HEVC, VP8 and VP9 for video. H.264 is decoded widely. HEVC is uneven: caniuse lists partial support in Chrome from version 107 and Firefox from 137 and full support in Safari from 13, and MDN notes that Chrome relies on hardware support on Windows. ProRes is not in the registry, so a ProRes MOV cannot be turned into a GIF in a browser.

Apple's camera setting decides the codec of new iPhone videos: Settings › Camera › Formats › Most Compatible records H.264 instead of HEVC. Apple also notes that when you share HEVC media, it may be sent in a more compatible format such as H.264 if the receiving device lacks support.

QuickTime (MOV): Apple's container format, the ancestor of the MP4 box structure, allowing more codecs.
HEVC (H.265): The video codec of iPhones set to High Efficiency; decoding depends on the browser and hardware.
ProRes: Apple's editing codec; Pro iPhones can record it, and Apple says ProRes files are up to 30 times larger than HEVC.

Example: read the codec before you start

FFmpeg's ffprobe prints a MOV's video codec in one command:

$ ffprobe -v error -select_streams v:0 -show_entries stream=codec_name,width,height -of default=nw=1 IMG_0420.MOV
codec_name=hevc
width=1920
height=1080
h264 → works · hevc → only where the browser decodes HEVC · prores → not in browsers
GIF at 480 px, 15 fps, 5 s → 480 × 270 × 75 = 9.7 million bytes of index data

Without ffprobe, open the file here: if it opens (duration and size shown) but the GIF stops with a decoder error, the codec is the problem, not the file.

MOV codecs and what happens

Inside the MOV	Where it comes from	GIF in the browser
H.264 video	iPhone set to Most Compatible	Works
HEVC video	iPhone default (High Efficiency)	Works only where the browser and device decode HEVC
ProRes video	Pro iPhones with Apple ProRes on, cameras, editing exports	Not decodable in browsers
Audio track (AAC or PCM)	Most MOVs	Ignored; a GIF has no sound

Check the result

Open the MOV: the file line should show dimensions and duration even if the preview stays black.
Wait for the size estimate: it decodes three real frames, so an estimate appearing means the codec decodes in this browser.
Check that the GIF is upright: iPhone portrait clips carry a rotation flag that Nerulio applies.

Troubleshooting

Symptom	Likely cause	How to check	Fix
The preview stays black but the file opened	The browser's own player does not play this MOV, while Nerulio's reader can	The file line shows duration and size	Try the GIF anyway; if it stops with a decoder error, see the next rows
Decoder error on an iPhone clip	HEVC video in a browser or on a device without an HEVC decoder	ffprobe shows codec_name=hevc	Try another browser or device, set the iPhone to Most Compatible for new clips, or share the clip in a compatible format first
Decoder error on a large MOV from a camera or editor	ProRes video, which browsers do not decode	ffprobe shows codec_name=prores	Export an H.264 MP4 or MOV from the editor first
Colours look flat compared with the Photos app	An HDR recording is converted to 8-bit when it is drawn, and the browser decides how	Check whether the clip was recorded in HDR	Record in SDR for GIFs, or accept the conversion

Other ways to do it

Option	When it is the better choice
FFmpeg with `palettegen` and `paletteuse`	HEVC or ProRes MOVs that no browser here decodes, since FFmpeg decodes these codecs itself.
Convert the clip to H.264 first on the Mac or iPhone	When you make many GIFs from HEVC clips: afterwards every browser path works.

What this page does not cover

ProRes MOVs cannot be converted in a browser.
HEVC works only where the browser and device decode it; Nerulio adds no HEVC decoder.

Versions and sources

Nerulio's media suite (tests/media-browser.mjs) uses H.264 MP4 and VP9 WebM test files; MOV input is not part of it. The MOV behaviour here follows the QuickTime reader in Mediabunny 1.58.1 and the official documentation below: Apple for camera formats and ProRes, caniuse and MDN for HEVC support, and the W3C registry for the codec list.

Official documentation used

MOV to GIF

MOV is common on iPhone and Mac; browser support depends on the codec inside.

GIF size depends heavily on width, frame rate and colours; short clips at a modest width share best.

Your file is never uploaded — it is processed inside this browser.

Video to GIF

Set width, frame rate and palette size; frames are processed sequentially.

How it works

Open a video and select a short range
Set width, frame rate and palette size
Export a GIF and check motion, colors and file size

Supported formats

MP4 / WebM / MOV → GIF — Input decoding and output encoding depend on browser support.

What this tool does

Decode one frame at a time; choose GIF width, FPS, palette size and dithering.

Implementation and verified quality

advanced · WebCodecs sequential frames / gifenc adaptive palettes / measured size targets. Quality qualification is in progress. Pro/Flagship quality has not been established.

Before you export

Fast cut shrinks to inner keyframes. Precise mode re-encodes; codec availability varies. Temporary outputs use local browser storage when available. Compatibility recording retains its short-clip limits.

Frequently asked questions

What determines the supported size?

Actual device memory, storage and codec support. Tested examples are evidence, not a guarantee for every file.

Are my files uploaded?

This tool processes the files you open on your device without uploading them. Images you explicitly attach to community posts are uploaded separately. Optional engines and models are downloaded from third parties; those requests expose connection information such as your IP address.

Will my work be saved automatically?

No. Images and editing state stay in this tab; media output can use local temporary storage. Changing language preserves your work; reloading, closing the tab, or following a link to another page can clear it.