vid2ani

Video to GIF/APNG/WEBP converter

A batch script for converting video files to GIF/APNG/WEBP using FFmpeg. Supports scaling, trimming and cropping, preview using 'ffplay' and several options to control palette and dithering.

By MDHEXT, Nabi KaramAliZadeh, Pathduck

Based on the research listed here: High quality GIF with FFmpeg

Installation

Clone the repo.
Install FFmpeg.
For Windows make sure that the path to ffmpeg.exe is configured in your system environment variables control panel.

Usage

vid2ani [input_file] [arguments]

Arguments

 -o  Output file. Default is the same as input file, sans extension
 -t  Output file type: 'gif' (default), 'apng', 'png', 'webp'
 -r  Resize (scale) output width in pixels. Default is original input size
 -l  Enable lossy WebP compression and quality, range 0-100 (default 75)
 -f  Framerate in frames per seconds (default 15)
 -c  Maximum colors usable per palette, range 3-256 (default 256)
 -s  Start time of the animation (HH:MM:SS.MS)
 -e  End time of the animation (HH:MM:SS.MS)
 -x  Crop the input video (out_w:out_h:x:y)
     Note that cropping occurs before output is scaled
 -d  Dithering algorithm to be used (default 0)
 -b  Bayer Scale setting, range 0-5 (default 2)
 -m  Palettegen mode: 1 (diff, default), 2 (single), 3 (full)
 -k  Enables paletteuse error diffusion
 -y  Preview animation using 'FFplay' (part of FFmpeg)
     Useful for testing cropping, but will not use exact start/end times
 -p  Opens the resulting animation in the default image viewer
 -v  Set FFmpeg log level (default: error)

Dithering Algorithms:
 0: None
 1: Bayer
 2: Heckbert
 3: Floyd Steinberg
 4: Sierra2
 5: Sierra2_4a
 6: Sierra3
 7: Burkes
 8: Atkinson

Palettegen Modes:
 1: diff - only what moves affects the palette
 2: single - one palette per frame
 3: full - one palette for the whole animation

About Bayerscale:
When bayer dithering is selected, the Bayer Scale option defines the
scale of the pattern (how much the crosshatch pattern is visible).
A low value means more visible pattern for less banding, a higher value
means less visible pattern at the cost of more banding.

Notes

Cropping works on the input video before scaling is performed, and passes the parameters directly to the FFmpeg crop filter.
Preview uses FFplay and the script will check for its existence on the PATH. FFplay is usually installed along with FFmpeg. The preview is not time-accurate and is mostly useful for testing cropping.
The script will attempt to check for valid inputs, but will fall back to FFmpeg's error messages.
The APNG muxer does not support multiple input palettes, palettegen (-m) will fall back to using diff mode if single mode is selected.
Since FFmpeg can convert between any format, it's also possible to convert between for instance GIF to WEBP, although frame rates might be off.
The script uses ffmpeg, you can download that here: FFmpeg
The script was forked from: MDHEXT/video2gif