It is actually quite easy to convert video clips to an animated GIF using the GIMP and Quicktime. Here's how I do it:

1. Get yourself a video clip that can be played in Quicktime. For example, let's pretend the video I wanted to use was Tunak Tunak Tun. The only Quicktime-compatible format available was iPod Video, so I download it.

2. Open up the video in Quicktime.

3. Next, select the portion of the clip you wish to export using the selection handles. If you want to export the entire clip, don't do anything for this step.

4. Go to File --> Export...

5. Select Movie To Image Sequence in the appropriate dropdown menu.

6. Then, press the options button.

7. Select PNG as the format and the number of frames per second. A good rule of thumb is to never use more than 10 frames a second; 5-7 is sufficient for most projects. The maximum number of frames per second that GIF can handle is 100, but you would almost never need to use this unless you had some high-speed camera footage that you intended to slow down or something of that nature.

8. Exit the options panel and save to a folder with the original movie name. (It will take a little bit of time to export the movie.)

9. Start up the GIMP and open the first image in the sequence from the location you saved it. It will be moviename01.png or something similar.

10. This is the trickies part, and it's not even that difficult. Go to File --> Open as Layer... and browse to the folder containing your images.

11. Sort the images by name in descending order (the upside down triangle on the sorting bar thingy).

12. Shift select all the images but the first and hit Open. Wait for the GIMP's flurry of activity to cease. You are almost done!

13. Go to File --> Save. Save your file as whatever.gif.

13a. Apply the Optimize for GIF filter.

14. You will be prompted asking if you want to a)flatten the image or b)save as an animation. Select the animation option. (Ignore the other prompt about converting color indexes.)

15. Add any comments you like (though I'm not sure where they show up -- I assume somewhere in the GIF's metadata) and specify the number of milliseconds per frame where unspecified (this is important) in the next prompt. If you want your video to play at the same film speed it was recorded, this number will be 1000/frames per second. So, if you specified 5fps, you would enter 200ms in this step.

16. Press save. If you followed the directions, you will have successfully converted your video clip to an animated GIF! Huzzah!
fun, now get it so i don't need quicktime movie player or quicktime files, and i'll like it Wink
or in kllrnohj's case, you could use Cinelarra to open it.
1337 tutorial, JPez! This could come in handy...
elfprince13 wrote:
or in kllrnohj's case, you could use Cinelarra to open it.


Eh, cinelarra's still pretty new/unstable....
@kllrnohj: I imagine many of the frapping programs out there as well as DVD programs have similar options.

Also, I should add that 10 frames a second will create fairly large files, so you might try using 5 or maybe even 3 fps. You would then have to specify 200ms for unspecified frames or 333ms, respectively.

I also forgot that you can optimize the file size with the the appropriate filter called "Optimize for GIF." (I'll add both those things right now, as well as some screenshots later.)
Cool, does this work for AVIs as well?
Any video file that can be opened in Quicktime will do.
Kllrnohj wrote:
elfprince13 wrote:
or in kllrnohj's case, you could use Cinelarra to open it.


Eh, cinelarra's still pretty new/unstable....


its been around since 1997 at least.... http://heroinewarrior.com/cinelerra.php3
Huh, that Cineralla looks pretty awesome...and powerful.
KermMartian wrote:
Huh, that Cineralla looks pretty awesome...and powerful.


I've gone ahead and compiled it from CVS - i'll try it tonight and let you know....
Coolness. Hopefully your comp can handle it. Smile
KermMartian wrote:
Coolness. Hopefully your comp can handle it. Smile


Yeah, I'm sure my AthlonXP 2500+ with 1gb of DDR dual-channel ram and a Radeon9700PRO video card (that can run Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion and Premiere Pro) is going to struggle with cinelarra Wink
Kllrnohj wrote:
KermMartian wrote:
Coolness. Hopefully your comp can handle it. Smile


Yeah, I'm sure my AthlonXP 2500+ with 1gb of DDR dual-channel ram and a Radeon9700PRO video card (that can run Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion and Premiere Pro) is going to struggle with cinelarra Wink
If Kerm doesn't know your specs, he assumes you're running on the z80 processor. Laughing
jpez wrote:
Kllrnohj wrote:
KermMartian wrote:
Coolness. Hopefully your comp can handle it. Smile


Yeah, I'm sure my AthlonXP 2500+ with 1gb of DDR dual-channel ram and a Radeon9700PRO video card (that can run Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion and Premiere Pro) is going to struggle with cinelarra Wink
If Kerm doesn't know your specs, he assumes you're running on the z80 processor. Laughing
C'mon, z80 pwns at gfx. Razz Their site seemed to imply you need a 64-bit proc to run it properly.
KermMartian wrote:
C'mon, z80 pwns at gfx. Razz Their site seemed to imply you need a 64-bit proc to run it properly.


I'm not going to be working with 30min to 2 hour long videos at 1024x768 (1080i HD) with all sorts of crazy special effects though, either Wink
I recommend this, it's very good, http://www.video-to-gif.com ,but it's not free, maybe you have to pay for it.
bestjet wrote:
I recommend this, it's very good, http://www.video-to-gif.com ,but it's not free, maybe you have to pay for it.

Thanks for the helpful tip!
I just use Super to convert vids to gifs.
D-: ffmpeg! Loads of formats -> Loads of other formats. It can do videos/gifs -> images, images -> videos/gif, or videos -> gifs.
  
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