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Option to create video gifs on YouTube tested currently

Big news today for anyone who loves animated gifs and YouTube videos. Google is testing the creation of gif files on YouTube currently on select channels.

Instead of having to rely on add-ons or third-party software to create those gifs, it may soon be possible to create gifs using any video hosted by YouTube directly.

One of the channels where this is currently tested is the PBS Idea Channel.

When you open a video of the channel it looks like any other YouTube video first, but when you click on the Share link to display sharing options, you find a new gif tab there.

This tab is only available on channels that participate in the test. When you click on gif there, the following screen opens up.

youtube gifs

A slider is displayed at the top that you can use to select the start and end position of the gif that you want to create. The thumbnail is automatically adjusted when you change the time to reflect the new position.

You can use the start and end text fields instead if you need to fine tune the selection as the slider is not well suited for that.

The only other option that you have is to add top and bottom text to the gif that you want to create. This text is displayed on the gif automatically when it is played back.

A click on create gif starts the creation process which takes a couple of seconds usually. Google displays a direct link and embed code on the next page.

The embed code can be embedded into blog posts, websites or forums for example while the direct link opens the gif directly when clicked on.

Note: Gifs can only be created on YouTube if you are signed in to your account. While you still see Gif listed under sharing options, you are asked to sign in to YouTube before you can use it and create the gif.

Since this is a limited test, it is not clear yet if Google will roll out the feature to all videos on the site or remove it again from it. 

This article was first seen on ComTek's "TekBits" Technology News

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