Is It Hard to Change the Speed of a GIF?

Different GIF speed variations can assist you in achieving specific effects. A quicker video may also be smoother, but a slower one allows you to see everything frame by frame.

Have you ever considered changing a GIF’s speed? If GIFs are not properly optimized, they can overload a website or be too large for short messages. When used with animated graphics, the GIF format produces enormous files. A good way to minimize their size and make them less bandwidth hungry is to speed them up a little. 

In this article, we will present four simple techniques for streamlining your GIFs, whether you want them to load faster or play faster.

How to Change the Playback Speed of a GIF

When you need to alter the playback speed, here is your go-to option:

1. Use a GIF Speed Changer Online

Sometimes, to increase or decrease the GIF speed, all you need is to open a web browser and start editing your GIF. And this is possible with a GIF maker such as Flixier. In fact, Flixier lets you modify the pace of a GIF in real time, allowing you to tweak it until it’s exactly right.

There are, however, three steps you need to follow until you reach the perfect GIF speed:

Step 1: Choose a GIF to Speed Up or Down

First things first, open the video editor by clicking the blue “Get Started” button in the upper right corner. You can add GIFs from your PC to your personal library or search for specific ones from their GIPHY selection.

Step 2: Change the GIF Speed

Select the “Video speed” option from the menu in the top right corner of your screen after clicking the track containing the GIF on the timeline. You can either select one of our prepared settings or use the slider to create your own speed.

Alternatively, press and hold SHIFT while dragging the right border of the track with your mouse. Moving it to the left causes your GIF to get faster and shorter, as represented by the bunny image. Moving it to the right will make the GIF slower and longer, as shown by the turtle image on the track.

Step 3: Export the Final GIF

When you’re pleased with the GIF’s new speed, click the blue “Export” button in the upper right corner of the video editor and select the GIF option from the “Save as…” dropdown menu. 

If you also wish to change the frame rate of the GIF, go to our advanced exporting menu from the “My projects” tab, right-click on the GIF, and choose “Export video.”

How to Make Your GIF Load Faster

If, on the other hand, all you need is to change the loading speed of your GIF, we have three methods you might want to try:

2. Resize Your GIF 

If you want to change the GIF speed, you might consider resizing it. Resized GIFs may load faster, but their playback speed remains unchanged. However, this is a really effective approach to reduce the size of a GIF and make it more mobile-friendly. 

Because a GIF is a collection of frames, you would normally have to resize each frame in the animation manually. However, nowadays, you can use an online GIF editor to crop or resize a GIF without having to go frame by frame. 

However, if you choose not to do so, there is something else you can do:

3. Use a Different Format

Sometimes, the best response to this problem is to discard the GIF format entirely. In most browsers, MP4 is the preferred video format. If you choose to convert a GIF file to another format, such as MP4, that reduces the size of your file and allows you to edit it as a video.

4. Use a GIF Compressor App

If you prefer to have a downloaded application on your computer, then ImageOptim is the program you’ll need to get the job done. This software employs a compression method that reduces the size of GIFs and JPGs to 80% of their original size. If your GIF has a lot of color profiles, this tool will help you get smaller GIF files and images.

Note, however, that ImageOptim is only available for MacOS computers.

So, Is It Hard to Change the Speed of a GIF?

Whether we are talking about the loading or the playback speed, the conclusion is quite simple: no, it is not hard to change the speed of a GIF! While it depends on the specific circumstance, the most time-efficient method will be to use an online GIF maker.

However, no matter what you end up choosing, we hope that the methods introduced will help you have a smoother GIF editing experience!