Want to download video from gfycat? Want to convert Gfycat WEBM video format to MP4? This tutorial will show you how.
Gfycat seems to be a great site for GIFs and a website that keeps on giving even though the scope of GIFs is very limited. The appeal is a mix of its simplicity and the open nature of the app where anyone can do anything and post online. One of the best parts of the internet!
Whenever I think the world is coming to an end or that people are too attached to politics or hate or stupidity, I visit a place like Giphy or Gfycat. It suddenly shows that there are smart, funny, witty, intelligent people out there. It shows me that people see the world completely differently than I do, and that’s okay. It also shows that people see things in the most mundane situations that I can’t see until you show them to me. GIFs are the perfect way to brighten a day.
Anyway, back to Gfycat.
Download GIFs from Gfycat
The apps are all very good and sites like Gfycat are great because they host thousands of videos for our entertainment. However, the ephemeral nature of these means that outstanding GIFs will be there one minute and gone the next. If some are good enough to watch over and over, why not download them so they don’t get lost?
Often times this is against a website’s Terms and Conditions. Gfycat allows you to freely share GIFs from the site by linking to them on various platforms, but says nothing about downloading that I can find.
The easiest way to download a video from gfycat is to right-click it.
- Right-click a video in Gfycat and select Save Video As.
- Choose WEBM as the format and give it a name.
Since the videos are saved on the site in this way, your only option is to use WEBM as the format. You can convert it to MP4 if you want, and I’ll show you how in a moment.
You can also use this Chrome extension if you want. It’s a bit grumpy but a few times I’ve been able to use it to download a GIF as an MP4.
There are also a few websites that use the same principle as downloading YouTube videos but for Gfycat. I tested several Tube Offline, OFFMP3 and 9XBuddy and they all seemed to work fine. You need to get the URL of the video, paste it in the box and hit Download. The page will take the video, convert it to MP4 and save it to your device.
Embed gfycat videos
If you just want to use a video on your own website or social media, you can link directly to it, as you would a YouTube video. Probably this is better as Gfycat still hosts the video and uses storage and bandwidth instead of yours.
Share gfycat on social media
For example, to share a Gfycat video to Facebook, select a video, select the paper plane underneath, select the F icon for Facebook and complete the text, comment or whatever you want to add and hit Submit.
You can do the same for Titter, Reddit and others.
Embed a Gfycat video in a web page
Embedding a Gfycat video is just as simple. Using WordPress as an example, you create your post in the editor as you normally would. Copy the GIF URL from Gfycat, switch from Text view to Code view in WordPress, paste the URL where you want the GIF to appear and switch back to Text view.
You should see the GIF appear inline where you add the code. After publishing the page, the GIF will stay in place and play.
You can also use iFrame to embed on a web page. It uses the same principle as social media sharing. Select the paper airplane icon below the video and select Embed below the video. Use the Responsive option, copy the code, use the same Code view on your web page, paste the code, go back and you should see the video appear.
Convert WEBM to MP4
Gfycat uses the WEBM format for its videos, and unless you’re using a tool or browser extension, it’s your only option when downloading them. If you want, you can convert it later using a few web converters. Online Uniconverter and Zamzar are pretty good options for this.
Download your video from Gfycat and upload it to an online converter. Let the page do its thing and download it as MP4. This much!
