How can I get ffmpeg to convert a .mov to a .gif?

I'm trying to convert a .mov to a .gif and I'm not having success.

Here's the error:

ffmpeg -pix_fmt rgb24 -i yesbuddy.mov output.gif
ffmpeg version 0.11.1 Copyright (c) 2000-2012 the FFmpeg developers
  built on Jun 12 2012 17:47:34 with clang 2.1 (tags/Apple/clang-163.7.1)
  configuration: --prefix=/usr/local/Cellar/ffmpeg/0.11.1 --enable-shared --enable-gpl --enable-version3 --enable-nonfree --enable-hardcoded-tables --enable-libfreetype --cc=/usr/bin/clang --enable-libx264 --enable-libfaac --enable-libmp3lame --enable-librtmp --enable-libtheora --enable-libvorbis --enable-libvpx --enable-libxvid --enable-libopencore-amrnb --enable-libopencore-amrwb --enable-libass --enable-libvo-aacenc --disable-ffplay
  libavutil      51. 54.100 / 51. 54.100
  libavcodec     54. 23.100 / 54. 23.100
  libavformat    54.  6.100 / 54.  6.100
  libavdevice    54.  0.100 / 54.  0.100
  libavfilter     2. 77.100 /  2. 77.100
  libswscale      2.  1.100 /  2.  1.100
  libswresample   0. 15.100 /  0. 15.100
  libpostproc    52.  0.100 / 52.  0.100
Option pixel_format not found.

If I leave out the -pix_fmt rgb24 part it complains. Thoughts on how to fix?

The order of command line arguments matters. This command line should work but will generate a giant file:

ffmpeg -i yesbuddy.mov -pix_fmt rgb24 output.gif

Note that you probably want to reduce the frame rate and size when you convert, as well as specify a start time and duration. You probably do not want to convert the entire file at its original resolution and frame rate.

ffmpeg -ss 00:00:00.000 -i yesbuddy.mov -pix_fmt rgb24 -r 10 -s 320x240 -t 00:00:10.000 output.gif

The file size will still be huge. You may be able to use ImageMagick's GIF optimizer to reduce the size:

convert -layers Optimize output.gif output_optimized.gif

After converting:

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 input.gif

Try optimize frames:

convert input.gif -verbose -coalesce -layers OptimizeFrame input_optframe.gif

And use gifsicle to make final optimization:

gifsicle -O2 input_optframe.gif -o optimized.gif

Got 6.8mb GIF from 12.2mb video with almost the same quality!

How can I get ffmpeg to convert a .mov to a .gif?

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