f Adding an alternate script that outsources the GIF generation process to gifski; it does better than the original script for colored GIFs, looks less good for B&W stuff. Overall, it's better, and it may become the 'main' version of this script.

video_to_gif2.py

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+
+import argparse
+from pathlib import Path
+import random
+import string
+import subprocess
+from typing import Any, Dict, List, Tuple
+
+
+def get_args() -> Dict[str, Any]:
+    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(
+        prog='video_to_gif.py',
+        description='Use ffmpeg and gifski to make GIFs from videos',
+        epilog='— Be gay and do crime')
+    parser.add_argument('input', type=str, metavar='INPUT', nargs='+',
+                        help="input file, supports passing a glob like /Users/MyName/Videos/*.mov")
+    parser.add_argument('-w', '--width', type=str, default='960',
+                        help='width of the GIF in pixels, respecting aspect ratio (default: 960)')
+    parser.add_argument('-r', '--framerate', type=str,
+                        default='12', help='framerate of GIF (default: 12)'),
+    parser.add_argument('-t', '--tag', type=str, default=get_tag(),
+                        help='optional tag included in file name')
+    return vars(parser.parse_args())
+
+
+def get_tag() -> str:
+    return ''.join(random.choices(string.ascii_uppercase + string.digits, k=5))
+
+
+def call_ffmpeg(command: List[str]) -> bool:
+    print("ffmpeg", ' '.join(command))
+    full_command = ["ffmpeg", '-hide_banner', '-loglevel', 'error'] + command
+
+    # TODO: Find a way to avoid shell=True usage.
+    process = subprocess.run(' '.join(full_command), shell=True)
+
+    return process.returncode == 0
+
+
+def generate_gif_files(inputs: List[str], args: Dict[str, Any]) -> Dict[str, Tuple[bool, str]]:
+    tag = args['tag']
+    width = args['width']
+    framerate = args['framerate']
+
+    output_map = {}
+    for input in inputs:
+        file_name = f"{Path(input).stem}_{tag}.gif"
+        full_path = f"{Path(input).parent}/{file_name}"
+        command = ['-i', input, '-pix_fmt', 'yuv444p', '-f', 'yuv4mpegpipe', '-', '|', 'gifski', \
+            '--width', f"{width}", '-r', f"{framerate}", '-o', f"{full_path}", '-']
+        success = call_ffmpeg(command)
+        # Tuple of (was it successful?, path of output)
+        output_map[input] = (success, full_path)
+
+    return output_map
+
+
+def make_gifs(args: Dict[str, Any]) -> None:
+    inputs = args['input']
+    output_map = generate_gif_files(inputs, args)
+    successes = 0
+    for input in output_map:
+        entry = output_map[input]
+        if entry[0]:
+            print(f"Created {entry[1]} from {input}")
+            successes += 1
+    total = len(output_map)
+    print(f"{successes} of {total} commands succeeded.")
+
+
+def main() -> None:
+    make_gifs(get_args())
+    return
+
+
+if __name__ == '__main__':
+    main()