Google's go-to service for video sharing and discovery is testing a new way to compose GIFs.

Quietly rolled out last month, the GIF maker is now available to a small group of creators, including PBS's Idea Channel.

"If a picture is worth a thousand words, then how many words is a GIF worth?" Google software engineer Michael Chang asked in the YouTube Creator Preview video (below). "Well, if you assume that a GIF is about three seconds, and it's 15 frames per secondthat's 45 pictures. Which means that a GIF must be worth 45,000 words, right?

"Well, we've created a simple way for you to make GIFs from your YouTube videos in a seconds," Chang said. "And we're working on a way to let your fans do the samesharing their love and your content with even more people."

To test the new functionwhich was first spotted by former Kickstarter CTO Andy Baioclick on one of the PBS Idea Channel videos, tap the share button, and build your own GIFs. Drag the sliding brackets around any six seconds (or fewer) of frames, and even add mocking text.

Once you've "created" a GIF, YouTube provides direct and embedded links, as well as the usual social media sharing options.

Until Google pushes the feature out to more users, though, video fans can stick to TechCrunch's trick for turning any YouTube video into a GIF.

Created in 1987, the Graphics Interchange Format has re-emerged in the era of social media. Pinterest kicked off the year with support for the animated clips, before the moving images arrived on Twitter over the summer.

Finding the perfect GIF also got a lot easier when Google added a new filter to its Image Search.

And if you're the DIY type, JibJab Messages launched in October, providing templates for users to add themselves or friends to wacky animated GIFs, shareable via text, email, and social media.

For more, see PCMag's guide on How to Make Animated GIFs (and how to pronounce them).

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