Contact UsGet started
© 2025 Direct Cursus Technology L.L.C.

Converting a video to a GIF in Python

Written by
Updated at May 7, 2025

You will create a video converter using FFmpeg and Yandex Message Queue. This tutorial is intended for Linux and macOS users.

To create an application:

  1. Get your cloud ready.
  2. Create resources.
  3. Create an API function.
  4. Create a converter function.
  5. Create a trigger.
  6. Test the application.

If you no longer need the resources you created, delete them.

Get your cloud ready

Sign up in Yandex Cloud and create a billing account:

  1. Navigate to the management console and log in to Yandex Cloud or register a new account.
  2. On the Yandex Cloud Billing page, make sure you have a billing account linked and it has the ACTIVE or TRIAL_ACTIVE status. If you do not have a billing account, create one and link a cloud to it.

If you have an active billing account, you can navigate to the cloud page to create or select a folder for your infrastructure to operate in.

Learn more about clouds and folders.

The infrastructure support cost includes:

Create resources

  1. Download the archive with the files required to create a video converter.

  2. Create a service account named ffmpeg-sa and assign it the following roles:

    • ymq.reader
    • ymq.writer
    • lockbox.payloadViewer
    • storage.viewer
    • storage.uploader
    • ydb.admin
    • functions.functionInvoker

  3. Create a static key for the service account. Save the Key ID and Your secret key.

  4. Create a secret named ffmpeg-sa-secret in Yandex Lockbox. Under Version, specify:

    • ACCESS_KEY_ID as the key and Key ID from the previous step as the value.
    • SECRET_ACCESS_KEY as the key and Your secret key from the previous step as the value.

    Save the secret ID from the Information about secret section.

  5. Create a message queue named converter-queue in Yandex Message Queue. Save the queue URL from the General information section.

  6. Create a YDB database in Serverless mode. Save the Endpoint from the Document API endpoint section.

  7. Create a table in the database:

  8. Create a bucket with restricted access in Yandex Object Storage.

Create an API function

The function implements an API which you can use to perform the following actions:

  • convert: Provide a video to convert. The function writes the task to the tasks table using the Document API.
  • get_task_status: Get the task status. The function checks whether the task has been completed and returns a link to a GIF file.

  1. Create a function named ffmpeg-api.

  2. Create a function version:

    1. Create a file named requirements.txt and specify this library in it:

      boto3

    2. Create a file named index.py and paste the contents of ffmpeg-api.py from the archive into it.

    3. Specify the following settings:

      • Runtime environment: python37
      • Entry point: index.handle_api
      • Timeout: 5
      • Service account: ffmpeg-sa

    4. Add these environment variables:

      • DOCAPI_ENDPOINT: Endpoint from the database configuration.
      • SECRET_ID: Yandex Lockbox secret ID.
      • YMQ_QUEUE_URL: URL of the Message Queue-enabled queue.

Create a converter function

A converter function is run by a trigger. It processes videos and registers the result in the tasks table.

Video conversion is based on the FFmpeg utility. The FFmpeg executable is larger than 70 MB. To upload it along with the function code, create a ZIP archive and upload it via Object Storage. Learn more about code upload formats.

  1. Create a function named ffmpeg-converter.

  2. Create an src.zip archive with the following files:

    • requirements.txt file:

      boto3
requests

    • The index.py file with the contents of ffmpeg-converter.py from the archive.

    • The FFmpeg executable. Go to the FFmpeg official website, navigate to the Linux Static Builds section, download the archive with the 64-bit FFmpeg version, and make the file executable by running the chmod +x ffmpeg command.

  3. Upload src.zip to the bucket you created earlier.

  4. Create a function version:

    1. Specify the following settings:

      • Runtime environment: python37.
      • Method: Object Storage upload method.
      • Bucket: Name of the bucket you created earlier.
      • Object: src.zip.
      • Entry point: index.handle_process_event.
      • Timeout: 600.
      • Memory: 2048 MB.
      • Service account: ffmpeg-sa.

    2. Add these environment variables:

      • DOCAPI_ENDPOINT: Endpoint from the database configuration.
      • SECRET_ID: Yandex Lockbox secret ID.
      • YMQ_QUEUE_URL: URL of the Message Queue-enabled queue.
      • S3_BUCKET: Name of the bucket you created earlier.

Create a trigger

A message queue is handled using a trigger for Message Queue. It invokes the converter function as messages arrive in converter-queue.

  1. In the management console, select the folder where you want to create a trigger.
  2. Select Cloud Functions.
  3. Navigate to the Triggers tab.
  4. Click Create trigger.
  5. Under Basic settings:
    • Enter a name for the trigger: ffmpeg-trigger.
    • In the Type field, select Message Queue.
  6. Under Message Queue message settings, select the message queue named converter-queue and the ffmpeg-sa service account with rights to read messages from it.
  7. Under Function settings:
    • Select the function for the trigger to invoke: ffmpeg-converter.
    • Specify the function version tag: $latest.
    • Specify the service account which will invoke the function: ffmpeg-sa.
  8. Click Create trigger.

Test the application

Create a task

  1. In the management console, select the folder containing the ffmpeg-api function.

  2. Select Cloud Functions.

  3. Select the ffmpeg-api function.

  4. Navigate to the Testing tab.

  5. In the Payload field, enter:

    {"action":"convert", "src_url":"<link_to_video>"}

    Where <link_to_video> is a link to an MP4 video file saved to Yandex Disk.

  6. Click Run test.

  7. You will see the task ID in the Function output field:

    { "task_id": "c4269ceb-8d3a-40fe-95f0-84cf********" }

View the queue statistics

After the task is created, the number of messages in the queue increases by one and a trigger fires. Make sure messages arrive in the queue and are handled. To do this, view the queue statistics.

  1. In the management console, select the folder housing converter-queue.
  2. Select Message Queue.
  3. Select the converter-queue queue.
  4. Under General information, you can see the number of enqueued messages and those being handled.
  5. Navigate to Monitoring. View the Overall queue stats charts.

View the function logs

The trigger should invoke the converter function for each message in the queue. To make sure the function is invoked, check its logs.

  1. In the management console, select the folder containing the ffmpeg-converter function.
  2. Select Cloud Functions.
  3. Select the ffmpeg-converter function.
  4. Navigate to the Logs tab and specify the period over which you want to view them.

  1. In the management console, select the folder containing the ffmpeg-api function.

  2. Select Cloud Functions.

  3. Select the ffmpeg-api function.

  4. Navigate to the Testing tab.

  5. In the Payload field, enter the following request:

    {"action":"get_task_status", "task_id":"<job_ID>"}

  6. Click Run test.

  7. If video conversion to GIF has not been completed, the Function output field will return:

    {
    "ready": false
}

    Otherwise, you will get a link to the GIF file:

    {
    "ready": true,
    "gif_url": "https://storage.yandexcloud.net/<bucket_name>/1b4db1a6-f2b2-4b1c-b662-37f7********.gif?X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=qxLftbbZ91U695ysemyZ%2F202********ru-central1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20210831T110351Z&X-Amz-Expires=3600&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Signature=f4a5fe7848274a09be5b221fbf8a9f6f2b385708cfa351861a4e69df********"
}

How to delete the resources you created

To shut down the infrastructure and stop paying for the resources you created:

  1. Delete converter-queue.
  2. Delete the database.
  3. Delete all objects from the bucket.
  4. Delete the bucket.
  5. Delete the ffmpeg-api and ffmpeg-converter functions.
  6. Delete ffmpeg-trigger.
Previous
Recognizing text in image archives using Vision OCR
Next
Automating tasks using Managed Service for Apache Airflow™