How to Cut an Animated GIF to a Specific Length in Descript
Looped media such as GIFs are difficult to wrangle in Descript. In this short article, I show you how to control exactly where they start and stop.
If you've dropped an animated GIF into Descript and tried to trim it to a specific length, you've probably noticed something frustrating: split, blade, and dragging the clip's end don't work the way you'd expect. Dragging just either moves teh clip or expands only the original part - it doesn't let you cut to a precise duration.
That's because Descript treats animated GIFs as looping media. You can only cut or alter the original segment, not the repeated parts. So the standard editing tools won't get you to an exact length.
Workaround: Use Scenes as Boundaries
The trick is to use scenes to control how long the GIF is visible. A scene acts as a container — anything inside it is bounded by the scene's start and end points. Place your GIF inside a scene, set the scene to the exact duration you need, and the GIF gets cut off at the scene boundary.
Here's how:
- Add a scene break at the exact point where you want the GIF to stop playing
- Place your animated GIF in that scene
- The GIF now only displays for that scene's duration
- Fine-tune by dragging the scene break in the timeline
That's it. The GIF still loops internally, but it stops at the scene boundary — giving you precise control over its visible length.
Managing Scenes Effectively
If you're not already working with scenes in Descript, they're worth learning. Beyond controlling GIF duration, scenes help you organise your project into logical sections where assets stay in place.
Here are some useful techniques:
- Edit Objects Across Multiple Scenes — apply changes to objects that span multiple scenes
- REORDER Scenes — rearrange your project structure
- Apply Transitions to All Scenes — add smooth transitions between scenes
For a deeper look at how scenes and the timeline work in Descript, that guide walks through the visual interface step by step:
Cristi Cotovan
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