yes, they are. image ready comes with photoshop, though.

I'm sure there are alternative products that can do the same thing, however. And there is also the alternative of getting cracks for software.

After effects isn't the most intuitive thing ever, either, and its a pretty beefy program used for many many things. Getting it for this sole purpose would be using a chainsaw to cut butter. There's got to be something out there much more streamlined that serves the more specific purpose of converting and editing footage into GIFs.

I'll get that loop out to you.