diff --git a/docs/make.jl b/docs/make.jl
index d52e8f74..5c0db530 100644
--- a/docs/make.jl
+++ b/docs/make.jl
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ using Multibody
 using Documenter
 using CairoMakie
 ENV["JULIA_DEBUG"]=Documenter # Enable this for debugging
+ENV["DOCS_BUILD"] = true # used to lower the default frame rate in animations for the docs
 
 DocMeta.setdocmeta!(Multibody, :DocTestSetup, :(using Multibody); recursive = true)
 
diff --git a/docs/src/examples/kinematic_loops.md b/docs/src/examples/kinematic_loops.md
index 3870b929..6c9ae168 100644
--- a/docs/src/examples/kinematic_loops.md
+++ b/docs/src/examples/kinematic_loops.md
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ Multibody.jl supports automatic 3D rendering of mechanisms, we use this feature
 
 ```@example kinloop
 import CairoMakie
-Multibody.render(fourbar, sol, 0:0.033:10; x=4, y=-1, z=4, lookat=[0, -1, 0], filename = "fourbar.gif") # Use "fourbar.mp4" for a video file
+Multibody.render(fourbar, sol, 0:0.05:10; x=4, y=-1, z=4, lookat=[0, -1, 0], filename = "fourbar.gif") # Use "fourbar.mp4" for a video file
 nothing # hide
 ```
 
diff --git a/ext/Render.jl b/ext/Render.jl
index ea23c802..4b977c10 100644
--- a/ext/Render.jl
+++ b/ext/Render.jl
@@ -108,10 +108,20 @@ function default_scene(x,y,z; lookat=Vec3f(0,0,0),up=Vec3f(0,1,0),show_axis=fals
     scene, fig
 end
 
+function default_framerate(filename)
+    if parse(Bool, get(ENV, "DOCS_BUILD", "false"))
+        return 20
+    elseif lowercase(last(splitext(filename))) == ".gif"
+        return 25
+    else
+        return 30
+    end
+end
 
 function render(model, sol,
     timevec::Union{AbstractVector, Nothing} = nothing;
-    framerate = 30,
+    filename = "multibody_$(model.name).mp4",
+    framerate = default_framerate(filename),
     x = 2,
     y = 0.5,
     z = 2,
@@ -119,7 +129,6 @@ function render(model, sol,
     up = Vec3f(0,1,0),
     show_axis = false,
     timescale = 1.0,
-    filename = "multibody_$(model.name).mp4",
     kwargs...
     )
     scene, fig = default_scene(x,y,z; lookat,up,show_axis)