How can I get a screen grab of a video that's paused?

[Misunderestimator]

Help!! I had some software that could do that at one time, but I give up trying to find it. I am trying to take a screen grab of a video that's paused. It seems to work, but then when I copy and save the pic (in any application), it turns completely black.

(Pressing Ctrl-PrtScn or anything else like that doesn't work... it works to grab it and then I can paste it, but on saving, there's nothing but black).

Help?

:banghead:

[Call Me Wesley]

1. Windows Media player:

Here's what you can do without installing another program:

Open Windows Media player and go into 'Tools' --> 'Options.'

Click on the 'Performance' tab in the little windows that has opened, and set 'Video acceleration' to None.
Then you'll be able to make screenshots.

[Hugin]

3. Ooo... Handy trick.

I've wondered the same thing while watching por... Uh, cultural documentaries.

:thumbsup:

Thanks.

[Call Me Wesley]

7. Sometimes you just need to keep some screenshots

of these 'mating habits' demonstarted in these cultural documentaries. :rofl:

[Misunderestimator]

5. Thanks... Let me see if I can make that work.

I changed the settings in media player, but I can't load this file through there. I was playing it in Realplayer. The extension of the file is *.IFO.

I will see if I can find those settings in Realplayer and get back to you. :D Thanks!

[Call Me Wesley]

11. I found this for RealPlayer:

For RealPlayer, you will need to turn off the optimized display. You can do this by running RealPlayer, clicking on View -> Preferences, going to the Performance tab, unchecking the box labeled "Use optimized video display", hitting OK, and restarting RealPlayer. Now you may make take a screenshot by pressing the combination. You can paste this screenshot into any graphics editing program (e.g. MS Paintbrush) and save the file. When you are done taking screenshots, you should re-enable the optimized video display because this makes videos play smoother and look better.

[Misunderestimator]

13. Let me try that... the other worked to save as bitmap, but nothing else.

[Call Me Wesley]

15. I just know it

because I went through the same trouble, and found out about it after I donwloaded a bunch of other software. But I still use another player where I can go from frame to frame, which you can't do with RealPlayer or Windows Media player.

:hug:

[Misunderestimator]

16. It doesn't work for me.... I was able to load it in media player too

after changing the settings, and it still reverts to black on saving it. :cry:

[Call Me Wesley]

17. Did you close and re-open media player

after you disabled the video acceleration?

[Misunderestimator]

19. Yes. I closed and reopened it. Here's what's happening...

When I do a screen grab while it's playing... then copy and paste it into MS Paint... I can see the video moving in the portion that should have been captured from the video. The window and anything else on the desktop are captured properly, and when I save... all of that remains, but the portion where the video is is saved as black. Same thing happens when I pause the video and capture it (though of course I can't see the video moving)... when I select everything and move it with my mouse, the video portion of the screen capture stays in the same location on my desktop... basically imitating where it is in the background.

:(

[Call Me Wesley]

21. I'm not familiar with MS Paint.

Can you try to paste it into Words and see if the captured video is still there after you saved the document (you'll have to save it as a *.doc, though)?

[Misunderestimator]

22. Same thing happens in Word, and any other program I have.

(And I'm technical... btw...)

[Call Me Wesley]

25. Strange,

because the blakening out is typically what happens if you don't set the accelerator to None. Then it can't read the layers.

I'm sorry if it doesn't work. :(

Is the movie in public domain? Then I could offer you to make the screenshots for you. If so, just send me a PM with the link and what screenshots you want to have.

[Misunderestimator]

26. It's on a DVD. (Edited)

It's pictures from a video presentation someone did of a high school reunion. Unfortunately, it's a couple of GB. :(

btw, it's the IFO file that seems to launch the video... the other files on the DVD are VOB extension... eventually, I might figure this out.

This is interesting... from the help menu of Hypercapture that I got from DS1's suggestion. When I have time, I'll try the things below that I haven't yet tried:

Video playing on Windows machine, no matter if it comes from a movie file, Internet, VCD or DVD, can not be captured by regular screen capture methods, because it is usually playing in a hardware overlay. The overlay it almost as if there was another, smaller screen in front of your regular Windows desktop screen. The desktop contains in that place only the so called "overlay key color" - a solid block of color, usually black, blue, magenta or pink, but it can be anything.

A regular screen capture program will capture just that key color, which gives you a funny effect - if your movie is still playing, and your captured that key color into HyperSnap (or any other software) window, and you move that window so that it partly covers the movie player - you will see the movie through the part where this key color was. It seems as if your HyperSnap window had a "hole" and the movie shows through it. This is because the overlay hardware controller is programmed to display that movie everywhere where that key color is on the desktop.

How to deal with this problem? There are two methods. In some movie players (e.g. Windows Media Player, Real Player) you may disable "hardware acceleration" through their "settings" or "options" menu. This turns off the overlay use, the movie is played then normally, within Windows desktop and every screen capture program can get it.

Another way to turn off overlay use for video playback on most system is to disable "hardware acceleration" of your graphics controller in the following way:

- right click empty Windows screen, select "Properties" from the menu

- click "Settings" tab

- click "Advanced" button

- click "Troubleshoot" tab

- move the "Hardware acceleration" slider all the way to "None" and click OK buttons to close all “Display Properties” dialog boxes.

- if your media player was running, close it completely and restart. Now play your movie and try to capture them with any capture method or tool.

When finished with captures, you may want to restore “Hardware Acceleration” back to what it was before.

The other method (if you can't or don't want to disable the overlay) try to use HyperSnap "special capture" method, described below:

The video capture will work or not, depending on which video player software you are using, and if it uses DirectX or not. Here is the correct movie/DVD capture procedure to follow:

1. Enable "Special Capture" in HyperSnap under "Capture" menu. Click on that item and make sure that DirectX "Primary" and "Overlay" surfaces are turned on. Then click on OK button.

2. Run the movie/DVD player, pause the movie where you want to capture, click on the player window to make sure it is the front window, then press Scroll Lock key (HyperSnap special capture hot key).

3. Click on HyperSnap window and see what was captured. If you don't see the movie picture there, most probably your DVD player software does not use DirectX.

4. If you do see a picture in HyperSnap window, but it has incorrect proportions, or maybe is also repeated several times, please crop and scale image to correct proportions with the functions available under "Image" menu. If you must make a lot of such DVD captures, you may set the "Quick Crop & Scale" function under the "Capture/Capture Settings" menu in HyperSnap to perform this cropping and scaling automatically on each captured image. It will let you to auto- crop each image you capture (so that only one image remains) and then scale it to correct proportions. Please don't forget to turn this "Quick..." function off when done with DVD captures and trying to do regular Windows screen shots.

5. If the above does not work (you still get a full screen capture with some solid color where the DVD was, your DVD player program does not use DirectX, so HyperSnap can not capture from it.

[Call Me Wesley]

27. There's a trial version of Power DVD,

which let's you take screenshots from a DVD ...

http://www.cyberlink.com/multi/download/trials_1_ENU.html

[Misunderestimator]

32. Thanks! Worked. See post #31.

:bounce:

[Misunderestimator]

8. Edited... :(

That's not the problem... I grab it and copy and paste it fine... just can't save it.

[Call Me Wesley]

18. Where do you paste it into? (nt)

[TheBaldyMan]

2. try ALT+Print Screen to cap the active window

I'm presuming that you are using Micro$oft

[Misunderestimator]

9. That doesn't work alone... but reducing the acceleration on the video does

Woohooooo!

[asthmaticeog]

4. That might not be do-able anymore.

If it's a DVD you're playing on your PC, the picture is likely to be on a seperate video layer that screen grab utilities don't "see."

I just got bitten on the ass by that phenomenon last December, when the paper I work for was doing a story about a movie and I couldn't grab the stills. I wound up shooting the screen with a camera, which is an ordeal in itself.

[Taverner]

6. PowerDVD has a screenshot function

And I think theres a trial version you can download.

[asthmaticeog]

10. Good to know, thanks, Taverner!

Is there a Mac OSX version?

[Taverner]

14. I don't think so but....

I know there are TONS better Mac Utils for video....

[Misunderestimator]

33. Thanks, Tav!

:thumbsup:

[Misunderestimator]

50. You're very welcome, Misunderestimator.

:)

[Misunderestimator]

28. Yep... I am slowly coming to the conclusion that that is my problem

:cry: I'm downloading Cyberlink DVD Trial Version now per Wesley's suggestion. Keeping my fingers crossed.

[Misunderestimator]

12. Ok, I spoke too soon... be right back.

[DS1]

20. what video format?

and Hypersnap will grab EVERYTHING

[Misunderestimator]

23. It has an IFO extension.

I'll check out Hypersnap... hope it's free :) :hi:

(On edit... I think the IFO launches the actual video files which are VOB extension.)

[Misunderestimator]

24. Edited... It may work for me...

At least the help menu in it is helpful. Doing it the normal way has the same effect but the help menu gives me some alternatives I'll try later.

Thanks for your help! :hi:

[Misunderestimator]

29. Thanks to Call Me Wesley, DS1 and Taverner... PowerDVD did it.

Apparently it's the overlay that I've been capturing, and the only thing that's worked is the PowerDVD Trial Version which has a Capture Frame function. Now I have my picture!

Thanks! :toast:

[Kellanved]

30. Use VLC

http://www.videolan.org/


It has a snapshot-function, which will put the file in your "my pictures" folder.



It is a very good tool - and free.

[Misunderestimator]

31. I'll try that too... meanwhile FINALLY... Here is my SAVED pic:

Whew!

[Call Me Wesley]

34. Wow!

Is that you?

[Misunderestimator]

35. Yes, I was 16 (or 15, I can't recall exactly). That was my first opera.

:D

[Call Me Wesley]

36. Looks great!

:thumbsup:

[Misunderestimator]

37. Thanks! And thanks for all your help!

[Call Me Wesley]

47. De nada!

I'm just glad it works now. :P

[TheBaldyMan]

38. you mean you went to all that trouble and it wasn't even porn !

[Misunderestimator]

43. pfft

:P

[DS1]

39. I was just about to suggest

Take a picture of the screen with a digital camera

[Misunderestimator]

42. Well, yeah...

jerk :P

[DS1]

46. How did you know?

:hide:

[Misunderestimator]

41. Woohoo! I downloaded that and it's even easier. :) Thanks.

:thumbsup:

[texas1928]

40. OK.

Go out and get a disposable camera, and then go home and take a picture. Now make sure you have the image you want as the only thing in the view finder.

then once you have that get them developed.

Now go home and scan them in.

There you go you have a screen grab.

Hope that helps.




:popcorn:










:hide:

[Misunderestimator]

44. You're a regular comedian.

:P :hi:

[texas1928]

45. Well it would work.

:shrug:

[Call Me Wesley]

48. The easy solution:

[Misunderestimator]

49. ROFL!

Why didn't you say that in the first place? :rofl: