Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years.

Thanks,

CNET Support

General discussion

how to get screen shots/stills from a dvd...?

Jan 28, 2006 6:42AM PST

Hey there...does anyone know how to get stills or screen shots from a dvd? I created a short film a while ago and figured I could just use Grab on the Mac or "Print Screen" on the PC to get still shots of the movie as it played...however, it doesn't work at all. All I get on the PC is a black area where the DVD window is, and on the Mac it won't let me use Grab at all while the DVD player is open. Does anyone know a way around this? I'm on a tight deadline so any and all feedback is VERY welcome! Thanks everyone!

Discussion is locked

- Collapse -
If you can get the DVD's video content to the computer's
Jan 28, 2006 7:05AM PST

harddrive in a standard video format, a video editor can extract stills from the video. Sony Vegas, for example, can do this if you are using a PC. The stills that I've captured are not high quality images. It takes some time and effort in Photoshop to correct their shortcomings.

- Collapse -
Cyberlink PowerDVD
Jan 28, 2006 7:29AM PST

This DVD movie player will let you take a snapshot at any point in the movie.

...
..
.

- Collapse -
giving it a shot
Jan 28, 2006 7:35AM PST

Thanks for the replies, guys. I'll give it a shot and see what comes of it...I'll keep you posted!

thx again~
KP

- Collapse -
Use PAINT!!!
Feb 2, 2006 8:53PM PST

Ok, well, as dumb as it sounds, you can use paint to do that.

If you are using Windows Media, then what you have to do is go to settings, and performance. Drag the Video Acceleration bar all the way to the left (to none) and click ok. Then when playing the movie, press print screen, and go to paint and paste it.

I haven?t tried it, but I assume that that method will work on other programs (Photoshop etc).

After you have done that, change your settings back to full (or whatever they were before)

For other DVD programs, try the same method. Video/Hardware Acceleration to none.

But then again, you could use a DVD program that can capture stills from the DVD window.

I swear to DVD X Player, region free. Free trial, stills, bookmarks, it plays HEAPS of different file types too. And last memory for a few different DVD's at a time.

I hope it helps.

- Collapse -
Use Microsoft Movie Maker?
Feb 2, 2006 9:38PM PST

I've used the Microsoft Movie Maker app. that comes with many PCs today.

It recognizes many video formats (avi, mpeg, wmv, etc.). If has Capture (from device) and Import capabilities. Once you "get" the video file, use the Tools > Take Picture from Preview menu.

- Collapse -
WinDVD
Feb 2, 2006 10:58PM PST

I've been using WinDVD for a few years. It has a little camera icon on the control panel. When you click it, a small window shows up with a thumbnail in it. You can keep clicking screenshots, and they will be added. Then you can view them to decide whick ones to save or delete. Plus you can pause the movie and go frame to frame to find the one you want to capture.

Although there is a newer version out I'm still using WinDVD 4, because it works well. Out of my 10 or so media players, it's the only one I have that supports Dolby 5.1.

- Collapse -
If you're playing the film on your PC
Feb 3, 2006 12:31AM PST

Then simply pause playback and use a screenshot utility. I use ScreenPrint32

- Collapse -
Play thru PC TV card
Feb 3, 2006 1:28AM PST

I just hook my DVD to the TV card on my computer and
watch the DVD and Click on the images I want as it plays , my TV card has this option built in the software, and you can save them as JPEG or BMP files.