Overlay for motion menu in Photoshop

[mtgoat]

OK, so I just made my first motion menu in Adobe Premiere and I want to add an overlay for authoring in DVDMaestro.

I exported from Premiere to mpeg-2 with CCE plug-in.

How can I capture a frame from my mpeg-2 file that I can open in Photoshop in order to use as a template for an overlay?

In the past, this was no big deal because my still menus were created entirely in Photoshop.

Any suggestions? Thanks!

[SLK001]

Play your MPEG in a player.

Use FRAME CAPTURE (I use PowerDVD).

In PS, Ctrl-N, use the defaults (because your image is on the clipboard).

Then Ctrl-V to paste into PS.

Edit to your heart's content.

[mtgoat]

Thanks SLK001!

I've been using PowerDVD for years to play DVDs/VCDs and didn't know it could play mpeg files.

BTW, I would love to nuke Florida and we certainly have more than our share of nukes here in New Mexico, but they won't let me play with them!

[mtgoat]

Here's an update:
I've found a better way to do this.

1. Demux the mpeg 2 file in TMPGEnc.

2. Open the resulting m2v file in DVD2AVI and save project as d2v.

3. Create a "fake" avi file with VFAPI reader or create an avs file with Avisynth.

4. Open your avi or avs file in Virtualdub.

5. Hit Ctrl-1 to copy frame to clipboard.

6. Open Photoshop. Hit Ctrl-N, Enter, then Ctrl-V.

The advantage is that you can more easily find specific frames in the movie because of the ability to "scrub" using the timeline ruler in Virtualdub. Also the correct aspect ratio is maintained, eliminating the need to correct in Photoshop. The only disadvantage is that the resulting still image appears interlaced. This is easily corrected in Photoshop by running the De-interlace filter (Filter>Video>De-interlace).

[SLK001]

Yes, this is also a way to do what you want (albeit, a little more involved). In PowerDVD, you can also step through the frames, and capture at will.

For the interlaced issue, use the VIDEO > FORCE FILM option in DVD2AVI. This will get rid of the lines, unless your original video was hard telecined.

You can also export a number of bitmaps of your video using VirtualDub (but this can easily get out of hand).

[ImaWeTodd]

1. Demux the mpeg 2 file in TMPGEnc.

2. Open the resulting m2v file in DVD2AVI and save project as d2v.

3. Create a "fake" avi file with VFAPI reader or create an avs file with Avisynth.

4. Open your avi or avs file in Virtualdub.

You should be able to open the mpeg2 directly in VirtualdubMod . In other words, Jump to step 4 when using VdubMod.

[mtgoat]

You should be able to open the mpeg2 directly in VirtualdubMod . In other words, Jump to step 4 when using VdubMod.

My version of Virtualdub doesn't open MPEG-2 files (v1.4.10). I will give VirtualdubMod a try.

Yes, this is also a way to do what you want (albeit, a little more involved). In PowerDVD, you can also step through the frames, and capture at will.

PowerDVD does work, and thanks for the suggestion, but I find that it is a bit awkward for navigating to a specific frame.

Thanks All!