how to capture mpeg stills

[thomasanweiler]

i dont even know if this is possible but i would like to take pictures of parts of a movie, and use it for menus and scene indexs, thanx in advance!

[Ibme]

Your Computer Details don't indicate if you have a video capture card.
I have an ATI AIW card and the file player that comes with it allows me to capture a still picture as the movie/file plays.
It captures a bmp file. I use these files as background image for the menus I create in Nero. I also use them as title pages w/an infinite pause for VCDs I create without menus.
I'm sure there must be other video capture programs available, that can do what you want. You should do a search at one of the software download sites. Try download.com
I think I saw a still image capture button on WinDVD, or was it WinDVR?
Good luck, hope that helps.

p.s. I noticed you have a 4x CD-writer. My first writer was an HP 4x4x24 (8110i). It sure was slow, didn't have burn-proof and it wouldn't let me use DMA on my system.
I now have three 32x writers. Writers are so cheap these days, you should treat yourself to a faster burner. I saw a 40x burner for $30 after rebate this week

[Riccardom]

PowerDVD can do it, for both Mpeg1 and 2, but is difficult to point the exact frame.
VirtualDub is more precise but it can surely do for Mpeg1, I don't know for 2.

Riccardom

[Ibme]

Thanks Riccardom,

That is useful information I can use on my non-ATI systems.

[BJ_M]

mpeg-vcr 3 can do very precise frame captures of both mpeg1 and mpeg2 and very easy to use ..

or just use tmpgenc and load mpeg and go to source range and find exact begin and end of shots you want - set ..

then got to file - save output as frames

[Ibme]

Thanks BJ_M
That works really well, especially since I have TMPGEnc on all my systems.
I like being able to extract multiple frames by selecting a range of frames, or even a single frame by setting the beginning and end frame the same.
In case anyone missed it:
To extract still frames BMP/JPG from an .mpg file with TMPGEnc.
Load the mpeg file as Video Source, Go to Settings, and double click Source Range on the Advanced tab. Set the Start & End frames for the range of frames you want to extract as still frames. Set Start & End to the same number if you only want one frame. Make sure to check the box next to Source Range.
Then, go to File menu -> Output to file-> Sequence BMP/JPG file. A Dialog Box will come up so you can select the DIR and filename. It will start the extract as soon as you click on save.