screen shots from video

1. quickhands
   Member

   

   I am wanting to capture screen shots (JPG pictures) from my video footage.  After talking to software reps on the phone, most of them claim to have this ability in their software.  My followup question to them has been what resolution can I expect from screen shots.  None of the reps seem to know, or want to commit to, the answer. 

   I have some old, and newer, video captured on regular 8, Hi8 and mini-DV tape and would like to capture screen shots to keep as JPGs. 

   I would really appreciate any help in this matter.  Does anyone have good info on which software programs capture the highest resolution screen shots:  Premiere, iMovie, Final Cut Pro, Vegas, Avid, Pinnacle, etc.?

   Thanks to all for helping!

    

   Posted 5 months ago # Login to Send PM

2. Johnboy
   Member

   

    when capturing stills from video, you have to remember that you are limited to the resolution of the video.  set your video properties to progressive before saving the still.  The saved image will be in the aspect of the video project.

   John

   Posted 5 months ago # Login to Send PM

3. Brian Fisher
   Member

   

   If you are on a SD video editor, my experience has been that a screen capture comes in at 72 dpi 720X480 pixels.   I usually up the DPI to 300 and then size accordingly.  That has yielded the best results for me.  If you need any info on Authoring of your DVDs or Duplication, please check us out.

    

   Brian Fisher

   DVDDuplication.net

   Posted 4 months ago # Login to Send PM

4. jerronsmith
   Moderator

   

   The image resolution will be 72ppi  the image dimensions will be based on the size of your video.

   Just changing the image resolution as Brian suggested should have little to no effect on the quality of the image.

   Jerron Smith
   Editor-Animator-Educator
   blog: http://www.thepixelsmith.blogspot.com

   Posted 4 months ago # Login to Send PM

5. The shooter
   Member

   

   Final cut makes kinda good ones (Shift N)

   Posted 4 months ago # Login to Send PM

6. XTR-91
   Member

   

   In Cyberlink PowerDirector, taking screenshots from a 720x480 resolution video creates a screenshot of 720x540.

   You should check the manual that came with your editing software or search the help menu. It seems that all screenshots taken should match the resolution of the video, but they usually do not.

   Posted 4 months ago # Login to Send PM

7. birdcat
   Moderator

   

   Pixels and DPI really don't mix (apples and elephants) - A photo (jpeg) and video (avi, mpeg, mov, etc...) have a resolution - DPI is dots (or pixels) per inch, which is made for print files.  A 720 X 480 (NTSC SD) video is 720 pixels wide - a print image which is 3.6 inches wide @ 200 DPI has the exact same number of horizontal pixels.

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8. jerronsmith
   Moderator

   

   >>In Cyberlink PowerDirector, taking screenshots from a 720x480 resolution video creates a screenshot of 720x540<<

   I believe that may be due to the pixel aspect ratio of the video and how Power Director or your image editing program compensates for it.

   When I make stills from video in Premiere and AfterEffects they match the video dimensions.

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9. jerronsmith
   Moderator

   

   Birdcat,

   I am a little confused by your post above, can you clarify it a little. It seems to be that you are saying that PPI and DPI are different but then this line seems to imply that they are the same.

   >>DPI is dots (or pixels) per inch, which is made for print files<<

   DPI (Dots per inch) is a  printing term while PPI (PIxels per Inch) refers to the resolution of a digital image.

   Resolution refers to the number of columns and rows of pixels of a display device. So when dealing with an image 720 x 480 isn't the resolution of the image, it is the image's dimensions. The terms are a little misleading as many people use the term display resolution to refer to an image's pixel dimensions.

    

   Posted 4 months ago # Login to Send PM

10. birdcat
    Moderator

    

    Hi Jerron -

    What I am saying is that DPI really does not apply to resolution - They are used for vastly different things.

    DPI (dots per inch) is used in print - there is no such thing in photo/video unless you have a format that has come from a print stream or is going to a print stream - for example 4 inches square @ 600 DPI would yield an image 2400 X 2400 dots (where a dot is an atomic piece of information pertaining to the reproduction of that single dot).

    Resolution (or as you more correctly put it dimension) is measured by horizontal pixels by vertical pixels (i.e. 720 X 480 or 1920 X 1080) - so for example a NTSC SD video would be 720 pixels in width (horizontal) by 480 pixels high (vertical) (with a pixel, or picture element, being the atomic piece of data pertaining to the reproduction of that single pixel).

    Many folks think they are interchangeable and while the concepts are similar, they are very different things.

    I think the confusion lies in folks who have come from the print world and are hung up on DPI.

    Posted 4 months ago # Login to Send PM

11. jerronsmith
    Moderator

    

    Birdcat,

    What confuses me is that it it seems that you are saying that PPI and DPI are the same thing. While you are correct DPI is a printing term and really only applies to printed material. PPI does apply to any digital image or digital display device. So a digital image (still or video) has both dimension value like 720  x 540 and a resolution (usually measured in PPI) such as 72ppi. Though many digital cameras use the expression of megapixels to state the resolution of the image.

    This is the reason that graphics for video are prepared at 72 ppi, so that you can more accurately judge their relationship to the video frame.

    Posted 4 months ago # Login to Send PM

12. birdcat
    Moderator

    

    Jerron -

    I thought I was clear - DPI and PPI are NOT the same thing - A dot is used as a measure with PRINT streams, PPI is used for photo/video files. 

    DPI has NOTHING to do with Photo/Video.  PPI has NOTHING to do with print streams.

    What I was trying to say (and please let me know if anyone else was confused) was that when taking a file created for priint and viewing it on screen, there is a convrsion from one to the other - In the example I gave, a 4 inch by 4 inch, 600 DPI print stream, when viewed on a video screen would convert to 2400 DOTS by 2400 DOTS which would then easily convert (via software) to a file 2400 pixels by 2400 pixels.

    If you're still confused, email me off line (I think this horse is long dead).

    Posted 4 months ago # Login to Send PM

13. jerronsmith
    Moderator

    

    Birdcat,

    I think I know why I was confused by your posts. One is a measure of input the other output. They really don't convert one to the other. DPI is only a measure of printing density, a digital image would never have a DPI only a PPI.

    I think I understand what you were trying to say now.

    Posted 4 months ago # Login to Send PM

14. XTR-91
    Member

    

    DPI (Dots per Inch) is a classic term for PPI (Pixels per Inch). PPI measures the amount of pixels that are printed (or scanned) on a single square inch of paper. PPI measurements do not apply to digital video. There are no PPI measurements taken during a video screenshot. Video is measured with the same width and height dimensions, whether the video is on a 15" or a 27" monitor.

    Posted 4 months ago # Login to Send PM

15. jerronsmith
    Moderator

    

    >>PPI measurements do not apply to digital video. There are no PPI
    measurements taken during a video screenshot. Video is measured with
    the same width and height dimensions, whether the video is on a 15" or
    a 27" monitor.<<

    Actually, my point is that this assumption is incorrect. While PPI is usually refered to as the resolution of an image another term for it is pixel density. PPI is a measurement of a display device, it is used to describe the number of pixels (horizontally and vertically) in a one inch area of the screen. So a 1080P video signal would have one PPI when displayed on a 42inch television and another if displayed on a 20inch screen. Analog televisions don't use PPI but LCD, Plasma, and projectino tvs do.

    Posted 4 months ago # Login to Send PM

16. birdcat
    Moderator

    

    A 1080p video would be 1080 pixels high if it were displayed on a 15" monitor or a 27" monitor. 

    The pixels per inch depends on the monitor manufacturer, but it is usually in the range of 72 PPI (although I have personally seen CRT based monitors made by IBM for medical use where you couldn't see the RGB cells even using a magnifying glass, equivalent to at least 300 PPI) . 

    This is why larger displays (like the billboard sized ones) are not meant for close up viewing.

    Posted 4 months ago # Login to Send PM

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