Grabbing stills from video
 

Hey everyone,

I am trying to grab still frames from my video clips from within Vegas and add them to the end of the clip to get that freeze frame effect.

Anyone know how to do this? Is there a shortcut key?

thanks!

Brandon,

What I'm about to describe is on page 221 of the Vegas 6 manual, so if I lose you, you'll be able to read it for yourself. This is one technique (Edward will be along shortly to explain how to do the same thing with a Velocity Envelope.)

On the Video Preview window is a icon that looks like a floppy disk. Place the stationary cursor on the exact place on the timeline that you want to become the 'still image'. Change the preview setting to BEST, then click the floppy disk icon (Save Snapshot to File...). Save as a .png so that you can use the alpha channel for masking (if desired). Then and the saved .png to the Project Media pool and add it into the timeline where you want it to play; stretch as necessary if you don't want it to be the default 'still' duration you established in Options.

aaahaaa Patrick...you ARE the King!


Thanks man

Brandon,

I thought Edward would have been on by now, but since not, I think this is his Newletter that discusses 'stills' in video.

If not here is the Newsletter section of his indispensible website: JetDV.com

What can I say... I like to SLEEP!

I would definitely use the Velocity Envelope for this purpose. Plus if you use the velocity envelope, you have the option of gradually slowing down instead of a sudden stop. I discuss changing the speed of a clip in Vol 1 #9 of the newsletter.

Vol 1 #5 (which is the newsletter referenced above) discusses taking a snapshot on the timeline which will actually answer the original question.

It seems to me that when I just copy to clipboard and then paste into Photoshop I get a higher quality still.

Is this possible or am I just seeing things?

Greg: You aren't really getting a higher quality still.

In Vegas, you may not be seeing your footage at its highest resolution. This depends on the video preview window settings. 320X230 or 720X480, draft/good/preview/best preview mode, etc.

Photoshop can affect the appearance of your still because of color management.

That's probably why you're "seeing things".

There's also another difference. If you save a snapshot (assuming NTSC) you will get an image that is 655x480. If you copy to clipboard, you will get an image that is 720x480. The first method takes into account the pixel aspect differences. The other doesn't.

Edward, what newsletter. Subscribe me up, info [at] droptodesign (DOT) com

Just go to http://www.jetdv.com and click on the "Newsletter Archive" section. They're all listed. I recommend downloading them to your hard drive for easy future reference as needed.

The link is also under my name on my posts.

Thanks Edward for all your help too.