Digital BW, The Print

Off topic, but you folks are my fountain of knowledge...

I have a VHS tape that I converted to DVD so I could freeze a frame 
to print a shot...figured it to be grainy but will go very high 
contrast BW and it might look good.

I cannot for the life of me, capture the dvd image (it's a .VOB file) 
to photoshop. I have a couple of screen capture applications but they 
capture the video frame in pure black...figure this is some copyright 
protection scheme, but this was a sequence shot with a video camera, 
not a commercial VHS or DVD. The DVD software I have is Inter Video 
Win DVD 4 which came with the PC.

Do you know if I need some special capture software or different DVD 
player software or what I should try next????

thanks,

Tom O'Connell

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Tom OConnell" <
tomoc@y...> wrote:
> 
> Off topic, but you folks are my fountain of knowledge...
> 
> I have a VHS tape that I converted to DVD so I could freeze a frame 
> to print a shot...figured it to be grainy but will go very high 
> contrast BW and it might look good.
> 
> I cannot for the life of me, capture the dvd image (it's a .VOB file) 
You would have more luck working from the original video. However you get it 
into your computer almost all video editing programs have a way to capture a 
still frame. It is usually in the file menu under export options. On a Mac it is 
file-export-quicktime-still. On Windows it might be some thing like: file -export-
frame. In some programs this function is in the Edit or Modify menu.
Name it and export it to somewhere you can find it later like a desktop folder. 
In the export file dialog you should be able to pick the file format. Use a file 
type other than Bitmap.
Open that saved frame/still in photoshop. Within Photoshop a handy tool for 
video frames is under filters-video-deinterlace- this filter will close the video 
scan lines and make a smoother image.
The easiest way to get video into a computer is thru firewire. An analog tape 
(VHS) can usually route thru a digital video camera (MiniDV). It should be in 
the manual. If you don't have a digital camera-I'll bet one of your neighbors 
does! Under the best of circumstances Video stills are relatively low quality.
Jack.

Jack-

Thanks for the advice. I'm not using a video editing app, just a 
viewer.

I still have the VHS but it is virtually impossible to freeze a frame 
on tape (for me) so I can have a clear screen shot

Do you have advice on what app to use? are there any freeware or 
inexpensive shareware ones? 

thanks

Tom O'Connell

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Tom OConnell" <
tomoc@y...> wrote:
> 
> Jack-
> 
> Thanks for the advice. I'm not using a video editing app, just a 
> viewer.
> 
Hi Tom- The built in Operating system accesory apps should work fine for 
this- I am at home for now bit will check the windows machine at work when I 
go in.  Windows (XP) should have shipped with something called Movie 
Maker II. I am pretty sure this app can export a still once you get the footage 
digitized.  Mac operating system should have come with something called 
iMovie which can also export a still.
You can use your VCR  and a MiniDv camera to digitize the footage. From 
the back of the VCR, use RCA cables to Miniplug to send video "out" to the 
Minidv cam "in". From the dvcam go out thru the firewire to the computer. 
Within the program there should be some kind of "capture" button.-just 
capture the footage you want to work with- it doesn't matter if you get more 
because once in the program you are going to be able to move frame by 
frame to the spot you are interested in. Somewhere in the program 
MovieMaker or iMovie-there is a "capture still" or "export frame" function. 
Name it, save it, and open in PS-video filters/de-interlace and you are there-
It's easier to do than explain!-Jack

Jack-

Thanks. I did have that app with windows SP2.

Problem is that the file type isn't supported (nor is it with any of 
the shareware apps I looked at on Download.com).

My file is a *.VOB file for a DVD that was finalized with a 
panaosonic DVD recorder (no choice as to what file type I save to 
with the recorder) and *.VOB seems to be the file type on a couple of 
movies we have.

Any thoughts on this file format?

THANKS AGAIN,

tom