So, there appear to be some smart photo folks here and I was hoping to get some help. I have a raw video file that I would like to pull a still pic from to get a print made from. Is this something I can do myself with free software I could find on the internet, or should I be trying to find a photographer who would have some specific editing software to do this. If the latter, what software would be the best so I can look for that when asking for quotes?
Thanks.
You can do it in photoshop, its not free but im sure you know someone who has it.
Shoot in 4k, people!
Also, you may be able to sharpen it a tad if the frame is not ideal.
I will need to look into finding someone with photoshop. I know the screen grab is not going to be good enough. The video guy did send me the source file for the video, so hopefully it is high enough quality I can get a decent 4X6 print out of it.
The other problem is that compression may make single frames look crappy. Only when they’re in motion do they look OK. I’ve been able to pull some decent-looking frames from 4K Sony action cameras though.
I will need to look into finding someone with photoshop. I know the screen grab is not going to be good enough. The video guy did send me the source file for the video, so hopefully it is high enough quality I can get a decent 4X6 print out of lit.
That small, you should be ok. Going large would be a problem. I wouldnt just grab it and print, id suggest sharpening it up a bit.
So when you say video editor, where can I find that? With photoshop I was thinking your average pro photographer nowadays would be well versed and able to do that. Is there a standard video editing software I can ask around to find someone who is adept at running?
What type of file is it? MP4? I’d probably recommend FFMPEG or VLC.
not sure what format the file is. I will have to check.
Try TMPGenc MPEG Smart Renderer 5. It has a 30 day trial period. I’ve used it to grab some nice stills from my 4K Sony action cameras.
Sometimes the image you want doesn’t land on a keyframe though.
Try this: https://fstoppers.com/photoshop/learn-two-new-techniques-how-extract-still-frames-any-video-29549
I am of the opinion that unless you have a 4k camera with the codex built in for stills (frame grabs), you may not get the resolution or sharpness due to frame movement. And, as mentioned, you have to have 4k monitors (with dedicated graphics ) . FWIW, I bought a 5D MKIV around this time last year thinking I woukd shoot 4k and pull stills for wedding & commercial work, and I haven’t used it for that feature (yes, I have 4k monitors and GTX 1080 8gb graphics cards).
On an Apple Mac:
Open the video in QuickTime .
Scrub to frame you want (arrow keys for accuracy)
Command -C to copy
Open Photoshop (if you have it) - Command -N then Command-V (paste)
Or open Apple Preview - Command - N then Command-V. Then save to pdf or JPG
I use VLC for playing videos. It’s not very good for extracting frames.
That’s a bummer I thought they might have this. I’m fairly positive there’s a way to do this with FFMPEG.
The company I work for actually makes a video player that has this exact feature. I can’t remember if they still have a free version. I’ll check after I’m back from vacation.
Yeah probably easiest to do this with FFMPEG since it’s free. You’d just do something like:
ffmpeg -i inputfile.mp4 inputfile%03d.bmp
This will extract every frame to a bitmap file that you can import into photoshop or whatever.