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Thursday, September 23, 2010

. Open a video file

ImageGrab  is delivered in a zip file containing two versions: the file ImageGrab_50en_setup.exe is an auto-executable file that will copy the application on a hard disk and create some shortcuts. The file ImageGrab_50en.exe is a version that needs no installation and can be launched directly. It becomes a portable version that can also be launched from a usb key or a Cd-Rom.

When you launch it, ImageGrab, displays its main window, empty because no video has been loaded. Since the version 5.0.0 this windows may be resized or even maximized to cover the whole screen.

If you have not installed the filters Haali Media Splitter and FFdshow, two series of filters that can enhance dramatically the power of ImageGrab, then a warning will remind you that it is recommended to install them. If they have been found on your system, and sometimes you may have installed them without knowing it in a pack of codecs, then this panel is not displayed.

As mentioned, you may continue without installing the missing filters, and even check a checkbox to stop being warned. But I recommend rather to quit and install the filters with one of the methods indicated here.

To open a video file, use the first button Open a video file, or type CTRL+O. By default, ImageGrab proposes to open files with extension avi, ivf, mpg, mpeg, m1v, mp2, wmv, asf, mts, m2ts, ts, vob, mkv, mov, mp4, 3g2, m4v. You may try other multimedia extensions. The files will be recognized by ImageGrab if the relevant directshow filters have been installed on your system. On the other hand, if you have not installed Haali Media Splitter and FFdshow then some of these extensions will not work well and could produce an error of ImageGrab.

You may also paste a video file that had been copied to the clipboard with the button or with the keys CTRL+V. Very convenient is also to drag and drop a video file to the window of ImageGrab.

When the video loads in imageGrab it activates the navigation keys below the video screen.

The current timestamp is displayed above the video image, with the duration of the video file and the size of the video image and the resulting size of the snapshot. The latter size is determined by the aspect ratio policy that has been chosen: normal size (type Alt+F5) is the default behavior that keeps the native size if there is no aspect ratio set in the source file, and uses that aspect ratio if it exists; Native (type Alt+F8) keeps always the native video size, 4x3 (type Alt+F6) or 16x9 (type Alt+F7) sets the aspect ratio independently of the native video size. On the picture above shot by my HD camcorder in Tokyo, the image is natively 16x9.

The next picture will be saved with a filename that is displayed on the bottom of the window. If you click on the icon or type ALT+F , you may change various settings of the image name, folder or even extension (bmp or jpg).

In some cases, depending on the decoder filter found on your system, the picture will be inverted (head down). In that case, click on the button Flip Vertical (F4) to reverse the picture. Even if it's not very useful, you may also flip horizontally the video, using the horizontal arrow or typing F3.

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. Extract images

When a video is loaded in ImageGrab, you have to choose the folder where the pictures will be saved, and give them a filename and a picture format.. By clicking on the button or typing ALT+F you open a panel where you may set various parameters for that.

Starting from top, you have first to choose a folder for saving the snapshots.

Then you should decide if their filename will be build with a given root name, for example ImageGrab or if it will use the video filename. You may limit in that case the number of letters being used, for instance to 8.

Then you must decide what will be added to the filename in order to identify each different image: either the current timestamp or a rank number increased on each new snapshot. You may precise in the second case how many digits should be used, and what should be the starting number.

Finally, check if the saved images have to be in bmp format or in jpeg and what is the quality for jpeg. The greater the number, the better the quality, but also the bigger is the file. In my experience, 50 is a good compromise.

Navigate then in the video, until you reach the frame to be grabbed. You can use the navigation buttons and the trackbar located below the video window. Generally, you can navigate with frame precision. It is also convenient to use the keys CTRL+arrow from the keyboard. You may also enter directly a timestamp position above the video, and type Enter to reach directly the position.

The Space Bar operates Play or Pause on the video. You may mute the sound of the video on and off by clicking on the button or typing CTRL+M. The volume of the sound stream, if any, is indicated by a small gauge above the video screen. You may increase or reduce the sound volume by typing +or - at the numeric keyboard.

In some cases, if you open a mts or m2ts file, the video will be played not at normal rate, but at the highest rate possible on your system without blocking the video. It can be slower than the normal rate if your system is not a monster of power and the video images have a very big size. In this mode, the audio streams are also disconnected. In this mode, the color of the Play Button becomes red. This mode is useful to play the video smoothly (but slowly) and without blockage. You may restore the normal mode by going to the Sources panel (type F2) and unchecking the box Maximum speed. You may also stop this kind of behavior affecting all mts or m2ts files, by opening the Options panel (type F10) and unchecking the box Play mts and m2ts with maximum speed.

When the desired picture is displayed in the video, you may finally grab the image in different ways:

 or F5 or a click on the video screen: Grabs a picture and saves it to the indicated folder.

 or CTRL+C: Copies the snapshot into the clipboard.

The snapshots will always be displayed in the small picture at the left or the right of the video window. (Toggle from right to left with ALT+W). The color of the image name at the bottom of the window, becomes green when the file has been saved.

If you prefer to work with menus instead of Buttons, right click anywhere on ImageGrab to display a menu containing the most useful commands available.

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 More help pages for ImageGrab: