Best ways to take snapshot from movies for wallpaper/thumbnail

Posted by admin on May 9, 2010 Leave a comment Go to comments

Do you know how to take a snapshot of a video on Mac? I have MacBook and notice that there is built-in snapshot tool. However, I do not think it is convenient for me to get visual snapshot with the beautiful stills from movies.

When I use the shortcut Command + Shift + 4 to take a snapshot, I have to select part of the screen, and drag to highlight the content I like. Actually, I need to play the video before using the shortcut. I then find VLC media player, which include a quick option to take snapshot. I just need to choose from the menu Video > Snapshot, and the current playing image will be taken to a default folder in png or jpg format. The folder is customizable from the preferences settings. Just choose Tools > Preferences > Video > Video snapshots to change the settings.

VLC media player works with many media formats and the most important point is that it is free. However, I sometime could not play M2TS files with VLC media player, and it does not work with blu-ray movies. I searched and was recommended with a powerful converter with the immediate visual snapshot function, Aunsoft iMedia Converter for Mac. The tool also provides quick button to take a snapshot of the movie.

Just load blu-ray disc by clicking the BD/DVD Folder button, or load camcorder video like M2TS, MOD, TOD by clicking Add Video button, select a video and click the play button under the preview window. The video start playing and the Snapshot button under the preview window will be activated.

Click the Open Folder button next to the Snapshot button to get the captured snapshots. You can then easily take the beautiful stills as wallpaper or video thumbnails to identify each video. Hope you also enjoy movies with Mac and have your DIY wallpaper.