I need a bit of computer help!

[MrsPepper]

Okay, does anyone know how to take a screenshot of a video? I tried the normal way of course, print screen, but in the copy the screen is black. I'm sure the programs do this for copyright protection. But it's frustrating me because I'm trying to get a screenshot of Sweetums so I can draw him. It's not like I'm gonna plaster it all over the internet or something. Is there any way that I can get a screenshot?

Also anyone's who handy with website coding and knows their way around css, please speak up, I'm trying to fix something in my layout but it's not quite working.

 

[D'Snowth]

I have a friend who helps me out with that kind of stuff for the Kathy Greenwood Zone, I'll ask him if he can help you.

Until then, FISH'N'WOLFE might be able to help.

 

[BEAR]

Sorry, Mrs. P. Wish I knew.

 

[That Announcer]

I'll give my fave local computer guy a call tomorrow and see if he would be able to help you.

 

[MrsPepper]

Okay. Thanks for trying, you guys. I managed to fix the website problem, but I would still like to know how to do a screenshot of a video, to get Sweetums!

 

[D'Snowth]

I don't know how the "screen caps effect" thing works, but I do know is that a digital camera can work as well.

 

[jediX]

You'll either need a screencap program or a video editor to take an image of a movie file. See if www.download.com has any screencapping software if you don't have a video editor, which you presumably don't, unless you're running Windows XP or have Windows Movie Maker. If you do, here's how you take a screen capture: open the program and then drag the file into the collection area, which should be the upper left side portion of the screen. Next, drag this video into the "video" track on the timeline below. If you see a preview of the file to the upper right portion of the screen (the preview or 'canvas' area), then move the playhead over the video in the timeline to find the video frame you want to capture. From here, go to "tools-->take picture from preview" and save the image wherever you want. If the video doesn't load in Windows Movie Maker, then it is of an incompatable video format and there isn't much you can do without a video editor that supports that format or a screencapping program. That's all there is to it.

 

[MrsPepper]

Ah, I had my hopes up with the movie maker, but the file is .avi . Shoot. Well, now I know how to do it later if I need to, for different files. Thanks for your help.

 

[jediX]

Odds are then that its divx compressed, which would mean you'd need to convert it into a playable .avi format and then you could screencap. I'm taking a break from housework so I checked download.com and found this:

http://www.download.com/ScreenSmart-Screen-Capture/3000-2075_4-10426066.html?tag=lst-0-3

It is only a demo, of course, but it still should probably work. If not, just skim through these results and see if anything else floats your boat.