Freeze Frame Digital Videos Coldwater MI

You can use still pictures in your digital movies, and you can also freeze a video image for posterity, so to speak. You may want to grab still pictures from video to help promote your movie. Or, you may want a still image of someone or something, and the video clip is the only image that you have. Just keep in mind that the resolution of video images is really, really low compared to even the cheapest digital cameras, so frame-grabs from video have a lower quality than from a camera. You really notice the lower quality if you print the frame grab because image details look blocky and pixelated.

To freeze a frame of video and turn it into a still picture, follow these steps:

1. Open the video clip that has the frame you want to freeze.

In Pinnacle Studio, you have to place the clip in the timeline before you can freeze a frame. To add a video clip to the timeline, simply drag it from the album to the timeline.

2. Move the play head to the frame that you want to freeze.

3. Grab the frame.

In Apple iMovie, choose File --> Save Frame As. A Save As dialog box appears.

In Pinnacle Studio, choose Toolbox --> Grab Video Frame. The Grab Video Frame toolbox appears. Choose the Movie radio button next to Grab From, click the Grab button, and then click Save to Disk.

4. Save the frame.

In iMovie, name the picture and choose a format in the Format menu. The available formats are JPEG and PICT.

In Studio, name the file and choose a format from the Save As Type menu. Several formats are available, but the JPEG format gives you the greatest versatility.

After you grab a frame of video, you can use the image on a Web page to promote your movie, use it as a background image for a DVD menu, or share it as you would any other still photo.