NationStates Jolt Archive

So, I'm watching a DVD on my laptop (Serenity, a totally kickass movie), and suddenly I think "Hey, that person/ship/background would be perfect for this RP of mine I'm working on." I pause the movie, backtrack a bit to get the perfect shot, and press the "Print Screen" button, which most computer users know takes a snapshot of the current display. I open Paint, click Ctrl-V to paste, and...bloody hell, instead of the movie there's just a black square. Everything apart from the movie is there, the border of the display, the various control buttons (Play/pause, etc.), but where there should be a still from the movie is just black. I figure, "Maybe it's this particular program", so I close Windows media Player and open it in RealPlayer. Same thing. I go to InterVideo WinDVD. Same thing. I'm beginning to run out of ideas. I think, "Maybe it's because the movie is paused at the moment", so I go through the motions with movie playing. Same thing. I try it with other scenes on the DVD, with no better luck. Getting frustrated, and thinking it might just be this particular DVD, I switch to a different disc (Firefly this time) and get the same result. Maybe it's just DVD's that this happens on, it makes sense to prevent copyright violation, but to test that theory I try it on other video files. Non-copyrighted files, downloaded videos, even some of my own videos that I've scanned into the computer. Same freaking thing. By now I'm rather upset and working on an aneurism, and I'm out of ideas. I've tried three different player programs, tried the videos playing and paused, DVD's of movies and TV shows, and files on my hard drive, and it just doesn't work.

Anybod know what the hell's going on?

I tried this same thing on a video file, and pasted it into paint, and the video played in paint! but once the real thing stopped, the screen went balck too...

<snippy>
Isn't there a screenshot function built into WinDVD? Try help.

A security feature of Media player I believe, you cannot take screenshots. Now I have come across other players that will allow it, though as I"m at work I can't think of the names.

It's either BSPlayer or ATI Multimedia player.

I tried this same thing on a video file, and pasted it into paint, and the video played in paint! but once the real thing stopped, the screen went balck too...
now thats just weird

and for the other problem, i have no clue

Could be that copyright law hates you. The solution is to get an actual camera and take a literal screenshot.

Isn't there a screenshot function built into WinDVD? Try help.

Any idea how I'd use such a feature?

Press the 'P' key at any time to capture a BMP file of a moving or static image.

...

Captured bitmaps are stored in the Capture subdirectory of the WinDVD directory on your hard drive, unless you are using Windows XP. If you are using Windows XP, the captured bitmaps are stored under WinDVD Capture directory within My Documents\My Pictures directory.

That's what it says on my version of WinDVD.

Could be that copyright law hates you. The solution is to get an actual camera and take a literal screenshot.

Wouldn't a literal screenshot involve getting a gun or some other form of projectile weaponry?

Wouldn't a literal screenshot involve getting a gun or some other form of projectile weaponry?
No. Shooting the screen won't help. Not unless the computer freezes. Then you shoot it.

Apparently, my version of WinDVD doesn't have that particular doohickey. Drat.

It's not a security feature, it's because most media players use an offscreen buffer to prevent video lag - so what you're seeing on your monitor was rendered off it, so doesn't show up in a screenshot. There are programs that can take one - google VideoLan.

PS, Klonor, where'd you go :(

Mac OSX 1, Windows 0

I have a "Create Still Frame" choice when I watch movies.

Play in media player and Ctrl + I should take a screenie of just the video, due to dynamic data linkage of windows the movie will actually play in paint if you click play in the media player. Hope that helps. :)

I ventured into this strange and distant land, full of wondrous and mysterious beings that dispatch you on various quests in return for the promise of great reward, possibly a brighter future and eternal enlightenment...okay, I got a job and have had like zero free time, but it's neater to say it the first way.

Look at my post above, CTRL and I together for screenshot ;)

Ctrl+I doesn't seem to do much of anything, when I go to paste it all that comes out is the last Print Screen image I took.

In windows media player, play the video file, a save prompt should come up asking where to save you screen. You don't need to paste it saves it for you.

Odd, it only seems to do it on certain files. Some of my videos did nothing when I CTrl+I'd

That happens because, in rough terms, the DVD video is injected directly into the VGA signal (i.e. it won't pass through memory, where PrintScreen grabs the data). You can either turn off hardware acceleration or, easier, use some software to do that: http://www.any-capture.com/

*troll*

W00T! Serenity...

It's not a security feature, it's because most media players use an offscreen buffer to prevent video lag - so what you're seeing on your monitor was rendered off it, so doesn't show up in a screenshot. There are programs that can take one - google VideoLan.

PS, Klonor, where'd you go :(

VLC FTW?

Cheese penguins, does that only work on certain video files or something? When I try in on the DVD's nothing happens, and a bunch of my on-hard-drive files have the same result (Though some of them do work).

No. Shooting the screen won't help. Not unless the computer freezes. Then you shoot it. You do (http://www.techhelpers.net/e4u/comp/CompKill2.gif)?

Media Player Classic.

Cheese penguins, does that only work on certain video files or something? When I try in on the DVD's nothing happens, and a bunch of my on-hard-drive files have the same result (Though some of them do work).
It depends on the codecs installed, i have about 100 different ones (literally) and can save any video i try in it like that. My advice try a large codec pack just to increase functionality. :)

You do (http://www.techhelpers.net/e4u/comp/CompKill2.gif)?
If that doesn't work then set it on fire. If it's frozen then fire will melt it.

Apart from installing new software or programs (Which, since my rommate downloaded God-Knows-What and forced me to format my hard-drive, I try to avoid unless absolutely necessary), does anybody have any other ideas?

Apart from installing new software or programs (Which, since my rommate downloaded God-Knows-What and forced me to format my hard-drive, I try to avoid unless absolutely necessary), does anybody have any other ideas?
Get Media Player Classic.

And how do I get Media Player Classic? (For some reason, I feel like I should know the anser to this. Actually, come to think of it, I should know the answer to this problem myself. Seriously, right now I'm using a web browser of my own creation and programming and I can't even figure out how to take a freaking screenshot.)

If that doesn't work then set it on fire. If it's frozen then fire will melt it.
I (http://www.techhelpers.net/e4u/comp/comp03.gif) S (http://www.techhelpers.net/e4u/comp/comp16.gif)e (http://www.techhelpers.net/e4u/comp/comp17.gif)e (http://www.techhelpers.net/e4u/comp/comp26.gif)... (http://www.techhelpers.net/e4u/comp/comp18.gif)

And how do I get Media Player Classic? (For some reason, I feel like I should know the anser to this. Actually, come to think of it, I should know the answer to this problem myself. Seriously, right now I'm using a web browser of my own creation and programming and I can't even figure out how to take a freaking screenshot.)
Media player classic should already be on your system in the C:(or what letter you are installed on)\Program Files\Windows Media Player folder. icon is a directors Cut board, with 123 written on it,and name is media player classic. Version 6 i believe is found on xp systems. called Mplayer2.

I don't know how, I don't know why, but I swear to Christ this computer is trying to drive me to a freaking stroke!

I open Old School WMPlayer. I open a file with it, the file plays, I do the Print Screen copy/edit thing all over again and....the same damn thing!

Well, I'm a patient person and I don't take a single occurance as total proof, so I open a different video, just to be sure. Lo and behold, that works! In Paint is a perfect image of JFK announcing the US's intention to put a man on the moon (What can I say, I have a rather eclectic collection of videos on my computer). So, I'm overjoyed that this works, try it with that first video again, and that one doesn't work. So, I try it with a bunch of different videos, and they don't work either. Finally, I get an idea and open the video that did work with my current WMPlayer. It works there, too, so all I can think of is that it's simply an anomolous video, and that Player Classic wasn't the solution, which just makes me want to smash a brick through my monitor.

Anybody else have any ideas?

Klonor-san!


Admit it, you were watching hentai..

Who told you?!?!?!

Educated guess.


Carry on.

Who told you?!?!?!

Well, you're on the internet, therefore you're male. And your male and on the internet, therefore you're viewing some form of porn.

But...uh....I mean...well...damn you logic!

Serenity! Excellent movie!

Sorry, I have no advice about solving your problem, I just liked the movie.

:)

So, suggestions so far have been to use Ctrl + I (Which seems to only work on some videos), and to use classic WMPlayer, which doesn't seem to make any difference.

Anybody else have a suggestion?

Okay, along a new vein, is there any way for WMPlayer, or RealPlayer, or InterVideo WinDVD to play a DVD with hardware overlays turned off? Cause if there is, that will make this all a lot easier.