Does anyone know of a way to capture a screen shot of a video playing in Window Media Player?

I've tried doing this using different screen capture programs and have had no success.

The only way that I know of is

1. Hit the Print Screen button and pasting into a program like PaintShop and editing it that way.

2. Download a program which will do it for you but I have never come across a free one. Do a google search for one

Windows Movie Maker can capture images from videos. It should come installed with XP. You import the video and play it and pause it where you want then take create a picture from that frame. I would think it can handle any type of clip that Media Player can play

Blaze Media Pro has two methods to do this. Take a look at the video decompiler page for information on them if interested.

Originally Posted by vangogh

Windows Movie Maker can capture images from videos. It should come installed with XP. You import the video and play it and pause it where you want then take create a picture from that frame. I would think it can handle any type of clip that Media Player can play

Thank you so much! That worked perfectly.

Glad to have helped.

I have another question that's a little off topic but figure I'll post it here rather than starting another thread.

Does anyone know of a free progam that will convert .wmv to .swf?

I think .swf is a proprietory file type and you need to use Flash to create one. I'm not entirely certain though.

i believe vangogh is right on this one as well.
Also I would just try using printscreen for your screen capture unless you need an exact frame.

Yes, SWF stands for shockwave flash.

You can convert a WMV to SWF by importing it into flash. It really does not make sense to make an SWF into a WMV. SWF files are compressed and load faster than a WMV if it is optimized correctly.

That reason Prnt screen wasnt working is becasue When you try that, it wont capture the actual screen. It is kind of strange actually.. For those of you who havent tried it, I suggest you try it for the learning experience .

Originally Posted by vangogh

I think .swf is a proprietory file type and you need to use Flash to create one. I'm not entirely certain though.

That's not entirely true. Plenty of programs handle converting SWF files. Sorenson Squeeze (my personal favorite), WinAVI Converter, WinMPG, etc. etc. Just do a search and see what you can find...