Kathyr

Thank you to all who have been responding. I will gladly take all the tips I can get. Later today, I hope to try this later today. What a wonderful group you all are! Kathy

gessman Loc: Colorado

The hawk picture is better than some I've captured from video and I'm pleasantly surprised at the quality and although it isn't likely to win any quality contests, it's certainly doable. My point was only that she should not expect a captured 2 mpx pic to look as good as the HD video or a high quality image like Squirrel, Jon Sund, Yooper, and others are bringing to this forum.

I don't feel like there is any real need to make placating and sympathetic comments about the level of criticism that is offered here or the good people who are trying to be helpful and enlightening. Comments like, "Many times there are those that will point them out and correct them for you. Nothing better to do I guess." Nobody criticized the mistake, chewed anyone out, or belittled anyone so for me, for one, these kinds of comments are not very helpful to anyone.

alaskanfrog Loc: Alaska

Hello Kathy,

Don't particularly know if this will be helpful, but capturing stills from video is difficult. Also, stills from videos tend to lean on the not-so-good side and the images can be very blurred. Unless you have a 3CCD professional High Definition Camcorder, stills quality will not be very good. Some camcorders actually come with the option of capturing still images in the form of an actual High Res Photo, or a 10 second video still. I would recommend using the photo capture option if you have a camcorder so equipped. The captured video stills do not translate to still images very well. Of course, I negated to note the date this post was made and I could be too late to adequately address or answer your question. I do videography and I'm an independent videographer. I was a media assistant until congress pulled the grant that paid my wages at my former place of employment. I wish you luck in finding a good solution to capturing stills for print from your videos.

James from Anchorage Alaska

PHOTONUT Loc: western va.

Gessman you are right on with your comment's,it
seem's sometimes some are more in to software than
taking good photos to begine with.I expect most people
are like me they want to just take good photos and not
start a photography business and being a pro. If you took
sofware away from some they would not know how to
take a good photo, they are lost with out it and that is sad.
and some go overboard with the rule of thirds,oh well just
my humble thought for today.photonut

PHOTONUT Loc: western va.

A better photo from a video the hawk#2

photo from a video done in Picasa

gessman Loc: Colorado

You did an excellent job with what you had to work with but as anyone can plainly see, there is no definition in the feathers, the color and contrast is weak, the color is very unsaturated, the picture is flat, looks like it's starting to pixelate, and it's probably about as good as it's going to get. Still, if it's important, it's just about perfect. I like it. You did good and made a valuable point in doing so. I didn't get the sense that this distinguished member of the forum is all that experienced and was reaching out for help. You and others showed her what I only tried to tell her. The rest is up to her. Thanks for you effort on her behalf from my perspective, that of a directly un-involved bystander.

larryh Loc: Penna

Kathy, Here is a picture I captured from video on Saturday

taken with Canon HF200

naturepics43 Loc: Hocking Co. Ohio - USA

welrdelr
I think it's meant to be constructive criticism (the act or art of judging the quality of an artistic work ). Thats the POSITIVE definition. As a newbee here and to digital photography I am glad they have " Nothing better to do" than to answer my questions.

Lar

:thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:
Kathy, the important thing is to try. Nevermind what may seem peripatetic and pontifical, just go ahead and try whatever you want and take the results that you want. Much of photography, videography is a happy mistake, so don't be afraid to try whatever you want. Importantly, learn from each thing that you do, dismiss the naysayers. Larry

gessman Loc: Colorado

Just so we can be on alert, Lar, would you care to give us a list of these peripatetic, pontifical, naysayers to whom you refer? I want to be able to recognize them so they can't catch me off guard. You've been a member of the forum a matter of hours at best, minutes more likely. I'm not sure how you figured out who the bad guys are so quickly but I sure would appreciate you giving us the names of those folks from whom you would protect the poor little mistreated lady. I think many of us in the forum would like to know, Lar. Please, won't you tell us!!!

Lar

:thumbdown: :thumbdown: I sure will...you are one and there are a couple of others. Anyone who rises to the occasion of being a dyed-in-the-wool critic, fits the same measurement. I respect your professionalism, and I have no doubt it comes from years of camera, darkroom and digital work. Your largess is very apparent. But, your tact and diplomacy are not a shrine. I have no reason to scuffle with you, but my opinions are as important as yours. I choose to anchor and encourage artistic direction rather than what f/stop and tripod they should be using. To those who might be offended by my expression, my apologies. None of my expression were directed at any one person...except those who obviously were hit in a nerve. In all sincerity, I appreciate this forum, and who are you to judge how long I have been here or what my credentials are. Your careful plan to discredit me and my remarks and portray me as a luddite, have failed. Please continue to post helpful things to all aboard, as they are appreciated. Lar

gessman Loc: Colorado

Well, Lar, judging by your profile you just became a member of the forum TODAY, not that is of any importance or of any interest to me except that it might indicate that you are not familiar with the people in here and who tries to offer help and who doesn't. Nor is your presence or absence here of any interest to me, nor will it affect my participation in trying to help anyone or cause me to alter the way I go about it. You go into those 950+ comments I have made and find an example of where I "rose to the occasion of being a died in the wool critic," and I'll accede to your point. If not then perhaps a retraction would be in order. I have no credentials and am totally disinterested in yours. I was trying to help the lady understand, from a practical standpoint, a little about what was going to occur so she wouldn't be disappointed with the outcome. I don't know what you were trying to do other than draw attention to yourself. She had not indicated any form of despondency that might require your blasphemous and ill-considered remarks over either her ordeal or the treatment she'd received but you sure did save her from all us tyrants, didn't you. You're a prime example of why they shouldn't sell thesauruses over the counter. You have a nice bright shiny paint job but apparently no engine under the hood.

Lar

Ok, you win, I will not further. Lar

gessman Loc: Colorado

I just saw a comment by PhotoArtsLA in another thread about getting stills from video. He said that Quicktime will allow you to open a video sequence and then export it as a series of stills for each frame - just what you were looking for. Last time I used Quicktime to edit some video, if that feature was there I didn't understand it. If you have Quicktime, update it to the latest version. PhotoArtsLA said you needed Quicktime Pro but I just did it with a regular version of Quicktime.

Under the "File" menu option "open" your video and then "export" it to a targa or .tga format. Targa is a lossless image format like .tiff so it should give you good images that you can then edit in your favorite editing software. The best thing is that it'll let you look at each frame and give you your pick as opposed to taking what you can grab. I'll post this openly on that thread you started so everyone can see it but I wanted to make sure you got it, hence the PM.

Kathyr

Thanks for your reply. I will try it. Thank you to all who have responded. I really appreciate how helpful people are, on this forum!