Capturing Frames?

[mbain]

Ok, I'm back, but this questions shouldn't be of a confusing nature.

Is there a way to capture more than one frame at a time (including tween frames) for conversion to animated gif file?
Thanks,
M

[Bob Hartzell]

Not at this time. The file name is indexed in number so it should not be too painful.

[mbain]

Hi Bob,
I just did 171 captures only to find that neither Paint Shop Pro nor Photoshop will open them. PSP says that they are not valid .bmp files, and PSP says that it cannot "parse" them, whatever the heck that means. I was able to open the file in AfterImage (a batch conversion utility), but then found that it also captured the menu bar.
Thanks,
M

[mbain]

Originally posted by mbain
Hi Bob,
I just did 171 captures only to find that neither Paint Shop Pro nor Photoshop will open them. PSP says that they are not valid .bmp files, and PSP says that it cannot "parse" them, whatever the heck that means. I was able to open the file in AfterImage (a batch conversion utility), but then found that it also captured the menu bar.
Thanks,
M

sorry, make that the tool bar, not the menu bar (in step by step viewing mode)

[johnie]

Okay,

I just tried to duplicate what you did.

How did you try to capture the frames?

Did you use the camera button on the internal player or did you go to the key frame and hit File>export for web> capture movie frames?

I Captured a frame by both methods mentioned above and loocked at them with MS Paint- No problems. I could not duplicate your the toolbar thing even after exporting 38 frames.

I have also performed the same operation and imported the captures into The Gimp, Star Draw, PSP 6.0, Adobe Photo Delux, and other programs in the past.

Try 1 frame using the above method and see if that helps.

[johnie]

The step by step mode did chop the left hand side of my frame though.

[mbain]

Originally posted by johnie
The step by step mode did chop the left hand side of my frame though.

Jo,
Doesn't matter if I use the camera icon, the file menu, stand on my head, jump 245 jumpin jacks; nothing will make these screen shots open in PSP or Pshop pro.

My copy of Kool Moves must be bewitched....
M

[johnie]

Hmmm. Interesting-


A little later I will try opening the captures in Paint Shop Pro just to make sure.

Do the images open in MS paint?

If they don't then your right- somethings wrong.

[mbain]

Originally posted by johnie
Hmmm. Interesting-


A little later I will try opening the captures in Paint Shop Pro just to make sure.

Do the images open in MS paint?

If they don't then your right- somethings wrong.

Hi Johnie,
The images open in Ms Paint, but still not the other 2 programs, but I know those two programs are functional, because they open other .bmp files. Also, it does capture the tool bar while in step by step mode, no matter if I use the File menu or camera icon. Also, it names the file the default name even if I type something different... aargh.
M

[johnie]

I knew that it would name it capture #

and yes its pain in the but.

Try converting with MS Paint to a different format and passing it to the other programs.

[johnie]

I just double checked The Gimp- It has no problem with them.

[mbain]

Originally posted by johnie
I knew that it would name it capture #

and yes its pain in the but.

Try converting with MS Paint to a different format and passing it to the other programs.

I converted it to a .gif file, and then Photoshop would open it. I didn't try paint shop pro, but I'm sure it will, also.

AfterImage will batch convert, so that's covered. Now the only problem is getting rid of the toolbar. I've got Snagit,and does great screen shots, but the convenience of the camera icon is awesome.

Do you know of a utility that will convert .swf files to animated gifs?
Thanks,
M

[mbain]

AfterImage will batch convert, so that's covered. Now the only problem is getting rid of the toolbar. I've got Snagit,and does great screen shots, but the convenience of the camera icon is awesome.

Do you know of a utility that will convert .swf files to animated gifs?
Thanks,
M [/B][/QUOTE]

uh oh...Just tried Snagit, and I can't get it to capture just the contents of the frame.

[Bob Hartzell]

Does the movie width or height exceed the horizontal or vertical width of your screen? That could explain this behavior. I need to put that test in the code. The screen capture is cropped by the movie frame.

I will try to have a new version with all these fixes in 2-3 days.

[mbain]

Originally posted by Bob Hartzell
Does the movie width or height exceed the horizontal or vertical width of your screen? That could explain this behavior. I need to put that test in the code. The screen capture is cropped by the movie frame.

I will try to have a new version with all these fixes in 2-3 days.

Hi Bob,
Nope, the movie fits in the screen just fine.
M

[johnie]

Paint shop pro loaded the frame capture without any problems. I tested it just 2 mins ago in PSP 4.0 and PSP 7 beta.


It would be unapealing to have a SWF to GIF conversion app. GIF is a raster format which means that it cannot scale without distorting the image but it can display photgraph quality images with more detail in less space than a vector format. SWF is a vector format which means that it can scale without any Distortion but photograph quality images would be very large and with many-many-many vector shapes. By converting a SWF to an animated GIF you would lose the benifits of the vector format and inherit the weaknesses of the raster format.

PS. If it wasn't for Microsoft and a couple of other large companies the GIF format would probably be dead. PNG was developed over 2 years ago to replace the static GIF format and MNG was created to replace the animated GIF. You see the GIF format uses LWZ compresion and the LWZ compresion is copyrighted. The3 company that copyrighted it threatened to charge webmasters $5,000 per Image for every GIF on their web pages that was created using a certain free software package.

There used to be posts discussing this- they might still be in this forum.

[Bob Hartzell]

I believe that screen capture software can be sensitive to video cards. The first software I used caused problems for someone about 2 months ago. I searched high and low for other software. I went through two versions before finding one that worked for me and the other person. There have been no complaints since then. It looks like I need to search again. If you have access to another PC, you might try installing KoolMoves on it and trying the screen capture from it.

[mbain]

Originally posted by Bob Hartzell
I believe that screen capture software can be sensitive to video cards. you might try installing KoolMoves on it and trying the screen capture from it.

Hi Bob,
I've got an ATI Rage 128. Seems to be a good card. Alright, I've figured out how to get SnagIt to capture just the frame content, so I'll use that for now.
Thanks,
Mike

[mbain]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by mbain
[B]

Originally posted by Bob Hartzell
I believe that screen capture software can be sensitive to video cards. you might try installing KoolMoves on it and trying the screen capture from it.

I've figured out WHAT it's doing, but still don't know how!

The reason it's not capturing tool bar in regular view mode but it is capturing toolbar in step by step mode is because when I view it in step by step mode, it's not the same size! I tested it...it's supposed to be 640 X 480, and it is - in Normal Key Frame mode, but in step by step mode, it cuts off part of the height, and that's the reason it captures the tool bar. It knows it's supposed to be capturing a frame 640X480, and so it does, thus capturing the toolbar!
Anybody know why it might do this?
M

[johnie]

No, but I noticed the same behavior.