How to extract EVERY frame from video?

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Level 1

6 points

How to extract EVERY frame from video?

I make gifs, and as such need to be able to extract every frame from a video. I used to do this with MPlayer OSX Extended, but for some reason the screenshots it takes now are much darker than the actual video and can't be easily lightened without losing quality. Taking manual screenshots from every frame (command-shift-3) in QuickTime would be ridiculously time-consuming, so that's not an option.

Does anyone know of a way to extract all frames from video, either natively on Mac or with a different program?

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 11.2

Posted on Jun 2, 2021 1:31 AM

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Answer 1

Jun 2, 2021 8:17 AM in response to lfoster0902

This article apparently explains how you can do it easily with ffmpeg.

I haven't tried it, but it looks like it should work nicely.

https://www.imore.com/how-extract-images-frame-frame-using-ffmpeg-macos

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Answer 2

dialabrain

Level 10

135,569 points

Jun 2, 2021 7:32 AM in response to lfoster0902

You might want to see if ffWorks suits your purpose. I know it can create automated GIFs from just about any video format.

https://www.ffworks.net/

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Answer 3

dialabrain

Level 10

135,569 points

Jun 2, 2021 8:54 AM in response to lfoster0902

Just an example, I created a GIF using ffWorks of a 10 second video. Opened it in Preview and extracted 120 frames in less than 60 seconds. Total time.

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Answer 4

Jun 2, 2021 7:42 AM in response to lfoster0902

With QT you might be able to create an Automator flow to do it automagically.

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Answer 5

lfoster0902 Author

Level 1

6 points

Jun 2, 2021 8:02 AM in response to dialabrain

@dialabrain I do all sorts of coloring, sharpening, etc. that I need the individual frames for. Automated gifs isn't what I'm after.

@Keith Barkley I'm pretty unfamiliar with that program. How would it work?

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Answer 6

dialabrain

Level 10

135,569 points

Jun 2, 2021 8:29 AM in response to lfoster0902

lfoster0902 wrote:

@dialabrain I do all sorts of coloring, sharpening, etc. that I need the individual frames for. Automated gifs isn't what I'm after.

FWIW, a GIF is nothing more than a collection of frames. You can open a GIF in Preview for example and edit the individual frames. Or you could drag the frames into a folder and edit them in an app of your choice.

Just a thought.

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