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How to capture a Still frame from Imovie 11

I have read that this cannot be done. What I have noticed in the upgrade is this

1) I can still use the ctrl - click method and reveal in finder in video captured before version 11

2) With V11 I can can still control -click in the event library and choose
*add still from to project*

3) This will get it in the project window

4) I can then sometimes get the ctrl-click to work on the still in the project window and chose
*reveal in finder*

5) But i only see the clip in the finder window and cannot save or export it out as a JPEG or TIFF

Can this not be done period on version 11?

Imac, Mac OS X (10.6.5)

Posted on Dec 25, 2010 1:16 PM

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28 replies

Dec 25, 2010 2:01 PM in response to kentga54

There are two approaches. Let's call them the shotgun approach and the rifle approach.

Shotgun approach:
Drag the video clips into an iMovie Project. Then SHARE/EXPORT USING QUICKTIME.
Choose Still image sequence. This will give you 30 jpegs per second for all the clips. In other words, it will give you every single frame, converted to a still.

Rifle Approach:
Download a free app to your Mac called MPEG Streamclip from Squared 5.
Open MPEG Streamclip.
In iMovie, right click on one of the Video clips, and select "Show in Finder".
Drag these clips from the Finder into MPEG Streamclip. You should be able to hit the Play button and see them all.
Move the playhead in MPEG Streamclip to the exact frame that you want. Then click FILE/Export Frame. You can choose whether you want JPEG, TIFF, or PNG. And choose a location. Move the playhead to the next frame you want and repeat.

iMac 24 2.8Ghz, iPhone, TV Mac OS X (10.6.5) Panasonic HDC-SD5 iMovie 11
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Dec 25, 2010 2:26 PM in response to AppleMan1958

Thanks - I looked through some numerous pages and found this. But...

I am having PROBLEMS with this also

1) I am not getting the right clip in when I do this in my finder

2) After deleting the many files I tried this with I can no longer get the Finder menu to come up

Have you experienced any of these problems?

I am thinking of dumping this Imac. I have never had this problem with any IBM based program

Dec 25, 2010 10:56 PM in response to Ziatron

The best thing about iMovie '11 stills is that they now match perfectly with the video frame, so freeze frames are identical to the preceding video frame. Likewise with stills from an Event. This exact match was how things worked with very early versions of iMovie, particularly version 2. But, I found that stills from iMovie HD 6 weren't as sharp or clear, or as saturated, as the video frames they were extracted from.

So, I much prefer the stills from iMovie '11 when adding them to a project. If I need them for other purposes (which I frequently do), I use MPEG Streamclip or otherwise a screen grab in full screen view. With screen grabs, the best approach is to create a new project and add stills from your Event, with each still having the shortest possible duration. Then show that project full screen and grab the stills from the frames using the key combination Command>Shift>4. Use the left/right arrow keys to progress through the project. I get excellent quality stills this way and generally import them to iPhoto for further enhancement, cropping etc. After processing in iPhoto, I often use them in Keynote, then import back to my main project in iMovie '11 for producing a highlights slideshow.

John

Dec 26, 2010 4:42 AM in response to John Cogdell

John, I did a comparison between Grab and a free app called SKITCH and I find SKITCH to be superior. First of all, the borders of the copy are cleaner looking, more precise. Second, you can write notes in Skitch, draw arrows, draw boxes around significant info, or circles if you prefer.

Also, you can do it in any color you choose. You can also change the size, edit, and reformat to jpeg or tiff or pdf etc etc.

I use it every day. It is the best free app I have.

-Lorna

How to capture a Still frame from Imovie 11

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