Tutorial - High Resolution Screencaps with PowerDVD 4 and Paintshop Pro 8

[anesthezea.livejournal.com]

Notes

Special thanks and chocolate go to the lovely and mega-talented isabellecs who taught me the PSP8 process described in this tutorial. All credit for this tutorial's creation should go to her. She was the inspiration and the knowledge. I just got bored and decided to play on my computer for a few hours.




High Resolution Screencaps with PowerDVD 4 and Paintshop Pro 8


Note: This tutorial is meant to be used with PowerDVD4 and Paintshop Pro 8. It may or may not work with other versions of the programs. You must have a DVD-ROM drive to play/screencap dvds. Dvds will not play in CD-ROM, CD-R, or CD-RW drives.


PowerDVD Configuration

1. Before loading a dvd into your player, let's check your PowerDVD settings by clicking on the configuration button.



2. A dialog box pops up. Under the GENERAL tab, select ADVANCED. A second dialog box will pop up. Click on the CAPTURE tab and select "Capture to File" as your default capture mode. I save my caps to PowerDVD's image folder (C:\PROGRAM FILES\CYBERLINK\POWERDVD\Images\) so they are easier to find. Select "Current video window size" as your captured aspect ratio. Click OK to close that dialog box.

3. With the other dialog box still up, click on the VIDEO tab. If HARDWARE ACCELERATION is checked, UNCHECK it. Select "Keep Aspect Ratio" under SCREEN CONTROL. Select "Original" as your color control profile (Using Bright, Theater, and Vivid uses up more CPU power).

4. Click on the ADVANCED tab. Yet another dialog box pops up. Click the SCREEN tab. Choose "Auto-Select" as your VIDEO MODE. Select "Don't change resolution" on BOTH of the drop down menus below that. Click OK to close BOTH dialog boxes.


Capturing Images with PowerDVD

1. Insert your dvd of choice into your dvd player. When the dvd loads, DO NOT RESIZE THE SCREEN. Let the player select the window size automatically. Remember, some dvds will play at a rather large default window size.

2. When you see something you'd like to cap, press "C" to capture, or alternately, click the CAMERA icon on the player. If it helps you to make a clearer cap, press SPACEBAR to PAUSE the dvd and then make your capture. Press ENTER to continue playing the dvd.



3. When you've finished screencapping, close PowerDVD4.


Enhancing Screencaps with Paint Shop Pro 8

1. Open a screencap in Paint Shop Pro.

(I've chosen a cap of a recuperating Stephen Maturin - as played by Paul Bettany - from the film Master and Commander)

If you captured from a widescreen dvd you may choose to crop the black areas from your image. Select the CROP tool and drag it around the image area of your cap. Double click the selected area and the black areas disappear.





Note: You can crop multiple screencaps by taking the cropped screencap's size (in this case, 959 x 394) and using IMAGE/CANVAS SIZE on each screencap. In the dialog box that pops up, enter the pixel data for width and height. Click OK. The cap will automatically crop itself to the specified size without the black areas.

2. Once you've cropped your screencap to your liking, go to ADJUST - BRIGHTNESS AND CONTRAST - AUTOMATIC CONTRAST ENHANCEMENT. A dialog box will pop up. Select "Neutral" Bias, "Normal" Strength, and "Natural" Appearance. Click OK to close the dialog box.





3. Use SAVE AS to change your cap from a bitmap to a jpeg.


Before and After

Comments

[peacefully.livejournal.com]

to save time, I usually just crop the first one, find out what size it needs to be, and use the canvas size tool to crop out the edges, leaving a small amount on so I know for sure I'm not cutting out any of the picture. Aside from the contrast enhancement, I do caps the same way. Thanks for the tutorial, I'll have something to link people to everytime they ask me how to make caps.
I think you might want to mention that you must have a DVD-Rom to make caps, because some people think their CD-Roms will figure it out. *grin*

[anesthezea.livejournal.com]

okies. will add that. thanks!

[tonypunkrockgrl.livejournal.com]

omg I love your dead like me 2 icon! I love that show.

[wyntermoonwolf.livejournal.com]

If you already have it on Crop, you can click the settings option which will pull up a dialog screen with the xy values from the last crop - so all you have to do is to click Ok and the crop settings are on the new image positioned the same as the previous image.

[mydarklife.livejournal.com]

Thank you sooo very much for the tutorial - I just purchased a dvd rom with powerdvd and followed your tutorial with great success :) The only dvd I have though is Erasure The Hits Videos but they turned out pretty well. Just one question if you have time to answer it. When you press the space bar to pause it - the screen seems really fuzzy or distorted. Is there way to get a smooth pause so that you have a clear picture. If this has been asked just let me know and I will search the memories - I just thought I was say thanks before I head out the door for work <3

[anesthezea.livejournal.com]

Since making this tutorial, I've found a better trick than using the space bar to pause the dvd when capping. ^_^x

If you use the blue skin that comes with PowerDVD called Crystal XP, you get two extra buttons on the control panel that allow you to scroll frame by frame.

Simply pause the dvd in the area you want to cap, and use the frame x frame buttons to scroll backward or forward through the scene, making captures as you go. ^_^x Ta da!

If you don't have the Crystal XP skin, I believe it may be included in a free downloadable skin pack available for PowerDVD 5 (http://www.gocyberlink.com/english/download/dl_patch.jsp?dl_id=61&ProdId=28).

I hope this helps!

[nowherelander.livejournal.com]

i feel so stupid asking this but i can't find my caps after i cap them.i tried to look into powerdvd in program files only to find it doesn't exist.help me?

[anesthezea.livejournal.com]

Ok. Let's see.

Open PowerDVD and click on the Configuration tool (see the 1st image of the tutorial if you don't know where it is) and click on the GENERAL tab. At the bottom of the dialog box is a button that says ADVANCED. Click it. Another dialog box pops up. Click on the CAPTURE tab. Under "Default Capture Mode" make sure you have selected "Capture to File" and that the box below it has this in it: C:\PROGRAM FILES\CYBERLINK\POWERDVD\Images\PDVD_.BMP

This will save all of your captures into one folder - as bitmap files (example: PDVD_000.bmp, PDVD_001.bmp, and so on).

You will need to use another program (IrfanView (http://www.irfanview.com), Photoshop, PaintShop Pro, etc) to change the files to gifs.

Please let me know if this helps you any. ^_^x

[nowherelander.livejournal.com]

oh thank you soooo much:)))thanks for your time (http://www.ntsearch.com/search.php?q=time&v=56) i really appreciate it

[anesthezea.livejournal.com]

If anyone is wondering about aspect ratio in regards to screencapping, please take a look at dtissagirl's very informative tutorial on the subject. ^_^x

http://www.livejournal.com/users/dtissagirl/167217.html

[tonypunkrockgrl.livejournal.com]

thanks! this tutorial helped a lot!!

[spikes-kitten17.livejournal.com]

ok i have the newest version powerdvd but im not sure if its my computer or what but whenever i put a dvd in it doesnt load the little cd just blinks and when i got to powerdvd and hit like watch from hard drive and i click the e: drive, i think thats the one i should be looking for, it doesnt work, i was trying to cap some tv series stuff but it also wouldnt work on any type of dvd the cd just blinks, any help, please!

[anesthezea.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry. I have no idea how to help you. Try the After Dawn forums. I think I've linked to them in my resources list - see the side panel of my journal for the link.

[bananners.livejournal.com]

Thanks!! This was really helpful. :D

[lilz32.livejournal.com]

omg... if only I'd read this sooner...! *hits head on desk repetively*

[anesthezea.livejournal.com]

hehe. i take it the info was useful?

[jfran2258.livejournal.com]

I have PowerDVD DX. Is there anyway to get screencaps from this program?

[jfran2258.livejournal.com]

And if not, what program would you suggest I get.

[luthien-black.livejournal.com]

I have a question, although I'm not sure if you can help me :)

At the moment I'm using my standard DVD program and Fraps (which is a game-capture program, but works fine with DVDs), except they turn out really grainy. I'm not sure if this is the software I'm using, or the actual DVD drive.

Do you think I'd get better quality results with PowerDVD?

[alovelyfix.livejournal.com]

Ok, I have a stupid question. I have a version of PowerDVD but I don't know what version it is. My computer keeps telling me it's 5, but I don't get any settings like you're showing. Could be because I have a Dell, but is there any way for me to upgrade or anything? This is what I get when I open my PowerDVD: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v112/vividkc/lj/powerdvd.jpg ...I tried the "Online Update" and it said there were no updates available. If anybody has any idea of something I could do, I'd be so grateful. Thanx. <33

[anesthezea.livejournal.com]

i'm sorry, i'm not sure how to help you with that. i no longer have power dvd (or a computer of my own, for that matter. ugh), so i'm afraid I can't help out. I'm sorry! try the forums at afterdawn.com. :)