>Date: Tue, 6 Jun 2000 14:17:54 -0400 (EDT)
>From: Elizabeth Haas <[log in to unmask]>
>
>Can anyone suggest a good way of getting pictures of frames of films from
>VHS tapes? How do books that reproduce frames from films do it?

For frame grabs from video with Windows-based machines . . .

1.  Snappy.

Snappy is a little device about the size of 2 packs of cards that plugs
directly into your printer (parallel) port.  You plug a VCR into it and
<ba-bing> frame grabs!

Very easy to use and inexpensive (around $100-150).

2.  A video (graphics) card that supports input from a NTSC or PAL video
source.

Several video cards (the card that your monitor plugs into) will accept
input from a VCR or video camera.  The two I've used are the ATI
All-in-Wonder and the Matrox G-400-TV.  In both cases, you must pop the top
on your computer and replace your old video card with the new one.  Then
you plug your monitor and your video source (VCR, video camera, etc.) into
them and start grabbing.

The Matrox card is around $300 and the ATI one is cheaper, but I forget how
much.

To see how these sort of frame grabs look, check out these from UN CHIEN
ANDALOU (although a 1920s film doesn't really show the quality that well):

http://www.tcf.ua.edu/Classes/Jbutler/T340/SurrealismUnChienAndalou1.htm

These are all JPEG-format files.  For print you would use TIFF-format, but
the grabbing process is about the same.

Get frames from FILM is a whole 'nother process--perfected by Kristin
Thompson for FILM ART.  She takes photographs of the frames from 35mm
prints and then makes print copies from the photographs.


----
Jeremy Butler
[log in to unmask]
http://www.tcf.ua.edu/jbutler
Telecommunication & Film/University of Alabama/Tuscaloosa/AL

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