Table of Contents
This tip is about the how to Capture Video Screenshots in VLC Media Player. So read this free guide, How to Capture Video Screenshots in VLC Media Player step by step. If you have query related to same article you may contact us.
How to Capture Video Screenshots in VLC Media Player – Guide
Did you know that in VLC you can take screenshots while watching movies or videos? There are several ways you can use the cross-platform free media player to capture a VLC screen and save it as an image on your computer or device. You can then set the VLC snapshot as your wallpaper, make a thumbnail for a YouTube video, or create a fun meme to share with your friends. Whether it’s screenshots of movies or favorite moments from your last one home video, this tutorial shows how to take a screenshot of VLC and show the location of the VLC snapshot on Windows and macOS.
VLC Media Player
Hi, welcome to my brief but very informative tutorial about how to take batch screenshots with VLC Media Player.
Before we get started, let’s get some basics out of the way.
VLC version:
The version of VLC I am using is Rincewind 2.1.5. As far as I know, previous versions of VLC do it differently then mine tutorial will not work for you if you are not using 2.1.5. I apologize in advance for this.
Operational system:
I’m using Windows 7. I assume Windows 8 is similar; however, if you’re using iOS or Linux, things might look a little different for you. I cannot answer questions if you are using one of these operating systems as I have no experience with them.
Basic knowledge assumed:
I assume you know the basics of finding a program, opening a program, and potentially putting a DVD in your computer’s disk drive. This tutorial won’t cover these things, so if you don’t know how to do this, ask a friend or go google.
October 2017 Update:
VLC has released a new version: 2.2.6 Umbrella. This tutorial will work with this version. The preferences interface looks a little different now, but you can still click ‘all’ in the bottom left corner of the program and from then on everything will work the same. If you have any questions let me know.
What is VLC Media Player and why should I use it with Windows Media Player?
VLC Media Player, which can be found on the VideoLAN website here, plays video files and plays videos from DVDs and Blu-rays very similar to Windows Media Player. However, many people prefer the simplicity of VLC Media Player as well as the stability. Personally, I haven’t used Windows Media Player for years, but I remember it crashing from time to time, and I didn’t crash when watching a video in VLC Media Player.
Whether or not you should use VLC Media Player over Windows Media Player really comes down to preference, as they can both do pretty much the same things, but since I don’t use Windows Media Player, this tutorial it will be for VLC only.
Why take screenshots of a video?
There are many reasons you might want to take batch screenshots of a video:
create a folder
Create a folder on your desktop by right clicking anywhere and choosing ‘New’ and then ‘Folder’. Name it whatever you like, then open the folder. Click inside the address bar and copy everything that is there by right clicking and selecting ‘Copy’ or pressing ‘CTRL + C’.
prepare your video
Have a video or DVD file ready. If you are using a video file that is already saved on your computer, make sure you know where it is located and that you can open it. up easily. I’m going to use a video of a cat that I found on a stock video site and it’s located in a folder on my desktop. Now you can open up VLC Media Player.
Video Scene Filter
Select ‘Tools’ fully up in the taskbar and then in ‘Preferences’. Now you will see what is in the image above in front of you. click on the button next to ‘All’ in ‘Show settings’. It’s at the bottom of the window you just opened. Then scroll down using the scroll bar and select ‘Filters’. (#1 in the image below.) Then on the right, check the square checkbox that says ‘Scene Video Filter’. (#2 in the image below.) If you’ve done this correctly, you should see the word ‘scene’ in the text box below. (#3 in the image below.)
settings
Now go back to the left menu and double click on the word ‘filters’. This expands to a more in-depth menu. Here, you’ll scroll down until you see ‘Scene Filter’ and click on it. After clicking on ‘Scene Filter’, you will notice to your right that there are some new options. First, you can choose which format VLC will save your images in. PNG files are very large, but they are also of the best quality. I recommend leaving it as is, unless you are planning on taking screenshots of an entire movie. Doing this in PNG format would slow any computer down significantly, in which case you should change the setting to JPG or JPEG format. Since I’m assuming you’re not capturing footage from an entire movie right now, continue with PNG.
Then you will see ‘Image Width’ and ‘Image Height’. Leave them at -1 to ensure that VLC does not resize any screenshots. I have never changed this setting; if I find my screenshots too big, I resize them later using an image editing program.
The next option is the filename prefix. By default this is ‘scene’. You can keep it as is or change it to whatever you like.
play video
Click on the play symbol at the bottom of the VLC, all the way to the left. Choose whether your video is a file or disk and click ‘add’ and ‘play’. Your video must be playing. If it’s long, I recommend minimizing (DO NOT CLOSE) the program and do something else. The video may pause briefly every few seconds to get an image; Do not worry about it.
Heck Your Images
When the video has finished playing, open up the folder with your images! If any look corrupt, delete it; sometimes VLC fails to capture a batch image and ends up looking corrupt. In my experience this hasn’t happened much, but if it happens to you, adjust the ‘Recording Rate’ and play the video again.
Uncheck ‘Video Scene Filter’
Before watching another video, go back to ‘Filters’ in the ‘Preferences’ menu and uncheck ‘Scene Video Filter’ so that VLC will not capture this video.
Final note
I hope you like the guide How to Capture Video Screenshots in VLC Media Player. In case if you have any query regards this article you may ask us. Also, please share your love by sharing this article with your friends.