Best process for quality stills from video

Gonzoman wrote on 2/1/2005, 3:51 PM
Hey gang, I know how to capture still shots off the timeline but I need to find out how to get the best quality available. Right now, I'm taking the still shot, opening it up in photoshop and using the deinterlace filter which smoothes out the picture a lot. But I'd like to find out how to improve this process even more. Is there a plugin or software program that your familiar with that would help with this process? I want the stills to look like they were shot with a nice digital camera. I don't need the images to be big - I just need them to be good quality.

Thanks,

GM

Comments

Jøran Toresen wrote on 2/1/2005, 4:16 PM
Hello

I’ve found a program called “Topaz Moment!” that seams to work in much the same way as Paparazzi. “By using multiple neighbour frames, Topaz Moment! enhance captured image so that it is cleaner, sharper, and with higher resolution than any other software do.” See

http://www.topazlabs.com.

Features: Input video file formats: AVI, MPEG 1, MPEG 2, QuickTime (some types). Video control: play normal/fast/slow, seek, step forward/backward. Enhance picture to resolution: 1.0x, 1.5x, 2.0x and 2.5x* of the video resolution. Noise reduction: none, low, median, and high. Enhancing picture using neighbouring frames: 0, 2, 4, and 8. Motion smoothness: minimum, small, median, and high. Advanced image sharpness without overshooting effect: continuous adjustable. Image adjustment: contrast, brightness, hue, saturation. Image cropping. Output image: save to BMP, JPEG, TIF, PNG files, copy to clipboard.

But while Paparazzi costs $279, Topaz Moment! is freeware – or you can buy an enhanced version for $40, as I have already done. I’ve tested both Paparazzi and Topaz and can’t see much difference between the two.

You can watch an example here:

http://www.aaproductions.net/mep/joran.pdf


Joran
Norway
jetdv wrote on 2/1/2005, 6:34 PM
http://mediasoftware.sonypictures.com/forums/ShowMessage.asp?MessageID=354257&Replies=14&Page=0
Laurence wrote on 2/1/2005, 8:30 PM
I have Topaz Moment as well but I'm not as impressed as I initially was. One thing I don't like is that if you try to get a still from a 24p clip with a 3/2 pulldown, Topaz Moment won't get rid of the 3/2 pulldown and give you a 24p still. It will just deinterlace whatever frame you stop on as best it can.

A program that I end up using quite a bit for capturing stills is PowerDVD. It's easy, fast, deinterlaces well, gives you a progressive frame if it's available, and works at that stage where you've made a DVD and are trying to come up with a cover for it.