There are several ways to do it. Probably the best is to use a Velocity envelope.
My method:

1. click on the timline where you want to stop the action
2. from Edit select split to make a seperate event
3. from Insert, Video Envelope/Event Velocity
4. click on the green line and lower to exactly 0%. Don't go too far or you'll reverse
5. now drag out the edge to as far as you want to take it.

Be sure to right click on the event, smart resample.

Alternate:

Click on timeline, view frame in Preview. Use Alt key plus keyboard right/left arrow keys to get to exact frame you want, click the floppy icon above and to right of Preview Window. This will create a still image. Drag to timeline and drag to length you want. The problem with this method is the quality may not be as good, and their may be a slight color shift.

3. from Insert, Video Envelope/Event Velocity

Or use Excalibur and pick the "freeze frame" option. It will set the velocity envelope for you. :-)

yet another method:

1) preview the still in the preview/trim window -> export by clicking the disk icon (choose full size/quality 1st for the preview)
2) go to where you want the still inserted, on the same track or on another video track above, and insert/import the still.
3) drag the still to length. (opt. reduce interlace flicker)

or perhaps

1) select the track & split the clip on either side of the frame you want to use.
2) right clip on the frame and click copy.
3) go to the edit menu and click undo twice (or use shortcut key)
4) go to where you want the still inserted, on the same track or on another video track above, right click and paste (or use the edit menu, shortcut keys etc)
5) drag the still to length & set zero playback speed.

Geeze......everyone is taking my ideas today!! We think too much alike!!

Everyone so far has given great advice - and I don't think I can add too much to it.

At the minimum side - taking the one frame and copying it a number of times is a good way to do it. Of course, that is only a short run at a technique. The velocity envelope works well too.

But your comment about holding the control button down and dragging to extent the image applies to the "end" of the video clip. If the still you want to extend is actually the last clip of the film....then that would extend the ending.

So to that...you could - clip off the ends of the image you want and render to a new track....then it would be the end of the clip and then you could extend it as long as you wanted to.

(I knew I had another thought in there somewhere!!!)

Hope all this babble helps.

I've tried all of these methods for achieving the effect I am looking for. However, when I try to save a snapshot with the floppy icon in the preview window, it is greyed out and cannot be used. Do I have something set improperly, or am I doing it wrong. I alt right arrow to the frame I want, and try the icon, and nothing. Any ideas what's wrong?

Are you using external preview? If so, then the icon will be greyed out.

Just in case you missed it, there are more than one floppy icon. The one you want is over the PREVIEW window. Also you need to turn off External Monitor feed, so click (deselect) the little TV icon too and that should ungray the floppy.

Sidebar. I think Vegas has more icons and visual clues than just about any other application. HEHEHE!

all you have to do is select one single frame and then render it as normal the file will be about five seconds of that one frame.

OK, I tried to select one single frame and render it. I could only get the entire event to render. How does one select just one frame to render, say if the frame in question is in the middle of an event?

Chumash,

How did you try and select one frame and render it?

All you have to do is select a loop region that consists of the frame(s) you want and when you click "render as" make sure the box for "select looped regions" is checked.

Unless you have done so already - I would stongly suggest downloading the manual for VV. It is filled to the brim with very useful information.

I figured out I wasn't zooming in enough to select just a single frame. I was mistakenly selecting the event. I do have the V4 manual, and have learned quite a lot from it. However, I still have not found how to select a single frame in the manual. Quite possibly because it's so blatantly simple it doesn't need to be there. But the help found on this board with a little trial and error are a great help.

Thanks to everyone for all the replies. I have learned several ways to get a still from the timeline and manipulate it.