Photo from a VHS frozen frame?

Siskiyou Jan 8, 2009

  1. Siskiyou

    Siskiyou In Memoriam

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    I'm not an audio-video guy or much of a photographer. Is it possible to stop a VHS tape ("freeze frame"), then 'burn' a copy of that frame as a digital photo? I know I can shoot digital photos, connect my camera to my TV via cable, then display on my TV screen the photos in the camera. But can I do the opposite - 'pull' a frame off a VHS, through the TV and into my camera? If it makes a difference, I have a DVD player built into the TV and a stand-alone VCR wired to the TV.

    Copyright is not an issue.

    If it's not practical to "do this at home," are there commercial folks who have equipment and procedures to do this? Thanks for your help!

    Scott
     
  2. Stourbridge Lion

    Stourbridge Lion TrainBoard Supporter

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    Well, what I have done is to hook up my camcorder to the VCR and record out to it what the VCR is showing, then I can bring that copy into my computer and pull frames from that.

    :tb-nerd: :tb-nerd: :tb-nerd: :tb-nerd:
     
  3. pastoolio

    pastoolio TrainBoard Member

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    One company that is no longer in business made an adapter for your computer that takes the yellow/white/red RCA cords and converts it to USB. It also came with a program to transfer and edit on the computer. From there, you can freeze frame and save to .jpg. You could do a google search for something like this.
    This is how me and my friends made our skateboarding videos years ago. I've even taken a whole train show that my parents recorded off the t.v. back in the 80's (which is no longer available) and converted it to DVD. Not the best quality, but I can watch it now without worrying about wearing out the VCR tape. :)

    -Mike
     
  4. Doug A.

    Doug A. TrainBoard Supporter

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    There are plenty of USB/Firewire video capture devices out there. Pull the video into your computer and then you can edit the video, generate stills, etc.

    The quality is the bigger issue, not the method. A still from VHS isn't likely to be outstanding.
     

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