Best way to thumb movie clips

SirMoby · 2004-01-05, 01:42 PM

A bunch of movies in a bunch of directories and each clip needs a thumb.

Arles won't do it. ACDsee just crashed on my W2k system but I'll try it on XP soon. ThumbPlus can create a thumbnail for each directory 1 by 1 but it adds a lot tn_ and .mpg.jpg to the name which needs to be remove and it's pretty manual process.

Any other ideas?

TIA

Brian · 2004-01-05, 06:38 PM

I use this program called movie thumbs, but you have to do each movie one by one. It makes the best thumbs though.
I don't know of any batch programs off hand for this. I like to do it by hand 'cause random captures can come out looking crappy. I know it's a pain, but it's def worth it.
If you're willing to pay for manual thumbnailing, try -> http://webmasterlabor.com/
They've done work for me and although I wasn't too happy with some of it, they did a good job on capping and movie thumbnailing, so if that's all you need, you might wanna check 'em out. btw, they are dirt cheap.

Hope this helps,
Brian

LindaMight · 2004-01-05, 08:38 PM

Where can I find movie thumbs?

And while we are on the subject.....I use ShowBiz for my video clips and am trying to find the best program out there that gives me good quality mpegs but not big files. Any ideas?

thanks!

LInda

Brian · 2004-01-05, 09:24 PM

Well, it looks the guy has changed to name from Movie Thumbs to SnatchIt and now charges 25 bucks. It's still the best movie capture software I've used. -> http://theedgeofforever.com/

For Mpeg editing, TMPGEnc is the best hands down and it's still free

-> http://www.tmpgenc.net/e_main.html

For windows media movies, asftools is my favorite -> http://www.geocities.com/myasftools/ and it's free too

Stay away from video charge. It cost about 40 bucks and is a waste of money.

All I need for my movie editing is TMPGEnc, asfTools and moviethumbs (snatchit).

Brian

LindaMight · 2004-01-05, 09:34 PM

Which version of TMPGEnc works best with XP? I am not sure I am looking at the programs correctly...

Thanks!

Linda

Brian · 2004-01-05, 09:39 PM

http://download.pegasys-inc.com/down...8.169-Free.zip

Zappu · 2004-01-06, 02:20 AM

Another nice little helper to convert, split, make thumbs from movies is VideoCharge which could be found at http://www.videocharge.com/ but movie thumbs sounds interesting, I will give it also a trial

Brian · 2004-01-06, 04:38 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Brian
Stay away from video charge. It cost about 40 bucks and is a waste of money.

Really, it makes the worst mpegs and thumbs. The compression just sucks.
TMPGEnc is free and sooooo much better.

LindaMight · 2004-01-06, 06:59 PM

Someone wrote to me and said they use the Windows Movie Maker that comes with XP. I tried it and actually got a 4.14 minute video clip at medium quality and it was only 6.4 mgs. I looked at an mpeg1 file of a portion of that same clip which was less than a minute long and it was over 7 mgs.

Are most computers able to view Windows Movie Video? This test I did was pretty amazing on the different in size files...but if people can't view them...then it's moot.

Can the program that you asked me to download take a capture from a digital camera and make good quality, small size files?

I need to re-vamp all of my video clips...some are terrible quality, some are way too big, some are way too small and some people can't even get to. I don't think everyone can view a WMV which could be the downfall of the Windows Movie Maker.

Any thoughts? I sure do appreciate your help!!!

Linda

Brian · 2004-01-06, 10:57 PM

"Can the program that you asked me to download take a capture from a digital camera and make good quality, small size files?"

I think it can capture/thumb any movie that can be viewed with windows media player.

"Are most computers able to view Windows Movie Video? This test I did was pretty amazing on the different in size files...but if people can't view them...then it's moot."

If you encode 'em in wmv9, then anyone who uses win98 1st edition and ealier won't be able to watch it. People on win98 2nd edition would be fine though. Also, people on a Mac would need to download and install media player for Macs since it doesn't come pre installed. So encode for wmp8 and instruct your mac users to install wmp for macs. I'm sure they have verions for unix users too. You could always encode 'em in mpegs

btw, check your e-mail.

Zappu · 2004-01-07, 12:46 AM

Quote:

Stay away from video charge. It cost about 40 bucks and is a waste of money.
it makes the worst mpegs and thumbs. The compression just sucks.

no question that TMPGEnc is much better, but it can not do some tricky stuff, like splitting automatically.
I haven''t tested the encoder qual. oh the new 2.0 version of video charge yet, isn't it better now?
Anyhow, another great tools, without any looses in the quality you will find at http://www.doeasier.org to do the same job.

2004-01-05, 01:42 PM	#1
SirMoby Jim? I heard he's a dirty pornographer. Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Washington, DC Posts: 2,706	Best way to thumb movie clips A bunch of movies in a bunch of directories and each clip needs a thumb. Arles won't do it. ACDsee just crashed on my W2k system but I'll try it on XP soon. ThumbPlus can create a thumbnail for each directory 1 by 1 but it adds a lot tn_ and .mpg.jpg to the name which needs to be remove and it's pretty manual process. Any other ideas? TIA

2004-01-05, 08:38 PM	#3
LindaMight Oh! I haven't changed since high school and suddenly I am uncool Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Up there and down here Posts: 258	movie thumbs? Where can I find movie thumbs? And while we are on the subject.....I use ShowBiz for my video clips and am trying to find the best program out there that gives me good quality mpegs but not big files. Any ideas? thanks! LInda __________________ The Woman with a Surprise

2004-01-05, 09:34 PM	#5
LindaMight Oh! I haven't changed since high school and suddenly I am uncool Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Up there and down here Posts: 258	thanks..:-) Which version of TMPGEnc works best with XP? I am not sure I am looking at the programs correctly... Thanks! Linda __________________ The Woman with a Surprise

2004-01-06, 02:20 AM	#7
Zappu If something goes wrong at the plant, blame the guy who can't speak English Join Date: Nov 2003 Posts: 30	Another nice little helper to convert, split, make thumbs from movies is VideoCharge which could be found at http://www.videocharge.com/ but movie thumbs sounds interesting, I will give it also a trial __________________ Please Re-Read The Rules For Sig Files

2004-01-06, 06:59 PM	#9
LindaMight Oh! I haven't changed since high school and suddenly I am uncool Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Up there and down here Posts: 258	windows media movie maker? Someone wrote to me and said they use the Windows Movie Maker that comes with XP. I tried it and actually got a 4.14 minute video clip at medium quality and it was only 6.4 mgs. I looked at an mpeg1 file of a portion of that same clip which was less than a minute long and it was over 7 mgs. Are most computers able to view Windows Movie Video? This test I did was pretty amazing on the different in size files...but if people can't view them...then it's moot. Can the program that you asked me to download take a capture from a digital camera and make good quality, small size files? I need to re-vamp all of my video clips...some are terrible quality, some are way too big, some are way too small and some people can't even get to. I don't think everyone can view a WMV which could be the downfall of the Windows Movie Maker. Any thoughts? I sure do appreciate your help!!! Linda __________________ The Woman with a Surprise

2004-01-05, 06:38 PM	#2
Brian Rock stars ... is there anything they don't know? Join Date: Jan 2004 Posts: 16	I use this program called movie thumbs, but you have to do each movie one by one. It makes the best thumbs though. I don't know of any batch programs off hand for this. I like to do it by hand 'cause random captures can come out looking crappy. I know it's a pain, but it's def worth it. If you're willing to pay for manual thumbnailing, try -> http://webmasterlabor.com/ They've done work for me and although I wasn't too happy with some of it, they did a good job on capping and movie thumbnailing, so if that's all you need, you might wanna check 'em out. btw, they are dirt cheap. Hope this helps, Brian

2004-01-05, 09:24 PM	#4
Brian Rock stars ... is there anything they don't know? Join Date: Jan 2004 Posts: 16	Well, it looks the guy has changed to name from Movie Thumbs to SnatchIt and now charges 25 bucks. It's still the best movie capture software I've used. -> http://theedgeofforever.com/ For Mpeg editing, TMPGEnc is the best hands down and it's still free -> http://www.tmpgenc.net/e_main.html For windows media movies, asftools is my favorite -> http://www.geocities.com/myasftools/ and it's free too Stay away from video charge. It cost about 40 bucks and is a waste of money. All I need for my movie editing is TMPGEnc, asfTools and moviethumbs (snatchit). Brian

2004-01-05, 09:39 PM	#6
Brian Rock stars ... is there anything they don't know? Join Date: Jan 2004 Posts: 16	http://download.pegasys-inc.com/down...8.169-Free.zip

2004-01-06, 10:57 PM	#10
Brian Rock stars ... is there anything they don't know? Join Date: Jan 2004 Posts: 16	"Can the program that you asked me to download take a capture from a digital camera and make good quality, small size files?" I think it can capture/thumb any movie that can be viewed with windows media player. "Are most computers able to view Windows Movie Video? This test I did was pretty amazing on the different in size files...but if people can't view them...then it's moot." If you encode 'em in wmv9, then anyone who uses win98 1st edition and ealier won't be able to watch it. People on win98 2nd edition would be fine though. Also, people on a Mac would need to download and install media player for Macs since it doesn't come pre installed. So encode for wmp8 and instruct your mac users to install wmp for macs. I'm sure they have verions for unix users too. You could always encode 'em in mpegs btw, check your e-mail.