Screen capture from DVD
Graham Hobster
made from a VHS home movie.
I have tried my usual CapturezePro and Printscreen + paste but all I every
get is a black rectangle when pasted into a blank Photoshop image. I am
playing the DVD in Windows media player and have tried pausing the player
before the capture attempt.
Can anyone help PLEASE
Thanks in advance,
Graham
Tacit
>get is a black rectangle when pasted into a blank Photoshop image. I am
>playing the DVD in Windows media player and have tried pausing the player
>before the capture attempt.
That is correct.
You can not capture a frame from your DVD using Windows Media Player because
Microsoft, in an attempt to corner the market on digital media distribution and
add a few more billion dollars to its net worth, is playing the game of "suck
up to the Motion Picture Association of America."
You don't know it, but you have stepped right into the middle of an ugly
political fight that is currently raging in the courts, the legislative
offices, and the corporations in the United States. In fact, there are people
in the Motion Picture Association of America who say you do not exist.
Here's a bit of background:
DVD movies are stored on the disc in an encrypted form. The reason DVDs are
encrypted is that the Motion Picture Association of America, or MPAA, is afraid
of wholesale copying of Hollywood movies.
The MPAA and another association, the RIAA 9Recording Industry Association of
America), spent tens of millions of dollars to pass a law in the United States
called the "Digital Millennium Copyright Act," or DMCA. Under the DMCA, it is a
Federal crime for any person to write a software program that can take screen
shots, samples, or any other content from any protected digital recording,
including a DVD. It is also a Federal crime to own, distribute, talk about, or
traffic in any software program that can do that.
Now, many people, including an organization called the Electronic Frontier
Foundation (but EXCLUDING Microsoft) argued against this law in court. They
argued, among other things, that the law makes it a crime to copy pieces of a
recording that are protected by "fair use," and the law ALSO makes it a crime
to write software that will allow somebody who OWNS a recording, like for
example someone who makes his own DVD from his own videotape, to use his own
recording however he wants.
The MPAA and the courts said nobody would ever do such a thing--all the people
who are trying to take screen captures from DVDs are not the owners, but are
pirates trying to steal Hollywood's money.
Microsoft is currently investing a great deal of time and money attempting to
get Hollywood and recording studios to use Microsoft programs to distribute
their movies and records online. In order to do that, Microsoft is eager to
show that they are willing to make those records and movies un-copyable. As a
result, Microsoft is pushing a DMCA-friendly attitude, and is pushing "digital
rights management"--essentially, an encryption technique which makes it
impossible to copy, say, a sound or movie file from one computer to another.
If Microsoft's billions and Hollywood's billions mean that you don't get to do
screen captures of your home movies, well, guess what? You're screwed.
Microsoft's media player is carefully and specifically designed to stop you
from taking screen captures from any DVD for any reason. Even if you own the
DVD. Even if you made it yourself.
There is a program that will do what you want. It's called PowerDVD; you can
find it online by doing a Google search. PowerDVD is technically not legal to
import into the United States, as it violates one of the provisions of the
DMCA, but it has not yet appeared on the MPAA's radar (and it's quite popular
here in the States). You should have no problem etting it into the UK, even
though the UK is in the process of adopting laws that are almost word-for-word
copies of the American DMCA.
So now you know.
--
Rude T-shirts for a rude age: http://www.villaintees.com
Art, literature, shareware, polyamory, kink, and more:
http://www.xeromag.com/franklin.html
Stuart
better at playing the dvds than windows media player. The trial version
will only allow five minutes of playing time though. Also the other
thing that Tacit forgot to mention is that the DVD program uses an
overlaid image setup which is invisible to the normal windows screen
capture so you will get a coloured square instead of the video, usually
blue or purple.
If you are using an ATI card it has its own dvd playback program bundled
with the card and I think it may still capture still images, I know mine
does but it is not the latest card or software though.
Stuart
Nicholas Sherlock
>> I have tried my usual CapturezePro and Printscreen + paste but all I
>> every get is a black rectangle when pasted into a blank Photoshop
>> image. I am playing the DVD in Windows media player and have tried
>> pausing the player before the capture attempt.
>
> That is correct.
>
> You can not capture a frame from your DVD using Windows Media Player
> because Microsoft, in an attempt to corner the market on digital
> media distribution and add a few more billion dollars to its net
> worth, is playing the game of "suck up to the Motion Picture
> Association of America."
<Snip ABSOLUTE CONSIRACY BULLSHIT>
The real reason that you can't take a screenshot is that Windows Media
Player pushes the data to the graphics card with a much faster method for
smoother graphics, which means the data is never part of the "screen".
Disable hardware acceleration, and you'll be able to take the screenshot.
Cheers,
Nicholas Sherlock
KB
"Tacit" <tac...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20031117120822...@mb-m11.aol.com...
> There is a program that will do what you want. It's called PowerDVD; you
can
> find it online by doing a Google search. PowerDVD is technically not legal
to
> import into the United States, as it violates one of the provisions of the
> DMCA, but it has not yet appeared on the MPAA's radar (and it's quite
popular
> here in the States). You should have no problem etting it into the UK,
even
> though the UK is in the process of adopting laws that are almost
word-for-word
> copies of the American DMCA.
WinDVD will also allow you to capture. I don't know how widely available it
is in the UK, but it's readily available in the US.
KB
Ben Cooper
Tacit wrote:
>>I have tried my usual CapturezePro and Printscreen + paste
but all I
>>every get is a black rectangle when pasted into a blank
Photoshop
>>image. I am playing the DVD in Windows media player and
have tried
>>pausing the player before the capture attempt.
[snip]
> There is a program that will do what you want. It's called
PowerDVD;
> you can find it online by doing a Google search. PowerDVD
is
> technically not legal to import into the United States, as
it
> violates one of the provisions of the DMCA, but it has not
yet
> appeared on the MPAA's radar (and it's quite popular here
in the
> States). You should have no problem etting it into the UK,
even
> though the UK is in the process of adopting laws that are
almost
> word-for-word copies of the American DMCA.
Where did you get the idea that PowerDVD isn't available in
the U.S.?
I bought a new Sony DVD/CD-RW in August that had PowerDVD
bundled with it.
For the OP here is the link to PowerDVD-
http://www.gocyberlink.com/english/index.jsp
--
Ben Cooper
histo...@hotmail.com
Tacit
>the U.S.?
I did not say that it is not available in the US. It is indeed available in the
US, though it contains some features that could, were the MPAA to be
interested, result in its being declared in violation of the DMCA.
That has not happened yet, and may never happen. It is, as things stand now,
easily available in the US.
Tacit
Think it's bullshit? Do a Google search for "Digital millennium copyright act,"
"DMCA," DeCSS," or "Electronic Frontier Foundation."
The information on a DVD id encrypted via an encryption technology called CSS,
or "content scrambling system." Companies wishing to write DVD player software
or create DVD hardware must have a key in order to decrypt the DVD.
In the US, the standard contract between a software vendor and the DVD CCA, the
arm of the MPAA which handles DVD-related legal and licensing issues, requires
that the licensee put specific features into the DVD player software. One of
these is that the DVD player software must implement reasonable measures to
prevent screen capture or video or audio extraction.
Not all people who write DVD player software license the media keys from the
DVD CCA; the CSS encryption standard was cracked years ago. Any company not
licensing keys from the DVD CCA does not, of course, have to enter into a
contract.
Microsoft's keys, embedded within Windows Media Player, are licensed. The terms
of this license forbid extraction or image capture.
I suggest you spend a few minutes on Google. It'd save you from crying
"bullshit" when you can, in fact, easily verify everything I've written.
Nicholas Sherlock
>> <Snip ABSOLUTE CONSIRACY BULLSHIT>
>
> Think it's bullshit? Do a Google search for "Digital millennium
> copyright act," "DMCA," DeCSS," or "Electronic Frontier Foundation."
Oh no, I agree with all of the information on DVD encryption. What I
disagree with is your assertion that this is the reason that you can't take
a screenshot from within Windows Media Player. It uses an overlay mode for
increased speed (A form of hardware acceleration) - this happens with *all*
video types.
Cheers,
Nicholas Sherlock
Ben Cooper
Tacit wrote:
>>Where did you get the idea that PowerDVD isn't available
in
>>the U.S.?
>
> I did not say that it is not available in the US. It is
indeed
> available in the US, though it contains some features that
could,
> were the MPAA to be interested, result in its being
declared in
> violation of the DMCA.
>
> That has not happened yet, and may never happen. It is, as
things
> stand now, easily available in the US.
My mistake, please accept my apology.
I agree that the DMCA, in its curent form, is appalling.
I do have confidence, though, that these problems will be
solved after filtering through the U.S. legal system. Much
like it was when cassette tape and videotape recorders were
finally available for the general public use.
--
Ben Cooper
histo...@hotmail.com
Rich
"Tacit" <tac...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20031117120822...@mb-m11.aol.com...
Brian
HyperSnap-DX 5.3 using the DirectX/GLide capture. Works like a dream. Whole
reason I paid for it was the DVD screen-capture feature.
Stuart <stu...@nospam.uk> wrote in news:3FB9036F...@nospam.uk:
Brian
> The MPAA and another association, the RIAA 9Recording Industry Association of
> America), spent tens of millions of dollars to pass a law in the United States
> called the "Digital Millennium Copyright Act," or DMCA. Under the DMCA, it is a
> Federal crime for any person to write a software program that can take screen
> shots, samples, or any other content from any protected digital recording,
> including a DVD. It is also a Federal crime to own, distribute, talk about, or
> traffic in any software program that can do that.
I don't think it's illegal to take a standard screenshot from a DVD - if
I'm not mistaken you can do this easily using only OS X and Apple's DVD
player. (And I know you can do it with Snapz Pro - I've done it myself
numerous times).
Brian
Brian
legislation. Please visit www.digitalconsumer.org for some activism
information to fight the DMCA and similar attemptsq to subvert our
fair-use freedoms in the digital age.
Tacit
>I'm not mistaken you can do this easily using only OS X and Apple's DVD
>player.
I haven't tried it recently; I know that in X.0 it didn't work (you got a blank
window in the capture).
There was some discussion on one of the mac fora, possibly MacFixIt, about
Apple's contract with the MPAA specifically prohibiting screen caps of a DVD
movie. It was quite some time ago, though.
imaginuity
over and pause/click as many times as I want
:)
but lemme say that until they get it right I will not buy a Plasma ......
give me a high end regular TV or the new LG 16:9 rear pro any day
He likes it though :) ...... at 10 grand he ougtha!
Steve
"Graham Hobster" <gra...@hobster.co.uk> wrote in message
news:bpa958$miv$1...@sparta.btinternet.com...
Tim Smith
and you can buy a software called X-copy to make a backup of YOUR dvd,
works great...............
"Brian" <nofrea...@nofreakinspam.com> wrote in message
news:3FBA2FF...@nofreakinspam.com...
Stuart
anti-DMCA sites, ironic eh?
Stuart
Tacit
>DVD and you can buy a software called X-copy to make a backup of YOUR dvd,
>works great...............
That's actually quite encouraging; it shows that no matter how much they try,
pigopolies like the MPAA can't stop technology with legislation.
Adapt or die, I say. The DMCA aside, if a technology comes along that requires
an organization to change the way it does business, then it should change the
way it does business. There's still plenty of money to be made in music and
movies, in spite of MP3s and DeCSS; the MPAA and RIAA just don't want to
change, that's all.