Win Live Movie Maker query (use of Snapshot feature)

usignuolo

I have been trying without success to use the Snapshot feature in the latest version of Win Live Movie Maker. I have the latest version of the software. I am running Win 7 (64 bit) also latest version.

In theory you click on the snapshot icon and it grabs the frame viewed at the time which you can then save (as a .png). When I click on snapshot it does freeze the frame but resulting image is a distorted blur of horizontal lines. I have tried two or three formats including .wmv but always with the same result.

Looking on the web I find there are others out there with the same problem but I have not found a solution.

I also have Premiere Elements 8 and tried to save a screen in that but it is highly unstable at the best of times and seems to bear a grudge against Nvidia screens. Seems Adobe would not admit this was a problem. I am now wondering if this is also at the route of my problems with Win Live Movie maker.

Anyone else encountered this and if so how did you solve it?

m5rcc

If you don't mind a solution try LightWorks as an alternative, free solution

Mr_Toad

What happens if you pause the video then take the snapshot?

usignuolo

pause does not work either.....:(

usignuolo

Following a lot of research on line, I think I may be getting close to diagnosing the problem but not to solving it.

Windows Live Movie Maker (latest version), uses Quicktime to play clips and does not like .MOV files, which are generated by Canon digital cameras - among others.

When I play back the clip with Movie Maker open it works, because I have the utility VLC installed and that is what plays it. But as WLMM does not recognise the format of .MOV, nor presumably VLC, it cannot generate a snapshot.

I suspect the reason why the Pause function does not work when playing back the clip is related.

Premiere Elements came with Adobe Photoshop Elements (I have v8). No one has a good word to say about PE8 and there does seem to have been a substantive issue with running on a pc with Win7 64 bit and also with one with an NVIDIA driver for the screen. (which I also have.) Adobe seems to have just ducked this issue. Anyway it means getting a screen dump clip off using PE8 does not work either.

I will try Lightworks thanks.

meanwhile can I have a moan about the fact that when a problem occurs with video clips, the developer/manufacturer either makes a load of gobbledegook remarks about checking your codec and downloading a suitable one or contacting the manufacturer to find out what you need....as if....

or worse still, directs you to some generic error message response which is completely irrelevant.