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~Brigade Bar~ => General Discussion => Topic started by: Zen on May 31, 2012, 10:03


Title: Video decompiler
Post by: Zen on May 31, 2012, 10:03
Anybody have a good, cheap program that will "decompile" video files? (By decompile, I mean take portion of the video and save it as a series of screen shots, without making it look crappy because of dithering and such.)

I downloaded a good one (Blaze Media Pro) but it only had a 15 day free trial and the cost is $50 for the full package. I have other programs that do all of its other functions, I just want something that decompiles. $50 is a bit much in my book. Under $25 I could handle...
Title: Re: Video decompiler
Post by: Cirno on June 01, 2012, 07:26
I think Gen might know of one that will do it for free. I'm sure he'll show up here in a moment.
Title: Re: Video decompiler
Post by: Genichiro on June 01, 2012, 07:55
You pay for stuff that does that? You can use virtual dub with avi-synth to do that for free, and it's not really too hard. If you give me more details on what exactly you want, like one frame for every three hundred, or something like that, I could tell you exactly how to do it.
Title: Re: Video decompiler
Post by: Zen on June 01, 2012, 12:37
This is a serious search-engine failure! It looks like that is exactly the type of program I was looking for, but when I search for "video decompiler" it doesn't show up anywhere in the search! Oh well...

Basically, what I am doing is taking sections of shows, converting the AVI to a series of JPEGs (after converting the MKV to AVI in most cases) then sucking the JPEGs into GIMP to turn them into a layered image, which I then save to PSD format so I can take it into Adobe Photoshop Elements and export it to an animated GIF. (Why the roundabout method? Well, partly because Photoshop Elements makes better GIFs than anything else I have found, and GIMP brings the files into one file better than anything else I have found. Most of the programs that go straight to GIFs dither the living hell out of the file and leave it looking like you were on some sort of psychoactive drug when you processed it and thought the swirling color patterns were just the normal way things look!)

I did end up finding one that is A) compatible with Windows 7 64bit and B) cheap enough that I don't mind paying for it. (Under $20) GIMP is free, and I already own Photoshop Elements, so I'm good for those two. And, the output is nice. I'll post some from Mysterious Girlfriend X when I get them loaded on my web-site... :)

BTW, it is a GREAT episode! :)

OOOH! It will probably have to wait until I get home to post the GIFs, as they are too big for the board rules, it appears... (I will have to post downgraded versions...) Even the avatars I made last night are bigger than 150mb... (I tried and they didn't move, but they do move when I load them up individually...   :( )

EDIT: OK, the avatars are small enough that I can show you how they came out!

(http://www.prairieperspectivesphotography.com/photos/i-xSkcfDB/0/S/i-xSkcfDB-S.gif)

(http://www.prairieperspectivesphotography.com/photos/i-dhcW6KQ/0/S/i-dhcW6KQ-S.gif)
Title: Re: Video decompiler
Post by: Genichiro on June 01, 2012, 22:58
I've never tried to export straight for gif from Virtual dub, but I know png and jpeg yield excellent results. (I use this feature all the time.) GIMP does make nice looking gifs; I don't blame you for using it to convert.
Title: Re: Video decompiler
Post by: Cirno on June 02, 2012, 07:23
Those are awesome gifs!