Anybody extracting stills from 4K video on a regular basis?

[Chris R-UK]

I am not interested in 4K video as such but I might want to use 4K from time to time in order to get 30fps for stills. However, my concern is how practical this is bearing in mind the very large number of frames I might have to go through to extract a single frame.

So, I would be very interested in hearing whether anybody is shooting 4K video regularly in order to extract stills.

• Do you find the large number of frames you have to go through to be a problem?
• Do you have a shooting strategy to reduce the number of frames you have to go through?
• In there any software that can help with identifying frames for extraction?

Thanks in advance for any information.

 

[Tommi K1]

I am not interested in 4K video as such but I might want to use 4K from time to time in order to get 30fps for stills. However, my concern is how practical this is bearing in mind the very large number of frames I might have to go through to extract a single frame.

So, I would be very interested in hearing whether anybody is shooting 4K video regularly in order to extract stills.

• Do you find the large number of frames you have to go through to be a problem?
• Do you have a shooting strategy to reduce the number of frames you have to go through?
• In there any software that can help with identifying frames for extraction?

Thanks in advance for any information.

The Panasonic "4K Photo" is the easiest way as it takes full 4K size JPEG of each frame instead IPB with high compression.

Otherwise it is little frustrating experience as you get good quality for 5x4-11x14 prints.

If you want so many frames to take, better wait to Olympus E-M1 II to get the full frame 60 FPS max raw files and better change even with a Pro Mode.

 

[Peterd21]

I have used this quite a bit and haven't found any problems.

Rather than go through frame by frame it is easy to watch as a video and then pause where you might want to extract a still and use freeze frame to find the one you want. You can also cut sections from the video if necessary with no loss of quality

I haven't seen any need for any software but I am happy reviewing on the camera rather than on the computer monitor. At least the camera lets you zoom in on a still which helps if watching through the EVF which is the way I prefer.

One other advantage is that as the 4K video is a single MP4 file without any associated thumbnail it is not a problem to copy back to a memory card from computer to go through the process again if necessary.

I have been really pleased with some of the results doing this.

 

[Trevor Carpenter]

I use Video LAN VLC mainly with 4K photo but works just as well with all video. Very easy to use and grab from. It doesn't matter how long the video , might take a little longer to get exactly where you want but negligible. It's free

 

[_vlad]

I am not interested in 4K video as such but I might want to use 4K from time to time in order to get 30fps for stills. However, my concern is how practical this is bearing in mind the very large number of frames I might have to go through to extract a single frame.

So, I would be very interested in hearing whether anybody is shooting 4K video regularly in order to extract stills.

• Do you find the large number of frames you have to go through to be a problem?
• Do you have a shooting strategy to reduce the number of frames you have to go through?
• In there any software that can help with identifying frames for extraction?

Thanks in advance for any information.

 

[Alexander Meredith]

These are the kind of defining moment photos you can get with 4K video. I had no idea while I was videoing that the hummingbird had a pee until I played the video back in the camera and saved the moment...


4K video extraction from FZ1000.


4K video 8Mpx extraction


4K video extraction. 8Mpx image. Great.

 

[Porky89]

I am not interested in 4K video as such but I might want to use 4K from time to time in order to get 30fps for stills. However, my concern is how practical this is bearing in mind the very large number of frames I might have to go through to extract a single frame.

So, I would be very interested in hearing whether anybody is shooting 4K video regularly in order to extract stills.

• Do you find the large number of frames you have to go through to be a problem?
• Do you have a shooting strategy to reduce the number of frames you have to go through?
• In there any software that can help with identifying frames for extraction?

Thanks in advance for any information.

--
Chris R

That's what Panasonic's 4K Photo mode is all about. It makes the whole process so quick and simple. Once you get the hang of it, it's a very powerful tool.

 

[biggles266]

I am not interested in 4K video as such but I might want to use 4K from time to time in order to get 30fps for stills. However, my concern is how practical this is bearing in mind the very large number of frames I might have to go through to extract a single frame.

So, I would be very interested in hearing whether anybody is shooting 4K video regularly in order to extract stills.

• Do you find the large number of frames you have to go through to be a problem?
• Do you have a shooting strategy to reduce the number of frames you have to go through?
• In there any software that can help with identifying frames for extraction?

Thanks in advance for any information.

The Panasonic "4K Photo" is the easiest way as it takes full 4K size JPEG of each frame instead IPB with high compression.

Otherwise it is little frustrating experience as you get good quality for 5x4-11x14 prints.

If you want so many frames to take, better wait to Olympus E-M1 II to get the full frame 60 FPS max raw files and better change even with a Pro Mode.

Do you have a link to somewhere that says for sure that 4K photo gives better quality stills by using jpegs rather than if you extracted stills from a normal 4K video?

 

[Chris R-UK]

I have a couple of applications that might be well suited to extracting stills from 4K video and had been put off by a magazine article that I read just after the GH4 came out that said that finding the stills to extract was a major chore. However, since none of you find it a problem in practice I guess that the magazine photographers were probably shooting long clips.

OK, thank you. 4K goes on the shopping list for my next body upgrade.

 

[Trevor Carpenter]

I am not interested in 4K video as such but I might want to use 4K from time to time in order to get 30fps for stills. However, my concern is how practical this is bearing in mind the very large number of frames I might have to go through to extract a single frame.

So, I would be very interested in hearing whether anybody is shooting 4K video regularly in order to extract stills.

• Do you find the large number of frames you have to go through to be a problem?
• Do you have a shooting strategy to reduce the number of frames you have to go through?
• In there any software that can help with identifying frames for extraction?

Thanks in advance for any information.

The Panasonic "4K Photo" is the easiest way as it takes full 4K size JPEG of each frame instead IPB with high compression.

Otherwise it is little frustrating experience as you get good quality for 5x4-11x14 prints.

If you want so many frames to take, better wait to Olympus E-M1 II to get the full frame 60 FPS max raw files and better change even with a Pro Mode.

Do you have a link to somewhere that says for sure that 4K photo gives better quality stills by using jpegs rather than if you extracted stills from a normal 4K video?

Isn't the point that shooting in 4K photo you set up your camera as if you were taking stills while if you grab from a video you are taking a still from what was optimised for video. Shutter speed is the obvious difference.

 

[Jon555]

I just load the movie directly into Photoshop and scan through for the interesting moments, then more carefully look for a good frame at that point.

 

[aljudy]

If you want so many frames to take, better wait to Olympus E-M1 II to get the full frame 60 FPS max raw files and better change even with a Pro Mode.

Do you have a link to somewhere that says for sure that 4K photo gives better quality stills by using jpegs rather than if you extracted stills from a normal 4K video?

Isn't the point that shooting in 4K photo you set up your camera as if you were taking stills while if you grab from a video you are taking a still from what was optimised for video. Shutter speed is the obvious difference.

Also resolution; 4K Photo can use 4x3, 3x2, 1x1, as well as the 16x9 that all 4K video must use. Also encoding of the capture is focused on each frame rather than smooth motion. There are also all those pre-burst modes, etc. 4K Photo is much more than just extracting frames from 4K video.

--
Amateur Photographer of family mainly

 

[Branta]

.... it is not a problem to copy back to a memory card from computer to go through the process again if necessary.

That's really good to know ! I've been disappointed I haven't found a way of selecting frames at my PC yet (I don't have Lightroom or Photoshop, only Elements 11, my copy of VideoLAN says it does the job but messes up big time, I'm downloading the latest VLC media player right now).

But thanks to the above post I persisted a bit more with the in-camera frame selection and discovered that I can clean the clutter off the screen with the DISP button and also zoom to check sharpness.

Thanks