Can you get the Irfanview "copy video frame to clipboard" to work?

[Oliver]

Can you get the Irfanview "save video frame to clipboard" to work?

Loooooong story short, can you get Irfanview to save a video frame to the
Windows clipboard? (Not the borders. Not the screen. Just the video frame.)

This "should" put the frame into the clipboard but it does not work for me.
a. Copy your video to be cropped to "in.mp4" to the current directory
b. Rightclick on in.mp4, which will bring up a Windows context menu
c. Select "Open with > Irfanview" (which will be 32-bit or 64-bit)
d. That should start playing the in.mp4 video inside of Irfanview
e. Freeze Irfanview at a desired frame by leftmouse clicking once
f. Rightclick in the frozen Irfanview window (which pops up a menu)
g. From the menu, select "Copy current frame to clipboard - Ctrl+C"

This also should put the frame into the clipboard, but does not work for me.
a. Open your video in VLC & select VLC:Video > Take snapshot"
b. That saves a frame to C:\Users\you\Pictures\vlcsnap-<datetime>.png
c. Open that VLC framegrab PNG in Irfanview
d. Irfanview:Options > Capture Screenshot
e. Select "Foreground Window" & "Copy captured image to clipboard"

The test if the screenshot is in the clipboard is this will work:
@echo off
REM framecrop.bat
REM 1st Open a command window
REM 2nd execute this file (which puts the clipboard in Irfanview)
REM 3rd In Irfanview, leftmouse draw the desired selection box
REM 4th In Irfanview, press "Shift+c"
REM 5th Click the Irfanview [Save values and exit] button
REM 6th Kill Irfanview (this spits out the desired ffmpeg crop command)

start /w "" C:\path-to\Irfanview\i_view32.exe /clippaste

for %%k in (CustSelX CustSelY CustSelW CustSelH) do (
for /f "delims=." %%i in ('find "%%k=" ^<C:\path-to\Irfanview\i_view32.ini') do set %%i
)

echo ffmpeg -i in.mp4 -vf "crop=%CustSelX%:%CustSelY%:%CustSelW%:%CustSelH%" -c:a copy out.mp4

If that works above, can you explain HOW you got the video frame
into the Windows clipboard using just Irfanview to do it?

[MikeS]

Post by Oliver
Can you get the Irfanview "save video frame to clipboard" to work?
Loooooong story short, can you get Irfanview to save a video frame to
the Windows clipboard? (Not the borders. Not the screen. Just the video
frame.)
This "should" put the frame into the clipboard but it does not work for me.
a. Copy your video to be cropped to "in.mp4" to the current directory
b. Rightclick on in.mp4, which will bring up a Windows context menu
c. Select "Open with > Irfanview" (which will be 32-bit or 64-bit)
d. That should start playing the in.mp4 video inside of Irfanview
e. Freeze Irfanview at a desired frame by leftmouse clicking once
f. Rightclick in the frozen Irfanview window (which pops up a menu)
g. From the menu, select "Copy current frame to clipboard - Ctrl+C"
This also should put the frame into the clipboard, but does not work for me.
a. Open your video in VLC & select VLC:Video > Take snapshot" b. That
saves a frame to C:\Users\you\Pictures\vlcsnap-<datetime>.png
c. Open that VLC framegrab PNG in Irfanview
d. Irfanview:Options > Capture Screenshot e. Select "Foreground Window"
& "Copy captured image to clipboard"
@echo off
REM framecrop.bat
REM 1st Open a command window
REM 2nd execute this file (which puts the clipboard in Irfanview)
REM 3rd In Irfanview, leftmouse draw the desired selection box REM 4th
In Irfanview, press "Shift+c"
REM 5th Click the Irfanview [Save values and exit] button
REM 6th Kill Irfanview (this spits out the desired ffmpeg crop command)
start /w "" C:\path-to\Irfanview\i_view32.exe /clippaste
for %%k in (CustSelX CustSelY CustSelW CustSelH) do (
   for /f "delims=." %%i in ('find "%%k="
^<C:\path-to\Irfanview\i_view32.ini') do set %%i
   )
echo  ffmpeg -i in.mp4 -vf
"crop=%CustSelX%:%CustSelY%:%CustSelW%:%CustSelH%" -c:a copy out.mp4
If that works above, can you explain HOW you got the video frame
into the Windows clipboard using just Irfanview to do it?

Answering the title of your post, no idea what the rest of it is about.
Yes.

[knuttle]

Post by Oliver
Can you get the Irfanview "save video frame to clipboard" to work?
Loooooong story short, can you get Irfanview to save a video frame to
the Windows clipboard? (Not the borders. Not the screen. Just the video
frame.)
This "should" put the frame into the clipboard but it does not work for me.
a. Copy your video to be cropped to "in.mp4" to the current directory
b. Rightclick on in.mp4, which will bring up a Windows context menu
c. Select "Open with > Irfanview" (which will be 32-bit or 64-bit)
d. That should start playing the in.mp4 video inside of Irfanview
e. Freeze Irfanview at a desired frame by leftmouse clicking once
f. Rightclick in the frozen Irfanview window (which pops up a menu)
g. From the menu, select "Copy current frame to clipboard - Ctrl+C"
This also should put the frame into the clipboard, but does not work for me.
a. Open your video in VLC & select VLC:Video > Take snapshot" b. That
saves a frame to C:\Users\you\Pictures\vlcsnap-<datetime>.png
c. Open that VLC framegrab PNG in Irfanview
d. Irfanview:Options > Capture Screenshot e. Select "Foreground Window"
& "Copy captured image to clipboard"
@echo off
REM framecrop.bat
REM 1st Open a command window
REM 2nd execute this file (which puts the clipboard in Irfanview)
REM 3rd In Irfanview, leftmouse draw the desired selection box REM 4th
In Irfanview, press "Shift+c"
REM 5th Click the Irfanview [Save values and exit] button
REM 6th Kill Irfanview (this spits out the desired ffmpeg crop command)
start /w "" C:\path-to\Irfanview\i_view32.exe /clippaste
for %%k in (CustSelX CustSelY CustSelW CustSelH) do (
   for /f "delims=." %%i in ('find "%%k=" ^<C:\path-
to\Irfanview\i_view32.ini') do set %%i
   )
%CustSelH%" -c:a copy out.mp4
If that works above, can you explain HOW you got the video frame
into the Windows clipboard using just Irfanview to do it?

I am running Irfanview 4.7 64Bit. The only thing I see to extract a
frame from a video is "Options>extract all frames", when a video is
loaded into Irfanview. This separates the total video into frames and
places the images into a folder.

Are you using the native Irfanview functions are you using an addon to
Irvanview that has this additional function?


When I want a frame of a video, I make the video full screen, pause the
video and do a screen copy. This place the frame in the clipboard,
where I

[Oliver]

Post by knuttle

Post by Oliver
If that works above, can you explain HOW you got the video frame
into the Windows clipboard using just Irfanview to do it?

I am running Irfanview 4.7 64Bit.

Thanks for testing this out as it's frustrating for me that the commands
exist in Irfanview to copy a video frame to the clipboard - but - the
program using the clipboard doesn't see them in all of my tests to date.

I uninstalled whatever Irfanview I had and installed the latest Irfanview
before I opened this thread, just in case it was a bug that was fixed.

The latest I tested this on is Irfanview version 4.70 (32-bit).
I didn't install the 64-bit but I already tested older 64-bit versions.

What's strange is Irfan Skiljan is no slouch when it comes to coding.
So why don't his save-to-clipboard commands work? Makes no sense to me.

Post by knuttle
The only thing I see to extract a
frame from a video is "Options>extract all frames", when a video is
loaded into Irfanview. This separates the total video into frames and
places the images into a folder.

Yes. I saw that. A discussion about that was in one of the forum threads I
had quoted in a post on another thread. One advantage of extract all frames
is it eliminates the need for another tool (like VLC) to extract 1 frame.

However I get an error when I try it & I haven't debugged why.
a. Rightclick on an MP4 file & "Open with" Irfanview
b. Leftclick once to freeze the video from automatic playing
c. Irfanview:Options > Extract all frames
Error: Couldn't get movie information! (DirectShow)

Googling for that error comes up with this thread.
https://codecs.forumotion.net/t3244-k_lite-1509-using-irvfanview-can-t-capture-every-frame-from-mov-file
But it was so old that the recommendations don't apply to us.

Post by knuttle
Are you using the native Irfanview functions are you using an addon to
Irvanview that has this additional function?

Everything is the same as what everyone else is using.
1. I installed Irfanview 4.70 32-bit
2. Then I ran the full-plugin exe which installs the plugins.

It's what everyone does and has done with Irfanview since it came out.
There's nothing special about my setup which is different from yours.

Did you get the same "Direct Show" error that I got with
Irfanview:Options > Extract all frames

Post by knuttle
When I want a frame of a video, I make the video full screen, pause the
video and do a screen copy. This place the frame in the clipboard,
where I can paste it to an irfanview.

But did you try it. I'm extremely familiar with screen copies.
But when I run the batch script, the copy isn't there.

Can you run this batch script and see if it's working for you?

The test if the screenshot is in the clipboard is this will work:
@echo off
REM framecrop.bat
REM 1st Open a command window
REM 2nd execute this file (which puts the clipboard in Irfanview)
REM 3rd In Irfanview, leftmouse draw the desired selection box
REM 4th In Irfanview, press "Shift+c"
REM 5th Click the Irfanview [Save values and exit] button
REM 6th Kill Irfanview (this spits out the desired ffmpeg crop command)

start /w "" C:\path-to\Irfanview\i_view64.exe /clippaste

for %%k in (CustSelX CustSelY CustSelW CustSelH) do (
for /f "delims=." %%i in ('find "%%k=" ^<C:\path-to\Irfanview\i_view64.ini') do set %%i
)

echo ffmpeg -i in.mp4 -vf "crop=%CustSelX%:%CustSelY%:%CustSelW%:%CustSelH%" -c:a copy out.mp4

Post by knuttle
In irvanview there is Options,Capture/Screenshot. Using this functions
you can capture the whole screen or the part you designate.

I know this. But it doesn't work for me when I run the script above.
Does it work for you when you run that script above?

a. Rightclick on an MP4 file & "Open with" Irfanview
b. Leftclick once to freeze the video from automatic playing
b. Irfanview:Options > Capture/Screenshot
c. In the "Capture Setup", Select "Custom rectangle/region capture"
d. Also select "After the capture" "Copy captured image to clipboard"
e. Set the "Capture method:" "Hot key:" to "Ctrl + Left" (or whatever)
f. Also select "Also show image in main window" (but that's optional)
g. Then press the "Capture Setup" "Start" button
h. That "should" capture a screenshot to the clipboard
i. Now run the batch program

I can't get the steps above to work with the batch program.
Can you?

[Paul]

Post by knuttle

Post by Oliver
If that works above, can you explain HOW you got the video frame
into the Windows clipboard using just Irfanview to do it?

I am running Irfanview 4.7 64Bit.

Thanks for testing this out as it's frustrating for me that the commands exist in Irfanview to copy a video frame to the clipboard - but - the program using the clipboard doesn't see them in all of my tests to date.
I uninstalled whatever Irfanview I had and installed the latest Irfanview before I opened this thread, just in case it was a bug that was fixed.

The old AviDemux made for a frame review tool.

However, you need to use a video format such old versions recognize,
which would be a workflow issue. The very newest AviDemux is more
fluent in movie formats, but it may not have the convenience of the
old ones (player controls might not be the same). I haven't played
with video in some time, so you'll have to experiment to pick a version.

Using FFMPEG to make a folder with 50,000 frames is how
I would normally do it. That doesn't make review
of the frames easy exactly, you lose your time stamp
info and whatever else. But if you're making a slide
show out of keyframes for some reason, it's one way
to get base materials for the job. Maybe AviDemux could work with
a folder of frames ?

You would think that a decent video editor, could also export a frame.
What I might not like about a video editor, is labeling the frames
in milliseconds, instead of frame number. Whereas AviDemux was frame
number. If you saw something you liked in AviDemux, you could reach
into your folder of 50,000 frames and fish the item out.

Paul

[Oliver]

Post by Paul
e old AviDemux made for a frame review tool.
However, you need to use a video format such old versions recognize,
which would be a workflow issue. The very newest AviDemux is more
fluent in movie formats, but it may not have the convenience of the
old ones (player controls might not be the same). I haven't played
with video in some time, so you'll have to experiment to pick a version.
Using FFMPEG to make a folder with 50,000 frames is how
I would normally do it. That doesn't make review
of the frames easy exactly, you lose your time stamp
info and whatever else. But if you're making a slide
show out of keyframes for some reason, it's one way
to get base materials for the job. Maybe AviDemux could work with
a folder of frames ?
You would think that a decent video editor, could also export a frame.
What I might not like about a video editor, is labeling the frames
in milliseconds, instead of frame number. Whereas AviDemux was frame
number. If you saw something you liked in AviDemux, you could reach
into your folder of 50,000 frames and fish the item out.

The goal (always) is the simplest method possible using the fewest tools,
all of which need to be freely available in order to be of general use.

You've helped me a lot, Paul, with the ffmpeg commands, where I've used all
your advice since I kind of "work" for Amazon now that they invited me to
Vine (which is explained here: https://www.amazon.com/vine/about I think).

They give me up to $100K of free stuff per year (that's my "salary") but in
order to keep getting the free stuff, I have to review 90% of them (and
they send the government a 1099 for that $100K in imputed "income" too!).

Since I'm retired, I don't pay those taxes (since I only get about $10K in
free stuff per year on Vine) but I do very much love to do a good review.

When you see my Amazon reviews, you always upvote them (which is why Amazon
told me I'm rated highly) but part of that "love" is your ffmpeg commands.

So thanks for providing them as the videos take their pound of flesh far
more so than the pictures, which themselves take more flesh than words do.

As for this statement in the above from you:
"You would think that a decent video editor, could also export a frame."

I have no problem "exporting a frame" to a PNG using VLC.
a. Open your video in VLC & select VLC:Video > Take snapshot"
b. That saves a frame to C:\Users\you\Pictures\vlcsnap-<datetime>.png

The problem is when you need to CROP that video to a desired bounding box.
https://video.stackexchange.com/questions/4563/how-can-i-crop-a-video-with-ffmpeg

That page explains to crop to a 80by60 section, starting from position
200,100 where all you do is run these commands to view & effect the edit.
ffplay -i in.mp4 -vf "crop=80:60:200:100"
ffmpeg -i in.mp4 -vf "crop=80:60:200:100" -c:a copy out.mp4

Notice that the script Herbert kindly wrote creates that ffmpeg command for
you simply if you crop an image which was saved into your clipboard.

So I have all the pieces, if I want to use VLC and Irfanview together:
1. Use VLC to create a file out of a video frame
2. Use Herbert's script to create the ffmpeg command from that file

That works. But I'm trying to eliminate the need for VLC.
I want it to work with just Irfanview (which is a more elegant solution).

To make it work with just Irfanview, all I need is to get Irfanview to save
a frame to the clipboard. Hence the reason I asked the question.
a. Open a video in Irfanview
b. Save a frame to the clipboard
c. Run Herbert's script to create the ffmpeg command

The problem is I can't get Irfanview to save a frame to the clipboard
suitable for Herbert's wonderful script to take it from the clipboard.

Can you?

[MikeS]

Post by Oliver

Post by knuttle

Post by Oliver
If that works above, can you explain HOW you got the video frame
into the Windows clipboard using just Irfanview to do it?

I am running Irfanview 4.7 64Bit.

Thanks for testing this out as it's frustrating for me that the commands
exist in Irfanview to copy a video frame to the clipboard - but - the
program using the clipboard doesn't see them in all of my tests to date.
I uninstalled whatever Irfanview I had and installed the latest
Irfanview before I opened this thread, just in case it was a bug that
was fixed.
The latest I tested this on is Irfanview version 4.70 (32-bit). I didn't
install the 64-bit but I already tested older 64-bit versions.
What's strange is Irfan Skiljan is no slouch when it comes to coding.
So why don't his save-to-clipboard commands work? Makes no sense to me.

Post by knuttle
 The only thing I see to extract a frame from a video is
"Options>extract all frames", when a video is loaded into Irfanview.
This separates the total video into frames and places the images into
a folder.

Yes. I saw that. A discussion about that was in one of the forum threads
I had quoted in a post on another thread. One advantage of extract all
frames is it eliminates the need for another tool (like VLC) to extract
1 frame.
However I get an error when I try it & I haven't debugged why.
a. Rightclick on an MP4 file & "Open with" Irfanview
b. Leftclick once to freeze the video from automatic playing
c. Irfanview:Options > Extract all frames
  Error: Couldn't get movie information! (DirectShow)
Googling for that error comes up with this thread.
https://codecs.forumotion.net/t3244-k_lite-1509-using-irvfanview-can-t-capture-every-frame-from-mov-file
But it was so old that the recommendations don't apply to us.

Post by knuttle
Are you using the native Irfanview functions are you using an addon to
Irvanview that has this additional function?

Everything is the same as what everyone else is using.
1. I installed Irfanview 4.70 32-bit
2. Then I ran the full-plugin exe which installs the plugins.
It's what everyone does and has done with Irfanview since it came out.
There's nothing special about my setup which is different from yours.
Did you get the same "Direct Show" error that I got with
Irfanview:Options > Extract all frames

Post by knuttle
When I want a frame of a video, I make the video full screen, pause
the video and do a screen copy.   This place the frame in the
clipboard, where I can paste it to an irfanview.

But did you try it. I'm extremely familiar with screen copies. But when
I run the batch script, the copy isn't there.
Can you run this batch script and see if it's working for you?
@echo off
REM framecrop.bat
REM 1st Open a command window
REM 2nd execute this file (which puts the clipboard in Irfanview)
REM 3rd In Irfanview, leftmouse draw the desired selection box REM 4th
In Irfanview, press "Shift+c"
REM 5th Click the Irfanview [Save values and exit] button
REM 6th Kill Irfanview (this spits out the desired ffmpeg crop command)
start /w "" C:\path-to\Irfanview\i_view64.exe /clippaste
for %%k in (CustSelX CustSelY CustSelW CustSelH) do (
   for /f "delims=." %%i in ('find "%%k="
^<C:\path-to\Irfanview\i_view64.ini') do set %%i
   )
echo  ffmpeg -i in.mp4 -vf
"crop=%CustSelX%:%CustSelY%:%CustSelW%:%CustSelH%" -c:a copy out.mp4

Post by knuttle
In irvanview there is Options,Capture/Screenshot. Using this functions
you can capture the whole screen or the part you designate.

I know this. But it doesn't work for me when I run the script above.
Does it work for you when you run that script above?
a. Rightclick on an MP4 file & "Open with" Irfanview
b. Leftclick once to freeze the video from automatic playing
b. Irfanview:Options > Capture/Screenshot c. In the "Capture Setup",
Select "Custom rectangle/region capture"
d. Also select "After the capture" "Copy captured image to clipboard"
e. Set the "Capture method:" "Hot key:" to "Ctrl + Left" (or whatever)
f. Also select "Also show image in main window" (but that's optional)
g. Then press the "Capture Setup" "Start" button
h. That "should" capture a screenshot to the clipboard
i. Now run the batch program
I can't get the steps above to work with the batch program.
Can you?

Unless I have totally misunderstood, you want to play a video in
Irfanview and save an individual frame to the clipboard. That simply
requires pressing Ctrl-C at the required point or, if preferred, pausing
the video first. I do that regularly and as I already said it works.

I cannot see why it needs your complicated procedure or the
complications in various replies. In particular, the task is totally
different from using Irfanview:Options > Capture/Screenshot.

[malone]

Post by MikeS

Post by Oliver

Post by knuttle

Post by Oliver
If that works above, can you explain HOW you got the video frame
into the Windows clipboard using just Irfanview to do it?

I am running Irfanview 4.7 64Bit.

Thanks for testing this out as it's frustrating for me that the
commands exist in Irfanview to copy a video frame to the clipboard -
but - the program using the clipboard doesn't see them in all of my
tests to date.
I uninstalled whatever Irfanview I had and installed the latest
Irfanview before I opened this thread, just in case it was a bug that
was fixed.
The latest I tested this on is Irfanview version 4.70 (32-bit). I
didn't install the 64-bit but I already tested older 64-bit versions.
What's strange is Irfan Skiljan is no slouch when it comes to coding.
So why don't his save-to-clipboard commands work? Makes no sense to me.

Post by knuttle
 The only thing I see to extract a frame from a video is
"Options>extract all frames", when a video is loaded into Irfanview.
This separates the total video into frames and places the images into
a folder.

Yes. I saw that. A discussion about that was in one of the forum
threads I had quoted in a post on another thread. One advantage of
extract all frames is it eliminates the need for another tool (like
VLC) to extract 1 frame.
However I get an error when I try it & I haven't debugged why.
a. Rightclick on an MP4 file & "Open with" Irfanview
b. Leftclick once to freeze the video from automatic playing
c. Irfanview:Options > Extract all frames
   Error: Couldn't get movie information! (DirectShow)
Googling for that error comes up with this thread.
https://codecs.forumotion.net/t3244-k_lite-1509-using-irvfanview-can-t-capture-every-frame-from-mov-file
But it was so old that the recommendations don't apply to us.

Post by knuttle
Are you using the native Irfanview functions are you using an addon
to Irvanview that has this additional function?

Everything is the same as what everyone else is using.
1. I installed Irfanview 4.70 32-bit
2. Then I ran the full-plugin exe which installs the plugins.
It's what everyone does and has done with Irfanview since it came out.
There's nothing special about my setup which is different from yours.
Did you get the same "Direct Show" error that I got with
Irfanview:Options > Extract all frames

Post by knuttle
When I want a frame of a video, I make the video full screen, pause
the video and do a screen copy.   This place the frame in the
clipboard, where I can paste it to an irfanview.

But did you try it. I'm extremely familiar with screen copies. But
when I run the batch script, the copy isn't there.
Can you run this batch script and see if it's working for you?
@echo off
REM framecrop.bat
REM 1st Open a command window
REM 2nd execute this file (which puts the clipboard in Irfanview)
REM 3rd In Irfanview, leftmouse draw the desired selection box REM 4th
In Irfanview, press "Shift+c"
REM 5th Click the Irfanview [Save values and exit] button
REM 6th Kill Irfanview (this spits out the desired ffmpeg crop command)
start /w "" C:\path-to\Irfanview\i_view64.exe /clippaste
for %%k in (CustSelX CustSelY CustSelW CustSelH) do (
    for /f "delims=." %%i in ('find "%%k="
^<C:\path-to\Irfanview\i_view64.ini') do set %%i
    )
echo  ffmpeg -i in.mp4 -vf
"crop=%CustSelX%:%CustSelY%:%CustSelW%:%CustSelH%" -c:a copy out.mp4

Post by knuttle
In irvanview there is Options,Capture/Screenshot. Using this
functions you can capture the whole screen or the part you designate.

I know this. But it doesn't work for me when I run the script above.
Does it work for you when you run that script above?
a. Rightclick on an MP4 file & "Open with" Irfanview
b. Leftclick once to freeze the video from automatic playing
b. Irfanview:Options > Capture/Screenshot c. In the "Capture Setup",
Select "Custom rectangle/region capture"
d. Also select "After the capture" "Copy captured image to clipboard"
e. Set the "Capture method:" "Hot key:" to "Ctrl + Left" (or whatever)
f. Also select "Also show image in main window" (but that's optional)
g. Then press the "Capture Setup" "Start" button
h. That "should" capture a screenshot to the clipboard
i. Now run the batch program
I can't get the steps above to work with the batch program.
Can you?

Unless I have totally misunderstood, you want to play a video in
Irfanview and save an individual frame to the clipboard. That simply
requires pressing Ctrl-C at the required point or, if preferred, pausing
the video first. I do that regularly and as I already said it works.
I cannot see why it needs your complicated procedure or the
complications in various replies. In particular, the task is totally
different from using Irfanview:Options > Capture/Screenshot.

My experience with i_view64.exe 4.60.0.0 and Windows 10 is that ctrl-c
during a video (running or paused) does not put an image on the
clipboard. With an image ctrl-c does put the image on the clipboard. But
that doesn't worry me too much as I use Irfanview for images and VLC for
videos.

[Oliver]

Post by malone
My experience with i_view64.exe 4.60.0.0 and Windows 10 is that ctrl-c
during a video (running or paused) does not put an image on the
clipboard. With an image ctrl-c does put the image on the clipboard. But
that doesn't worry me too much as I use Irfanview for images and VLC for
videos.

Thank you. You are the first person who understands the problem set.

If all the clipboard menus were working to put the video frame into the
clipboard, I wouldn't have bothered to ask the question in the first place.

The problem requires a Windows or Irfanview expert to solve.

a. Load an MP4 into Irfanview (it will start playing)
b. Control+c
c. Control+v

What you see is not what you expect to see if you just guess.
You have to try it to see what you get - not what you think you'll get.

Since I've tried every Irfanview menu, I resorted to asking for help here.

Can YOU get the Irfanview copy video frame to the clipboard menus to work?
I can't.

[malone]

Post by Oliver

Post by malone
My experience with i_view64.exe 4.60.0.0 and Windows 10 is that ctrl-c
during a video (running or paused) does not put an image on the
clipboard. With an image ctrl-c does put the image on the clipboard.
But that doesn't worry me too much as I use Irfanview for images and
VLC for videos.

Thank you. You are the first person who understands the problem set.
If all the clipboard menus were working to put the video frame into the
clipboard, I wouldn't have bothered to ask the question in the first place.
The problem requires a Windows or Irfanview expert to solve.
a. Load an MP4 into Irfanview (it will start playing)
b. Control+c
c. Control+v
What you see is not what you expect to see if you just guess.
You have to try it to see what you get - not what you think you'll get.
Since I've tried every Irfanview menu, I resorted to asking for help here.
Can YOU get the Irfanview copy video frame to the clipboard menus to work?
I can't.

Well, MikeS says:-

"That simply requires pressing Ctrl-C at the required point or, if
preferred, pausing the video first. I do that regularly and as I already
said it works."

Sorry, I haven't been following this thread diligently but I wonder what
operating system / version of Irfanview he's using? It doesn't work for
my configuration...

[Oliver]

Post by malone
Well, MikeS says:-
"That simply requires pressing Ctrl-C at the required point or, if
preferred, pausing the video first. I do that regularly and as I already
said it works."
Sorry, I haven't been following this thread diligently but I wonder what
operating system / version of Irfanview he's using? It doesn't work for
my configuration...

Yeah. I know. MikeS also said "yes" when I asked can you get it to work,
which means he never tried it because nobody can get it to work yet.

It may very well be that it doesn't work - but then why would they put
those menus in Irfanview - which - let's be clear - is a well respected
tool - for when playing video.

It could be they simply don't work on Windows 10 for videos though.
Or it could be there's a trick in 32-bit Irfanview 4.70 we don't know yet.

We don't know the answer yet - which is - after all - why the question was
asked of this newsgroup (of experts) in the first place.

If it was as easy as MikeS implies it is - the question wouldn't have
needed to be asked in the first place.

[MikeS]

Post by Oliver

Post by malone
Well, MikeS says:-
"That simply requires pressing Ctrl-C at the required point or, if
preferred, pausing the video first. I do that regularly and as I
already said it works."
Sorry, I haven't been following this thread diligently but I wonder
what operating system / version of Irfanview he's using? It doesn't
work for my configuration...

Yeah. I know. MikeS also said "yes" when I asked can you get it to work,
which means he never tried it because nobody can get it to work yet.
It may very well be that it doesn't work - but then why would they put
those menus in Irfanview - which - let's be clear - is a well respected
tool - for when playing video.
It could be they simply don't work on Windows 10 for videos though.
Or it could be there's a trick in 32-bit Irfanview 4.70 we don't know yet.
We don't know the answer yet - which is - after all - why the question was
asked of this newsgroup (of experts) in the first place.
If it was as easy as MikeS implies it is - the question wouldn't have
needed to be asked in the first place.

I am using Ver 4.67 (64 bit) on Windows 11. There is no need for me to
imply anything because using Ctl-C on a video simply works and has done
for as long as I can remember. If Irfanview can play the video it will
save frames as still images for any video format I have tried. Offhand
those include ts, tts, avi, mp4, mkv, wmv, flv.

Have you considered your problems may be related to your video files
rather than Irfanview and tried some tests?

[malone]

Post by MikeS

Post by Oliver

Post by malone
Well, MikeS says:-
"That simply requires pressing Ctrl-C at the required point or, if
preferred, pausing the video first. I do that regularly and as I
already said it works."
Sorry, I haven't been following this thread diligently but I wonder
what operating system / version of Irfanview he's using? It doesn't
work for my configuration...

Yeah. I know. MikeS also said "yes" when I asked can you get it to work,
which means he never tried it because nobody can get it to work yet.
It may very well be that it doesn't work - but then why would they put
those menus in Irfanview - which - let's be clear - is a well respected
tool - for when playing video.
It could be they simply don't work on Windows 10 for videos though.
Or it could be there's a trick in 32-bit Irfanview 4.70 we don't know yet.
We don't know the answer yet - which is - after all - why the question was
asked of this newsgroup (of experts) in the first place.
If it was as easy as MikeS implies it is - the question wouldn't have
needed to be asked in the first place.

I am using Ver 4.67 (64 bit) on Windows 11. There is no need for me to
imply anything because using Ctl-C on a video simply works and has done
for as long as I can remember. If Irfanview can play the video it will
save frames as still images for any video format I have tried. Offhand
those include ts, tts, avi, mp4, mkv, wmv, flv.
Have you considered your problems may be related to your video files
rather than Irfanview and tried some tests?

My previous assessment when ctrl-c DIDN'T put an image on the clipboard
was with an .mp4 video file. I've just tried running an .avi video file
in Irfanview and ctrl-c DOES put an image on the clipboard. So, indeed,
the problem seems to be associated with some feature of the video format....

[Oliver]

Post by malone

Post by MikeS
Have you considered your problems may be related to your video files
rather than Irfanview and tried some tests?

My previous assessment when ctrl-c DIDN'T put an image on the clipboard
was with an .mp4 video file. I've just tried running an .avi video file
in Irfanview and ctrl-c DOES put an image on the clipboard. So, indeed,
the problem seems to be associated with some feature of the video format....

Thanks for the advice as I have to admit that it never occurred to me to
convert the MP4 to an AVI until it was stated to do so in this thread.

Googling for how best to convert a phone MP4 to an AVI I find
https://superuser.com/questions/1581329/how-to-convert-mp4-to-avi

Which results in the following ffmpeg conversion command:
ffmpeg -i file.mp4 -vcodec copy -acodec copy file.avi

When I open that resulting AVI in Irfanview, it doesn't show the movie.
But if I open the AVI in VLC, it does - so I need to debug that first.

But it appears the solution to the conundrum has (likely) been solved.
Irfanview can't "control+c" in an MP4 file but it can with an AVI.

That's not something that I would have guessed, so I appreciate the help in
finding it. I'll report back when I solve why VLC reads the resulting AVI
from ffmpeg but Irfanview does not (Irfanview just shows a dialog box).

[Oliver]

Post by MikeS
Unless I have totally misunderstood, you want to play a video in
Irfanview and save an individual frame to the clipboard. That simply
requires pressing Ctrl-C at the required point or, if preferred, pausing
the video first. I do that regularly and as I already said it works.
I cannot see why it needs your complicated procedure or the
complications in various replies. In particular, the task is totally
different from using Irfanview:Options > Capture/Screenshot.

I do very much appreciate the helpful advice, but there's one thing
missing...

Everyone is assuming I didn't spend hours and hours (and hours) on this
*before* I asked the question - and - as a result - everyone is not even
trying it first to find out that what they "think" happens, isn't what
happens. They think it's something simple. Something obvious.

Something I missed.

And it might be... but it's NOT that I didn't try every menu in Irfanview.

I wouldn't have asked the question if the answer were that simple & easy.

Nobody can answer the question by assuming how it works.
Nor by guessing.

They have to try it to see what I'm experiencing.
a. Load an MP4 into Irfanview (it will start playing)
b. Control+c
c. Control+v

What do you see?

What I'm doing with Herberts batch file is more complicated than that, of
course, but if the image doesn't make it into the clipboard, it doesn't
matter.

Try it.
What do you see?

[MikeS]

Post by Oliver

Post by MikeS
Unless I have totally misunderstood, you want to play a video in
Irfanview and save an individual frame to the clipboard. That simply
requires pressing Ctrl-C at the required point or, if preferred,
pausing the video first. I do that regularly and as I already said it
works.
I cannot see why it needs your complicated procedure or the
complications in various replies. In particular, the task is totally
different from using Irfanview:Options > Capture/Screenshot.

I do very much appreciate the helpful advice, but there's one thing
missing...
Everyone is assuming I didn't spend hours and hours (and hours) on this
*before* I asked the question - and - as a result - everyone is not even
trying it first to find out that what they "think" happens, isn't what
happens. They think it's something simple. Something obvious.
Something I missed.
And it might be... but it's NOT that I didn't try every menu in Irfanview.
I wouldn't have asked the question if the answer were that simple & easy.
Nobody can answer the question by assuming how it works.
Nor by guessing.
They have to try it to see what I'm experiencing.
a. Load an MP4 into Irfanview (it will start playing)
b. Control+c
c. Control+v
What do you see?
What I'm doing with Herberts batch file is more complicated than that, of
course, but if the image doesn't make it into the clipboard, it doesn't
matter.
Try it.
What do you see?
a. Load an MP4 into Irfanview (it will start playing)
b. Control+c
c. Control+v
the image doesn't make it into the clipboard

is wrong because I could paste the image into another program such as Paint.

I also have Ver 4.60 (32 bit) on the same machine and that is what I was
using until recently. Repeating the same test on the same MP4 file
worked as you want and I could immediately paste the still image back
into Irfanview 4.60. I could not paste the same image from the clipboard
into 4.67 but I can save a frame in 4.67 and paste it into 4.60.

[knuttle]

Post by Oliver
If that works above, can you explain HOW you got the video frame
into the Windows clipboard using just Irfanview to do it?

In irvanview there is Options,Capture/Screenshot. Using this functions
you can capture the whole screen or the part you designate.

[Oliver]

Post by knuttle
In irvanview there is Options,Capture/Screenshot. Using this functions
you can capture the whole screen or the part you designate.

I do very much appreciate the helpful advice, but there's one thing
missing...

Everyone is assuming I didn't spend hours and hours (and hours) on this
*before* I asked the question - and - as a result - everyone is not even
trying it first to find out that what they "think" happens, isn't what
happens. They think it's something simple. Something obvious.

Something I missed.

And it might be... but it's NOT that I didn't try every menu in Irfanview.

I wouldn't have asked the question if the answer were that easy.

Nobody can answer the question by assuming how it works.
Nor by guessing.

They have to try it to see what I'm experiencing.
a. Load an MP4 into Irfanview (it will start playing)
b. Control+c
c. Control+v

What do you see?

[Oliver]

There is another solution I accidentally found to get the pixels on the
screen using a freeware Windows video tool, which is to openwith Aegisub.

Loading Image...

What happened was I was getting tired of manually creating the subtitles by
watching the video, stopping, writing a subtitle, continuing, stopping,
writing another subtitle, continuing and on and on until the video ended.

I looked up freeware Windows subtitle makers and the first hit was Aegisub.
https://www.videohelp.com/software/Aegisub
https://www.videohelp.com/guides/category/how-to-add-subtitles-to-a-video-5;20#5-20

When you rightclick on an MP4 video file and openwith Aegisub, the cursor
shows up as an X:Y cross with realtime horizontal:vertical coordinates.

If you rightclick, the options are perfect for getting ffmpeg information.
Save PNG snapshot
Copy image to Clipboard
Save PNG snapshot (no subtitles)
Copy image to Clipboard (no subtitles)
Save PNG snapshot (only subtitles)
Copy image to Clipboard (only subtitles)
Copy coordinates to Clipboard
Reset Video Plan

The only thing left is to feed that information into the ffmpeg crop.
ffplay -i in.mp4 -vf "crop=80:60:200:100"
ffmpeg -i in.mp4 -vf "crop=80:60:200:100" -c:a copy out.mp4
https://video.stackexchange.com/questions/4563/how-can-i-crop-a-video-with-ffmpeg