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View Full Version : Taking Screen shots of Windows Media Player: The Solution


Jason Dunn
06-20-2004, 07:35 AM
I take a lot of screen shots for articles, reviews, and teaching. I use <a href="http://www.techsmith.com/products/snagit/default.asp">Techsmith's SnagIt</a> software, and while it works very well, I've always been frustrated that I couldn't take screen shots of content playing in Windows Media Player. No matter what I tried, I'd always end up getting the WMP shell with a black screen of content.<br /><br />After a bit of research, I found the solution:<br /><br />1) Open Windows Media Player<br />2) Go to Tools<br />3) Go to Options<br />4) Go to Performance<br />5) Click on the Advanced button<br />6) Un-check the <i>Use Overlays</i> box<br />7) Click OK<br /><br />And that's it - you can now use the Print Screen button, or any other screen capture tool, and you'll be able to take screen captures of the video content playing inside Windows Media Player.

Suhit Gupta
06-20-2004, 03:40 PM
Ahh, excellent. Thanks for pointing this out.

Suhit

Jonathon Watkins
06-20-2004, 05:51 PM
Hmmmm, I've got that box ticked, but I still can't get screenshots to work. They still come out black.

James Fee
06-20-2004, 06:19 PM
Hmmmm, I've got that box ticked, but I still can't get screenshots to work. They still come out black.
Uncheck the box.

Jonathon Watkins
06-20-2004, 06:45 PM
Duh, :oops:

That's what I get for reading too fast! :lol:

So, what are the disadvantages of doing this? Is the quality/speed of playback affected?

Jason Dunn
06-20-2004, 07:53 PM
So, what are the disadvantages of doing this? Is the quality/speed of playback affected?

I haven't noticed any difference in either speed or quality of played back video. I don't understand enough about video cards to explain exactly what overlay does, but based on my experience with SnapStream's Beyond TV 3, it has something to do with taking one signal (TV) and overlaying another signal (on-screen controls) and with overlay active, it's hardware assisted and thus much smoother. How this relates to WMP, I'm not sure...

Gordo
06-21-2004, 09:08 AM
Any idea if this also might solve the problem of showing a video on some older PC Viewers. All they display is a black window.

SassKwatch
06-21-2004, 12:41 PM
I use Techsmith's SnagIt (http://www.techsmith.com/products/snagit/default.asp) software,
Do these 3rd party Screen Cap packages offer something significant over using 'Print Screen' and/or 'Alt-PS'?

backpackerx
06-21-2004, 01:48 PM
Ok, I unchecked the box, played a video, paused it and used print screen. When I pasted to paint I got the black box just like I used to.

Jason Dunn
06-21-2004, 03:58 PM
Ok, I unchecked the box, played a video, paused it and used print screen. When I pasted to paint I got the black box just like I used to.

Did you restart the player? That's the only thing I did differently from you. This might also vary by video card...

Jason Dunn
06-21-2004, 03:59 PM
Do these 3rd party Screen Cap packages offer something significant over using 'Print Screen' and/or 'Alt-PS'?

In terms of speed of workflow, yes. I've done screen caps without SnagIt and progress is slower and more tedious.

backpackerx
06-21-2004, 04:37 PM
Ok, I unchecked the box, played a video, paused it and used print screen. When I pasted to paint I got the black box just like I used to.

Did you restart the player? That's the only thing I did differently from you. This might also vary by video card...

I did just now and still no change. Maybe it's the difference between the scr prnt function and a screen capture utility. I have Windows 2000 running media player 9.0

OSUKid7
06-21-2004, 09:57 PM
Cool. Thanks for the easy solution. I'll have to try that when I get my desktop up and running again (major problems ATM :().

delfuhd
06-29-2004, 07:07 PM
Just tried this, and still got a black screen with Alt+PS.. ill try other things like rebooting or something..

aximmaxim
07-01-2004, 12:38 PM
If all else fails, try Irfanview to capture screens (or save frames).
AxMax