capturing stills from dvd's

[morgansh]

i am running X and i was wondering if it is possible to capture a still from a dvd using either i movie or the dvd player.

 

[HexMonkey]

You cannot take a screen capture when a DVD is in your computer with standard Apple software. However you could try Snapz Pro X. You can get it here:
http://www.ambrosiasw.com/utilities/snapzprox/

From the website:

Can I capture images from DVD?

Snapz Pro X 2 should have no problems capturing audio and video from a DVD, provided the machine it's installed on is capable of using Apple's Quartz Extreme for video display.

When Apple introduced OS X 10.2, they moved video display from the main processing unit to the graphics processing unit - provided the machine was capable. This enabled Snapz Pro X to see, and therefore capture DVD display. The first generation G4s with PCI video cards are not capable of displaying QE, but most of the newer machines should have no problems doing so.

The best way to ensure Snapz Pro X 2 is capable of recording from DVD on your machine is to use the free trial period.

 

[Makosuke]

Another (non-hardware) option is to try VLC; it can play most DVDs, and does allow screen captures. I've used it successfully in the past for this, although there are some discs it doesn't do well with. It's other drawback is that it's very difficult to get it to capture the exact frame you want--no single frame step forward/backward is included.