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AppleJockey · Aug 23, 2009, 04:33 PM

first and foremost yes I have already done a forum sreach to those who are wondering

I have a number of .flv movie files I have downloaded from sites like youtube on my drive.
In finder under icon view i only see a piece of paper with the fold in the corner.
seeing the files this way is generally ugly & makes coverflow view pointless.

I KNOW how to copy a frame>get info>paste the frame in the top left in order to get a thumbnail but this is very time consuming as I have hundreds of videos!
Does anyone know how I can automatically grab the first(actually any frame would be better that the blank sheet of paper) frame of my flv files to make a thumb nail?

funny enough when I download a wmv movie thumbnail is automatically generated.

gracias!

cgc · Aug 23, 2009, 05:13 PM

I created an Automator script that converted my movie from format [I]x[\I] to FLV then created a poster frame. Basically, it used ffmpeg, which is a free command line utility. You cannot find the binary to download, but if you download ffmpegx and look inside the package you can extract the pre-compiled ffmpeg binary which works without the shareware GUI wrapper (e.g. ffmpegx). I am in my BootCamp so I don't have access to my Automator script (to extract the command line to generate the poster frame) but it's easy to Google that part/.

cgc · Aug 23, 2009, 10:18 PM

Here's the arguments I use to generate a poster frame using ffmpeg in the command line (but called in Automator):

Code:
for f in "$@"
do 
/usr/local/bin/ffmpeg -i "$f" -an -ss 00:00:03 -t 00:00:01 -r 1 -y -s 320x240 /Users/craig/Desktop/video%d.jpg
done

AppleJockey · Aug 23, 2009, 11:38 PM

Originally Posted by cgc

Here's the arguments I use to generate a poster frame using ffmpeg in the command line (but called in Automator):

Code:
for f in "$@"
do 
/usr/local/bin/ffmpeg -i "$f" -an -ss 00:00:03 -t 00:00:01 -r 1 -y -s 320x240 /Users/craig/Desktop/video%d.jpg
done

thanks a lot for your swift reply and command line
this Im not the best at using scripts or automator but i will give it a try and see.

So You are saying i use this line in automator
and the content and it should generate poster frames for each file?

sorry if my question sounds silly but again im not VERY familiar with automator apart from resizing multiple pictures

cgc · Aug 23, 2009, 11:52 PM

I think I put that line in as a "run shell script" item within Automator and saved it as an Application. When you drop a .flv onto it (assuming your ffmpeg is installed where mine is) it will take the poster frame and save it from the 3 second point. The file will be 320x200 pixels but you can change it. I don't remember if the script can process multiple files dropped on to the application but that was the intent. This is part of a larger script that transcodes video files to .flv and makes the poster frame but one part or the other only processed one file so that's all I do with it. When I get some time I'll look more into it but I've been busy recently.

cgc · Aug 24, 2009, 09:48 AM

Ok, I fiddled with my script a bit and forgot why I did what I did originally, but it does create a single poster frame (all named "poster1.jpg" which is annnoying). It works but it needs the recursion fixed so you can drop a thousand files on it and it will create poster frames from all of them and numbers the resulting jpg (it'd be better if it could include the original filename with a suffix/prefix that lets you know it's a poster frame). I've attached ffmpeg (which goes in your /usr/local/bin/ folder - use the Terminal to find it...gotta "cd /" a couple times to get above your User folder). Also attached is the source for the Automator script. Hope this helps...gotta be a better way but my knowledge is limited... You will have to change the output path...I use the desktop and I'm "craig" so if you change "craig" to your user name poster frames will be saved to your desktop...if that's what you want.

ffmpeg binary
MakePosterFrame_Source.zip

JellyBeen · Aug 25, 2009, 07:27 AM

Originally Posted by AppleJockey

first and foremost yes I have already done a forum sreach to those who are wondering

I have a number of .flv movie files I have downloaded from sites like youtube on my drive.
In finder under icon view i only see a piece of paper with the fold in the corner.
seeing the files this way is generally ugly & makes coverflow view pointless.

I KNOW how to copy a frame>get info>paste the frame in the top left in order to get a thumbnail but this is very time consuming as I have hundreds of videos!
Does anyone know how I can automatically grab the first(actually any frame would be better that the blank sheet of paper) frame of my flv files to make a thumb nail?

funny enough when I download a wmv movie thumbnail is automatically generated.

gracias!

This might help you.

Perian's Type Installer (was PerianAddFile) patches QuickTime Player's Info.plist file to automatically handle Perian filetypes and give them appropriate icons.

http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/25243

AppleJockey · Aug 27, 2009, 09:42 AM

Originally Posted by cgc

Ok, I fiddled with my script a bit and forgot why I did what I did originally, but it does create a single poster frame (all named "poster1.jpg" which is annnoying). It works but it needs the recursion fixed so you can drop a thousand files on it and it will create poster frames from all of them and numbers the resulting jpg (it'd be better if it could include the original filename with a suffix/prefix that lets you know it's a poster frame). I've attached ffmpeg (which goes in your /usr/local/bin/ folder - use the Terminal to find it...gotta "cd /" a couple times to get above your User folder). Also attached is the source for the Automator script. Hope this helps...gotta be a better way but my knowledge is limited... You will have to change the output path...I use the desktop and I'm "craig" so if you change "craig" to your user name poster frames will be saved to your desktop...if that's what you want.

ffmpeg binary
MakePosterFrame_Source.zip

Thanks.the visuals help me greatly
I hate to sound doltish and too GUI but Im still trying to figure out Where I enter the script

Originally Posted by JellyBeen

This might help you.

Perian's Type Installer (was PerianAddFile) patches QuickTime Player's Info.plist file to automatically handle Perian filetypes and give them appropriate icons.

http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/25243

thanks
I tried this.It did changed the icon from the blank piece of paper to a quicktime icon.still no 1st frame screen shots.All of the files have the same generic Quicktime icon.

moonmonkey · Aug 27, 2009, 07:18 PM

FLV auto thumbnail creation (and full .fvl support) is built into Quicktime X in Snow Leopard.

cgc · Aug 27, 2009, 07:37 PM

Originally Posted by AppleJockey

Thanks.the visuals help me greatly
I hate to sound doltish and too GUI but Im still trying to figure out Where I enter the script

thanks
I tried this.It did changed the icon from the blank piece of paper to a quicktime icon.still no 1st frame screen shots.All of the files have the same generic Quicktime icon.

You'd change the part that says "Run Shell Script"...there's a text entry box with a command in it. That will produce a 640x480 pixel jpg of the 3rd second of the flv and drop it on (my) desktop ... you need to change the desktop location...

cgc · Aug 27, 2009, 07:54 PM

If you only have a couple files to change (I think you said you had "hundreds") I made a screencast that shows how to do it using QuickTime (assuming you have Perian installed). The Automator method generated a poster frame that can be opened in Preview and copied and pasted on to the icon like Quicktime, but Quicktime/Perian is easier...

You should probably download the linked file since it's at 1280x1024 resolution...

http://www.craigminah.com/files/chan...aquicktime.mov