How to make awesome shots for WTM
How to take a snapshot
(from the WTM FAQ)

There are many possibilies to capture a still of your favourite movie.
An easy method is to:

  • Use the VLC Media Player (download here: videolan.org)
  • Equip you DVD player with your recently bought DVD of the original movie
  • Play the DVD with VLC Media Player and go to VIDEO > TAKE SCREENSHOT
  • The still will be saved at a predefined location (can be changed in the options)
What you should get at this point

You should get a snapshot of either one of these sizes (width x height) :

  • 1024x576 (that's a 16x9 video frame) if your DVD is PAL and 16x9 enhanced
  • 853x480 (that's a 16x9 video frame too) if your DVD is NTSC and 16x9 enhanced
  • 768x576 (that's a 4x3 video frame) if your DVD is PAL and *not* 16x9 enhanced
  • 640x480 (that's a 4x3 video frame too) if your DVD is NTSC and *not* 16x9 enhanced

You might also get those (from Blu-ray discs) :

  • 1920x1080 (that's a 16x9 video frame)
  • 1280x720 (that's a 16x9 video frame too)
You might also get other sizes, depending on your DVD software.
BUT, you WILL get a snapshot with 16x9 or 4x3 proportions.
If you don't, it's either because :
  • your DVD software settings are wrong, try to fix that
  • you did not take your snapshot from a DVD... which is forbidden by WTM rules
Sample
1.85:1 movie, DVD *not* enhanced for widescreen TVs (4x3)
Above is your "raw" snapshot, straight from your DVD software.
Its size is 768x576 pixels, which is a 1.33:1 ratio (4x3).
The movie original aspect ratio is 1.85:1. In order to maintain this ratio, the DVD studio added black bars.
STEP 1 : Removing the black bars

What you would get in the WTM frame :
WHY should I remove the black bars ?

The WTM frame is 720x400 pixels.

In order to make your snapshot fit in this frame,
its size will be reduced
(by the WTM upload system, unless you do it before).

Then, from 768px wide, it would go down to 533px...

Look at his : It's small and surrounded by black bars !
Not what we like to see on WTM...		 Picture is only 533px wide. It's small and there seems to be black bars all around.
And what if I get rid of those black bars ?

OK, let's see what woudl happen if you remove the black bars.

Then, from 768px wide, it would go down to 720px !

It's way bigger
and looks as good as those other awesome shots on WTM !
 Picture is 720px wide. The tiny black bars are actually the WTM frame background.
All right, but HOW can I do that ?

You'll need a graphic editor software.

This tutorial is made using PhotoFiltre.
It's free and rather simple to use.
You can download it here.

The first thing to do is select the actual movie area
from the DVD snapshot frame :		 Use your mouse to select what sould be keeped.
Then, just click on Crop in the Image menu.

It's done. Black bars are gone !


NOTE : You don't need to resize the shot.
The WTM upload system will take care of that.
 Go to Image and click on Crop.
STEP 2 : Saving it in high quality
WTM won't accept low quality

Be sure to save your shot in high quality.

For that click on Save as in the File menu.
Select the JPG format and type in a file name.
Then, be sure to set Compression at 90.
You'll get a JPG file of a reasonable size
and very good quality.
 Set quality to 90%.