Right, we all know you can use VLC to take snapshots from your DVDs. However, I'm sure there's a fair few people who don't know how to exploit VLC's features to the fullest for this. So here's a short guide on some useful features. To make it as easy as possible, I'll use pictures to clarify some points.

For starters, VLC can slow down the speed with which the DVD is played. (It can speed it up as well, but that's not really useful when you're trying to take a screenshot, so we'll disregard that for now.)



As the menu choices imply, one of your options will cut the speed at larger increments per click than the other. You can cut the speed all the way down to 0.03 times the original speed, which is basically frame-per-frame view. This is very useful for high-speed shots.

Another useful little tool is the "Jump to a specific time" one. Again, no mystery about what it does. What I generally do is, I play the part of the film I want to take a snapshot from. Once my shot's passed, I pause the film, and note the time. Then, I set playback speed to a slower one. Just how much slower depends on how fast the shot goes, obviously. Then I tell VLC to jump to a specific time that is a few seconds before my actual shot, and hit play. Bam, and one easy shot is as good as in the pocket.



So yeah, these are a few of my trade secrets. Although of course they're not particularly secret. I hope this is useful to at least one person, because if it is, I will feel like my effort is justified. :)

I find the "E" key (next frame) very handy.....

Nice tips, only used the slowdown function up to now. I will sure check out the specific time and E-key :)

It's also easy to have a simple shortcut for taking a screenshot, I chose 'x' for example

I don't use VLC in English, but for the Dutch: (should not be too difficult to figure out yourself)