The Fan Art Forum Guide - Rules/Tuts./Questions *updated 10-05

Hi all,

I'm sorry if this post is a repeat of previous posts, as I'm sure it is. I've been browsing around on the thread, but haven't looked through everything. Anyway, I'm trying to figure out how to get caps. I started looking through recommended cap sites, but was having trouble finding the S9 caps that I wanted and, like they say, better to learn how to fish than just be given fish, so I'm hoping to learn how to cap on my own. That said, as a broke college student, I do not want to spend money on any new products. I have a MacOSXv10.5.6 and all of the standard products that come with this (TextEdit, iCalendar, Safari, etc.) as well as VLC and Firefox. I also have Gimp, but it, along with OpenOffice (apparently they're both based around the same X11 program) hasn't been the most cooperative. I don't have a DVD player, though I may be able to get my hands on one if necessary. The videos I want to cap are S9, so I was hoping to use the player on CBS's website. Is there any way I can cap stuff using the technology that I have? If not, what software (preferably free software) would you recommend getting in order to make caps? Also, how long does it take cap-makers to make caps? Links to good capping tutorials would also be appreciated.
 
Last edited:
I use VLC and it works fine for stuff I have on DVD, but I don't know how to make caps from stuff that I view on the internet. If you have a DVD recorder you could probably tape the show onto the DVD and then cap with VLC. But if not, I don't know. Do you have Nero? I think you cap with it. I haven't played with it yet, so I don't know how it works.

As for making caps from DVDs, I usually just cap what I want while watching the episode, so it doesn't take any longer than it does to watch an episode. However, I know there are some programs you can set to auto cap every so many frames. And you might be able to do this with VLC, but I don't know. I just cap by hand cause that way I know I have a better chance of capping the scenes I want. :lol:

Here's a google search page. Maybe you can find something there. I looked at a couple, but I'm not sure if they are compatible with a Mac. I don't know much about macs as I've never had one. But, maybe there's something there. You can also try and see if this site has any free ones.
 
Last edited:
I just meant that I click the button to bring up the pull down menu and then click on snapshot on my own because that way I'll have a better chance of getting the shots I want. I have paused before capping a time or two particularly if a certain shot is hard to get when it's playing. :lol:
 
happyharper13, if you're looking to get only a few caps of certain scenes, a quick way to do it on a Mac is [shift]+[apple]+[3]. It'll take a snapshot of your screen, as automatically save it as a .jpg on your desktop as picture1, picture2, etc.

Obviously, if you're wanting to do a lot of caps at a time, this isn't very convenient, but it works for small batches :)
 
I've been asked about how I lighten dark screen caps quite a few times, and instead of explaining it to each person, I thought I'd finally give in and create a tutorial. I use Photoshop CS3, and have designed this tutorial around that fact. However, I believe you should be able to translate it to Paintshop Pro (version 7 and up), though I'm not sure about Paint.net or GIMP.

The tutorial is over on my livejournal, just click on the image to go. :)

 
Last edited:
Cool tutorial! Too bad I can't use it. :lol: I am way to comfy with my photoshop elements to upgrade it now. :D
 
Becka - it looks awesome, I think it's more or less translatable to GIMP! :D

I just don't know if I'll be able to do an Exclusion layer because we don't have that option with GIMP if I do screen,screen,subtract @ 100% opacity will it give the same effect?
 
Last edited:
Thanks CSI_Kat! I haven't used Elements in so long, I wouldn't even begin to know what it's capable of anymore. But I know how you feel, I used Paintshop Pro 7 for years before I finally caved in and went to Photoshop (and only because school made me haha).

Soph, thanks for the comment, and thanks for confirming compatibility! I actually have GIMP, but the interface makes me panic, and I never learned how to use it.

As for your question on the exclusion layer, I played around with a bit, and it seems that if you use the colour I specified (#00436A), you can fill one Screen layer at 100%, and then use a Subtract layer with the same colour at 40%. The effect is very close, can barely tell a difference. I added these instructions to the tutorial with credit to you.

Thanks Meg! And thanks for the friending on LJ, I friended ya back. :D
 
Last edited:
Thanks for all of the help with caps! I've just made my first ones after downloading clips from an Eric Szmanda fansite. Now that I've got that figured out, I'm trying to learn how to do all (or rather some) of the fancier stuff with fanart. I have Gimp right now and am kind of lost on how to do anything with it. What are some of the best tutorials for the absolute basics (or basically for people who are particularly Gimp/tech-illiterate)? Any recommendations?
 
A good place to start out if you are an absolute beginner would be the GIMP website itself.

GIMP tutorials

Aside from that, you can try this site, which isn't icon-centric, but there are some neat tips and tricks here that will at least help you become more familiar with the tools available in the program.

A specific tutorial, once you understand layers and such a little better, would be this one, which will help you to lighten up and improve the quality of most screen caps.

Hope those help a little.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top