On Sun, 4 Feb 2001 08:19:54 +1000, "Paul Bartram" wrote:

>A large chainstore here in Queensland is offering the Snappy 3 kit
>(includes Photoshop and morphing software etc.) for $A199.
>
>I'm aware (from the play.com website) that V.4 is now out, and this
>mob have probably imported a container load of the old ones, but in
>general terms are the claims by Snappy that you can get good 1500+
>stills from videotape valid? The sample pictures on the site are
>brilliant, but I don't entirely believe these were obtained from a
>consumer level camera in the first place- no details are provided- and
>anyone can get good results from a Digital Betacam! The pictures on
>the 'featured' websites (mostly of cars) don't look much better than
>what I get through my FlyVideo card.
>
>Anyone got a Snappy? What's the verdict- does it really make a
>difference?

It is one interesting way to frame-grab from video...
Unlike normal video frame-grabs, which are limited to
the resolution of a single video frame, IF there is
no movement with camera or subject, the Snappy can
use the slightly-varying information from up to
4 frames to build a higher-resolution image. But that
is a BIG "if" to work with...! ;-) The Snappy is a nice,
simple, and cheap solution for those with simple gear
and without video editing software/hardware, but
at least as good results can be had now from good
Mini-DV video cameras, especially if they have
been optimized for still-picture capture...