This page demonstrates the 3 different video capture, aka: Vid-cap sizes obtainable on a Webtv / MSNTV Plus unit.
To be able to do all 3 sizes, you must already have your pagebuilder feature activated.

Also, at the bottom of this page I have information about getting the best quality Vid-cap that you can possibly get.

To activate "Pagebuilder" and your "Scrapbook", go to your "Home" page. In the gray drop menu that says: "MORE", click on "pagebuilder", and make sure you agree to the terms of service.
Once you've done that, create a blank webpage and publish it. This proccess will activate the "scrapbook" feature, and from there, any image that is attached to your email will trigger the "scrapbook" icon in your email's left sidebar.

The smallest vidcap we can make is a vid cap made from the scrapbook area. From the pagebuilder "INDEX" page, click the "scrapbook" icon. Once in scrapbook, you are given the oportunity to capture images directly into the scrapbook, by clicking on the "Capture" icon on the left sidebar.

Dimensions: height 192, width 256.
File size: 6,792 kb
Pagebuilder space: 0.4%
File size & PB space will vary with every vidcap.

A medium image can be obtained by capturing a vid cap directly into a webpage.
Go to the "EDITING" screen for any exsisting webpage, and click "ADD ITEM", then click "PICTURE", then click "CAPTURE".
This vid cap will be placed directly on your webpage, but it will NOT BE in your scrapbook. If you ever remove this image from your webpage, it is lost forever.

The work around for this, is to source the published webpage it's on, extract it's URL, and then upload that image into your scrapbook.
You can use the Cap-n-Fila image extractor to view all the images on your PUBLISHED page, and also to upload them into your scrapbook.
Some people have said that images uploaded, using webscissors don't get uploaded right, and they end up with a blank box, which is why I recomend Cap-n-Fila.
If this happens to you, simply click on the "Details" link beside your picture at webscissors, and then click on the URL of the image on the next page.
Then use a good Uploader. MARTOKS UPLOADER
Once youv'e done that, you can delete the old one from the webpage, and then use the one you just imported into the scrapbook.

Dimensions: height 240, width 320.
File size: 11,050 kb.
Pagebuilder space: 0.5%
File size & PB space will vary with every vidcap.

This is a good size image, and will show a decent amount of detail, yet will not hog up too much room in your scrapbook, if you do the workaround above.

And finaly, the largest vid cap you can make is by using the "PHOTO" option in webtv's email.
Go to your "write mail screen" and click on the "photo" icon, and attach an image to your email.
Address the email to yourself and send it.
When you open it, you will see the scrapbook icon on the left, provided that your pagebilder has been activated, as discussed above.
Clicking this button will send the image to the scrapbook.

Be carefull: These huge images will fill your scrapbook up in a heartbeat, if you have too many of them.

This image is huge, and will fill the whole screen, and has allot of detail.
Webtv's screen sizes are only 372 high, by 544 wide, but it will compress this size image down to be viewable.
Therefore, it is recomended, that if you choose to use one of these monsters, that you at least resize the image to webtv's screen size.
Anything over the above screen dimensions above, is a waste of space, in our scrapbook's memory.

Directly captured to scrapbook:

Dimensions: height 192, width 256
File size:3,671
Pagebuilder space: 0.3%
File size & PB space will vary with every vidcap.



Directly captured to a webpage: (not in scrapbook)

Dimensions: height 240, width 320
File size: 5,767
Pagebuilder space: 0.4%
File size & PB space will vary with every vidcap.

When capturing a jpg from a VCR or any other device that uses TAPE, NEVER pause the tape to capture a paticular image. ALWAYS let the tape play, and just use the FREEZE button on your pop-up panel to snag the image. If you miss your "shot", simply rewind the tape, and try again.

Even the best VCR's "pause" quality is shoddy at best----for the purposes of converting an analog image to digital. Some VCRs produce static "snow" or other interference in the "pause" mode, especially if your "tracking" isn't exactly perfect.

In the case of capturing images from video game consoles, DVD players, or any other digital device, this issue isn't as important, and in most cases, you could sucessfully get a good looking vid-cap from a paused picture.

You should also consider what type and quality of video wire you use. A webtv plus unit can accept 3 types of video signal:

Cheap wires will help contribute to a lousy picture/Vid-cap. The $5.00 "specials" from K-mart might be "OK", but consider spending a little more money.
Not only will you get better Vid-caps, but you'll be able to read more easily, the small text while surfing the internet, if you have good quality wires. You'll also notice a great improvment in TV, VCR, DVD viewing, as well.

I recomend buying the MONSTER® brand wires. MONSTER® wire makes every type of audio/video wire there is. (coax cable, composite RCA, S-VHS, component, etc.)
No matter which type of wire you use, MONSTER® wire will boost your quality by 35 to 50%.
MONSTER® wire is a heavier, thicker gauge wire, with gold plated connectors, and in some cases, gas injected insulation.

Also when Vid-capping images from a tape, take into consideration the quality of tape that you want an image from, and what speed the tape was recorded in.
An old or cheap tape will produce an image of lesser quality, as will a tape that has been recorded over numerous times.

Factory pre-recorded tapes are recorded in SP (fast) because during normal playback of the tape, it gives the best picture quality.
The 3 Vid-caps on this page were done with MONSTER® wire, but were obtained from older tapes that were probably recorded over a few times, and the recordings were taped in the slow EP speed, which is why they are pretty pixilated, --- especially the biggest ones.

In closing, if you use the best type, and quality wire you can, and a good quality tape, recorded on only once and in SP speed, you will get MUCH better pictures and Vid-caps.

Looking for a good way to obtain screen shots on PC?
I found a nice FREE program that contains no viruses & spyware.
With the program, you can easily, with 1 click, take vidcaps of your entire screen, a specific window, or a specific area that you choose, and automatically save it in any folder that you choose.
It even can capture some types of pop-ups from windows, as the below examples show, allowing you to save them for future reference, or to alter them with an imaging program.
Furthermore, you decide what format it's in, what size, & prefix gets assigned to the pic.
You can choose to have the program active in your taskbar when windows starts up, or merely click a shortcut to activate it. Whats more, is the program is small, and doesn't hog up much memory.

Here are a few downsized examples of what the program can do: