This is how you extract frames from video

Question

right then, in answer to many posts about how to get the individual frames from video, here is my solution. it seems to work with mpg files but it doesnt seem to work with any of the avi files i tried. not sure why it doesnt work with those. i have modified javas frame access.
nothing is displayed except it prints which frame it is doing.
if anyone wants to improve it, please do. i still dont understand fully how it works so i probably wont be able to answer many questions about it. anyway here it is:
* @(#)FrameAccess.java 1.5 01/03/13
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import java.awt.*;
import javax.media.*;
import javax.media.control.TrackControl;
import javax.media.Format;
import javax.media.format.*;
import java.io.*;
import javax.imageio.*;
import javax.imageio.stream.*;
import java.awt.image.*;
import java.util.*;
import javax.media.util.*;
* Sample program to access individual video frames by using a
* "pass-thru" codec. The codec is inserted into the data flow
* path. As data pass through this codec, a callback is invoked
* for each frame of video data.
public class FrameAccess implements ControllerListener {
     Processor p;
     Object waitSync = new Object();
     boolean stateTransitionOK = true;
     public boolean alreadyPrnt = false;
     * Given a media locator, create a processor and use that processor
     * as a player to playback the media.
     * During the processor's Configured state, two "pass-thru" codecs,
     * PreAccessCodec and PostAccessCodec, are set on the video track.
     * These codecs are used to get access to individual video frames
     * of the media.
     * Much of the code is just standard code to present media in JMF.
     public boolean open(MediaLocator ml) {
          try {
               p = Manager.createProcessor(ml);
          } catch (Exception e) {
               System.err.println(
                    "Failed to create a processor from the given url: " + e);
               return false;
          p.addControllerListener(this);
          // Put the Processor into configured state.
          p.configure();
          if (!waitForState(Processor.Configured)) {
               System.err.println("Failed to configure the processor.");
               return false;
          // So I can use it as a player.
          p.setContentDescriptor(null);
          // Obtain the track controls.
          TrackControl tc[] = p.getTrackControls();
          if (tc == null) {
               System.err.println(
                    "Failed to obtain track controls from the processor.");
               return false;
          // Search for the track control for the video track.
          TrackControl videoTrack = null;
          for (int i = 0; i < tc.length; i++) {
               if (tc.getFormat() instanceof VideoFormat) videoTrack = tc[i];
               else     tc[i].setEnabled(false);
          if (videoTrack == null) {
               System.err.println("The input media does not contain a video track.");
               return false;
          String videoFormat = videoTrack.getFormat().toString();
          Dimension videoSize = parseVideoSize(videoFormat);
          System.err.println("Video format: " + videoFormat);
          // Instantiate and set the frame access codec to the data flow path.
          try {
               Codec codec[] = { new PostAccessCodec(videoSize)};
               videoTrack.setCodecChain(codec);
          } catch (UnsupportedPlugInException e) {
               System.err.println("The process does not support effects.");
          // Realize the processor.
          p.prefetch();
          if (!waitForState(Processor.Prefetched)) {
               System.err.println("Failed to realise the processor.");
               return false;
          p.start();
          return true;
     /**parse the size of the video from the string videoformat*/
     public Dimension parseVideoSize(String videoSize){
          int x=300, y=200;
          StringTokenizer strtok = new StringTokenizer(videoSize, ", ");
          strtok.nextToken();
          String size = strtok.nextToken();
          StringTokenizer sizeStrtok = new StringTokenizer(size, "x");
          try{
               x = Integer.parseInt(sizeStrtok.nextToken());
               y = Integer.parseInt(sizeStrtok.nextToken());
          } catch (NumberFormatException e){
               System.out.println("unable to find video size, assuming default of 300x200");
          System.out.println("Image width = " + String.valueOf(x) +"\nImage height = "+ String.valueOf(y));
          return new Dimension(x, y);
     * Block until the processor has transitioned to the given state.
     * Return false if the transition failed.
     boolean waitForState(int state) {
          synchronized (waitSync) {
               try {
                    while (p.getState() != state && stateTransitionOK)
                         waitSync.wait();
               } catch (Exception e) {
          return stateTransitionOK;
     * Controller Listener.
     public void controllerUpdate(ControllerEvent evt) {
          if (evt instanceof ConfigureCompleteEvent
               || evt instanceof RealizeCompleteEvent
               || evt instanceof PrefetchCompleteEvent) {
               synchronized (waitSync) {
                    stateTransitionOK = true;
                    waitSync.notifyAll();
          } else if (evt instanceof ResourceUnavailableEvent) {
               synchronized (waitSync) {
                    stateTransitionOK = false;
                    waitSync.notifyAll();
          } else if (evt instanceof EndOfMediaEvent) {
               p.close();
               System.exit(0);
     * Main program
     public static void main(String[] args) {
          if (args.length == 0) {
               prUsage();
               System.exit(0);
          String url = args[0];
          if (url.indexOf(":") < 0) {
               prUsage();
               System.exit(0);
          MediaLocator ml;
          if ((ml = new MediaLocator(url)) == null) {
               System.err.println("Cannot build media locator from: " + url);
               System.exit(0);
          FrameAccess fa = new FrameAccess();
          if (!fa.open(ml))
               System.exit(0);
     static void prUsage() {
          System.err.println("Usage: java FrameAccess <url>");
     * Inner class.
     * A pass-through codec to access to individual frames.
     public class PreAccessCodec implements Codec {
          * Callback to access individual video frames.
          void accessFrame(Buffer frame) {
               // For demo, we'll just print out the frame #, time &
               // data length.
               long t = (long) (frame.getTimeStamp() / 10000000f);
               System.err.println(
                    "Pre: frame #: "
                         + frame.getSequenceNumber()
                         + ", time: "
                         + ((float) t) / 100f
                         + ", len: "
                         + frame.getLength());
          * The code for a pass through codec.
          // We'll advertize as supporting all video formats.
          protected Format supportedIns[] = new Format[] { new VideoFormat(null)};
          // We'll advertize as supporting all video formats.
          protected Format supportedOuts[] = new Format[] { new VideoFormat(null)};
          Format input = null, output = null;
          public String getName() {
               return "Pre-Access Codec";
          //these dont do anything
          public void open() {}
          public void close() {}
          public void reset() {}
          public Format[] getSupportedInputFormats() {
               return supportedIns;
          public Format[] getSupportedOutputFormats(Format in) {
               if (in == null)
                    return supportedOuts;
               else {
                    // If an input format is given, we use that input format
                    // as the output since we are not modifying the bit stream
                    // at all.
                    Format outs[] = new Format[1];
                    outs[0] = in;
                    return outs;
          public Format setInputFormat(Format format) {
               input = format;
               return input;
          public Format setOutputFormat(Format format) {
               output = format;
               return output;
          public int process(Buffer in, Buffer out) {
               // This is the "Callback" to access individual frames.
               accessFrame(in);
               // Swap the data between the input & output.
               Object data = in.getData();
               in.setData(out.getData());
               out.setData(data);
               // Copy the input attributes to the output
               out.setFlags(Buffer.FLAG_NO_SYNC);
               out.setFormat(in.getFormat());
               out.setLength(in.getLength());
               out.setOffset(in.getOffset());
               return BUFFER_PROCESSED_OK;
          public Object[] getControls() {
               return new Object[0];
          public Object getControl(String type) {
               return null;
     public class PostAccessCodec extends PreAccessCodec {
          // We'll advertize as supporting all video formats.
          public PostAccessCodec(Dimension size) {
               supportedIns = new Format[] { new RGBFormat()};
               this.size = size;
          * Callback to access individual video frames.
          void accessFrame(Buffer frame) {
               // For demo, we'll just print out the frame #, time &
               // data length.
               if (!alreadyPrnt) {
                    BufferToImage stopBuffer = new BufferToImage((VideoFormat) frame.getFormat());
                    Image stopImage = stopBuffer.createImage(frame);
                    try {
                         BufferedImage outImage = new BufferedImage(size.width, size.height, BufferedImage.TYPE_INT_RGB);
                         Graphics og = outImage.getGraphics();
                         og.drawImage(stopImage, 0, 0, size.width, size.height, null);
                         //prepareImage(outImage,rheight,rheight, null);
                         Iterator writers = ImageIO.getImageWritersByFormatName("jpg");
                         ImageWriter writer = (ImageWriter) writers.next();
                         //Once an ImageWriter has been obtained, its destination must be set to an ImageOutputStream:
                         File f = new File(frame.getSequenceNumber() + ".jpg");
                         ImageOutputStream ios = ImageIO.createImageOutputStream(f);
                         writer.setOutput(ios);
                         //Finally, the image may be written to the output stream:
                         //BufferedImage bi;
                         //writer.write(imagebi);
                         writer.write(outImage);
                         ios.close();
                    } catch (IOException e) {
                         System.out.println("Error :" + e);
               //alreadyPrnt = true;
               long t = (long) (frame.getTimeStamp() / 10000000f);
               System.err.println(
                    "Post: frame #: "
                         + frame.getSequenceNumber()
                         + ", time: "
                         + ((float) t) / 100f
                         + ", len: "
                         + frame.getLength());
          public String getName() {
               return "Post-Access Codec";
          private Dimension size;

Answer 1

The quality of the produced video from this example is very poor.
It comes to huuuuge surprise the following fact.
If you comment the line where you set the PostAccessCodec, the chain of the codecs is:
MPEG-1 decoder -> YUV2RGB -> Direct Draw Renderer. ( The one used from the system to decode and render)
If you run the example purely as is above you get the following sequence(as long with the poor quality):
MPEG-1 decoder -> YUV2RGB -> Windows GDI Renderer.
So you say lets set another Renderer. So
you add the following line videoTracker.setRenderer( new DDRenderer() )
What comes to a surprise is the following chain of codecs:
MPEG-1 decoder -> YUV2RGB -> Post Codec -> Java RGB Converter - > DDRenderer
The quality now may be perfect but video runs to slow. The surprising thing here is that even though we have set the outputFormat of the PostAccessFrame codec to RGBFormat the system converts it again to RGB through codec Java RGB Format.
After searching a lot and reaching the conclusion that the deference between the 2 RGB's is their sizes I sudently was brought in front of a method called grabFrame(). Bels started ringing inside my head. Starts were comming up. Looking at the definition of the class com.sun.media.renderer.video.DDRenderer I descovered that this damn class implements the FrameGrabbingControl Interface. What the f.....? The problem that consumed 4 days of my life and multiplied with 10 to give hours has finally come to an and.
Summing up the solution for grabbing frames is this!!!!!
DDRenderer renderer = new DDRenderer();
videoTrack.setRenderer( renderer );
and in your actionPerformed implementation
FrameGrabbingControl fr = (FrameGrabbingControl)renderer.getControl( "javax.media.control.FrameGrabbingControl");
Buffer frame = fr.grabFrame();
The following stuff ...are stated in FrameAccess
--Sniper