Wish about Thumbnails for video files

[exterminador]

Hi there,

 

This is a "pretty please" wish for video thumbnails :)

 

Some (if not most of the) times automatic thumbnail extraction ends up with a frame that is not a good representation of the video content or that is even a black frame. This is not Daminion's fault, it happens with any automatic thumbnail generation tool as there is not (at least not yet) an algorithm that always return the most representative image from a video file.

 

I think a thumbnail chooser is somewhere in the pending features list for Daminion, but probably is not one of the highest priorities for now (and certainly is not trivial to develop something that supports every video format Daminion supports).

 

I currently generate jpeg thumbnails with VLC as it allows to save the current displayed frame as an image, so you can practically use it as a "thumbnail chooser".

 

But now, I would like to use that thumbnail in Daminion. I haven't figured out a way to do it though.

 

I can think on some options:

 

1) While importing video files, look for a .jpg file with the same name of the video file and use it as thumbnail, for instance:

- Video filename: VIDEOFILE_03.mp4

- Thumbnail filename: VIDEOFILE_03.jpg

This functionality can also be included in the existing "Update Thumbnail" option

 

2) An option to update the thumbnail for a video file by choosing an image file, for instance:

- Right click a video file in Daminion -> "Replace Thumbnail" -> Choose image file

 

This one would be helpful but it represents some manual work though

 

3) Enable a service through Rest API to update a Daminion's item thumbnail; I imagine it accepting for instance:

- ItemID

- Path to thumnail file (or even the binary data of the file)

This way it will be feasible to write a script to "automatically" update the thumbnails when they are created

 

 

Would this be something you can consider?

 

Thanks!

[rene]

i kinda like that idea.

[Murat]

This is a "pretty please" wish for video thumbnails :)

...

 

Would this be something you can consider?

 

Quite interesting suggestions related to selecting of a thumbnail for video files.

 

Your post has pushed me into 2 ideas:

1. An external thumbnail can be used for any kind of formats, not for videos only. For example for Photoshop PSB format (there is no image library that can render thumbnails for this format). Example of complimentary thumbnail names can be originalfile.ext.thumbnail.jpg or originalfile.ext.preview.jpg for originalfile.ext file. Or for CAD files (we didn't render thumbnails for CAD files now)

 

2. VLCPlayer player allows to add video streaming support for Daminion Server. It means the following benefits:

- Videos can be played without placing them to shared folders

- It will be possible to play videos smoothly within the same Daminion interface

- It will be possible to capture a current video frame and use it as a thumbnail for the current video.

- This helps to avoid creating complimentary thumbnail files

 

I didn't investigated enough into the VLCPlayer capabilities and its license model, but at first glance it allows to play videos using streaming. Need some time to learn more...

[Uwe]

Your post has pushed me into 2 ideas:

1. An external thumbnail can be used for any kind of formats, not for videos only. For example for Photoshop PSB format (there is no image library that can render thumbnails for this format). Example of complimentary thumbnail names can be originalfile.ext.thumbnail.jpg or originalfile.ext.preview.jpg for originalfile.ext file. Or for CAD files (we didn't render thumbnails for CAD files now)

Hello Murat,

does it correspond to the icons for "unknown formats" in earlier discussions with you and my "2014 wish list"?

Regards, Uwe

[Murat]

Does it correspond to the icons for "unknown formats" in earlier discussions with you and my "2014 wish list"?

 

Nope. This idea was related to the custom thumbnails for some known formats.

[exterminador]

Hi there,

 

1. An external thumbnail can be used for any kind of formats, not for videos only. For example for Photoshop PSB format (there is no image library that can render thumbnails for this format). Example of complimentary thumbnail names can be originalfile.ext.thumbnail.jpg or originalfile.ext.preview.jpg for originalfile.ext file. Or for CAD files (we didn't render thumbnails for CAD files now)

 

Nice! I was thinking only on thumbnails for video files but you're right, I think it will be useful for other formats too.

 

2. VLCPlayer player allows to add video streaming support for Daminion Server. It means the following benefits:

- Videos can be played without placing them to shared folders

- It will be possible to play videos smoothly within the same Daminion interface

- It will be possible to capture a current video frame and use it as a thumbnail for the current video.

- This helps to avoid creating complimentary thumbnail files

 

I didn't investigated enough into the VLCPlayer capabilities and its license model, but at first glance it allows to play videos using streaming. Need some time to learn more...

 

This would be great! I haven't experimented with VLC for serving/streaming but it seems it would be a nice fit for Daminion Server! Hopefully their licensing model will allow it :)