Screen capture of video on a Mac

Factual Questions
1

As a present for my daughter, I’m building a diorama of a set from a TV show we both love. My procedure has been to stream episodes on my computer, sized to full-screen, and then when I see an area or object I need to reproduce, I freeze-frame and hit Command-Shift-3. Bam. Screen shot of the video image.

I haven’t needed new references about a month. But I tried to get one today, and the procedure no longer works. The screen capture of the video image is just black. If I try it without the video set on full-screen, I get a beautiful capture of my desktop and all the open windows on it … except for the browser window with the freeze-frame, which is just black.

I’m guessing that something updated itself over the past few weeks. I don’t care. I just hope there’s some sort of a work around that will let me get a screen capture of a video frame.

Anyone?

2

Working for me. Checked on both OS Big Sur 11.3 and 11.7.1, on a YouTube video, and a Netflix video.

I suspect the issue is likely on the side of the streaming video’s source. They’re blocking you from taking a screenshot.

If you’re using Chrome, you might be able to circumvent it by turning off “Use Hardware Acceleration When Available” in the settings.

3

I’m using Hulu and Chrome. I’m starting to think I should just turn the computer off and turn it on again.

I’ll try that. What the hell does it mean?

ETA: Whatever it means, it worked. Thank you!

4

It’s my understanding that what it means is essentially: some websites, like streaming video sites, need a lot of processing power to function at their best. Some browsers, like Chrome, can utilize the processing power of other systems on your computer besides the CPU, like your GPU, to help “accelerate” the processing, with your permission. Some websites, like Hulu, block people from saving things like screenshots by using this feature, somehow.

I’m not really a computer guy, I’m just really good at looking stuff up, and I don’t always completely understand the things I find. :wink:

5

One way isn’t intentional at all. It’s just that the video runs in a separate space (called an overlay) that the screenshot app can’t see.

There however is also some DRM that can be used to prevent you from recording video. Some sites only put this on their highest resolution videos. And the high resolution videos play best when you have hardware acceleration turned on. It’s possible that disabling hardware acceleration means the site serves you a lower resolution video that isn’t blocked.

The goal of this is not to stop screenshots, but to make it harder to just record the video as you watch it. I personally don’t think it accomplishes all that much, since there will always be someone who works around it and shares it with the world.