PHP: Generate preview image from Video file?

Question

Is there a way in PHP given a video file (.mov, .mp4) to generate a thumbnail image preview?

Thanks.

Answer 1

Take a look at; http://ffmpeg.org/ along with http://www.phpbuilder.com/board/archive/index.php/t-10327812.html

Answer 2

Two ways come to mind:

• Using a command-line tool like the popular ffmpeg, however you will almost always need an own server (or a very nice server administrator / hosting company) to get that

• Using the "screenshoot" plugin for the LongTail Video player that allows the creation of manual screenshots that are then sent to a server-side script.