Freeze frames, reverse clips and stills in Video by Zaweba

Three small tools in Video by Zaweba deal with the frame under the playhead and the direction of time. Freeze frame stops a moment, reverse plays a clip backwards, and still export saves a frame as a picture. Each takes a second to use, and each solves a common job.

Freeze frame

Put the playhead on the frame you want and press F. Video by Zaweba makes a freeze frame at that point: a still of that exact frame that you can treat like any other clip on the timeline. You can trim it to the length you want, move it, add effects, scale it and animate it with keyframes.

Freeze frames do a lot of work in everyday editing. Hold the last frame of a shot under a title or a name. Stop the action on a key moment in a sports clip, then zoom in with keyframes to draw attention to it. End a film on a frozen frame of the main subject while the music finishes. Freeze a face to introduce a person, with their name beside them.

A freeze frame can also patch a timing problem. If a shot is a few frames too short for the music, a brief freeze on its last frame can fill the gap, and on a static shot it is rarely noticed. For a frame or two at the end of a trim, the trim settings can hold the last frame instead.

Playing a clip backwards

The Clip menu can play a clip backwards. Reversing is a simple effect that suits a range of jobs: a diver jumping back out of the water, a smashed object reassembling, a walk out of the room that becomes a walk in. It is also handy for a camera move that went the wrong way. If a slow pan moves left when the edit needs it to move right, and nothing in the shot gives away the direction, reversing it can fix the problem.

Watch for things that betray a reverse: people walking, smoke rising, water flowing, text on screen. On a static landscape or an abstract shot, nobody will know.

Reverse combines with other tools. Slow it down with a speed change, or use a speed ramp to make it accelerate. Add a freeze frame at the end. A short reversed clip followed by the same clip forwards is a popular rewind effect in music videos and social clips.

Saving a still

The frame at the playhead can be exported as a full size PNG. It is a full size picture, not a small grab of the preview, so it is good enough to use elsewhere.

Stills have many uses. A thumbnail for a video upload. A frame for a print or a poster. A picture to send someone to check the look of a grade or a title before you export the whole film. A reference frame for matching colour in another shot. A record of a moment from a family video that you want to keep as a photo.

PNG is a good choice for this because it is lossless, so the still has the same quality as the frame in the edit.

Things to keep in mind

A freeze frame is taken from a single frame, so if that frame is blurred by motion, the freeze will be too. Step a frame or two either side to find the sharpest one before pressing F.

Freeze frames and stills both reflect what is at the playhead, so make sure the right track's picture is showing. If a title or overlay is above the shot, decide whether you want it included before saving the still.

These small tools are easy to overlook. Once you have them in hand, Video by Zaweba gives you quick answers to timing problems, creative effects and the frequent request for "just a still from that bit".