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Tool
Description
Type
Rating
Reviews
movie thumbnailer (mtn) saves thumbnails/screenshots of movie or video files to jpeg files. It uses FFmpeg's libavcodec as its engine, so it supports all popular codecs, e.g. . h.265/hevc, h.264, divx h264 mpeg1 mpeg2 mp4 vc1 wmv xvid, and formats, e.g. .3gp .avi .dat .mkv .wmv. Command line tool(useful for batching) but GUI/Frontend also available.
Free software
OS:
File size: 42MB
Portable version
Other versions
Old versions
Version history
OS:
File size: 42MB
Portable version
Other versions
Old versions
Version history
Screenshots
Latest version
Download
Download movie thumbnailer 3.5.0 Windows 64-bit 42MB Win64
Portable 
Download movie thumbnailer 3.5.0 Linux Linux
Download Beta and other versions
Download movie thumbnailer 0.5 QMNT GUI Linux Linux
Download old versions
Software License
Supported operating systems
Linux More information and other downloads
Download GUI Thumbnail Generator here, a GUI/fronted for movie thumbnailer/mtn.
Download Thumbnail me here, Thumbnail me saves thumbnails (screenshots) of movie or video files to jpeg files.
Download Thumbnail me here, Thumbnail me saves thumbnails (screenshots) of movie or video files to jpeg files.
Version history / Release notes / Changelog / What's New
version 3.5.0 2024/02/21
- add filtering and tonemaping (--filters, --filter-color-primaries, --tonemap)
- add -x switch to change output filename
- add -e switch to specify file extension list
- add support for webp and avif (-o)
- append "tiles info" to the info file (-N)
- default font is being searched using fonconfig
- wrong fontname turns off font rendering instead of error exiting
- fix folder permission for newly created directory with -O switch
- fix font warning if no font needed
- fix network init warning
- add filtering and tonemaping (--filters, --filter-color-primaries, --tonemap)
- add -x switch to change output filename
- add -e switch to specify file extension list
- add support for webp and avif (-o)
- append "tiles info" to the info file (-N)
- default font is being searched using fonconfig
- wrong fontname turns off font rendering instead of error exiting
- fix folder permission for newly created directory with -O switch
- fix font warning if no font needed
- fix network init warning
View full changelog
All features
Super fast! Thanks to FFmpeg's libavcodec.
Command line program: can be used on remote connections to co-location servers, or used in scripts.
Batch mode: recursively search directories for movie files.
Run at lower priority (nice 10 on Linux, idle on Windows) by default. To run at normal priority use -n option.
Thumbnails are group together in one jpeg file and can be saved individually too (-I option).
Work fine with Unicode filenames in both Linux & Windows (might need to change the font with -f fontfile).
Blank screen detection & evasion
Edge detection & blur evasion
Update mode: (-W option) omits files that already have thumbnails
Save file info (name, size, length, codecs) to a text file (-N option)
Seek and non-seek mode: automatically selected and can be overridden (-z and -Z option). Seek mode is much faster while non-seek mode is good for small time step or small clips.
3D-look: shadows under individual shots
Transparent background color using png
Command line program: can be used on remote connections to co-location servers, or used in scripts.
Batch mode: recursively search directories for movie files.
Run at lower priority (nice 10 on Linux, idle on Windows) by default. To run at normal priority use -n option.
Thumbnails are group together in one jpeg file and can be saved individually too (-I option).
Work fine with Unicode filenames in both Linux & Windows (might need to change the font with -f fontfile).
Blank screen detection & evasion
Edge detection & blur evasion
Update mode: (-W option) omits files that already have thumbnails
Save file info (name, size, length, codecs) to a text file (-N option)
Seek and non-seek mode: automatically selected and can be overridden (-z and -Z option). Seek mode is much faster while non-seek mode is good for small time step or small clips.
3D-look: shadows under individual shots
Transparent background color using png
Sections/Browse similar tools
Alternative to movie thumbnailer
Auto-Movie-Thumbnailer
Image Grabber II
ImageGrab
Scenegrabber.NET
Video Thumbnails Maker
Guides and How to's
Acronyms / Also Known As
Download movie thumbnailer Portable download from the Download links under Download and Download other versions!
Notify me when software updated or report software
| 6 reviews, Showing 1 to 5 reviews |
Rating by xsxs on
Feb 5, 2025 Version: 3.5.0
OS: Windows 10 64-bit Ease of use: 10/10
Functionality: 10/10
Value for money: 10/10
Overall: 10/10
I have been using mtn since 2010 and it's the fastest out there. It took a bit to figure out the arguments since it's command line only but after that it's been great. I have been using the mtn-200808a-win32 version even to this day in 2024, but finally decided to update it because the older one didn't support HEVC or AV1. So I updated it to 3.4.2 and it does support HEVC & AV1 which is great.
My only gripe with the new version is that the font rendering changed a bit. I always used verdana.ttf as the font for the overhead text, but with the new version, the text letters are pretty narrow & slim. I tried using the verdana bold one, but it's still not the same! 🫤
My only gripe with the new version is that the font rendering changed a bit. I always used verdana.ttf as the font for the overhead text, but with the new version, the text letters are pretty narrow & slim. I tried using the verdana bold one, but it's still not the same! 🫤
Review by version365 on
Feb 11, 2024 Version: 3.4.2
OS: Windows 10 64-bit Ease of use: 6/10
Functionality: 7/10
Value for money: 10/10
Overall: 8/10
It's fast indeed, but the quality of the screenshots is quite poor compared with other tools. (I've tried VCSI, Scorp Video Thumbnails Maker, MPC-HC, SMPlayer, Auto Movie Thumbnailer, StaxRip, PotPlayer, BsPlayer !) It might go unnoticed for small thumbnails but I have a situation where I want 4 tiles of 960x540 pixels generated from 1920x1080 short videos, and MTN's output is dull and blurry. Another issue is that the colors are inaccurate for Bt.709 YUV footage. SMPlayer gets the colors right, the quality is fine, but options are limited and it doesn't allow batch-processing. I managed to tweak VCSI to respect the colors, the picture quality is also fine, but it's much slower than MTN and there are less informations available in the metadata header (although it's easier to tweak with a custom template). Scorp's software doesn't respect Bt.709 colors either, it's faster than VCSI but slower than MTN (even with the so-called “ultimate” engine which I found to be actually slightly slower than the basic “crystal” engine available with a free license, at least with my test video).
Review by abolibibelot on
Nov 6, 2018 Version: 200808a
OS: Windows 7 Ease of use: 7/10
Functionality: 7/10
Value for money: 10/10
Overall: 7/10
The best video thumbnails creator bar none. I am amazed at how blazingly fast it is compared to the other programs I've used. Many thanks to the author of this excellent tool. I highly recommend that others give this program a try.
Review by win7user on
Nov 5, 2010 Version: 200808a
OS: Windows 7 64-bit Ease of use: 10/10
Functionality: 10/10
Value for money: 10/10
Overall: 10/10
Indeed indeed incredible simple incredible fast.
The only thing you must know is
Where is mtn.exe?
Where is my file?
How many rows to grab? or Grab a picture all 60 seconds, 120 seconds.
Example: I have unzipped
http://download2.videohelp.com/download/mtn-200808a-win32andfrontend01.zip
to
C:\Programme\moviethumbs\
My File is on an external drive
"N:\fulldvd\MYMOVIE.mkv"
I grab an image all 60 seconds:
-s 60
This string is used at Start_Run:
C:\Programme\moviethumbs\mtn-200808a-win32\mtn.exe -P -h 0 -c 3 -s 60 -w 1024 -g 0 -j 80 -b 0,80 -D 12 -L 4:2 -k 000000 -f tahomabd.ttf -F FFFFFF:12:tahomabd.ttf:FFFFFF:000000:10 -T "" "N:\fulldvd\MYMOVIE.mkv"
And within 10 seconds !!!!! 111 pictures in 3 rows are generated in a file MYMOVIE_s.jpg (1,381 MB).
If you save the great string
C:\Programme\moviethumbs\mtn-200808a-win32\mtn.exe -P -h 0 -c 3 -s 60 -w 1024 -g 0 -j 80 -b 0,80 -D 12 -L 4:2 -k 000000 -f tahomabd.ttf -F FFFFFF:12:tahomabd.ttf:FFFFFF:000000:10 -T "" "N:\fulldvd\MYMOVIE.mkv"
in a text file, you must only change the movie's title, paste it into START-RUN and you are much faster than with all the other third class programs!
The only thing you must know is
Where is mtn.exe?
Where is my file?
How many rows to grab? or Grab a picture all 60 seconds, 120 seconds.
Example: I have unzipped
http://download2.videohelp.com/download/mtn-200808a-win32andfrontend01.zip
to
C:\Programme\moviethumbs\
My File is on an external drive
"N:\fulldvd\MYMOVIE.mkv"
I grab an image all 60 seconds:
-s 60
This string is used at Start_Run:
C:\Programme\moviethumbs\mtn-200808a-win32\mtn.exe -P -h 0 -c 3 -s 60 -w 1024 -g 0 -j 80 -b 0,80 -D 12 -L 4:2 -k 000000 -f tahomabd.ttf -F FFFFFF:12:tahomabd.ttf:FFFFFF:000000:10 -T "" "N:\fulldvd\MYMOVIE.mkv"
And within 10 seconds !!!!! 111 pictures in 3 rows are generated in a file MYMOVIE_s.jpg (1,381 MB).
If you save the great string
C:\Programme\moviethumbs\mtn-200808a-win32\mtn.exe -P -h 0 -c 3 -s 60 -w 1024 -g 0 -j 80 -b 0,80 -D 12 -L 4:2 -k 000000 -f tahomabd.ttf -F FFFFFF:12:tahomabd.ttf:FFFFFF:000000:10 -T "" "N:\fulldvd\MYMOVIE.mkv"
in a text file, you must only change the movie's title, paste it into START-RUN and you are much faster than with all the other third class programs!
Review by stratos on
Dec 18, 2009 Version: 200808a (August 01, 2008)
OS: WinXP Ease of use: 10/10
Functionality: 10/10
Value for money: 10/10
Overall: 10/10
| 6 reviews, Showing 1 to 5 reviews |
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Our hosted software are virus and malware scanned with several antivirus programs using www.virustotal.com. (NOTE! Just one virustotal warning is 99.9% a false positive. And some software might receive 2-6 warnings but it's if they are not all same virus/trojan then it's 99% false positives.)
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NEW SOFTWARE= New tool since your last visit
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Latest version
Version number / Beta version number / Update version number and when it whas released.
Type and download
NO MORE UPDATES? = The software hasn't been updated in over 2 years.
NO LONGER DEVELOPED = The software hasn't been updated in over 5 years.
RECENTLY UPDATED = The software has been updated the last 31 days.
Freeware = Download Free software.
Freeware Trialware = Download Free software but some parts are trial/shareware.
Free software = Download Free software and also open source code also known as FOSS (Free and Open Source Software).
Free software Trialware = Download Free software and also open source code but some parts are trial/shareware.
Freeware Ads = Download Free software but supported by advertising, usually with a included browser toolbar. It may be disabled when installing or after installation.
Free software Ads = Free Download software and open source code but supported by advertising, usually with a included browser toolbar. It may be disabled when installing or after installation.
Trialware = Also called shareware or demo. Free Trial version available for download and testing with usually a time limit or limited functions.
Payware = No demo or trial available.
Portable version = A portable/standalone version is available. No installation is required.
v1.0.1 = Latest version available.
Download beta = It could be a Beta, RC(Release Candidate) or an Alpha / Nightly / Unstable version of the software.
Download 15MB = A direct link to the software download.
Win = Windows download version. It works on 32-bit and 64-bit Windows.
Win64 = Windows 64-bit download version. It works only on 64-bit Windows.
Mac = Mac download version. It works on 32-bit and 64-bit Mac OS.
Mac64 = Mac OS download version. It works only on 64-bit Mac OS.
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Portable = Portable version. No installation is required.
Ad-Supported = The software is bundled with advertising. Be careful when you install the software and disable addons that you don't want!
Visit developers site = A link to the software developer site.
Download (mirror link) = A mirror link to the software download. It may not contain the latest versions.
Download old versions = Free downloads of previous versions of the program.
Download 64-bit version = If you have a 64bit operating system you can download this version.
Download portable version = Portable/Standalone version meaning that no installation is required, just extract the files to a folder and run directly.
Portable version available = Download the portable version and you can just extract the files and run the program without installation.
Old versions available = Download old versions of the program.
Version history available = Complete changelog on our site.
= Windows version available. = Mac OS version available. = Linux version available.Our hosted software are virus and malware scanned with several antivirus programs using www.virustotal.com. (NOTE! Just one virustotal warning is 99.9% a false positive. And some software might receive 2-6 warnings but it's if they are not all same virus/trojan then it's 99% false positives.)
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