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".thm" files and Movie Thumbnails

JAlbum recognises " .thm " files, the small image file that is often created by digital cameras for a movie, and Chameleon displays the .thm image in the index page thumbnails and slide page thumblist. The thumbnail is used as an alternative to the skin's generic movie icon. Clicking the icon plays the corresponding movie in the slide page.

The index page thumbnails and the slide page thumblist all have a small movie icon in the top left hand corner, to identify the association. Be aware that in the main GUI, a .thm file that is also chosen as the Folder Thumbnail will only show the movie icon (the small folder icon is masked).

However, the ability to choose any image that best suits the movie would be of benefit (as well as provide a solution for those digital cameras that do not produce the .thm images). This is easy to do as a .thm file is merely an image file.

Therefore, use any suitable image file and rename it to be the same as the movie, but with a .thm extension. So, movie "Holiday Movie.wmv" has an associated "Holiday Movie.thm" image. JAlbum/Chameleon will automatically resize the .thm file according to the Thumbnail Image Bounds options, so there is no need for any manual image re-sizing, beforehand.

3 rd party applications can be used to capture a single frame from a movie, which may be more useful than the standard camera-created .thm file, but of course, the movie thumbnail can be created from any convenient and relative image. Here is a handy tool for capturing THM's from movies created by halligang. Click here!

Two points of interest: the same technique can be used for audio files, and note that JAlbum may have problems with files of the same name (in the same folder) but with different extensions.

(By Mark Worthington)