Open files in VS Code and Cursor / 3D and imaging

Make a video contact sheet

A contact sheet is one image with frames of a video in a grid. vcsi and the VCS script make them from the command line with ffmpeg. Video Preview with Sound plays MP4, MOV, MKV and WebM in VS Code for free, and its Pro tool Contact sheet saves one PNG with 16, 30 or 48 frames, each with its time and frame number, under a header with the file name, length, frame size, codecs and file size. It has 3 free tries, then Zovo Pro is USD 19 once.

Free, MIT license. Extension ID zovo.video-preview-with-sound, version 0.3.3. Needs VS Code 1.90.0 or newer.

Steps in VS Code

1. Install Video Preview with Sound from the Marketplace, or press Ctrl+P (Cmd+P on macOS) and run ext install zovo.video-preview-with-sound.
2. Click the video file in the Explorer. It plays in Video Preview with sound.
3. Scrub through it and check that it is the right file. Playing is free.

Where Zovo Pro saves time

Playing MP4, MOV, MKV and WebM with sound, subtitles and resume are free.

One click instead of an ffmpeg command line. Two more Pro tools sit next to it: Clip export (GIF or MP4 of the A-B part) and Frame export (numbered PNG frames, up to 1,000 per export).

With Contact sheet (Zovo Pro)

4. Press Sheet in the player.
5. Pick 16, 30 or 48 frames.
6. Save the PNG. Esc stops an export, and the player goes back to where you were.

Contact sheet works 3 times on your computer before it asks for a license, and a try counts only when you get a result. Opening a file shows no popup and no countdown.

Zovo Pro costs USD 19 once. It is not a subscription, and it turns on the Pro tools in every Zovo extension, not only Video Preview with Sound. After a card payment (Stripe) your license key shows on the next page. In VS Code, run "Zovo Pro: Enter Zovo Pro license key" from the Command Palette and paste it. The key is checked on your computer, with no network call. With GitHub Sponsors, pick the "$19 one time" tier, then run "Zovo Pro: I already paid: unlock with GitHub Sponsors" and sign in with the same GitHub account. With PayPal, send USD 19 with "Zovo Pro" in the note and the key comes by email within a day.

A team of 5: USD 59 once, by card or by PayPal. Every rule and every Pro tool is on the Zovo Pro page.

Steps in Cursor, Windsurf or VSCodium

1. Open the Extensions view with Ctrl+Shift+X (Cmd+Shift+X on macOS).
2. Search for zovo.video-preview-with-sound and click Install. Cursor, Windsurf and VSCodium install from Open VSX, where it is published as zovo/video-preview-with-sound.
3. If your editor has no gallery, download the .vsix from the Open VSX page and run "Extensions: Install from VSIX...".
4. Then use it the same way as in VS Code.

What Video Preview with Sound handles

• 16, 30 or 48 frames.
• Time and frame number on each frame.
• Header with name, length, frame size, codecs and file size.

What it does not do

• One video at a time. For a folder of videos, vcsi in a loop is quicker.

Other options

• vcsi. A free Python command-line tool with grid, width and timestamp options.
• VCS. A shell script that needs only ffmpeg.

Install counts and Open VSX status were checked on 11 November 2026. Descriptions in quotes are the extensions' own.

Questions

More about Video Preview with Sound

Read the Video Preview with Sound page for every feature and setting, or the source code on GitHub.

Related guides

• MP4 Video Player & Preview with Sound on the VS Code Marketplace (also on Open VSX). Plays MP4, MOV, MKV and WebM files in VS Code, with sound.
• Why VS Code plays MP4 with no sound, and how to fix it
• Extract frames from a video in VS Code
• Play MOV, MKV and WebM videos in VS Code
• View STL files in VS Code