title: How can I get a thumbnail from a video that a user has uploaded to my server?
body: <p><br>
  I'm working on a video sharing website where people can upload their own videos and I want the most recent uploads to be shown on the index page, but not as videos but <strong>thumbnails</strong>, so that when you click on the thumbnail you get to the video page. You guys all know how youtube's index looks/works -- that's what I'm trying to simulate. <br><br>
  I read about ffmpeg but it seems to me it would only work if you have ffmpeg installed on your computer. I want this to be an automated process though without the user having to first install something on their pc. <br>
  Is there a way I can code this? Or do i have to use some kind of framework or CMS? Could this problem be solved by simply getting ffmpeg hosting (<a href="http://www.arvixe.com/ffmpeg_ffmpeg-php_hosting">example</a>)?<br>
  If there is no manual way to do this in php, is there way using python?<br><br>
  Fyi, my website is written in php and i use jwplayer to stream the videos. <br>Please note that I want to get a thumbnail from a video that's been uploaded on my server and not a youtube or vimeo thumbnail. </p>