Overview

Icaros Shell Extensions is a way to add to the basic capabilities of the Windows Explorer program to provide new multimedia functionality.

The software adds a number of Windows Shell Extensions that bring video content to life by providing video thumbnails from inside the Windows Explorer application.

FFmpeg is used to provide support for MKV, MOV, MP4, AVI, WEBM, OGV, FLV, RMVB, OGM, M2TS and other video formats. Audio formats are also supported for FLAC, OGG, OPUS, SPX, APE, MP3, MKA, TAK, OFR, OFS, and WAV.

The thumbnail preview create a film-like left and right effect with visual film qualities. The main video thumbnail is either a visual number or a capture from the video itself.

Cover art can also be embedded into thumbnails, so poster art from a movie or a TV series can be incorporated into the thumbnail too.

A slider can also be used, plus timer settings, to help the software grab just the right frame from a video clip to use as the active thumbnail.

32-bit thumbnails can also be enabled on a 64-bit Windows machine.

Video and audio file thumbnails are supported.

Installation

The installation completed without any issues.

There was no adware, toolbars, spyware or malware included with the setup package.

Icaros Shell Extensions requires Windows OS.

Interface

The interface is actually pretty slick. There is a left sidebar with options for Thumbnailing, Properties, Cache, and About.

When selecting from the sidebar, the main display changes to offer up the settings for that particular section.

Within the Thumbnailing section it is possible to enable or disable the thumbnailing feature, as needed.

Pros

• Add video and audio thumbnails to Windows Explorer
• Windows Shell Extensions
• Film-like thumbnail preview which is more attractive than the default look
• Select where in a video recording to take the capture for the thumbnail
• Use a graphical cover art poster as a thumbnail
• 32-bit thumbnails can be used on 64-bit Windows systems
• Support for the following video formats: MKV, MOV, MP4, AVI, WEBM, OGV, FLV, RMVB, OGM, M2TS
• Support for the following audio formats: FLAC, OGG, OPUS, SPX, APE, MP3, MKA, TAK, OFR, OFS, and WAV

Cons

• None.

Alternatives

Media Preview can display better video thumbnails for you.

Conclusion

Icaros Shell Extensions is a fun way to jazz up the Windows Explorer video and audio thumbnails by using this extension. Selecting pick the thumbnail to use from a frame in a video clip or use poster art.