I have to extract a thumbnail from a video (from url) and I use this code:
NSString *stringUrl = video.stringurl;
NSURL *url = [NSURL URLWithString:stringUrl
If you are using AVPlayer, you can get the thumbnail like this:
AVAsset *asset = [AVAsset assetWithURL:sourceURL];
AVAssetImageGenerator *imageGenerator = [[AVAssetImageGenerator alloc]initWithAsset:asset];
CMTime time = CMTimeMake(1, 1);
CGImageRef imageRef = [imageGenerator copyCGImageAtTime:time actualTime:NULL error:NULL];
UIImage *thumbnail = [UIImage imageWithCGImage:imageRef];
CGImageRelease(imageRef); // CGImageRef won't be released by ARC