VLC Media Player

Prerequisites To use VLC you need:    

A computer with Internet access and an internet (web) browser (to download VLC). What is a web browser? Media (audio or video) files or Disc (optical drive required to play discs). Audio output hardware (speakers, headphones) for audio playback. Knowledge about working with computer files and folders. Working with files and folders (MSFT Windows) How to open documents and folders (Mac OS X) Files, folders & search (Ubuntu)

The main interface Interface overview The following picture shows the names of the main controls in the VLC interface:

Note: This picture corresponds to the Windows XP version. In other systems, VLC might look slightly different.

Menu bar

The menu bar at the top contains commands that control VLC.

Track slider

The track slider is on top of the control buttons. It shows the progress of playing of the media file. You can drag the track slider left to rewind or right to forward the track being played. Two timers at the left and righ ends of the track slider show the current playing position (left) and the total time (right) of the current track. Note: When a media file is streamed (live), the position indicator of the track slider does not move because the total duration of the streaming is not known until it finishes.

Control buttons

The buttons below the slider control the playback. From left to right they are:         

Play/Pause. Previous media in the playlist. Stop playback. Next media in the playlist. Toggle fullscreen (video only). Show extended settings: Audio effects, Video effects and Synchronization. Show playlist. Repeat: toggles between loop all, loop one, no loop (default). Random: Plays the files in the current playlist in a random order.

Volume control

The volume control is located in the bottom right corner of the window. The small speaker icon is a button that mutes ( ) or un-mutes ( ) the sound. The triangle to the right is a slider that shows the current playback volume. Clicking this slider modifies the volume. The playback volume is also displayed as a percentage number on top of this slider.

Windows notification area (system tray) icon When you start VLC media player, the application appears on the screen and a small icon appears in the notification area (system tray). Clicking once this icon will hide VLC, and clicking it again will show it again. Hiding VLC does not close it, it continues to run in the background. Right clicking this icon brings up a menu with the following controls:   

Hide/Show VLC media player. Play/Pause/Stop playback. Switch to Previous/Next track.

    

Speed control. Increase/Decrease volume. Mute. Open media. Quit.

Tutorials 



Installing VLC o Windows o Mac OS X o Linux Basics of VLC o Windows  starting VLC

o

o o

Double click the VLC icon on the desktop or from the start menu: select Programs, select VideoLAN and select VLC media player. Playing media files stored in the computer  Queuing files You can queue files by selecting multiple files at a time. Playing media from your optical reader (CD, DVD, Blu-Ray) Closing VLC

See also  

VLC HowTo Documentation:Play HowTo

 

Common Problems Hotkeys o QtHotkeys (Qt is the default graphical interface) o Hotkeys table o How to set global hotkeys

External Links    

F.A.Q. Windows Help and How-to What is a web browser? Video tutorials (selected by Jan)

This is the user guide for the VLC media player.

VLC User Guide   

Quick start guide: How to start with VLC. Installation: Installation instructions for several systems. History: Overview and history of the VideoLAN project.

Usage 

         

Interface: Short introduction to the interface of the VLC Media Player. o OSX 1.2 Interface o Windows 7 1.2 Interface Open Media: How to play audio and video with VLC. Audio (e.g. visualization, selection of devices). Video (e.g. cropping, screen-/snapshots). Playback: Navigation through media files (e.g. chapters, bookmarks). Playlist: Creating and managing playlists. Subtitles. Video and Audio Filters. Snapshots: How to create snapshots and screenshots. Hotkeys. Troubleshooting: Solutions for some common problems.

Advanced Usage    

Advanced Use: Advanced instruction on streams, filters, plug-ins and more. Using VLC inside a webpage: How to create webpages that use the VLC Web plugin. Uninstallation. VLC Use 0.8. (Versions older than 0.9).

Authors      

Alexis de Lattre Johan Bilien Anil Daoud Clément Stenac Jean-Paul Saman Jean-Baptiste Kempf

Copyright (c) 2002-2009 the VideoLAN project

Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.

Windows 95, 98, ME You can run it under Windows 95, 98 or ME by using KernelEx.

2000, XP, Vista, 7, 8 Recommended The normal and recommended way to install VLC for Windows is via the installer package. Step 0: Download and launch installer Download the installer package from the VLC download page for Windows. Once that's done, double click on it to begin the install process. If you're using Windows Vista, 7 or 8 and have UAC enabled, you may be prompted to grant the programme administrator permissions. Clicking Yes will allow you to continue. Step 1: Select installer language Before you can continue, you have select the language that you want the installer to be displayed in. It is usually a good idea to select one that you can understand.

Step 2: Welcome screen Like millions of people before you, your love affair with VLC begins with an ominous warning about closing all other applications before installing it. You can just go ahead and click Next.

Step 3: Licence agreement You should thinking about read the Terms of Service prior to clicking Next. It talks about your rights and stuff... I think.

Step 4: Select components This menu provides you with the ability to customise your install. You choose all the components you wish to install and whether you want VLC to be your default media player or not. Once you are done, feel free to click Next.

Step 5: Pick a location You choose the installation folder with Browse... and when you are ready you click Install.

Step 5: Now installing Wait as VLC begins installing. It shouldn't take too long. You may click on the "Show details" if you must. Once clicked, however, there is no going back so choose wisely.

Step 7: Installation complete Once installation is completed, you may choose to run VLC, read a bunch of boring release notes, or do nothing at all. Nothing at all. Nothing at all.

Alternative If you want to be pro and perform an unattended (or silent) installation of VLC, you can do so via a command line interface. Just type in "filename" /L="languagecode" /S. For example, the English installation would look something like vlc-2.0.1-win32.exe /L=1033 /S. PowerShell Installing VLC using PowerShell is as easy as pie.

Command Prompt You can also do it using the command prompt... if that's your thing.

Mac OS X 1. Download the Mac OS X package from the VLC MacOS X download page. 2. Double-click on the icon of the package: an icon will appear on your Desktop, right beside your drives. 3. Open it and drag the VLC application from the resulting window to the place where you want to install it (it should be /Applications).

Linux

BeOS 1. Download the Zip file from the VLC BeOS download page. 2. Unzip the file in a directory to install VLC.

Debian

Debian stable (lenny) Add the following lines to your /etc/apt/sources.list: deb http://download.videolan.org/pub/videolan/debian stable main deb-src http://download.videolan.org/pub/videolan/debian stable main

Then, for a normal install, write the following commands in Terminal: # apt-get update # apt-get install vlc libdvdcss2

Debian testing (squeeze) You should not be using Debian testing unless you perfectly know what you are doing. It is almost impossible to support Debian testing and there are no plans to do it. For more information on Debian testing, please look at the Testing Page. Debian unstable (sid) Add the following lines to your /etc/apt/sources.list: deb http://download.videolan.org/pub/videolan/debian sid main deb-src http://download.videolan.org/pub/videolan/debian sid main

Then, for a normal install, write the following commands in Terminal: # apt-get update # apt-get install vlc libdvdcss2

Linux Mandrake There are VLC packages for Mandrake 9.1 and Cooker. To install them, add the following sources for either Mandrake 9.1 or Cooker (you can use Easy urpmi for that): contrib from the core distribution and plf (Penguin Liberation Front) from the external addons. Then install the required packages with urpmi: # urpmi libdvdcss2 libdvdplay0 wxvlc vlc-plugin-a52 vlc-plugin-ogg vlc-plugin-mad

Linux (EL5) 1. Download and install the latest rpmforge-release rpm (eg rpmforge-release-0.3.6-1.el5.rf.i386.rpm) 2. Either; # yum install vlc

or (if you have epel-release installed); # yum --disablerepo='epel' install vlc

Linux RedHat Download the RPM package vlc and the packages listed in the required libraries and codecs section (the other packages are optional) from the VLC Red Hat download page and put them all into the same directory. Then install the RPM packages you have downloaded: # rpm -U *.rpm

If you have not installed all the RPM packages included with your distribution, you may be asked to install a few of them first.

Ubuntu Launch the Ubuntu Software Center and go to All Software → Sound & Video then in search VLC Player. After it will come click on it and it will automatically install You need to check that a universe mirror is listed in your /etc/apt/sources.list file. # sudo apt-get update # sudo apt-get install vlc vlc-plugin-pulse mozilla-plugin-vlc

Compile the sources by yourself For more detailed information on compiling VLC, please see Compile VLC.

Overview of the VideoLAN project VideoLAN is a complete software solution for video streaming and playback, developed by students of the Ecole Centrale Paris and developers from all over the world, under the GNU General Public License (GPL). VideoLAN was originally designed to stream MPEG videos on high bandwidth networks, but VideoLAN's main software, VLC media player, has evolved to become a full-featured, cross-platform media player. More details about the project can be found on the VideoLAN Web site.

VLC Media Player Originally called VideoLAN Client, VLC media player is VideoLAN's main software product. VLC works on many platforms: Linux, Windows, Mac OS X, BeOS, BSD, Solaris, Android, iOS, QNX and many more... It supports the following video and audio formats: MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4/DivX, h264, webm, mkv, DVDs, VCDs, Audio CDs, wmv and wma. It can also play from external sources:      

Satellite. Cable. Digital TV cards (DVB-S, DVB-T). Several types of network streams: UDP/RTP Unicast, UDP/RTP Multicast, HTTP, RTSP, MMS, etc. Acquisition or encoding cards. Webcams and other devices.

VLC can also be used as a streaming server. This feature is described in the Streaming HowTo. This guide describes all the playback (client) aspects of VLC media player.

General Interface Description VLC has several interfaces:

  

A cross-platform interface for Windows and GNU/Linux, which is called Qt. A native Mac OS X interface. An interface that supports skins for both Windows and GNU/Linux.

The operation of VLC is essentially the same in all the interfaces.

Windows and GNU/Linux (Qt) The screenshot below shows the default interface in VLC 2.0. More features can be displayed by selecting them in the View menu.

See also VLC Interface 2.0 on Windows 7

Mac OS X This screenshot shows the default interface that VLC had on Mac OS X until version 1.1:

Since version 2.0 the interface has been redesigned. See OSX 2.0 interface.

Starting VLC Media Player in Windows

In Windows XP: Clic Start -> Programs -> VideoLAN -> VLC media player. In Windows 7: Clic Start -> All Programs -> VideoLAN -> VLC media player. VLC is shown on the screen and a small icon

is shown in the system tray.

Stopping VLC Media Player There are three ways to quit VLC:   

Right click the VLC icon ( ) in the tray and select Quit (Alt-F4). Click the Close button in the main interface of the application. In the Media menu, select Quit (Ctrl-Q).

Notification Area Icon Clicking this icon shows or hides the VLC interface. Hiding VLC does not exit the application. VLC keeps running in the background when it is hidden. Right clicking the icon in the notification area shows a menu with basic operations, such as opening, playing, stopping, or changing a media file.

Main Interface The main interface has the following areas:  



Menu bar. Track slider - The track slider is below the menu bar. It shows the playing progress of the media file. You can drag the track slider left to rewind or right to forward the track being played. When a video file is played, the video is shown between the menu bar and the track slider. Note: When a media file is streamed, the track slider does not move because VLC cannot know the total duration. Control Buttons - The buttons below the track slider cover all the basic playback features.

Click here to view an explanation of every menu item.

Opening media See Documentation:Play HowTo/Basic Use 0.9/Opening modes

Streaming Media Files Streaming is a method of delivering audio or video content across a network without the need to download the media file before it is played. You can view or listen to the content as it arrives. It has the advantage that you don't need to wait for large media files to finish downloading before playing them. VideoLan is designed to stream MPEG videos on high bandwidth networks. VLC can be used as a server to stream MPEG-1, MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 files, DVDs and live videos on the network in unicast or multicast. Unicast is a process where media files are sent to a single system through the network. Multicast is a process where media files are sent to multiple systems through the network. VLC is also used as a client to receive, decode and display MPEG streams. MPEG-1, MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 streams received from the network or an external device can be sent to one machine or a group of machines.

To stream a file:

1. Select Open Network Stream from the Media menu. The Open Media dialog box is displayed with the Network tab selected.

2. Type the network URL in the text box 3. Click Play. Note: When VLC plays a stream, the track slider shows the progress of the playback. For more information, refer to the VLC usage page

Converting and Saving a Media File Format VLC can convert media files from one format to another. To convert a media file: Select Convert/Save from the 'Media' menu. The Open media dialog box is displayed. Click Add.... A file selection box is displayed. Select the file you want to convert and click Open. The Convert dialog box is displayed. Write the path and file name where you want to store the converted file in the Destination File text box. 5. Select a conversion profile. 6. Click Start. 1. 2. 3. 4.

Play a file To play a file, open the Media menu, and select the Open File menu item.

An Open File dialog box will appear. Select the file you want to open and select Open.

VLC with then start playing the designated file. An alternative is to simply drag 'n' drop your file into the VLC main interface or the playlist window from the file explorer (Finder on Mac OS X).

Play a CD/DVD/VCD To play a CD, VCD or a DVD, open the Media menu and select Open Disc menu item. In the Open Disk dialog box, select the type of media (DVD, SVCD/VCD or Audio CD).

You can either select the drive from which the media should be read from by selecting the drive letter from the Disc Device drop-down list or you can select the Browse button, from which you will be given a dialog box to browse to the media files. If you want to start the DVD or VCD playback from a given title and chapter instead of from the beginning, you can set it using the Title and Chapter selectors. You can also set the Audio and Subtitles track using the selectors. There is also an option for No DVD menus, when reading a DVD. To start playback select the Ok button.

Play a network stream (WebRadio, WebTV, etc.) To open a network stream, open the Media menu and select the Open Network Stream menu item.

A dialog box will then open with three user input boxes. The first one is for the user to select the Protocol of the stream which they wish to open (HTTP/HTTPS/MMS/FTP/RTSP/RTP/UDP/RDMP). The second box is for the user to input the Address of the stream and the third one is for the user to select the appropriate port. However in the latest version of VLC (1.1.5), the user only needs to input the Address (examples are shown in image above). To start playback by selecting the Play button. If you get some stuttering during playback, you can try to increase the size of the read buffer. This can be done in the Open Network Stream dialog box, by firstly checking the Show more options check box then adjusting the Caching selector, which allows you to choose the amount of time (in milliseconds) VLC should store data in its buffer before starting playback.

Play from an acquisition card To play from an acquisition open the File menu, and select Open Capture Device.

From here you can choose the Capture Mode and the Video/Audio Device Name. The user can also adjust the configuration for these devices by clicking Configure. The user is also able to set the size of the video that will be played by the Direct Show plugin and options such as 'Device Properties' and 'Tuner Properties' by clicking Advanced Options. For Video4Linux devices, you can set the name of the video and audio devices using the "Video device name" and "Audio device name" text inputs. The "Advanced options..." button allows to select some further settings useful in some rare cases, such as the chroma of the input (the way colors are encoded) and the size of the input buffer. To use a Hauppauge PVR card, select the PVR tab in the "Open" dialog box. Use the "Device" text input to set the device of the card you want to use. You can set the Norm of the tuner (PAL, SECAM or NTSC) by using the "Norm" Drop Down. The Frequency selector allows you to set the frequency of the tuner (in kHz), the bitrate selector to set the bitrate of the resulting encoded stream (in bit/s). The "Advanced Options button allows to set some more settings, such as the size of the encoded video (in pixels), its framerate (in frame per second), the interval between 2 key frames, etc. To start playback from a acquisition card, click Play.

Playing an audio track To play a track: 1. Select Open File in the Media menu. 2. Select an audio file and click on the

Play button. The selected track is played.

Enabling and disabling audio tracks  

To disable a track, select the Disable option in the Audio Track from the Audio menu. The selected track will then stop. To enable the track again, select the designated Track option in the Audio Track from the Audio menu. The selected track will then play.

Recording Audio To record audio you need the record button ( ) to be visible. The record button is hidden by default. You can display using one of these methods:  

Select Advanced Controls in the View menu. The Advanced toolbar is displayed on top of the standard toolbar. The Advanced toolbar contains the Record button. Select Customize interface in the Tools menu and add the record button to the Line 2 of buttons (which is the line shown by default).

Once the Record button is visible, click it to start recording. The recording from a shoutcast stream is stored somewhere in your files under a name like vlc-recordDate-Time-Channel-Track.mp3 (e.g.: "vlc-record-2011-09-22-10h19m48s-Radio CAFF-Silencio - Arrabal Salvaje.mp3", when recording from Radio CAFF (or more precisely from the underlying WinAmp stream). Under my german Windows XP it was stored under "Eigene Dateien/Eigene Music" so I guess that you find it in an english Windows under "My Documents/My Music/", I don't know where it will be stored under Linux or any other OS (updates are welcome). You can automagically cut the stream into tracks by relaying the stream through Streamripper, i.e. by directing StreamRipper to the ShoutCast stream and directing VLC to the relaying port of StreamRipper (default http://localhost:8000).

Audio Device This option helps you to listen to audio files in two modes: stereo and mono. 1. To listen to an audio track in either the Stereo or Mono mode, select Open File or Open Disc from the Media menu. The Open dialog box is displayed. 2. Select an audio file and click on the Play button. The selected track is played. 3. Select Mono in Audio Device from the Audio menu if you want to listen to the audio track in the Mono mode.

Mono refers to monaural sound that uses a single channel for sound reproduction. 1. Select Stereo in Audio Device from the Audio menu if you want to listen to the audio track in the Stereo mode. Stereo refers to sound that uses two channels for sound reproduction or stereophonic sound.

Audio Channels In audio, a channel refers to a stream of audio that is to be played by one speaker. For example, stereo audio, consists of two channels. This option is useful for codecs that don’t have support for more than 2 channels. Select a channel type in Audio Channels from the Audio menu. VLC media player provides four audio channels and they are: 1. Stereo – Refers to the reproduction of the sound in two or more independent audio channels using more than one speaker. If you use this option, you would feel as though the sound is played from all the directions. You can observe this in a regular home theatre with 5.1 or 6.1 speakers. 2. Left – You can observe this in a regular audio player with 2.1 speakers. If you select the Left option, the music is played only in the left speaker. The speaker on your right is automatically switched OFF. 3. Right - If you select the Right option, the music is played only in the speaker on your right side. The speaker on your left is automatically switched OFF. 4. Reverse Stereo – There are several applications that are used to reverse the stereo whereas VLC has an in-built feature to reverse the stereo. This option is useful if you want the audio to play in tandem with the video. You can use the Reverse Stereo option if you want to deliberately change the audio output. Imagine that you are watching a video. In the video, a person walks on the left side but the sound is produced on the right speaker. You can correct this by selecting the Reverse Stereo option in VLC. Select the Reverse Stereo option and play the same scene in the video and observe the difference. You can observe this with 2.1, 5.1, 6.1 and 8.1 speakers.

Visualize Audio Visualizations display splashes of colour and geometric shapes and generate animated imagery based on a piece of music.

The different visual effects available are Spectrometer, Scope, Spectrum, VU Meter and Goom. This menu item can also be used to disable a visualization. 1. Select an option under the Visualizations option from the Audio menu to view the effects. The selected visualization is then played. 2. To disable visualizations, select Disable under Visualizations from the Audio menu. The visualization is then disabled. Spectrum visualization on vlc:

Playing a Video Track There are two main ways to open and play a video track: 1. Select Open File from the Media menu.

2. Select a video track and double-click it or click the Open button.

The selected track will be played.

Loading Subtitle Tracks A subtitle is a textual version of a movie’s dialogue. Subtitles are helpful if you are viewing a movie in a language that is not understandable to you. You can load subtitles for video tracks. Subtitles of the formats .cdg, .idx, .srt, .sub, .utf, .ass, .ssa, .aqt, .jss, .psb, .rt and smi are supported. VLC can read subtitles for the media formats such as DVD, SVCD, OGM files, and Matroska (MKV) files. To enable the subtitle for a track:

1. Select Open File under the Subtitle menu item from the Video menu. The Open Subtitles File dialog box is displayed.

2. Locate the file which contains the subtitle and click on Open. The subtitles are displayed. For more details, see Documentation:Subtitles.

Full Screen This option is useful if you want to watch the video in the full screen mode. 1. Select Full Screen from the Video menu. The video will then occupy the entire screen. 2. To return to the original mode, press Esc on the keyboard or right-click the mouse and select the Leave Full Screen option. The video will then return to its original mode.

Note: When you switch to full screen, the controls may appear for a short period of time. To restore the controls after they disappear, move the mouse or press any key on the keyboard.

Always on Top This option is useful if you want the VLC media player to remain on the top of the screen always when other applications or files are open.

1. To make the VLC media player appear on top of the screen, select Always on Top from the Video menu.

2. If you do not want VLC to appear on the top of the screen, select the Always on Top option from the Video menu and manually minimise the VLC application.

DirectX Wallpaper This option is useful if you want to display the video which is being played as your desktop wallpaper. To view the current video file as wallpaper

1. Select Advanced File Open from the Media menu. The Open Media dialog box is displayed.

2. Select a file and click Play. 3. Select DirectX Wallpaper from the Video menu. The wallpaper mode will then display the video as the desktop background.

Note: that this feature works only if you deactivate the overlay under Windows XP.

Snapshot This option is useful if you want to capture a portion of the video as an image. 1. Select Advanced File Open from the Media menu. The Open dialog box is displayed. 2. Select a file and click Play. 3. To capture an image from the video, select Snapshot from the Video menu. The image is captured in the .png picture format and is saved in the C:\My Pictures folder by default (C:\Users\Username\Pictures).

Zoom You can enlarge videos in different sizes. This option is useful if you want to change the size of a video track which is being played. The supported sizes are 1:4 Quarter, 1:2 Half, 1:1 Original (default) and 2:1 Double. To view a video in a particular dimension, select a dimension from Zoom in the Video menu. The track is then resized based on the selected zoom ratio.

Aspect Ratio Aspect ratio refers to the width of a picture in relation to its height. For example, the ratio 4:3 means four units wide to three units high. VLC provides a list of aspect ratio values which are Default, 1:1, 4:3, 16:9, 16:10, 2.21:1, 2.35:1, 2.39:1 and 5:4. To select an aspect ratio, select a value from Aspect Ratio in the Video menu. The video is then adjusted based on the selected ratio.

Crop This option is helpful if you want to capture a small portion of a video as an image. This also helps crop the black bars of the top and bottom of a video. The cropping values that are supported are Default, 16:10, 16:9, 1.85:1, 2.21:1, 2.35:1, 2.39:1, 5:3, 4:3, 5:4, and 1:1. To crop a video that is played, select a value from Crop in the Video menu. The video is then cropped based on the selected value.

Deinterlace Deinterlace refers to a process where interlaced video signals are converted into non-interlaced signals. VLC provides the Discard, Blend, Mean, Bob, Linear, X, Yadif and Yadif (2x) deinterlacement modes. 1. Select Deinterlace from the Video menu and choose the appropriate setting. 2. To change the deinterlacement mode select 'Deinterlace mode' is the Video Menu 3. Select a mode and observe the change in the video being played.

Bookmarks You can mark and locate particular places in an audio or video file using the Bookmarks feature of VLC. If you want to view a particular scene in a movie or listen to certain tune in a song repeatedly, you can create bookmarks.

To bookmark a scene in a video: 1. From the Playback menu select the Bookmarks option, and the Manage Bookmarks. The Edit Bookmarks dialog box opens. 2. Click Create to create a bookmark for the current track. The created bookmark appears in the Edit Bookmarks dialog box. 3. To view a scene that is bookmarked, select a bookmark from Bookmarks in the Playback menu.

Note: Loading bookmarks is currently broken as of 0.9.9 see http://trac.videolan.org/vlc/ticket/2100. However it is confirmed that the current latest version VLC 1.1.5 is able to load bookmarks.

Edit Bookmarks dialog box under Windows in VLC 1.1.5

Title In a DVD format, each movie is referred to by its title or name. A title is displayed whenever a movie is played by any media player. You can view all titles in a folder in a sequential manner. 1. To open a folder, select Open Folder from the Media menu. Locate the folder in which the video files are present and click OK. 2. To select a title, click Title in the Playback menu. The selected title is then played.

Chapter A video is divided into chapters. Different chapters can be accessed at random in a video which is being played. Using this option, you can directly view your favourite chapter without having to see the complete video. To play a chapter:

1. Select Open Folder from the Media menu. 2. Locate the folder in which the video files are present. 3. Select a video file and click OK. The file is played in the VLC media player. 1. Select Chapter in the Playback menu to view the list of chapters. Select a chapter of your choice. Then selected chapter is played.

Navigation In VLC, you can navigate to different titles and their corresponding chapters. You can also customise a DVD by selecting options such as subtitle, angle and so on. 1. To customize a title, select the required option from DVD Menu in the Navigation menu. 2. To view a title, select a Title under Navigation in the Playback menu. The selected title is played. 3. To view a chapter in a title, select Title. When you select a title, the chapters in a title are listed. Select a chapter. Refer to Title and Chapter sections for more details.

Program This option is enabled only if streams of format DVB and TS are played. Choose the program to select by giving its Service ID. Only use this option if you want to read a multi-program stream (like DVB streams for example). Description needs to be improved

Specify the time This option is used to go to a specific frame in a media file and listen or view once again. 1. To specify time select Jump to Specific Time from the Playback menu. The Go to Time dialog box is displayed. 2. Enter the time in hh:mm:ss. 3. Click on the Go button. The control moves the tracker to a specific frame and the media file continues from that specified frame. 4. Click Cancel to exit the dialog box.

Note: Ensure that time limit is within the range of length of the media file.

A playlist is a customised list of media files you might want to watch or listen to. Using a playlist, you can specify the media files you want to listen each time you start the VLC media player. You can add tracks from CDs, radio stations, and movies to a playlist. To access the playlist, click on the Playlist button in the main interface.

The default playlist view.

Contents [hide]        

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Additional Sources Add Media Files to Playlist Load Playlist Save Playlist Play a file Sorting Playlist modes Misc o 8.1 Search o 8.2 Moving items o 8.3 Contextual menu o 8.4 Example finding a Shoutcast radio stream o 8.5 Example playing a known Shoutcast radio stream

Additional Sources In addition to audio and video files, you can play other formats. The additional formats supported by VLC media player are described in the following sections: 

Podcasts - Podcast (Personal On Demand broadCASTING) is a series of audio or video digital media files which is distributed over the Internet and downloaded to media players. If consumers subscribe to Podcasts, whenever new content is added the content gets automatically added to the playlist. You can customise Podcasts. To add a Podcast URL

1. Select the Playlist button. 2. Click on the Internet button to select it in the left pane. The Podcasts menu item will appear under Internet. 3. Select a Podcast stream in the main dialog box. Then right-click the stream and select Play from the popup menu. 

SAP Announcements – Helps to advertise your stream over the network.

To play a SAP announcement: 1. Select the Playlist button. 2. Click on the Local Area Network to select it in the left pane. The Network Streams (SAP) menu item will appear under Local Area Network. 3. Select an SAP announcement and right-click. Select Play from the popup menu. 

Shoutcast Radio Listings – Shoutcast is a server for streaming the media developed by Nullsoft. Digital audio content can be broadcast from and to media players, and this helps individuals to create Internet radio networks. Using VLC media player, you can listen to your

favourite radio stations and you can also create bookmarks to listen to these radio stations in future. To customize a Shoutcast radio listing: 1. Select the Playlist button. 2. Select Icecast Directory under Internet in the Playlist menu. A list of radio stations appears in the right hand panel. If nothing appears in the right hand panel try double-clicking the Shoutcast Radio option and wait. It may take a few minutes the first time. After a while, the right hand panel displays a list of titles.

1. Scroll down and select a radio station. 2. Right-click on a radio station and: 1. Select Play if you want to listen to the radio station. 2. Select Remove Selected if you want to delete the radio station. 3. Select the Stream option. The Stream output dialog box is displayed. Refer to the Specifying Specifying Streaming options section for more details. Modify the required parameters and click on the Stream button to stream the media file. 4. Click to select a title in the Playlist dialog box and right-click. Select Save from the popup menu. The Stream Output dialog box is displayed. Select the required options and click on the Save button in the Stream Output dialog box. Refer to the Specifying Streaming options section for more details. 5. Select the Information option. The Media Information dialog box is displayed with details of the media being played. 6. Select Title to alphabetically sort the radio stations.

7. Click to select a title in the Playlist dialog box and right-click. Select Open Folder from the popup menu. A folder is opened to show all sub nodes within a title. 8. Select Add Node to add a node. 9. Click to select a title in the Playlist dialog box and right-click. Select Information from the popup menu to view the details of the selected title. Refer to the Media Information section for more details on options. 



Shoutcast TV stream – You can watch streaming TV using the VLC media player. Shoutcast TV

stream refers to a stream transmitted by Nullsoft. The procedure of customising the TV stream and the options are similar to that of the Shoutcast Radio. Freebox TV listing – Refers to television service over ADSL accessible by Freebox Free Zone unbundled.

Note: You should be connected to the Internet to access these streams.

Add Media Files to Playlist You can add several media files to a playlist. The media files could be selected from the media library, additional sources, and some other source. To add files to a playlist: 1. Select the Playlist button. 2. Right-click on the dialog box and click and a short list appears with two options: Add file and Add directory. 1. Select Add file to add a file to the playlist. 2. Select Add directory to add a directory containing media files to the playlist. 3. Click on the

Random icon. This icon toggles between Random and Random Off. Click on

to play files at random. Click on 4. Click on the

and the files are played in an order.

Repeat icon. This icon toggles between Repeat One and Repeat All. If you

want to listen to a track several times, click on

icon. If you want to listen to all tracks, click

on again. 5. To search for a media file, enter the name in the Search box. To search for media files with certain names or formats, enter a word or phrase in the Search box. All files with the specified name are listed. 6. Click on the icon. This icon is used to skip to the current item when you have a very long list. 7. Click the Remove Selected button to clear a track from the playlist.

Load Playlist This option is used to add a playlist created in some other media player. You can load playlists of the .xspf, .asx, .b4s and .m3u formats. To load a playlist: 1. Select the Open option from the Media menu. The Open file dialog box is displayed. 2. In the bottom right, change the format to Playlist Files in the selector.

3. Locate a playlist file and click on Open. The selected playlist is added in the current playlist dialog box.

Save Playlist You can save playlists using the VLC media player in format of your choice. To save a playlist: 1. Create a playlist. Refer to Add Media Files to Playlist for creating a playlist. 2. Select Save Playlist to File from the Media menu. The Choose a filename to save playlist dialog box is displayed. 3. Select a name for the playlist. 4. Select a format in which the playlist must be saved from the Files of type list. The Files of type list contains the .xspf and .m3u formats. 5. Click on Save to save the playlist in the selected format.

Play a file To play a file, open the Media menu, and select the Open File menu item. An Open File dialog box will appear. Select the file you want to open, and click Open. VLC will start playing the selected file. An alternative is to drag 'and' drop your file onto the VLC main interface or playlist window from the file explorer (Finder on MacOS X).

VLC 0.9.8a version Windows XP mode

The File menu - MacOS X interface- needs verifying for 0.9

The Open file dialog - wxWidgets interface (need 0.9 screenshot for MacOS) The Open file dialog - MacOS X interface

Sorting

In the wxWidgets interface, Sort allows you to sort the playlist according to several criteria, or to shuffle it. You can also sort by clicking the header of the column. In the MacOS X interface, sorting can be done by clicking the header of the column matching the criteria you want to use for sorting.

Playlist modes The playlist supports several playback modes. In the wxWidgets interface, the toolbar contains three playlist mode buttons. They allow to enable random mode, to repeat the whole playlist or to repeat one item. In the MacOS X interface, random mode can be enabled by selecting the Random box. A drop down menu allows you to enable playlist and item repeat modes.

Misc Search You also have a search tool. Enter a search string and hit search. The next item to match the string will be highlighted. Keep hitting Search to cycle between all matching items.

Moving items In the wxWidgets interface, the Up and Down buttons at the bottom of the playlist window allow you to move an item. Select an item and use these buttons to move it. In the MacOS X interface, you can easily move an item with the mouse, using drag-and-drop.

Contextual menu By right-clicking or control-clicking an item, a contextual menu will appear, giving access to a number of functions (for example, play the item, disable it, delete it, or get info on it).

Example finding a Shoutcast radio stream This example was verified as working on 15 October 2008, using VLC 0.9.4 under Windows Vista. This

needs reproducing by other people on other versions and other operating systems.

1. Ensure your firewall is set to allow the VideoLan program to make outgoing connections. 2. Click Tools then Preferences, click Interface and then click All under "Show settings". Then click the "-" next to "Playlist" in order to show the "Services discovery" submenu. If the shoutcast radio listings box is empty, click it so that a check-mark appears. The text field underneath should now show the word "shout". Click the Save button to save and close the Preferences window:

3. Restart VLC media player to make it take notice of the changed preferences. 4. On the VLC interface click Playlist, then click Show Playlist. Select the "Shoutcast Radio" in the left hand panel. If nothing appears in the righthand panel, try double-clicking "Shoutcast Radio" and waiting, it may take a few minutes the first time. After a while the righthand panel displays a long list of titles.

5. Scroll down the radio stations in the right-hand panel and select one. Click the mouse right button and click the "Play" item.

6. It may take some time for the connection to the radio station to establish (and it may fail if the station's outgoing streams are all occupied). When it does connect, VLC should start playing the audio stream from the station:

Example playing a known Shoutcast radio stream Go to http://www.shoutcast.com/ and search for a radio station of your choice. On Windows, rightclick your mouse over Shoutcast's "Tunein" button and click "Save Link As..." to save the playlist on your computer. Remember where you saved the playlist, rename it to something that makes sense. At any time later, you can use VLC to open the saved playlist and listen to that radio station. For example, to find a BBC World Service radio stream, use a browser to go to: http://www.shoutcast.com/directory/search_results.jsp?searchCrit=simple&s=bbc One of the stations listed may be playing the World Service, if so move your mouse over the "TUNEIN!" webicon and click the right mouse button and click "Save Link As...", as described above.

VLC supports many kinds of subtitles.

Media with included subtitles Many types of media can have embedded subtitles. VLC can read subtitles for the following media formats:    

DVD SVCD OGM files Matroska (MKV) files

Subtitles are disabled by default in VLC media player. To enable them, go to the Video menu, and to Subtitles track. All available subtitles tracks will be listed. Select one to utilise the subtitles. Depending on the media, a description (language, for example) might be available for the track. VLC under Linux:

VLC under OSX:

VLC under Windows:

DVD and SVCD subtitles are merely images, so you won't be able to change anything for them. OGM and Matroska subtitles are rendered text, so you will be able to change several options. Text rendering options can be changed in the Preferences in the Tools tab. To adjust the font preference check the All bullet in the Show Settings box, and then click Subtitles/OSD. You can then set the font and its size under Text Renderer. For the font, you have to select a font file. In Windows, they can be found in C:\Windows\Fonts. Under MacOS X, they are in /System/Library/Fonts. Sizes can be set either relatively or as a number of pixels.

Subtitle text rendering preferences under Windows, VLC 1.1.5 You need to restart your stream for the font modifications to take effect.

Subtitles files While modern file formats like Matroska or OGM can handle subtitles directly, older formats like AVI can't. Therefore, a number of subtitles files formats have been created. You need two files: the video file and the subtitles files that only contains the text of the subtitles and timestamps. VLC can handle these types of subtitles files:      

MicroDVD SubRIP SubViewer SSA Sami Vobsub (this one is quite special: it is not made from text but from images, which means that you can't change the fonts)

To open a subtitles file, use the Advanced Open dialog box (Menu File, Open file). Select your file by clicking on the Browse button. Then, check the Subtitle options checkbox and click on the Settings button.

You can then select the subtitles file by clicking the Browse button. You can also set a few options like character encoding, alignment and size. An alternative is loading subtitles from the Subtitles Track menu item under the Video tab. Note: For Vobsub subtitles, you need to select the .idx file, not the .sub file. Encoding, alignment and size won't have any effect for Vobsub subtitles. Font can be changed as explained in the previous section.

Deinterlacement and Post Processing VLC is able to deinterlace a video stream using different deinterlacement methods. Deinterlacement can be enabled in the Video menu, Deinterlacement menu item. The Blend methods gives the best results in most cases. The discard method is a less resource consuming alternative, although its results may be slightly compromised. On some particular streams (MPEG 4, DIVX, XVID, Sorenson, etc.), some additional image filtering can be applied to the video before display, improving its quality in some cases. This can be enabled by using the Post processing menu item in Video. Different levels of post processing can be chosen here. A higher level means more filtering.

Video filters Summary VLC features several filters able to change the video (distortion, brightness adjustment, motion blurring, etc.). In Windows and Linux, the user must go to the Effects and Filters in the Tools menu item.

In Mac OS X you can enable these filters through the Extended Controls panel. Click on the triangle next to Video filters to select your filters or expand the Adjust Image section to change the contrast, hue, etc.

Example of combined effects on a video:

Rotate You can easily rotate a video. Open the Effects and Filters dialog, in the Tools menu

Select the Video Effects tab, then the Geometry one. Check the Transform checkbox to use rotation presets (90°, 180°, 270°) or check the Rotate checkbox to manually select the angle you wish to apply.

Audio filters Equalizer VLC features a 10-band graphical equalizer. You can display it by activating the advanced GUI on wxWidgets or by clicking the Equalizer button on the MacOS X interface. The following image is the interface of the audio equalizer in the Windows and GNU/Linux interface.

The equalizer in the MacOS X interface

Presets are available in both of these dialog boxes.

Other audio filters At the moment, VLC features two other audio filters: a volume normalizer and a filter providing sound spatialization with a headphone. They can be enabled in the Effects and Filters menu item in the Tools

tab of the Windows and GNU/Linux interface and in the Audio section of the Extended Controls panel of the Mac OS X interface. For better control, you need to go to the preferences. To select the filters to be enabled, go to Audio, then to Filters. In the "audio filters" box, enter the names of the filters to enable, separated by commas. Valid names are "equalizer", "normvol" and "headphone". If you want to tune the behavior of these filters, go to Audio, Filters, [your filter]. The equalizer and headphone filters can be tuned.

Documentation:Snapshots There are two ways to take snapshots (i.e., screenshots or frame grabs) with VLC: 1. Open the Video menu, and select the Snapshot menu item. 2. Press the snapshot hotkey o Linux / Unix: Ctrl-Alt-s o Windows (Qt interface): Shift-s o Mac OS X: Command-Alt-s When a snapshot is taken, it will briefly preview as a thumbnail with its filename and then fade away. To change the hotkey, go to Tools -> Preferences. If "Show settings" is set to Simple, click Hotkeys; if "Show settings" is set All, navigate to Interface -> Hotkeys settings. Set the hotkey for Take video snapshot.

Snapshot location, format and name The snapshot location depends upon your operating system: 

Windows XP: My Documents\My Pictures\



Windows Vista and 7: C:\Users\Username\Pictures\



Linux / Unix: $(HOME)/.vlc/



Mac OS X: Desktop/

The default format for snapshots is PNG, but this may be changed to JPEG. Also, the default name for snapshots is vlcsnap- followed by a timestamp that is not the time of the frame in the video you're viewing, but rather the current name. The location, format and name of snapshots may be changed in the Preferences menu item in the Tools tab. Also, you may substitute other text for vlcsnap- in the Video snapshot file prefix and you

may choose to have snapshots numbered sequentially (i.e., 000001, 000002, 000003, and so on) instead of with a timestamp. As of version 0.9.0, you may even use variables in the text used for the filename. For example, $T (must be upper case) will insert the video's time code into the file name. If you were to change the prefix to Friends-$T- while watching a DVD of Friends, then the snapshot filenames would look something like this: Friends-00_05_21-00004.png . This indicates a snapshot taken at 5 minutes and 21 seconds into the video; and it was the number 00004 snapshot of the day. For a full list of variables, please see Documentation:Play HowTo/Format String.

Configuring snapshot options under Windows

Documentation:Hotkeys The list of the available hotkeys and their functions can be retrieved and altered in the Preferences panel of the player. In the Windows and Linux interface, Preferences are available in the "Tools" tab as the "Preferences" menu item. In the MacOS X interface, open the "VLC" menu, and select "Preferences". Select the "Hot keys" panel in the dialog. As of version 0.9, a list of hotkeys are presented in a drop-down window. To change one, double-click its name to select it. Then, press the new key that will trigger the specified action. Modifier keys (such as Control/Command and Alt) may also be used. In the 1.x version you can also filter hotkeys with a search filter. In earlier versions, several boxes gave the list of modifiers for the hotkey. To trigger an action using a hotkey, you need to press simultaneously the keys corresponding to the different selected modifiers as well as the key set in the dropdown. To change the binding of a hotkey, select or deselect boxes corresponding to the different modifiers, and change the key by using the drop-down menu. Select the Save button to apply the changes.

The Hotkeys Panel - MacOS X interface- needs verifying for 0.9 Qt4 interface on linux:

File does not play, only sound or only video Maybe the file you are trying to read is not fully supported by VLC media player. VLC does not use the codec packs (the software that decodes video signals) you might have installed. It comes with its own codecs. If there is no open-source decoder for the format you are trying to read, it won't be supported (There is an exception, under Windows, for codecs that use the DirectShow framework). To find out, open the Messages window in the Tools tab and restart your stream. Look for error messages (red messages).

In this example, the file contains a IV41 video stream, a codec that is not supported by VLC. You may of course have other messages. If you post them to a VideoLAN mailing list or in the forum, please include such a log. It is very valuable in troubleshooting.

Weird VLC behavior and crashes A very common thing is a corrupted VLC preferences file. Don't hesitate to delete it if problems appear suddenly. You will find in the FAQ details on how to delete your preferences file.

Computer crashes / Video is corrupted Another common problem is buggy video drivers. Try upgrading them from the website of your video card's manufacturer. Also, you can try disabling Overlay (Preferences/General/Video, untick "Overlay video output")

The settings got messed up and now I have a problem

Use the command line TODO: completely outdated All standard operations of VLC should be available from the GUI. However, some complex operations can only be done from the command line and there are situations in which you don't need or want a GUI. Here is the complete description of VLC's command line and how to use it. You need to be quite comfortable with command line usage to use this. Note: Windows users have to use the --option-name="value" syntax instead of the --option-name value syntax.

Getting help VLC uses a modular structure. The core mainly manages communication between modules. All the multimedia processing is done by modules. There are input modules, demultiplexers, decoders, video output modules, ... This chapter will only describe the "general" options, i.e. the core options. Each module adds new options. For example, the HTTP input module will add options for caching, proxy, authentication, ... By using vlc --help, you will get the basic core options. vlc --longhelp will give all the basic options (core + modules). Adding --advanced will give the "advanced options" (for advanced users). So vlc --longhelp --advanced will give you all options. You can also append --help-verbose if you want more detailed help. Also, you might want to get debug informations. To do this, use -v or -vv (this will show lower severity messages). If your console supports it, you can add --color to get messages in color.

Opening streams The following commands start VLC and start reading the given element(s): Opening a file Start VLC with: % vlc my_file

VLC should be able to recognize the file type. If it does not, you can force demultiplexer and decoder (see below).

A list of all video and audio codecs supported by VLC is available on the VLC features list. Opening a DVD or VCD, or an audio CD Start VLC with: For a DVD with menus: % vlc dvd://[device][@raw_device][@[title][:[chapter][:angle]]]

In most cases, vlc dvd:// or vlc dvd://[device] will do. [device] is for example /dev/dvd on GNU/Linux or D: on Windows (complete path to your DVD drive). or (DVD without menus): % vlc dvdsimple://[device][@raw_device][@[title][:[chapter][:angle]]]

or (VCD): % vlc vcd://[device][@{E|P|E|T|S}[number]]

or (Audio CD): % vlc cdda://[device][@[track]]

Receiving a network stream To receive an unicast RTP/UDP stream (sent by VLC's stream output), start VLC with: % vlc rtp://@:5004

If 5004 is the port to which packets are sent. 1234 is another commonly used port number. you use the default port (1234), vlc rtp:// will do. For more information, look at the Streaming Howto. To receive an multicast UDP/RTP stream (sent by VLC's stream output), start VLC with: % vlc rtp://@multicast_address:port

To receive a SSM (source specific multicast) stream, you can use: % vlc rtp://server_address@multicast_address:port

This only works on OSs that support SSM (Windows XP and Linux). To receive a HTTP stream, start VLC with:

% vlc http://www.example.org/your_file.mpg

To receive a RTSP stream, start VLC with: % vlc rtsp://www.example.org/your_stream

Modules selection VLC always tries to select the most appropriate interface, input and output modules, among the ones available on the system, according to the stream it is given to read. However, you may wish to force the use of a specific module with the following options.     

--intf allows you to select the interface module. --extraintf allows you to select extra interface modules that will be launched in addition to the main one. This is mainly useful for special control interfaces, like HTTP, RC (Remote Control), ... (see below) --aout allows you to select the audio output module. --vout allows you to select the video output module. --memcpy allows you to choose a memory copy module. You should probably never touch that.

You can get a listing of the available modules by using vlc -l

Stream Output The Stream output system allows vlc to become a streaming server. For more details on the stream output system, please have a look at the Streaming HowTo.

Other Options Audio options      

--noaudio disables audio output. Note that if you are streaming (ex: to a file) this has no effect (streaming copies the audio verbatim). Use --sout-xxx instead (ex: --no-sout-audio) --mono forces VLC to treat the stream in mono audio. --volume sets the level of audio output (between 0 and 1024). Also only applies to local playback (like --noaudio). --aout-rate sets the audio output frequency (Hz). By default, VLC will try to autodetect this. --desync compensates desynchronization of audio (ms). (If audio and video streams are not synchronized, use this setting to delay the audio stream) --audio-filter adds audio filters to the processing chain. Available filters are visual (visualizer with spectrum analyzer and oscilloscope), headphone (virtual headphone patialization) and normalizer (volume normalizer)

Video options  

--no-video disables video output. --grayscale turns video output into grayscale mode.

         

--fullscreen ( or -f) sets fullscreen video. --nooverlay disables hardware acceleration for the video output. --width, --height sets the video window dimensions. By default, the video window size will be adjusted to match the video dimensions. --start-time starts the video here; the integer is the number of seconds from the beginning (e.g. 1:30 is written as 90) --stop-time stops the video here; the integer is the number of seconds from the beginning (e.g. 1:30 is written as 90) --zoom adds a zoom factor. --aspect-ratio forces source aspect ratio. Modes are 4x3, 16x9, ... --spumargin forces SPU subtitles postion. --video-filter adds video filters to the processing chain. You can add several filters, separated by commas --sub-filter adds video subpictures filter to the processing chain.

Desktop/Screen grab options You can see the various options for "grabbing the desktop" (VLC's built-in screen grabber capture device) by using the GUI. See http://forum.videolan.org/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=46971 Playlist options    

--random plays files randomly forever. --loop loops playlist on end. --repeat repeats current item until another item is forced --play-and-stop stops the playlist after each played item.

Network options      

--server-port sets server port. --iface specifies the network interface to use. --iface-addr specifies your network interface IP address. --mtu specifies the MTU of the network interface. --ipv6 forces IPv6. --ipv4 forces IPv4.

CPU options You should probably not touch these options unless you know what you are doing.     

--nommx disables the use of MMX CPU extensions. --no3dn disables the use of 3D Now! CPU extensions. --nommxext disables the use of MMX Ext CPU extensions. --nosse disables the use of SSE CPU extensions. --noaltivec disables the use of Altivec CPU extensions.

Miscellaneous options     

--quiet deactivates all console messages. --color displays color messages. --search-path specifies interface default search path. --plugin-path specifies plugin search path. --no-plugins-cache disables the plugin cache (plugins cache speeds up startup)

       

--dvd specifies the default DVD device. --vcd specifies the default VCD device. --program specifies program (SID) (for streams with several programs, like satellite ones). --audio-type specifies the default audio type to use with dvds. --audio-channel specifies the default audio channel to use with dvds. --spu-channel specifies the default subtitle channel to use with dvds. --version gives you information about the current VLC version. --module displays help about specified module. (Shortcut: -p)

Item-specific options There are many options that are related to items (like --novideo, --codec, --fullscreen). For all of these, you have the possibility to make them item-specific, using ":" instead of "--" and putting the option just after the concerned item. Examples: % vlc file1.mpg :fullscreen file2.mpg

will play file1.mpg in fullscreen mode and file2.mpg in the default mode (which is generally no fullscreen), whereas % vlc --fullscreen file1.mpg file2.mpg

will play both files in fullscreen mode % vlc --fullscreen file1.mpg :sub-file=file1.srt :no-fullscreen file2.mpg :filter=distort

will play file1.mpg in windowed (no-fullscreen) mode with the subtitles file file1.srt and will play file2.mpg with video filter distort enabled in fullscreen mode (item-specific options override global options).

Advanced use of filters Filters These are the old style VLC filters. They only apply to on screen display and thus cannot be streamed. However, on version 1.1.11 you are still able to apply these filters in transcode module using parameter vfilter. More information can be found on Advanced Streaming Using the Command Line. Deinterlacing video filter Module name: deinterlace 

--deinterlace-mode {discard,blend,mean,bob,linear,x,yadif,yadif (2x),phosophor,ivtc} choose a deinterlacing mode.

Invert video filter

Module name: invert Image properties filter Module name: adjust     

--contrast Image contrast in the 0-2 range. --brightness Image brightness in the 0-2 range. --hue Image hue in the 0-360 range. --saturation Image saturation in the 0-3 range. -gamma Image gamma in the 0-10 range.

Wall video filter Module name: wall This filter splits the output in several windows.   

--wall-cols Number of columns. --wall-rows Number of rows. --wall-active Select the windows you want to display. To select windows 2 and 4 you would write --wall-active 2,4. When this option isn't specified, all windows are displayed.

Video transformation filter Module name: transform 

--transform-type {90,180,270,hflip,vflip} Select rotation angle or symmetry.

Distort video filter Module name: distort Clone video filter This filter clones the output window. Module name: clone  

--clone-count Number of clones. --clone-vout-list Comma separated string of video output modules.

Crop video filter Module name: crop  

--crop-geometry Set the geometry of the zone to crop. This is set as x + + . --autocrop Enable automatic black border cropping.

Motion blur filter

Module name: motionblur 

blur-factor Blur factor in the 1-127 range.

Video pictures blending Module name: blend Video scaling filter Module name: scale

Subpictures Filters These are the new VLC filters. They can be streamed. Time display sub filter Module name: time   

--time-format Time format string. You can use the following special characters %Y = year, %m = month, %d = day, %H = hour, %M = minute, %S = second. --time-x X offset from the left in pixels. --time-y Y offset from the top in pixels.

Marquee display sub filter Module name: marq    

--marq-marquee Marquee text to display. --marq-x X offset from the left in pixels. --marq-y Y offset from the top in pixels. --marq-timeout Defines the time the marquee must remain displayed in milliseconds. Default value is 0 (remain forever).

Logo video filter Module name: logo This filter can be used both as an old style filter or a subpictures filter.    

--logo-file Full path of the PNG file to use. --logo-x X offset from the left in pixels. --logo-y Y offset from the top in pixels. --logo-transparency You can set the logo transparency value here (from 0 for full transparency to 255 for full opacity).

Note: You can move the logo by left-clicking on it.

The HTTP interface VLC ships with a little HTTP server integrated. It is used both to stream using HTTP, and for the HTTP remote control interface. To start VLC with the HTTP interface, use: % vlc -I http [--http-src /directory/] [--http-host host:port]

If you want to have both the "normal" interface and the HTTP interface, use vlc --extraintf http. The HTTP interface will start listening at host:port (:8080 if omitted), and will reproduce the structure of /directory at http://host:port/ ( vlc_source_path/share/http if omitted ). Use a browser to go to http://your_host_machine:port. You should be taken to the main page. VLC is shipped with a set of files that should be enough for generic needs. It is also possible to customize pages. See Documentation:Play HowTo/Building Pages for the HTTP Interface. Available pages for 1.0.3 :    

http://host:port - Main Interface http://host:port/vlm.html - VLM Interface http://host:port/mosaic.html - Mosaic Wizard http://host:port/flash.html - Flash based remote playback

ADDENDUM - HTTP COMMAND LIST COMMANDS WHICH MAY BE USED OVER THE HTTP REMOTE-CONTROL PORT There is a fulsome set of remote-control commands for VLC which are for some reason not documented on the site - hence I have added them here. This seems the most convenient and reliable interface for developers to use. The commands ARE listed - but the list is tucked away in a README file, in the http subfolder of the little HTTP server under the VLC executables folder. How the Commands & Status Queries Work The commands below are all applied by submitting an HTTP-GET for one of the xml files stored in the VLC http/requests folder. For example, VLC will report back the current playlist when you submit a URL of the form http://127.0.0.1:9090/requests/playlist.xml

Similarly,

(that is for a VLC which was started, listening on port 9090).

http://127.0.0.1:9090/requests/status.xml

will report back the player status. Commands TO the player are sent by appending a trailing command parameter (following a '?' separator) to this latter status query command. A few examples: SHOW CURRENT PLAYLIST: http://127.0.0.1:9090/requests/playlist.xml

SHOW STATUS: http://127.0.0.1:9090/requests/status.xml

STOP http://127.0.0.1:9090/requests/status.xml?command=pl_stop

CLEAR PLAYLIST http://127.0.0.1:9090/requests/status.xml?command=pl_empty

PLAY AN RTSP STREAM URL: http://127.0.0.1:9090/requests/status.xml?command=in_play&input=rtsp://user:[email protected]:9552/c am1/mpeg4

By the bye: to start VLC's control HTTPD service on a specific port, use the syntax vlc --intf http --http-host 10.1.1.156:9090

HERE IS the FULL http-remote-control command list (as listed in README.txt in the VLC http subfolder) :Commands available through the requests/ path: Lines starting with < describe what the page sends back Lines starting with > describe what you can send to the page All parameters need to be URL encoded. Examples: # -> %23 % -> %25 + -> %2B space -> +

...

status.xml: < Get VLC status information, current item info and meta. > add to playlist and start playback: ?command=in_play&input=

> add to playlist: ?command=in_enqueue&input=

> play playlist item : ?command=pl_play&id=

NB: ?command=pl_play also works (no ID needed). > toggle pause. If current state was 'stop', play item : ?command=pl_pause&id=

NB: ?command=pl_pause NB: seems largely ignored ? stream often continues. (May depend on whether camera obeys pause command - NB this command may only cause a PAUSE to be sent out to the video stream source, so result will depend on whether source obeys.) > stop playback: ?command=pl_stop NB: seems not to clear the playlist.

> jump to next item: ?command=pl_next

> jump to previous item: ?command=pl_previous

> delete item from playlist: ?command=pl_delete&id=

> empty playlist:

If in doubt clear the playlist and reload to start.

?command=pl_empty

> sort playlist using sort mode and order : ?command=pl_sort&id=&val= If id=0 then items will be sorted in normal order, if id=1 they will be sorted in reverse order A non exhaustive list of sort modes: 0 Id 1 Name 3 Author 5 Random 7 Track number

> toggle random playback: ?command=pl_random

> toggle loop: ?command=pl_loop

> toggle repeat: ?command=pl_repeat

> toggle enable service discovery module : ?command=pl_sd&val= Typical values are: sap shoutcast podcast hal

> toggle fullscreen: ?command=fullscreen

> set volume level to (can be absolute integer, percent or +/- relative value): ?command=volume&val= Allowed values are of the form: +, -, or %

> seek to : ?command=seek&val= Allowed values are of the form: [+ or -][:][:][] or [+ or -]% (value between [ ] are optional, value between < > are mandatory) examples: 1000 -> seek to the 1000th second +1H:2M -> seek 1 hour and 2 minutes forward -10% -> seek 10% back

playlist.xml: < get the full playlist tree browse.xml: < ?dir= > get 's filelist vlm.xml: < get the full list of VLM elements vlm_cmd.xml: < execute VLM command ?command=

> get the error message from

Other control interfaces VLC includes a number of so-called interfaces that are not really interfaces, but means of controlling VLC. Nevertheless, they are enabled by setting them as interface or extra interface, either in the Preferences, in General/Interface, or using -I or --extraintf on the command line.

Hotkeys This module allows you to control VLC and playback via hotkeys. It is always enabled by default. You can use hotkeys in the video output window, you can't in the audio dummy interface. Hotkeys can be hacked by: % vlc --key-

Code is composed by modifiers keys (Alt, Shift, Ctrl, Meta,Command) separated by a dash (-) and terminated by a key (a...z, +, =, -, ',', +, <, >, `, /, ;, ', \, [, ], *, Left, Right, Up, Down, Space, Enter, F1...F12, Home, End, Menu, Esc, Page Up, Page Down, Tab, Backspace, Mouse Wheel Up and Mouse Wheel Down). Main controls are available from hotkeys, such as : fullscreen, play-pause, faster, slower, next, prev, stop, quit, vol-up, etc. (use the --longhelp option for full list of functions). For example, for binding fullscreen to Ctrl-f, run: % vlc --key-fullscreen 'Ctrl-f'

The list of the default hotkeys is available here.

RC and RTCI These two interfaces allow you to control VLC from a command shell (possibly using a remote connexion or a Unix socket). Start VLC with -I rc or --extraintf rc. When you get the Remote control interface initialized, `h' for help message, press h and Enter to get help about available commands. To be able to remote connect to your VLC using a TCP socket (telnet-like connexion), use --rc-host your_host:port. Then, by connecting (using telnet or netcat) to the host on the given port, you will get the command shell. To use a UNIX socket (local socket, this does not work for Windows), use --rc-unix /path/to/socket. Commands can then be passed using this UNIX socket. The RTCI interface gives you more advanced options, such as marquee control for the marquee subpicture filter (See filter section).

Ncurses This is a text interface, using ncurses library. Start VLC with -I ncurses or --extraintf ncurses. You will then get something like that:

The ncurses interface

Press h to get the list of all available commands, with a short description. There is also a filebrowser available for the ncurses interface in order to add playlist items. Press 'B' to use it.

The ncurses filebrowser You can set the filebrowser starting point by launching vlc with the --browse-dir option: % vlc -I ncurses --browse-dir /filebrowser/starting/point/

Gestures Gestures provide a simple mouse gestures control. TODO

The Mozilla plugin VLC can also be embedded in a web browser! The following browsers are supported Mozilla, Firefox and Safari.

Install the plugin GNU/Linux Debian, Ubuntu, etc. Install the mozilla-plugin-vlc package using your preferred package manager. For example, at the command line enter:

# apt-get update # apt-get install mozilla-plugin-vlc

Windows Quit Firefox or Mozilla. Select the Mozilla Plugin option when installing VLC Media Player. The installer will then automatically detect your browser and install the plugin. Restart Firefox or Mozilla. Manual Install

In "Mozilla Firefox\plugins" Create the directory if it doesn't exist. Folders to copy:  

osdmenu plugins

Files to copy:          

vlc.exe vlc.exe.manifest vlc-cache-gen.exe npvlc.dll.manifest npvlc.dll libvlccore.dll libvlc.dll libvlc.dll.manifest axvlc.dll axvlc.dll.manifest

MacOS X

The Mozilla/Safari plugin for MacOS X is only available from vlc version 0.8.5.1 and onwards. Quit Safari browser. Download the Mozilla/safari plugin package from MacOS X download page. Run the installer from the dmg image.

Compile the sources yourself Please look at the developers page for information on how to do this.

Use the Mozilla plugin If in the browser you open a link to an audio or video URL handled by the VLC plugin, or if a web page has HTML code that embeds audio or video handled by the VLC plugin, then the plugin should start and play the audio/video. Note the plugin (as of version 1.1.9) does not present any user interface — it has no default control panel and no keyboard shortcuts. To get the list of the media types handled by the VLC plugin, browse to about:plugins. Conflicts will arise if you have more than one plugin installed that supports the same media type. See the Web plugin documentation to create HTML pages that use JavaScript to control the plugin. This page is part of official VLC media player Documentation (Play HowTo • Streaming HowTo • Hacker's Guide •Modules) Please read the Documentation Editing Guidelines before you edit the documentation Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.

Snapshot Tool Did you know you can use special codes to automatically generate filenames in the Snaphot Tool?

Specifying Streaming Options Main article: Documentation:Streaming HowTo New

Audio Bar Graph over Video This section specifies how to enable the audiobargraph audio filter and video overlay, (mostly) via the GUI. This displays an audio meter overlaid on the video. There are three parts - an audio filter, which sends it's output via TCP to the Remote Control (RC) Interface. This information is then picked up and displayed by the Audio Bar Graph video subpicture filter (OSD). To enable this, VLC needs to be started with the --rc-host command-line switch - e.g. "C:\Program Files\VideoLAN\VLC\vlc.exe" --rc-host localhost:12345

In the GUI, set the following (this example from VLC v1.1.9 on Windows 7):       

Preferences:Show settings:All Audio/Filters > Enable "Audio part of the BarGraph function" Audio/Filters/audiobargraph > use defaults, change "Sends the barGraph information every n audio packets" to 1 to enable see a more accurate display Interface/Main interfaces > Enable "Remote control interface" Interface/Main interfaces/RC > Enable "Do not open a DOS command box interface" Video/Subtitles-OSD > Enable "Audio Bar Graph Video sub filter" Video/Subtitles-OSD/Audio Bar Graph > Set the following settings: o "Value of the audio channels levels" = 0 (setting this to 0:1 crashes VLC v1.1.9) o "X coordinate" = 0 o "Y coordinate" = 0 (this doesn't seem to affect anything) o "Transparency of the bargraph" = 128 for 50% transparency which looks ok o "Bargraph position" = Left (seems to only work Left,Center,Right - can't go top or bottom) o "Alarm" = 1 (enables the silence alarm - puts a red border around the bargraph if silent for too long) o "Bar width in pixel" = 10 (20 if you want it to be really visible)

Introduction: Building Web pages with Video The VLC media player webplugins are native browser plugins, similar to Flash or Silverlight plugins and allow playback inside the browser of all the videos that VLC media player can read. Additionally to viewing video on all pages, you can build custom pages that will use the advanced features of the plugin, using Javascript functions to control playback or extract information from the plugin. There are 2 main plugins: one is ActiveX for IE, the other is NPAPI for the other browsers. They feature the same amount of features. In older versions, those plugins were very crashy. We URGE YOU to use VLC 2.0.0 or newer versions.

Browsers support It has been tested with: Mozilla Firefox

Internet Explorer

Safari Chrome Konqueror Opera

It has been tested on GNU/Linux, Windows and MacOS.

Embed tag attributes To embed the plugin into a webpage use the following template: 1. 2.



Required elements These are required attributes for the tag:   

width: Specifies the width of the plugin. height: Specifies the height of the plugin. target (or one of these alias: mrl, filename, src): Specifies the source location (URL) of the video to load.

Optionnal elements These are additional attributes for the tag:       

autoplay, autostart: Specifies whether the plugin starts playing on load. Default: true allowfullscreen: (since VLC version 2.0.0) Specifies whether the user can switch into fullscreen mode. Default: true windowless: (since VLC version 2.0.6) Draw the video on a window-less (non-accelerated) surface and allow styling (CSS overlay, 3D transformations, and much more). Default: false mute: Specifies whether the audio volume is initially muted. Default: false loop, autoloop: Specifies whether the video loops on end. Default: false controls (or toolbar): Specifies whether the controls are shown by default. Default: true bgcolor: Specifies the background color of the video player. Default: #000000

Normal DOM elements  

id: DOM id name: DOM name

Javascript API description The vlc plugin exports several objects that can be accessed for setting and getting information. When used improperly the API's will throw an exception that includes a string that explains what happened. For example when asking for vlc.input.length when there is no playlist item playing.

VLC objects The vlc plugin knows the following objects:      

audio: Access audio properties. input: Access input properties. playlist: Access playlist properties. subtitle: Access subtitle properties. video: Access video properties. o video.marquee: Access marquee video filter properties. o video.logo: Access logo video filter properties. mediaDescription: Access media info properties (only available in vlc version >= 2.0.2).

The following are deprecated:    

log: Access log properties (only available in vlc version <= 1.0.0-rc1). messages: Access to log message properties (only available in vlc version <= 1.0.0-rc1). iterator: Access to log iterator properties (only available in vlc version <= 1.0.0-rc1). message: Access to log message properties (only available in vlc version <= 1.0.0-rc1).

Example The following JavaScript code shows howto get a reference to the vlc plugin. This reference can then be used to access the objects of the vlc plugin. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 1. 2. 3. 4. 1. 2. 3.

<script language="Javascript">

Root object readonly properties 

VersionInfo: returns version information string

read/write properties 

none

methods 

vlc.versionInfo(): returns version information string (same as VersionInfo)



vlc.addEventListener(eventname, callback, bubble): (only for Mozilla) add a listener for mentioned event name, callback expects a function and bubble influences the order of eventhandling by JS (usually it is set to false). vlc.removeEventListener(eventname, callback, bubble): (only for Mozilla) remove listener for mentioned event name, callback expects a function and bubble influences the order of eventhandling by JS (usually it is set to false).



 

vlc.attachEvent(eventname, callback): (only for ActiveX) add listener for mentioned event name, callback expects a function vlc.removeEvent(eventname, callback): (only for ActiveX) remove listener for mentioned event name, callback expects a function

events             

MediaPlayerNothingSpecial: vlc is in idle state doing nothing but waiting for a command to be issued MediaPlayerOpening: vlc is opening an media resource locator (MRL) MediaPlayerBuffering: vlc is buffering MediaPlayerPlaying: vlc is playing a media MediaPlayerPaused: vlc is in paused state MediaPlayerForward: vlc is fastforwarding through the media (works only when an input supports forward playback) MediaPlayerBackward: vlc is going backwards through the media (works only when an input supports backwards playback) MediaPlayerEncounteredError: vlc has encountered an error and is unable to continue MediaPlayerEndReached: vlc has reached the end of current playlist MediaPlayerTimeChanged: time has changed MediaPlayerPositionChanged: media position has changed MediaPlayerSeekableChanged: media seekable flag has changed (true means media is seekable, false means it is not) MediaPlayerPausableChanged: media pausable flag has changed (true means media is pauseable, false means it is not)

Example The following code snippet provides easy functions to register and unregister event callbacks on all supported platforms (currently only Linux mozilla based browsers and windows activeX objects for Internet Explorer). 1. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

<script language="javascript">
7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. 49. 50. 51. 52. 53. 54. 55. 56. 57. 58. 59. 60. 61. 62. 63. 64. 65. 66. 67. 68.

vlc.attachEvent (event, handler); } else if (vlc.addEventListener) { // Mozilla: DOM level 2 vlc.addEventListener (event, handler, false); } else { // DOM level 0 vlc["on" + event] = handler; } } // stop listening to event function unregisterVLCEvent(event, handler) { var vlc = getVLC("vlc"); if (vlc) { if (vlc.detachEvent) { // Microsoft vlc.detachEvent (event, handler); } else if (vlc.removeEventListener) { // Mozilla: DOM level 2 vlc.removeEventListener (event, handler, false); } else { // DOM level 0 vlc["on" + event] = null; } } // event callback function for testing function handleEvents(event) { if (!event) event = window.event; // IE if (event.target) { // Netscape based browser targ = event.target; } else if (event.srcElement) { // ActiveX targ = event.srcElement; } else { // No event object, just the value alert("Event value" + event ); return; } if (targ.nodeType == 3) // defeat Safari bug targ = targ.parentNode; alert("Event " + event.type + " has fired from " + targ ); } // handle mouse grab event from video filter function handleMouseGrab(event,X,Y) { if (!event) event = window.event; // IE alert("new position (" + X + "," + Y + ")"); } // Register a bunch of callbacks. registerVLCEvent('MediaPlayerNothingSpecial', handleEvents); registerVLCEvent('MediaPlayerOpening', handleEvents); registerVLCEvent('MediaPlayerBuffering', handleEvents); registerVLCEvent('MediaPlayerPlaying', handleEvents); registerVLCEvent('MediaPlayerPaused', handleEvents); registerVLCEvent('MediaPlayerForward', handleEvents); registerVLCEvent('MediaPlayerBackward', handleEvents); registerVLCEvent('MediaPlayerEncounteredError', handleEvents); registerVLCEvent('MediaPlayerEndReached', handleEvents); registerVLCEvent('MediaPlayerTimeChanged', handleEvents); registerVLCEvent('MediaPlayerPositionChanged', handleEvents); registerVLCEvent('MediaPlayerSeekableChanged', handleEvents);

69. registerVLCEvent('MediaPlayerPausableChanged', handleEvents); 70. --> 1.

Audio object readonly properties 

vlc.audio.count: (supported in vlc version >= 1.1.0) returns the number of audio track available.

read/write properties    

vlc.audio.mute: boolean value to mute and unmute the audio. vlc.audio.volume: a value between [0-200] which indicates a percentage of the volume. vlc.audio.track: (supported in vlc version > 0.8.6) a value between [1-65535] which indicates the audio track to play or that is playing. a value of 0 means the audio is/will be disabled. vlc.audio.channel: (supported in vlc version > 0.8.6) integer value between [1-5] that indicates which audio channel mode is used, values can be: "1=stereo", "2=reverse stereo", "3=left", "4=right", "5=dolby". Use vlc.audio.channel to check if setting of the audio channel mode has succeeded.

methods  

vlc.audio.toggleMute(): boolean toggle that mutes and unmutes the audio based upon the previous state. vlc.audio.description(int i): (supported in vlc version >= 1.1.0) give the i-th audio track name. 0 corresponds to disable and 1 to the first audio track.

Example 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Audio Channel: Stereo Reverse stereo Left Right Dolby

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

<script language="javascript">

Input object readonly properties

  

vlc.input.length: length of the input file in number of milliseconds. 0 is returned for 'live' streams or clips whose length cannot be determined by VLC. It returns -1 if no input is playing. vlc.input.fps: frames per second returned as a float (typically 60.0, 50.0, 23.976, etc...) vlc.input.hasVout: a boolean that returns true when the video is being displayed, it returns false when video is not displayed

read/write properties  

vlc.input.position: normalized position in multimedia stream item given as a float value between [0.0 - 1.0] vlc.input.time: the absolute position in time given in milliseconds, this property can be used to seek through the stream

vlc.input.time = vlc.input.time = vlc.input.time +



vlc.input.state: current state of the input chain given as enumeration:

0 IDLE 1 OPENING 2 BUFFERING 3 PLAYING 4 PAUSED 5 STOPPING 6 ENDED 7 ERROR

Note: Test for ENDED=6 to catch end of playback. Checking for STOPPING=5 is NOT ENOUGH. 

vlc.input.rate: input speed given as float (1.0 for normal speed, 0.5 for half speed, 2.0 for twice as fast, etc.).

rate > 1 : is fastforward rate > 0 and rate < 1 : is slow motion rate < 0 : is rewind

methods 

none

Playlist object

readonly properties   

vlc.playlist.itemCount: number that returns the amount of items currently in the playlist (deprecated, do not use, see Playlist items) vlc.playlist.isPlaying: a boolean that returns true if the current playlist item is playing and false when it is not playing vlc.playlist.items: return the playlist items collection, see Playlist items

read/write properties 

none

methods  

vlc.playlist.add(mrl): add a playlist item as MRL. The MRL must be given as a string. Returns a number as an item identifier in playlist (this is not a position in playlist). vlc.playlist.add(mrl,name,options): add a playlist item as MRL, with metaname 'name' and options 'options'. options are text arguments which can be provided either as a single string containing space separated values, akin to VLC command line, or as an array of string values. Returns a number as an item identifier in playlist (this is not a position in playlist).

1. 2. 3.

var options = new Array(":aspect-ratio=4:3", "--rtsp-tcp"); var id = vlc.playlist.add("rtsp://servername/item/to/play", "fancy name", options); vlc.playlist.playItem(id);

       

vlc.playlist.play(): start playing the current playlist item vlc.playlist.playItem(number): start playing the item whose identifier is number vlc.playlist.pause(): pause the current playlist item vlc.playlist.togglePause(): toggle the pause state for the current playlist item vlc.playlist.stop(): stop playing the current playlist item vlc.playlist.next(): iterate to the next playlist item vlc.playlist.prev(): iterate to the previous playlist item vlc.playlist.clear(): empty the current playlist, all items will be deleted from the playlist (deprecated, do not use, see Playlist items) vlc.playlist.removeItem(number): remove the item from playlist whose identifier is number (deprecated, do not use, see Playlist items)



Playlist items object readonly properties 

vlc.playlist.items.count: number of items currently in the playlist

read/write properties 

none

methods 

vlc.playlist.items.clear(): empty the current playlist, all items will be deleted from the playlist. If a movie is playing, it stop. Note that when this method returns, playlist may not have been entirely been cleared as this operation is performed asynchronously; use the count property to verify/wait until the playlist is empty.



vlc.playlist.items.remove(number): remove the item whose identifier is number from playlist. (note: this number isn't the position in the playlist, but the number given by vlc.playlist.add() )

Subtitle object readonly properties 

vlc.subtitle.count: (supported in vlc version >= 1.1.0) returns the number of subtitle available.

read/write properties 

vlc.subtitle.track: (supported in vlc version >= 1.1.0) get and set the subtitle track to show on the video screen. The property takes an integer as input value [1..65535]. If subtitle track is set to 0, the subtitles will be disabled. If set to a value outside the current subtitle tracks range, then it will return -1 and display an error message.

methods 

vlc.subtitle.description(int i): (supported in vlc version >= 1.1.0) give the i-th subtitle name. 0 correspond to disable and 1 to the first subtitle.

Video object readonly properties  

vlc.video.width: returns the horizontal size of the video vlc.video.height: returns the vertical size of the video

read/write properties   



vlc.video.fullscreen: when set to true the video will be displayed in fullscreen mode, when set to false the video will be shown inside the video output size. The property takes a boolean as input. vlc.video.aspectRatio: get and set the aspect ratio to use in the video screen. The property takes a string as input value. Typical values are: "1:1", "4:3", "16:9", "16:10", "221:100" and "5:4" vlc.video.subtitle: (supported in vlc version > 0.8.6a) get and set the subtitle track to show on the video screen. The property takes an integer as input value [1..65535]. If subtitle track is set to 0, the subtitles will be disabled. If set to a value outside the current subtitle tracks range, then it will return -1 and display an error message. vlc.video.teletext: (supported in vlc version >= 0.9.0) get and set teletext page to show on the video stream. This will only work if a teletext elementary stream is available in the video stream. The property takes an integer as input value [0..999] for indicating the teletext page to view, setting the value to 0 means hide teletext. On error it will return -1 and display an error message.

methods  

vlc.video.toggleFullscreen(): toggle the fullscreen mode based on the previous setting vlc.video.toggleTeletext(): (supported in vlc version >= 0.9.0) toggle the teletext page to overlay transparent or not, based on the previous setting

Deinterlace Object

readonly properties 

none

read/write properties 

none

methods 



vlc.video.deinterlace.enable("my_mode"): (supported in vlc version >= 1.1.0) enable deinterlacing with my_mode. You can enable it with "blend", "bob", "discard", "linear", "mean", "x", "yadif" or "yadif2x" mode. Enabling too soon deinterlacing may cause some problems. You have to wait that all variable are available before enabling it. vlc.video.deinterlace.disable(): (supported in vlc version >= 1.1.0) disable deinterlacing.

Marquee Object readonly properties 

none

read/write properties         

vlc.video.marquee.text: (supported in vlc version >= 1.1.0) display my text on the screen. vlc.video.marquee.color: (supported in vlc version >= 1.1.0) change the text color. val is the new color to use (WHITE=0x000000, BLACK=0xFFFFFF, RED=0xFF0000, GREEN=0x00FF00, BLUE=0x0000FF...). vlc.video.marquee.opacity: (supported in vlc version >= 1.1.0) change the text opacity, val is defined from 0 (completely transparent) to 255 (completely opaque). vlc.video.marquee.position: (supported in vlc version >= 1.1.0) change the text position (CENTER=0, LEFT=1, RIGHT=2, TOP=4, TOP-LEFT=5, TOP-RIGHT=6, BOTTOM=8, BOTTOM-LEFT=9, BOTTOM_RIGHT=10). vlc.video.marquee.refresh: (supported in vlc version >= 1.1.0) change the marquee refresh period. vlc.video.marquee.size: (supported in vlc version >= 1.1.0) val define the new size for the text displayed on the screen. If the text is bigger than the screen then the text is not displayed. vlc.video.marquee.timeout: (supported in vlc version >= 1.1.0) change the timeout value. val is defined in ms, but 0 value correspond to unlimited. vlc.video.marquee.x: (supported in vlc version >= 1.1.0) change text abscissa. vlc.video.marquee.y: (supported in vlc version >= 1.1.0) change text ordinate.

methods  

vlc.video.marquee.enable(): (supported in vlc version >= 1.1.0) enable marquee filter. vlc.video.marquee.disable(): (supported in vlc version >= 1.1.0) disable marquee filter.

Some problems may happen (option like color or text will not be applied) because of the VLC asynchronous functioning. To avoid it, after enabling marquee, you have to wait a little time before changing an option. But it should be fixed by the new vout implementation. NOTE: [1]

Logo Object readonly properties 

none

read/write properties        

vlc.video.logo.opacity: (supported in vlc version >= 1.1.0) change the picture opacity, val is defined from 0 (completely transparent) to 255 (completely opaque). vlc.video.logo.position: (supported in vlc version >= 1.1.0) change the text position ("center", "left", "right", "top", "top-left", "top-right", "bottom", "bottom-left", "bottom-right"). vlc.video.logo.delay: (supported in vlc version >= 1.1.0) display each picture for a duration of 1000 ms (default) before displaying the next picture. vlc.video.logo.repeat: (supported in vlc version >= 1.1.0) number of loops for picture animation (1=continuous, 0=disabled, n=n-times). The default is -1 (continuous). vlc.video.logo.x: (supported in vlc version >= 1.1.0) change the x-offset for displaying the picture counting from top-left on the screen. vlc.video.logo.y: (supported in vlc version >= 1.1.0) change the y-offset for displaying the picture counting from top-left on the screen. vlc.video.logo.width: (supported in vlc version >= 1.1.0) change the picture width. vlc.video.logo.height: (supported in vlc version >= 1.1.0) change the picture height.

methods   

vlc.video.logo.enable(): (supported in vlc version >= 1.1.0) enable logo video filter. vlc.video.logo.disable(): (supported in vlc version >= 1.1.0) disable logo video filter. vlc.video.logo.file("file.png"): (supported in vlc version >= 1.1.0) display my file.png as logo on the screen.

Some problems may happen because of the VLC asynchronous functioning. To avoid it, after enabling logo video filter, you have to wait a little time before changing an option. But it should be fixed by the new vout implementation.

MediaDescription Object readonly properties         

vlc.mediaDescription.title: (supported in vlc version >= 2.0.2) returns title meta information field. vlc.mediaDescription.artist: (supported in vlc version >= 2.0.2) returns artist meta information field. vlc.mediaDescription.copyright: (supported in vlc version >= 2.0.2) returns copyright meta information field. vlc.mediaDescription.album: (supported in vlc version >= 2.0.2) returns album meta information field. vlc.mediaDescription.trackNumber: (supported in vlc version >= 2.0.2) returns trackNumber meta information field. vlc.mediaDescription.description: (supported in vlc version >= 2.0.2) returns description meta information field. vlc.mediaDescription.rating: (supported in vlc version >= 2.0.2) returns rating meta information field. vlc.mediaDescription.date: (supported in vlc version >= 2.0.2) returns date meta information field. vlc.mediaDescription.setting: (supported in vlc version >= 2.0.2) returns setting meta information field.

    

vlc.mediaDescription.URL: (supported in vlc version >= 2.0.2) returns URL meta information field. vlc.mediaDescription.language: (supported in vlc version >= 2.0.2) returns language meta information field. vlc.mediaDescription.nowPlaying: (supported in vlc version >= 2.0.2) returns nowPlaying meta information field. vlc.mediaDescription.publisher: (supported in vlc version >= 2.0.2) returns publisher meta information field. vlc.mediaDescription.encodedBy: (supported in vlc version >= 2.0.2) returns encodedBy meta information field.



vlc.mediaDescription.artworkURL: (supported in vlc version >= 2.0.2) returns artworkURL meta information field.



vlc.mediaDescription.trackID: (supported in vlc version >= 2.0.2) returns trackID meta information field.

read/write properties 

none

methods 

none

DEPRECATED APIs DEPRECATED: Log object CAUTION: For security concern, VLC 1.0.0-rc1 is the latest (near-to-stable) version in which this object and its children are supported.

This object allows accessing VLC main message logging queue. Typically this queue capacity is very small (no nore than 256 entries) and can easily overflow, therefore messages should be read and cleared as often as possible. readonly properties 

vlc.log.messages: returns the message collection, see Messages object

read/write properties 

vlc.log.verbosity: write number [-1,0,1,2,3] for changing the verbosity level of the log messages; messages whose verbosity is higher than set will be not be logged in the queue. The numbers have the following meaning: -1 disable, 0 info, 1 error, 2 warning, 3 debug.

methods 

none

DEPRECATED: Messages object

CAUTION: For security concern, VLC 1.0.0-rc1 is the latest (near-to-stable) version in which this object and its children are supported.

readonly properties 

messages.count: returns number of messages in the log

read/write properties 

none

methods  

messages.clear(): clear the current log buffer. It should be called as frequently as possible to not overflow the message queue. Call this method after the log messages of interest are read. messages.iterator(): creates and returns an iterator object, used to iterate over the messages in the log. Don't clear the log buffer while holding an iterator object.

DEPRECATED: Messages Iterator object CAUTION: For security concern, VLC 1.0.0-rc1 is the latest (near-to-stable) version in which this object and its children are supported.

readonly properties 

iterator.hasNext: returns a boolean that indicates whether vlc.log.messages.next() will return the next message.

read/write properties 

none

methods 

iterator.next(): returns the next message object in the log, see Message object

DEPRECATED: Message subobject CAUTION: For security concern, VLC 1.0.0-rc1 is the latest (near-to-stable) version in which this object and its children are supported.    

message.severity: number that indicates the severity of the log message (0 = info, 1 = error, 2 = warning, 3 = debug) message.name: name of VLC module that printed the log message (e.g: main, http, directx, etc...) message.type: type of VLC module that printed the log message (eg: input, access, vout, sout, etc...) message.message: the message text

Use the command line TODO: completely outdated All standard operations of VLC should be available from the GUI. However, some complex operations can only be done from the command line and there are situations in which you don't need or want a GUI. Here is the complete description of VLC's command line and how to use it. You need to be quite comfortable with command line usage to use this. Note: Windows users have to use the --option-name="value" syntax instead of the --option-name value syntax.

Getting help VLC uses a modular structure. The core mainly manages communication between modules. All the multimedia processing is done by modules. There are input modules, demultiplexers, decoders, video output modules, ... This chapter will only describe the "general" options, i.e. the core options. Each module adds new options. For example, the HTTP input module will add options for caching, proxy, authentication, ... By using vlc --help, you will get the basic core options. vlc --longhelp will give all the basic options (core + modules). Adding --advanced will give the "advanced options" (for advanced users). So vlc --longhelp --advanced will give you all options. You can also append --help-verbose if you want more detailed help. Also, you might want to get debug informations. To do this, use -v or -vv (this will show lower severity messages). If your console supports it, you can add --color to get messages in color.

Opening streams The following commands start VLC and start reading the given element(s):

Opening a file Start VLC with: % vlc my_file

VLC should be able to recognize the file type. If it does not, you can force demultiplexer and decoder (see below). A list of all video and audio codecs supported by VLC is available on the VLC features list.

Opening a DVD or VCD, or an audio CD Start VLC with:

For a DVD with menus: % vlc dvd://[device][@raw_device][@[title][:[chapter][:angle]]]

In most cases, vlc dvd:// or vlc dvd://[device] will do. [device] is for example /dev/dvd on GNU/Linux or D: on Windows (complete path to your DVD drive). or (DVD without menus): % vlc dvdsimple://[device][@raw_device][@[title][:[chapter][:angle]]]

or (VCD): % vlc vcd://[device][@{E|P|E|T|S}[number]]

or (Audio CD): % vlc cdda://[device][@[track]]

Receiving a network stream To receive an unicast RTP/UDP stream (sent by VLC's stream output), start VLC with: % vlc rtp://@:5004

If 5004 is the port to which packets are sent. 1234 is another commonly used port number. you use the default port (1234), vlc rtp:// will do. For more information, look at the Streaming Howto. To receive an multicast UDP/RTP stream (sent by VLC's stream output), start VLC with: % vlc rtp://@multicast_address:port

To receive a SSM (source specific multicast) stream, you can use: % vlc rtp://server_address@multicast_address:port

This only works on OSs that support SSM (Windows XP and Linux). To receive a HTTP stream, start VLC with: % vlc http://www.example.org/your_file.mpg

To receive a RTSP stream, start VLC with: % vlc rtsp://www.example.org/your_stream

Modules selection VLC always tries to select the most appropriate interface, input and output modules, among the ones available on the system, according to the stream it is given to read. However, you may wish to force the use of a specific module with the following options.  

  

--intf allows you to select the interface module. --extraintf allows you to select extra interface modules that will be launched in addition to the main one. This is mainly useful for special control interfaces, like HTTP, RC (Remote Control), ... (see below) --aout allows you to select the audio output module. --vout allows you to select the video output module. --memcpy allows you to choose a memory copy module. You should probably never touch that.

You can get a listing of the available modules by using vlc -l

Stream Output The Stream output system allows vlc to become a streaming server. For more details on the stream output system, please have a look at the Streaming HowTo.

Other Options Audio options      

--noaudio disables audio output. Note that if you are streaming (ex: to a file) this has no effect (streaming copies the audio verbatim). Use --sout-xxx instead (ex: --no-sout-audio) --mono forces VLC to treat the stream in mono audio. --volume sets the level of audio output (between 0 and 1024). Also only applies to local playback (like --noaudio). --aout-rate sets the audio output frequency (Hz). By default, VLC will try to autodetect this. --desync compensates desynchronization of audio (ms). (If audio and video streams are not synchronized, use this setting to delay the audio stream) --audio-filter adds audio filters to the processing chain. Available filters are visual (visualizer with spectrum analyzer and oscilloscope), headphone (virtual headphone patialization) and normalizer (volume normalizer)

Video options    

--no-video disables video output. --grayscale turns video output into grayscale mode. --fullscreen ( or -f) sets fullscreen video. --nooverlay disables hardware acceleration for the video output.

       

--width, --height sets the video window dimensions. By default, the video window size will be adjusted to match the video dimensions. --start-time starts the video here; the integer is the number of seconds from the beginning (e.g. 1:30 is written as 90) --stop-time stops the video here; the integer is the number of seconds from the beginning (e.g. 1:30 is written as 90) --zoom adds a zoom factor. --aspect-ratio forces source aspect ratio. Modes are 4x3, 16x9, ... --spumargin forces SPU subtitles postion. --video-filter adds video filters to the processing chain. You can add several filters, separated by commas --sub-filter adds video subpictures filter to the processing chain.

Desktop/Screen grab options You can see the various options for "grabbing the desktop" (VLC's built-in screen grabber capture device) by using the GUI. See http://forum.videolan.org/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=46971

Playlist options    

--random plays files randomly forever. --loop loops playlist on end. --repeat repeats current item until another item is forced --play-and-stop stops the playlist after each played item.

Network options      

--server-port sets server port. --iface specifies the network interface to use. --iface-addr specifies your network interface IP address. --mtu specifies the MTU of the network interface. --ipv6 forces IPv6. --ipv4 forces IPv4.

CPU options You should probably not touch these options unless you know what you are doing.     

--nommx disables the use of MMX CPU extensions. --no3dn disables the use of 3D Now! CPU extensions. --nommxext disables the use of MMX Ext CPU extensions. --nosse disables the use of SSE CPU extensions. --noaltivec disables the use of Altivec CPU extensions.

Miscellaneous options    

--quiet deactivates all console messages. --color displays color messages. --search-path specifies interface default search path. --plugin-path specifies plugin search path.

        

--no-plugins-cache disables the plugin cache (plugins cache speeds up startup) --dvd specifies the default DVD device. --vcd specifies the default VCD device. --program specifies program (SID) (for streams with several programs, like satellite ones). --audio-type specifies the default audio type to use with dvds. --audio-channel specifies the default audio channel to use with dvds. --spu-channel specifies the default subtitle channel to use with dvds. --version gives you information about the current VLC version. --module displays help about specified module. (Shortcut: -p)

Item-specific options There are many options that are related to items (like --novideo, --codec, --fullscreen). For all of these, you have the possibility to make them item-specific, using ":" instead of "--" and putting the option just after the concerned item. Examples: % vlc file1.mpg :fullscreen file2.mpg

will play file1.mpg in fullscreen mode and file2.mpg in the default mode (which is generally no fullscreen), whereas % vlc --fullscreen file1.mpg file2.mpg

will play both files in fullscreen mode % vlc --fullscreen file1.mpg :sub-file=file1.srt :no-fullscreen file2.mpg :filter=distort

will play file1.mpg in windowed (no-fullscreen) mode with the subtitles file file1.srt and will play file2.mpg with video filter distort enabled in fullscreen mode (item-specific options override global options).

Filters These are the old style VLC filters. They only apply to on screen display and thus cannot be streamed. However, on version 1.1.11 you are still able to apply these filters in transcode module using parameter vfilter. More information can be found on Advanced Streaming Using the Command Line.

Deinterlacing video filter Module name: deinterlace 

--deinterlace-mode {discard,blend,mean,bob,linear,x,yadif,yadif (2x),phosophor,ivtc} choose a deinterlacing mode.

Invert video filter Module name: invert

Image properties filter Module name: adjust     

--contrast Image contrast in the 0-2 range. --brightness Image brightness in the 0-2 range. --hue Image hue in the 0-360 range. --saturation Image saturation in the 0-3 range. -gamma Image gamma in the 0-10 range.

Wall video filter Module name: wall This filter splits the output in several windows.   

--wall-cols Number of columns. --wall-rows Number of rows. --wall-active Select the windows you want to display. To select windows 2 and 4 you would write --wall-active 2,4. When this option isn't specified, all windows are displayed.

Video transformation filter Module name: transform 

--transform-type {90,180,270,hflip,vflip} Select rotation angle or symmetry.

Distort video filter Module name: distort

Clone video filter This filter clones the output window. Module name: clone  

--clone-count Number of clones. --clone-vout-list Comma separated string of video output modules.

Crop video filter Module name: crop

 

--crop-geometry Set the geometry of the zone to crop. This is set as x + + . --autocrop Enable automatic black border cropping.

Motion blur filter Module name: motionblur 

blur-factor Blur factor in the 1-127 range.

Video pictures blending Module name: blend

Video scaling filter Module name: scale

Subpictures Filters These are the new VLC filters. They can be streamed.

Time display sub filter Module name: time   

--time-format Time format string. You can use the following special characters %Y = year, %m = month, %d = day, %H = hour, %M = minute, %S = second. --time-x X offset from the left in pixels. --time-y Y offset from the top in pixels.

Marquee display sub filter Module name: marq    

--marq-marquee Marquee text to display. --marq-x X offset from the left in pixels. --marq-y Y offset from the top in pixels. --marq-timeout Defines the time the marquee must remain displayed in milliseconds. Default value is 0 (remain forever).

Logo video filter Module name: logo This filter can be used both as an old style filter or a subpictures filter.

   

--logo-file Full path of the PNG file to use. --logo-x X offset from the left in pixels. --logo-y Y offset from the top in pixels. --logo-transparency You can set the logo transparency value here (from 0 for full transparency to 255 for full opacity).

Note: You can move the logo by left-clicking on it.

Windows You can uninstall VLC from Add/Remove Programs (Programs and Features in Windows 7) located in the Control Panel. Search for VLC media player and right click, then select "Uninstall/Change". Follow the prompts to finish the uninstallation.

Alternatively, you can browse to VLC's installation directory (for a typical install, go to your C: Drive and look for Program Files (if 64-bit, Program Files (x86) )→VideoLAN→VLC and double-click on the uninstall link and follow the prompts to uninstall.

Mac OS X Drag the VLC application to your trash can. You can also remove the configuration file and the cache files in ~/Library/Preferences/VLC/. There is an AppleScript on the disk-image which lets you do this automatically. If that did not work, you can double-click on the Applications icon. This will bring up a list of all applications on your Mac. Scroll through the list of Applications, then press and hold the Ctrl button to bring up a table of options and actions. Click on "move to trash". Finally, if the previous processes failed, you can try downloading a third-party uninstaller program to

uninstall it, such as AppCleaner.

BeOS Delete the vlc-version directory. You can also remove the configuration file /boot/home/config/settings/vlcrc.

Debian GNU/Linux Remove the packages that you installed: # apt-get remove --purge vlc libdvdcss2

GNU/Linux Redhat, Mandrake and SuSE Uninstall the RPM packages that you installed: # rpm -e vlc-version vlc-mad-version wxvlc-version libdvdcss2-version libdvdpsi1-version

Ubuntu Remove VLC Media Player by entering this command in the Terminal. # sudo apt-get remove vlc

Or you can also search VLC in the Ubuntu Software Center and click on Remove to uninstall it.

If you compiled VLC from source Go to the directory containing VLC sources and execute # make uninstall

You can then remove the VLC sources.

Introduction This appendix describes the language used for writing dynamic web pages for the HTTP interface. Pages must be placed in the share/http folder in either VLC's folder (Windows, Mac) or /usr/share/vlc/share/http or /usr/local/share/vlc/share/http (or wherever vlc's shared files are installed). Some files are handled a bit specially:  

Files beginning with '.' are not exported. A '.access' file will be opened and the http interface will expect to find at the first line a login/password (written as login:password). This login/password will be used to protect all files in this directory. Be careful that only files in this directory will be protected. (sub-directories won't be protected.)





A '.hosts' file will be opened and the http interface will expect to find a list of network/mask pairs separated by new line, for instance 192.168.0.0/255.255.255.0. If this file is present, then the default behaviour is to deny access from hosts which don't match any of the network/mask pairs to all the files of the directory. If the file is not present, then any host has access to the files of the directory. Be careful that only files in this directory will be protected. (sub-directories won't be protected.) The file /index.html will be exported as and / and not as index.html.

The MIME type is set by looking at the file extension and cannot be specified nor modified for a specific file. Unknown extensions will have "application/octet-stream" as MIME type. You should avoid exporting big files. Each file is indeed first loaded into the memory before being sent to the client, so please be careful.

VLC macros Each time a .html/.htm page is requested, it is parsed by VLC before being sent. The parser searches for the VLC macros, and executes or substitutes them. Moreover, URL arguments received by the GET method can be interpreted. A VLC macro looks like:

"id" is the only mandatory field, param1 and param2 may or may not be present and depend on the value of "id". You should take care that you have to respect this syntax, VLC won't like invalid syntax. (It could easily leads to crashes). Examples: Correct:

Incorrect: (missing tag ending) (missing "" )

Valid macros are:     

control (1 optional parameter) include (1 parameter) get (2 parameters) set (2 parameters) rpn (1 parameter)

    

if (1 optional parameter) else (no parameter) end (no parameter) value (1 optional parameter) foreach (2 parameters)

For powerful macros, you may use these tools:   

RPN Evaluator (see part 2) Stacks: The stack is a place where you can push numbers and strings, and then pop them backs. It's used with the little RPN evaluator. Local variables: You can dynamically create new variables and changes their values. Some local variables are predefined: o url_value: parameter of the URL o url_param: 1 if url_value isn't empty else 0 o version: the VLC version o copyright: the VLC copyright o vlc_compile_time, vlc_compile_by, vlc_compile_host, vlc_compile_domain, vlc_compiler, vlc_changeset: information on the VLC build o stream_position, stream_time, stream_length, stream_state: information on the currently playing stream o volume: current volume setting

Remark: The stacks, and local variables context is reset before the page is executed.

The RPN evaluator RPN means Reverse Polish Notation.

RPN Introduction RPN may look strange but it's a fast and easy way to write expressions. It also avoids the use of ( and ). Instead of writing ( 1 + 2 ) * 5 you just use 1 2 + 5 *. The idea behind it is: if we have a number or a string (using ''), push it on the stack. If it is an operator (like +), pop the arguments from the stack, execute the operators and then push the result onto the stack. The result of the RPN sequence is the value on the top of the stack. A step by step explanation of the sequence 1 2 + 5 * is shown below, to illustrate this process: Stack Contents

Word

Action taken on the stack

empty

1

1 is pushed on the stack

1

2

2 is pushed onto the stack, 'above' 1

1|2

+

The plus operator results in removal of 1 and 2 from the stack, then write 3 onto the stack

3

5

5 is pushed on the stack

3|5

*

15

The multiplication operator removes 3 and 5 and writes 15 onto the stack. Final result.

Operators Notation: ST(1) means the first stack element, ST(2) the second one ... and op is the operator. You have access to : 

Standard arithmetics operators: +, -, *, /, % these ones push the result of ST(1) op ST(2) onto the stack



Binary operators: ! (push !ST(1)); ^, &, |: push the result ST(1) op ST(2)



test: =, <, <=, >, >=: execute ST(1) op ST(2) and push -1 if true else 0



string functions: o strcat: pushes the result of 'ST(1)ST(2) o strcmp: compares ST(1) and ST(2) (0 if equal) o strncmp: compares the first ST(1) characters of ST(2) and ST(3) (0 if equal) o strsub: extracts characters ST(2) to ST(1) of string ST(3) o strlen: pushes the length of ST(1) o str_replace: replaces string ST(2) with ST(1) in ST(3) o url_encode: encodes non-alphanumeric characters of ST(1) as %XX so that they can be safely passed as GET or POST variables o url_extract: performs the reverse operation of url_encode o addslashes: protects single quotes (') and double quotes (") of ST(1) with backslashes (\) so that they can be safely passed to a VLC playlist function o stripslashes: performs the reverse operation of addslashes o htmlspecialchars: encodes &, ', ", <, and > of ST(1) as their &stuff; HTML counterpart, so that they don't interact with HTML tags o realpath: parses ST(1) as a filename path, and pushes an absolute path to that file, removing ~ and ../



stack manipulation: o dup: pops ST(1) and pushes the same string twice o drop: pops ST(1) and drops it o swap: exchanges ST(1) and ST(2) o flush: empties the stack



variables manipulation: o store: stores ST(2) in a local variable named ST(1) o value: pushes the value of the local variable named ST(1)



player control: o vlc_play: plays the playlist item whose ID is ST(1), and pushes the return value of the play function (0 in case of success); see playlist functions below o vlc_stop: stops the playlist o vlc_pause: pauses the playlist

o o o o

o o o o o o o

o o

o

o

o 

vlc_next: plays the next playlist item vlc_previous: plays the previous playlist item vlc_seek: seeks the current input to a location defined in ST(1), for instance+3m (minutes), -20s, 45%, 1:12, 1h12m25s vlc_var_type: pushes the type of the variable ST(2) of object ST(1); the type is one of these strings VLC_VAR_BOOL, VLC_VAR_INTEGER, VLC_VAR_HOTKEY, VLC_VAR_STRING, VLC_VAR_MODULE, VLC_VAR_FILE, VLC_VAR_DIRECTORY, VLC_VAR_VARIABLE, VLC_VAR_FLOAT, UNDEFINED (no such variable) or INVALID (no input stream); the object is one of VLC_OBJECT_ROOT, VLC_OBJECT_VLC, VLC_OBJECT_INTF, VLC_OBJECT_PLAYLIST, VLC_OBJECT_INPUT, VLC_OBJECT_VOUT, VLC_OBJECT_AOUT or VLC_OBJECT_SOUT vlc_var_set: sets variable ST(2) of object ST(1) to ST(3) vlc_var_get: pushes the value of the variable ST(2) of object ST(1) vlc_object_exists: checks if object ST(1) exists vlc_config_type: pushes the type of the configuration variable ST(1); see vlc_var_type for a list of types vlc_config_set: sets configuration variable ST(1) to ST(2) vlc_config_get: pushes the value of the configuration variable ST(1) vlc_config_save: saves the modification made to the configuration variables of module ST(1) to the configuration file (ST(1) may be empty, in which case the whole configuration is saved) and pushes the return status (0 in case of success) vlc_config_reset: resets the configuration file to the default value (use with caution) vlc_volume_set: sets the volume value to ST(1) which can be a raw value between 0 and 1024, or a relative one between 0% and 400%, where 1% is equal to the maximum volume value divided by 400 (thus, the maximum volume value is equal to 400%, that is 1024). If ST(1) begins with a '+' (or '-') operator, the volume is increased (or decreased) by the raw value which follows this operator vlc_get_meta: pushes the value of the meta information named by ST(1) from the stream being played. Available meta names are: "Title" (or "TITLE"), "Author", "Artist" (or "ARTIST"), "Genre" (or "GENRE"), "Copyright", "Album/movie/show title" (or "ALBUM"), "Track number/position in set", "Description", "Rating", "Date", "Setting", "URL", "Language", "Now Playing", "Publisher" vlm_command or vlm_cmd: sends the command that is on the stack to the VLM (VideoLan Manager). Since the command can contain more than one component on the stack, it must be ended by an ';' or an empty string pushed on the stack (e.g.: param1="';' 'command' 'my' 'this is' vlm_command"). Once the VLM has executed the command, the return value is assigned to the local variable vlm_value and the error string (if available) is assigned to vlm_error snapshot: takes a snapshot

playlist functions: o playlist_add: adds MRL ST(1) to the playlist, with name ST(2) and returns the playlist ID associated to this item; special characters must be escaped with addslashes first; it is very convenient to call 'toto.mpg' playlist_add vlc_play o playlist_empty: clears the playlist of all items o playlist_move: moves playlist item at position ST(2) to position ST(1) o playlist_delete: deletes playlist item ID ST(1) o playlist_sort: sorts the playlist using the mode ST(2) and order ST(1). Available order values are 0 (normal order) and 1 (reverse order). Available mode values are 0 (sort by ID), 1 (sort by title), 2 (sort by title, nodes first), 3 (sort by author), 4 (sort by genre),

o o o

5 (sort randomly), 6 (sort by duration), 7 (numerically sort by title) and 8 (sort by album) services_discovery_add: adds the service discovery ST(1) to the playlist services_discovery_remove: removes the service discovery ST(1) from the playlist services_discovery_is_loaded: checks if the service discovery ST(1) is loaded in the playlist, and pushes the answer on the stack

The macros The control macro The use of the control macro is now deprecated in favour of the RPN functions above. The documentation is provided here for the maintainance of HTML pages still using this old API. The main problem with this API is that there is no way to retrieve the playlist ID of the last added item. When asking for a page, you can give arguments to it through the url. (e.g. using a

). Ex: http://host:port/page.html?var=value&var2=value2&... The "control" macro tells a page to parse these arguments and to execute the ones that are allowed. param1 of this macro says which commands are allowed. If empty, all commands will be permitted. Some commands require an argument that must be passed in the URL too. 

URL commands o Name, Argument, Description o play, item (integer), Play the specified playlist item o stop, ,Stop o pause, Pause o next, , Go to next playlist item o previous, , Go to previous playlist item o add, mrl (string), Add a MRL to the playlist o delete, item (integer), Delete the specified playlist item or list of playlist items o empty, , Empty the playlist o close, id (hexa), Close a specific connection o shutdown, , Quit VLC

For example, you can restrict execution of the shutdown command to protected page (through a .access file), using the control macro in all unprotected pages.

The include macro This macro is replaced by the contents of the file param1. If the file contains vlc macros, they are correctly parsed and replaced.

The get macro This macro will be replaced by the value of the configuration variable which name is stored in param1 and which type is given by param2.

param1 must be the name of an existing configuration variable. param2 must be the right type of the variable. It can be one of int, float, or string. Example: will be replaced in the output page by the value of sout.

The set macro This macro allows to set the value of a configuration variable. The name is given by param1 and the type by param2 (like for get). The value is retrieved from the url using the name given in param1. For example, if player.html contains

and if you browse at http://host:ip/player.html?sout=sout_value, the sout variable will be set to "sout_value". If the URL doesn't contain sout, nothing will be done.

The rpn macro This macro allows you to interpret RPN commands. (See II).

The if,else,end macro This macro allows you to control the parsing of the HTML page. If param1 isn't empty, it is first executed with the RPN evaluator. If the first element from the stack is not 0, the test value is true, else false..

Test succeed: 1 isn't equal to 2

You can also just use "if" and "end".

The value macro If param1 isn't empty, it is first executed with the RPN evaluator. The macro is replaced with the value of the first element of the stack. Note: If the element is the name of a local variable, its value will be displayed instead of its name.

The foreach,end macro param1 is the name of the variable that will be used for the loop. param2 is the name of the set to be built:







integer: take the first element from the stack to construct a set of integer. The stack element should be a string like: first:last[:step][,first2:last2[:step2][,...] (Ex:1:5:2,6:8:1 will be expanded into 1,3,5,6,7,8) directory: take the first element of the stack as the base directory and construct a set of filename and directly in it. Each element has the following fields: o basename: file/directory name o name: complete file/directory name (including path) o ext: file extension in lowercase o type: "directory" or "file" or "unknown" o size: size of the file o date playlist: set based on the playlist with fields: current is 1 if item is currently selected, 0 else. index is the index value, that can be used by the play or delete control command. name is the

name of the item. 





"information": Create information for the current playing stream. name is the name of the category, value is its value, info is a new set that can be parsed with a new foreach (subfields of info are name and value). input variables such as "program", "title", "chapter", "audio-es", "video-es" and "spu-es": Create lists for the current playing stream. Every list has the following fields: o name: item name (language for elementary streams, tracks, etc.) to display in places where a human-readable format is preferred o id: item ID to pass to the RPN function vlc_var_set, and returned by vlc_var_get o selected: 1 if the item is selected, 0 otherwise the name of a foreach variable if it's a set of set of value.

• :

For more details, have a look at the share/http directory of the VLC source tree...

Starting with VLC media player 0.9.0, format string variables can be used with the following options:    

--marq-marquee --snapshot-path (when specifying a full image path, not a directory) --snapshot-prefix --image-out-prefix (or --scene-prefix in 1.0.0 and newer)

 

--msn-format (windows only) file access output dst/url (like in std{access=file,mux=ts,dst=THIS})

There are two kinds of format string variables: time variables and meta variables.

Time Time variables are those defined by the strftime C function. Those include:      

%Y : year %m : month %d : day %H : hour %M : minute %S : second

For an extensive list have a look at man strftime.

Meta Meta variables are VLC specific. The complete list is:                           

$a : artist $b : album $c : copyright $d : description $e : encoded by $f : frame count $g : genre $l : language $n : track num $p : now playing $r : rating $s : subtitles language $t : title $u : url $A : date $B : audio bitrate (in kb/s) $C : chapter (as in DVD chapter number) $D : duration $F : full name with path $I : title (as in DVD title number) $L : time left $N : name (media name as seen in the VLC playlist) $O : audio language $P : position (in %) $R : rate $S : audio sample rate (in kHz) $T : time code of the video

   

$U : publisher $V : volume $_ : new line $ : (for example: $$ transforms to $)

You can insert a space between the $ sign and the character to tell it to not display anything if the meta data isn't available. For example: $ T instead will display "" if no time is available while $T would display something like "01_22_13" (for a snapshot from one hour, 22 minutes and 13 seconds in a video).

Source code If you want to know how this works, check out src\text\strings.c (str_format_meta function)[1]

Introduction Starting with version 0.9.0, VLC gives you the possible to implement your own playlist loading modules easily. Such modules can do stuff like:  

URL translation: You give it the youtube webpage URL and VLC starts playing the corresponding video; Text playlist parsing: You use some custom text playlist format.

Lua playlist scripts shipped with VLC are stored in the following directory:   

C:\Program Files\VideoLAN\VLC\lua\playlist\ on Windows; VLC.app/Contents/MacOS/share/lua/playlist/ on Mac OS X; /usr/share/vlc/lua/playlist/ on Linux.

You can add your own Lua playlist scripts in this directory or in your VLC's preferences folder "lua/playlist" subdirectory on Windows or Mac OS X and in your local VLC shared data folder on Linux (~/.local/share/vlc/lua/playlist).

Simple Examples URL translation What we want to do Lets say that we want VLC to open Google Video links automatically. Google Video pages have URLs like http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5784010886294950089

to the URL of the corresponding Google Video Playlist file which is http://video.google.com/videogvp?docid=-5784010886294950089

Probe

The Lua script is going to be made of 2 functions. The first one is the probe() function. This function tells VLC if the Lua script should be used (function returns true) or not (function returns false). Here it would look like: function probe() if vlc.access ~= "http" then return false end if string.match( vlc.path, "video.google.com/videoplay" ) then return true else return false end end

Lets analyse that function step by step. First we check that VLC is using HTTP. If it isn't (for example it's reading a file off your hard drive or a DVD), we don't want to trigger the Google Video URL translation. The vlc Lua object provides vlc.access which should be equal to string "http". Then we check that the URL is a Google Video page. This is easily done by trying to find the "video.google.com/videoplay" string in vlc.path. Note that the same function can be written as function probe() return vlc.access == "http" and string.match( vlc.path, "video.google.com/videoplay" ) end

Parse If the probe() function returns true, VLC will use the parse() to ask for the new playlist item(s) which need to be added. function parse() item = {} item.path = "http://" .. string.gsub( vlc.path, "videoplay", "videogvp" ) item.name = "Some Google video playlist" return { item } end

We create a new playlist item (a Lua table). We set the item's path to the appropriate string: 1/ we prepend "http://" since the vlc.path string doesn't include that part of the original URL and 2/ we replace "videoplay" by "videogvp". We also set the new playlist item's name to "Some Google video playlist". We then return the new playlist to VLC (a Lua table which basically represents a list of items). A shorter version would be: function parse() return { { path = "http://" .. string.gsub( vlc.path, "videoplay", "videogvp" ); name = "Some Google video playlist" } } end

Saving that to a file To make that script available to VLC, simply create a new something.lua file in one of the directories listed in the introduction (You should also remove the googlevideo.lua file shipped with VLC to make sure that it isn't used instead of your new script).

Text Playlist Parsing In the previous example we translated a URL to another URL. This new URL redirects VLC to a Google Video Playlist which is basically a text file. This file needs to be read to get the final video's true URL. Here's what such a file would look like if you were to open it with a text editor: # download the free Google Video Player from http://video.google.com/ gvp_version:1.1 url:http://vp.video.google.com/videodownload?version=0&secureurl=uQAAAAznrU3q0BdxTkn_lLSpVJQ4a4JBDFAc5V8lB5OXX PqJ6Dts-Hq5Ll-2dIgeBIDGN1ZAMv65MMP0Zu5cwbIrgAhinWRNl-UtZCU4CgPpnYrR5IwLCksEXjs4o89dTT8MQxWcSo3lFPKulC0_TT9L0EW_IyANloBjyoEld5KGkcXdUTtXvj1TmaRh5Yvq4zIfxmYPQ4fehJY6rucnqMQLm8NT D32NvVpSp1bJ06ub_YJgDz4Nic-_qpW0rnFReSyrQ&sigh=zy8gMs8AhAM0Hv3N1PR7djz3m2I&begin=0&len=72640&docid=5784010886294950089 docid:-5784010886294950089 duration:72640 title:Penguins go for a stroll description:African penguins caught a breath of fresh air as they were out for a stroll through Tokyo's aquarium. Ikebukuro Sunshine Aquarium offer spectators a chance to get a closer encounter with penguins as they are taken for a walk through the aquariums compound. description: description:During the parade the penguins were separated from spectators, mainly children, by portable fences on wheels which were pushed by the zookeepers. The fence ensures they don't run away and also prevents them from biting spectators. description: description:"I came up with this idea to let people get a close look at penguins walking." said Keeper Masahiro Tomiyama, adding only penguins born and raised at the aquarium can walk outside their cage without feeling stressed by all the attention. description: description:Reuters 16094/06 description:Keywords: animals, cute, sweet, funny, ITN Source.

Probe The first thing we need to worry about is making sure that the file we're playing is a Google Video Playlist (GVP) file. We could rely on the URL, but that would prevent playing GVP files from our hard drive. Fortunately, the file's contents, especially the "gvp_version:" string seem specific to GVP files. We'll thus try reading a bunch of characters from the begining of the file and look for the "gvp_version:" string. function probe() return string.match( vlc.peek( 512 ), "gvp_version:" ) end

The vlc.peek( ) function asks VLC to return the first characters. If the string "gvp_version:" isn't found in a file's first 512 characters, we're almost 100% sure that it's not a valid GVP file. Parse

We now need to read information from the file to create our new playlist item. A simple version would only fetch the URL: function parse() item = {} while true do line = vlc.readline() if not line then break end if string.match( line, "^url:" ) then item.path = string.sub( line, 5 ) end end return { item } end

We read all the file's lines using the vlc.readline() function. If we encounter the line starting with "url:" (string.match( line, "url:" ) would match lines containing "url:", while string.match( line, "^url:" ) only matches those starting with "url:"), we use that as our new item's path. If vlc.readline() returns nil, this means that we've finished reading the file so we break out of the while loop and return our new playlist. This simple parse() function unfortunately discards all the other usefull meta information available in the GVP file. Lets try to use it: function parse() item = {} while true do line = vlc.readline() if not line then break end if string.match( line, "^url:" ) then item.path = string.sub( line, 5 ) elseif string.match( line, "^title:" ) then item.name = string.sub( line, 7 ) elseif string.match( line, "^duration:" ) then item.duration = string.sub( line, 10 ) / 1000 elseif string.match( line, "^description:" ) then if item.description then item.description = item.description .. "\n" .. string.sub( line, 13 ) else item.description = string.sub( line, 13 ) end end end return { item }

end

Getting the video's title works like the URL parameter. The duration is a bit more tricky. GVP uses times in miliseconds while VLC wants a time in seconds. We thus have to divide it by 1000. For the description, it works like the URL and title parameters except that a GVP file can have more than one description parameter. If we read more than one parameter we thus concatenate the different description lines.

Reference Information about the VLC Lua scripts is available in your VLC installation in the lua subdirectory.  

Global VLC Lua README Playlist script specific README

Scripts shipped with VLC Scripts for popular playlist formats and video websites are available in the default VLC installer:     

dailymotion.lua: URL translation for Daily Motion video pages; googlevideo.lua: URL translation for Google Video video pages; metacafe.lua: URL translation for metacafe video pages and flash player; youtube.lua: URL translation for YouTube video pages and flash player (including fullscreen video URLs); youtube_hompage.lua: Parse YouTube homepage and browse page.

Introduction Overview VideoLAN is a complete software solution for video streaming, developed by students of the Ecole Centrale Paris and developers from all over the world, under the GNU General Public License (GPL). VideoLAN is designed to stream MPEG videos on high bandwidth networks. The VideoLAN solution includes: 



VLS (VideoLAN Server), which can stream MPEG-1, MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 files, DVDs, digital satellite channels, digital terrestial television channels and live videos on the network in unicast or multicast VLC (initially VideoLAN Client), which can be used as a server to stream MPEG-1, MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 files, DVDs and live videos on the network in unicast or multicast ; or used as a client to receive, decode and display MPEG streams under multiple operating systems

Here is an illustration of the complete VideoLAN solution:

Global VideoLAN solution More details about the project can be found on the VideoLAN Web site.

VideoLAN software VLC Media Player VLC works on many platforms: Linux, Windows, Mac OS X, BeOS, *BSD, Solaris, Familiar Linux, Yopy/Linupy and QNX. It can read:     

MPEG-1, MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 / DivX files from a hard disk, a CD-ROM drive, ... DVDs and VCDs from a satellite card (DVB-S) from a camcorder (DV) MPEG-1, MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 streams from the network sent by VLS or VLC's stream output

VLC can also be used as a server to stream:    

MPEG-1, MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 / DivX files, DVDs, from an MPEG encoding card, from a camcorder DV,

 

one machine (i.e. to one IP address): this is called unicast, a dynamic group of machines that the clients can join or leave (i.e. to a multicast IP address): this is called multicast,

to:

in IPv4 or IPv6. To get the complete list of VLC's possibilities on each platform supported, see the VLC features page. Note: VLC doesn't work on Mac OS 9, and probably never will. Мини ==== ==== SAP-сервер вы можете добавить службы канала информации на основе SAP / SDP стандарт решение VideoLAN. Мини-SAP-сервер посылает объявляет о многоадресной программ по сети IPv4 или IPv6, и получать VLCs Эти annouces и автоматически добавлять программы объявлено Их плейлист. Мини-SAP-сервер работает под Linux и Mac OS X.

Muxers and codecs What is a codec ? To fully understand the VideoLAN solution, you must understand the difference between a codec and a container format. A codec is a compression algorithm, used to reduce the size of a stream. There are audio codecs and video codecs. MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, Vorbis, DivX, ... are codecs.

What is a container format ?

To start off, think of a container format as a standard shipping box. You get a box in the mail and you think, "Cool! What's inside." You don't really care about the box itself, you care about what's in that box. The problem? You can't see into the box. So what do you do? You get a knife and cut it open. A container format follows this same basic idea. It contains one or several streams already encoded by codecs. Very often, there is an audio stream and a video one. AVI, Ogg, MOV, ASF, MP4 ... are container formats. The streams contained can be encoded using different codecs. In a perfect world, you could put any codec in any container format. Unfortunately, there are some incompatibilities. You can find a matrix of possible codecs and container formats on the features page.

Encoding a video This is the first step where you are going to create the shipping box. First you need to encode your file. That means that a file, wheter it is an audio, video file, is compressed to another format that normally takes up less physical drive space than the previous format. Common video encoding methods are DivX, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4 ... most common audio encoding method is MP3 or ogg-vorbis. Then you have to mux (or multiplex). This means basically a process where separate parts of the video (or streams) are joined together into one file.

Playing a video Now that you have your box, you need to open it before you can see the content. That's exactly what VLC will do. To decode a stream, VLC first demuxes it. This means that it reads the container format and separates audio, video, and subtitles, if any. Demuxing files doesn't weaken the video nor audio quality, it doesn't do anything for these data streams, it just simply saves them into separate files, each containing one element of the original file. Then, each of these is passed to a decoder that does the mathematical processing to decompress the stream. There is a particular thing about MPEG:  

MPEG is a codec. There are several versions of it, called MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, ... MPEG is also a container format, sometimes referred to as MPEG System. There are several types of MPEG: ES, PS, and TS.

When you play an MPEG video from a DVD, for instance, the MPEG stream is actually composed of several streams (called Elementary Streams, ES): there is one stream for video, one for audio, another for subtitles, and so on. These different streams are mixed together into a single Program Stream (PS). So, the .VOB files you can find in a DVD are actually MPEG-PS files. But this PS format is not adapted for streaming video through a network or by satellite, for instance. So, another format called Transport Stream (TS) was designed for streaming MPEG videos through such channels.

Intro The easier way to start streaming with VLC is by using one of the graphical user interfaces. These are the wxWindows and skinnable interfaces for Windows and GNU/Linux and the Mac OS X native interface.

Streaming using the Wizard The Streaming/Transcoding Wizard leads you step by step through the process of streaming your media on a network or saving it to your hard drive. This Wizard offers easy to use menus but provides a restricted set of options. Note: The wizard is only available on the wxWindows interface.

Launching the wizard To launch the Streaming/Transcoding Wizard open the "File" menu, and select the Wizard menu item.

Launching the Wizard

Wizard dialog First select the type of task:  

Stream to network: Choose this option if you want to stream media on network. Transcode/Save to file: Choose this option if you want to change a file's audio codec and/or video codec, its bitrate, and/or encapsulation method.

The Wizard Dialog

Input selection Select a stream (such as a file, a network stream, a disk, a capture device ...) by selecting the Choose... dialog or an existing item in your playlist, using the Existing playlist item option.

Partial Extract: To read only part of the stream, check the "Enable" checkbox and choose a start and end date (in seconds). This option should only be used with streams you can control such as files or discs but not network streams or capture devices.

Wizard input selection

Wizard input selection from playlist

Streaming methods If you chose Stream to network option, you can now specify the streaming method. Available methods are:   

RTP/UDP Unicast: Stream to a single computer. Enter the client's IP address (in the 0.0.0.0 -

223.255.255.255 range). RTP/UDP Multicast: Stream to multiple computers using multicast. Enter the IP address of the multicast group (in the 224.0.0.0 to 239.255.255.255 range). HTTP: Stream by using the HTTP protocol. If you leave the Destination text box empty, VLC will listen on all the network interfaces of the server on port 8080. Specify an address, port and path on which to listen using the following syntax [ip][:port][/path]. For instance, 192.168.0.1:80/stream will make VLC listen on the interface carrying the 192.168.0.1 IP address, on the 80 TCP port, in the /stream virtual file.

Wizard streaming method

Transcoding options If you chose the Transcode/Save to file option, you can now specify the new audio and video codecs and bitrates you want you input converted to. (See )

Wizard transcode

Encapsulation method Choose the method format. The UDP streaming methods require MPEG TS encapsulation. The HTTP streaming method can be used with the MPEG PS, MPEG TS, MPEG 1, OGG, RAW or ASF encapsulation. Saving to a file can be done using any encapsulation format compatible with the chosen codecs. (See )

Wizard encapsulation method

Streaming options If you chose to Stream to network you can now specify several options. 



Time To Live (TTL) This sets the numbers of routers your stream can go through, for UDP

unicast and unicast access methods. If you do not know what this means, you should leave the default value. Note: With UDP multicast, the default TTL is set to 1, meaning that your stream won't get accross any router. You may want to increase it if you want to route your multicast stream. SAP Announce To advertise your stream over the network when using the UDP streaming method, using the SAP protocol, enter the name of the stream in the text input and check the checkbox. This is NOT available for the HTTP streaming method.

Wizard streaming options

Save to file destination If you chose Transcode/Save to file you can now specify the file you want to save the stream to.

interface

Wizard save file - wxWindows

You can now select the Finish button to start streaming/converting the source.

Streaming using the GUI Introduction A second way to set up a streaming instance using VLC is using Stream Output panel in the Open... dialog of the wxWindows (Windows / GNU Linux), skinnable (Windows / GNU Linux) and MacOS X interfaces. Streaming methods and options used 99% of time should be available in this panel. To stream the opened media, check the "Stream output" or "Stream/Save" checkbox in the "Open File/Disc/Network Stream/Capture Device" dialog and click on the "Settings" button.

Open file dialog wxWindows interface

dialog - Mac OS X interface

Open file

Note that "Capture" is not available as an option in Mac OSX because VLC does not support live streaming of audio or video under Mac OSX.

The Stream Output dialog

output dialog - wxWindows interface

Stream

- wxWindows interface

Stream output dialog

Stream Output MRL On the wxWindows interface, a text box displays the Stream Output MRL (Media Resource Locator). This is updated as you change options in the Stream output dialog. For more information on how to edit the Stream Output MRL read . Output methods 

 

Play localy: display the stream on your screen. This allows you to display the stream you are

actually streaming. Effects of transcoding, rescaling, etc. can be monitored locally using this function. File: Save the stream to a file. The Dump raw input option allows you to save the input stream as it is read by VLC, without any processing. HTTP: Use the HTTP streaming method. Specify the IP address and TCP port number on which to listen.







MMSH: This access method allows you to stream to Microsoft Windows Media Player. Specify the IP address and TCP port number on which to listen. Note: This will only work with the ASF encapsulation method. UDP: Stream in unicast by providing an address in the 0.0.0.0 - 223.255.255.255 range or in multicast by providing an address in the 224.0.0.0 - 239.255.255.255 range. It is also possible to stream to IPv6 addresses. Note: This will only work with the TS encapsulation method. RTP: Use the Real-Time Transfer Protocol. Like UDP, it can use both unicast and multicast addresses.

Note: UDP, HTTP, MMSH, and RTP methods require you to select the Stream option on the MacOS X interface. (See ) Encapsulation method Select an encapsulation method that fits the codecs and access method of your stream, among MPEG TS, MPEG PS, MPEG 1, OGG, Raw, ASF, AVI, MP4 and MOV. (See ) Transcoding options Enable video transcoding by checking the "Video Codec" checkbox. Choose a codec from the list. You can also specify an average bitrate and scale the input. (See ) Enable audio transcoding by checking the "Audio Codec" checkbox. Choose a codec from the list. You can also specify an average bitrate and the number of audio channels to encode. (See ) Miscellaneous options Select methods to announce your stream. You can use SAP (Service Announce Protocol) or SLP (Service Location Protocol). You must also specify a channel name. The Mac OS X interface also allows you to export the description (SDP) file of a RTP session using the internal HTTP or RTSP server of VLC, or as a file. This can be done using the according checkboxes. The SDP URL text box allows to give the url or destination where the SDP file will be available.

Structure of stream output Stream output is the name of the feature of VLC that allows to output any stream read by VLC to a file or as a network stream instead of displaying it. Different kind of processing can be applied to the stream during this process (transcoding, re-scaling, filters, re-muxing...). Stream output includes different modules, each of them having different capabilities. You can chain modules to enhance the possibilities. Here is the list of the modules currently available: 

standard allows to send the stream via an access output module: for example, UDP, file, HTTP, ... You will probably want to use this module at the end of your chains.



transcode is used to transcode (decode and re-encode the stream using a different codec and/or bitrate) the audio and the video of the input stream. If the input or output access method doesn't allow pace control (network, capture devices), this done "on the fly", in real time. This can require quite a lot of CPU power, depending on the parameters set. Other streams, such as files and disks are transcoded as fast as the system allows it.



duplicate allows you to create a second chain, where the stream will be handled in an independent way.



display allows you to display the input stream, as VLC would normally do. Used with the duplicate module, this allows you to monitor the stream while processing it.



rtp streams over RTP (one UDP port for each elementary stream). This module also allows RTSP support.



es allows you to make separate Elementary Streams (ES) out of an input stream. This can be used to save audio and video streams to separate files, for instance.

  

bridge-out TODO bridge-in TODO mosaic-bridge TODO

Each of these modules may take options. Here is the syntax that you must use:

% vlc input_stream --sout "#module1{option1=parameter1{parameteroption1},option2=parameter2}:module2{option1=...,option2=...}:..."

NOTE: Some of the module options (option1 in the example) have to be set, others are optional. Option parameters (parameter-option1 in the example) are always optional. These option parameters are also often very advanced settings. If you don't understand their description, this certainly means that you don't need them. You may also use the following syntax :

% vlc input_stream --sout-module1-option1=... --sout-module1-option2=... --sout-module2-option1=... -sout-module2-option2=... ...

For example, to transcode a stream and send it, use: % vlc input_stream --sout '#transcode{options}:standard{options}'

Description of the modules standard (alias std) This module saves the stream to a file or sends it over a network, after having muxed it. The available options are: access This option allows to set the medium used to save or send the stream. This is a compulsory option. Available options are: 

file: saves the stream to a file.

Use the append option to append the stream to an existing file instead of replacing it: standard{ ... ,access=file{append}, ... }

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udp: streams to a UDP unicast or multicast address.

Item options are:  o o o o o 

caching= to set the time VLC should buffer data before sending it; ttl= to set the ttl of the sent udp packets; group= to sent packets by burst instead of one by one; late= to drop packets that arrive too late at this stage of the chain; raw if you don't want to wait until the MTU is filled before sending the packet.

http: streams over HTTP.

Item options are:  o o o 

user= to enable HTTP basic authentication and set the user; pwd= to set the basic authentication password; mime= to set the mime type returned by the server.

https: streams over HTTP, using a secured SSL connection.

Item options are the same as for http and:  o o o o

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cert=to set the certificate to use; key= to set the private key file the server should use for the SSL connection; ca= to set the path to the root CA certificates to use for SSL; crl= to set the revocation certificate to use for the SSL connection.

mmsh: streams using the Microsoft MMS protocol. This protocol is used as transport method by many Microsoft's softwares.

Note that only a small part of the MMS protocol is supported (MMS encapsulated in HTTP). Item options are the same as for the http module. 

rtp: streams over RTP. This can only be used to stream MPEG-TS over plain RTP.

Support for this option has been removed in VLC 0.9.0 and latter. You should use the rtp stream output module instead. Options are the same as for the udp setting. mux This option allows you to set the encapsulation method used for the resulting stream. This option has to be set. Available options are: 

ts: the MPEG2/TS muxer. This the standard muxer used to stream MPEG 2. This muxer can be used with any access method. Supported codecs are MPEG 1/2/4, MJPEG, H263, H264, I263, WMV 1/2 and theora for video, MPEG audio, AAC and a52 for the audio stream.

Item options are:  o o o o o o o o o o o

pid-video= to set the PID of the video track; pid-audio= to set the PID of the audio track; pid-spu= to set the PID of the subtitle track; pid-pmt= to set the PID of the PMT (Program Map Table); tsid= to set the ID of the resulting TS stream; shaping= to set the minimum interval during which the bitrate of the stream will remain constant, for variable bitrate streams; use-key-frames uses I frames as limits for the shaping intervals; pcr= allows to set at which interval Program Clock References will be sent; dts-delay= allows to delay PTS (Presentation Time Stamps) from the DTS (Decoding Time Stamp) from the given time; crypt-audio allows to enable encryption of the audio track using the CSA algorithm; csa-ck= allows to set the key used for CSA encryption.

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ps: the MPEG2/PS muxer. This the standard muxer for MPEG 2 files(.mpg). It can be used with the file and http output methods. Supported codecs are MPEG 1/2 and MJPEG for video, MPEG audio and a52 for audio streams.

The only available item option is:  o

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dst-delay=: It allows to delay PTS (Presentation Time Stamps) from the DTS (Decoding Time Stamp) from the given time.

mpeg1: the standard MPEG 1 muxer. This muxer should be used instead of ps with MPEG 1 video streams, when saved to a file or streamed over HTTP. Supported codecs are MPEG 1 and MPEG audio.

Items options are the same as for the PS muxer. 

ogg: the ogg muxer. This is the muxer from the Xiph project. It can be used with the HTTP and file output methods. Supported codecs are MPEG 1/2/4, MJPEG WMV 1/2 and Theora, audio streams can be vorbis, flac, speex, a52 or MPEG audio.

There is no item option for this muxer. 

asf: the Microsoft ASF muxer. This is the standard muxer used for streaming by Microsoft's softwares. Is also used as container for WMA audio files. This muxer can be used with the file and HTTP output methods. Supported codecs are MPEG 4, MJPEG, WMV 1/2 for video, MPEG audio, a52 for audio streams.

Item options are:  o o o o o

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