You’re probably using VLC as your default media player.It plays basically anything you throw at it, and it’s been doing that reliably for over two decades.That said, playing media is only a fraction of what the app is capable of.
The developers have spent years turning it into a genuine Swiss Army knife for all things audio and video.Unfortunately, most of that work goes unused and unnoticed because nobody clicks past the play button.But I want to change that today.
Here are three awesome VLC features I think everyone should know about and use on the regular.Video and audio converter Goodbye to all those shady MP4 to MP3 websites Close VLC has a built-in media converter, and it's better than most of the free media converter apps and websites people tend to use in a pinch.You can access it by going to Media > Convert/Save from the menu bar.
Alternatively, you can press Ctrl+R.This opens a new dialog box asking you to select the file or files you want to convert—yes, you can bulk-convert files as well.Once you’ve made your selection(s), click the Convert/Save button.
On the next screen, you’ll see your source at the top and a few options under Settings.Select Convert, then use the Profile dropdown to select the format you want to convert to.You’ll find multiple video formats, audio-only formats, and low-resolution video presets that are perfect for saving space.
If you want more control than the presets provide, click the wrench icon next to the Profile dropdown.That opens the full profile editor, which gives you more granular control over: Encapsulation: Lets you pick the container format.Video Codec: Lets you pick the specific video codec, bitrate, frame rate, resolution, and more.
Audio Codec: Lets you pick the specific audio codec, bitrate, channels, and sample rate.Subtitles: Lets you pick the subtitle codec and whether you want to overlay the subtitles on the video.Once you’ve made your picks, click Save.
Back in the Convert dialog box, select the destination file—the location and name of the converted file—and click Start.VLC will start converting your audio or video file.VLC will use the normal playback slider as the progress bar for the conversion.
Related You're using the wrong HandBrake preset—here's how to correctly optimize video for Plex No more transcoding! Posts 11 By Andy Betts Video clipper It’s basically a video editor lite Sometimes you might want to cut a small 30-second clip out of a long video to send to someone.Typically, one would use a dedicated video editor for this, but that’s just overcomplicating a simple task that VLC can easily handle for you.Simply open the video you want to cut in VLC.
Then, from the menu bar, go to View > Advanced Controls.A new row of buttons will appear above the regular playback controls.This includes a record button, a snapshot button, a loop button for repeating between two points, and a frame-by-frame button.
To take a clip, seek to the point where you want the clip to start, hit Play to start playback, and then click the Record button.When playback reaches the end of your intended clip, click the Record button again to stop.And that’s it.
VLC will automatically save the clip to the Videos folder on your computer.This isn’t a replacement for a video editor.There’s no timeline, and you can’t stitch multiple pieces together.
But then again, most people don’t need any of that.They just need to pull a section out of a long video, and this does exactly that.Media streaming server Turn your PC into a media server Close This is arguably one of the most useful features in VLC that I’ve rarely seen talked about.
Basically, it lets VLC on your PC broadcast a video over your local network so that you can watch it on your phone or laptop.To use it, open VLC and go to Media > Stream.Add the file you want to stream, then click Stream at the bottom.
The next screen just confirms your source, so click Next.Now, for the New destination, pick “HTTP” and click Add.VLC shows you the port the stream will be served on, which is 8080 by default.
You can keep it or change it to something else if you already have another app or service using that port.Next, use the Path field to give the stream a name.Something like /video or the name of the file works fine—you’ll need this in a minute.
Click Next to get to the transcoding options.Check “Activate Transcoding” and pick “Video - H.264 + MP3 (MP4)” for maximum compatibility.I’d also recommend clicking the wrench icon and switching Encapsulation to MPEG-TS, which I’ve found to be better for streaming.
Once you’re done, click Save, then Next.The last screen shows the generated stream output string.You don’t need to touch it.
Leave Stream all elementary streams unchecked and click Stream.VLC will now start streaming the video.To watch the stream on your phone, you need your computer’s local IP address.
If you don’t know what it is, open the Command Prompt, run ipconfig, and look for the IPv4 address.Once you have that, your VLC stream URL will be: http://YOUR-IP-ADDRESS:8080/video Swap in your IP address and whatever path you set earlier.Next, open the VLC app on your phone, go to the Network Stream option, and paste that URL.
The video should start playing on your phone.Now, it’s important to note that the stream behaves like a TV broadcast.You’re watching whatever VLC is currently playing on your PC.
You can’t seek or pause playback from your phone.However, that constraint can be a feature, not a bug, depending on how you use it.For example, if you’ve got kids and don’t want to hand them a folder full of shows to binge through, you can queue up a playlist in VLC on the computer, start streaming it, and give them the URL to watch it on their phone or tablet.
This way, the content is just playing in the order you picked, like a TV channel.Related Nobody wanted this old Windows 10 laptop, so I turned it into a free Jellyfin media server It was useless as a laptop, but it is great for a million self-hosting projects.Posts By Nick Lewis Imagine owning a Swiss Army knife—but only using the knife This is barely the surface of what VLC can do.
It can also play IPTV streams, fetch subtitles for videos that don’t have any, render video as ASCII art, and even record your desktop or your webcam and microphone, functioning as a basic capture tool.All of that is there, but it’s more niche than the three features above, which is why I didn’t spotlight it.
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