VLC Media Player - The Undiscovered Beauty

VLC is arguably the best media player out there.It’s free, runs on almost any operating system, plays almost all video and audio files natively, can stream audio and video over networks using a myriad of different protocols, can be controlled remotely through a web browser and much, much more!

You must have played a video today in VLC Media Player but ever noticed the extra powerful features it has and what more can it deliver. In this blog you would witness the immense power of this very light software with a negligible foot-print.

NOTE: If you haven’t used this epic software (i know there’d be no one), then you should download it from here.

If you need us to cover a specific topic, you may leave us a comment and we’ll sure be posting a blog on your topic of interest.

STREAMING

All you need is a video or a video capture device and it will publish it on wide variety of networks. As you can see the diagram below you can use many inputs, many device, many networks and finally many Operating Systems. If you’re looking to stream video from your home PC whilst you’re away then you can also set VLC to stream to the Internet.

(Click to Enlarge)

CONVERT VIDEOS

You may ask why should i use VLC when i have a good “All-Media-Converter” with me ???
My Answer – why should you use any “All-Media-Converter” when you have VLC media player with you. As Simple As That.

To convert a file, goto Media > Convert/Save. You’ll be presented with a dialogue which allows you to choose between converting, ripping and saving to file. Once you’ve added source media (to record from) click  Convert/Save.

Don’t forget to have patience, it can take a while.

VISUAL EFFECTS

70 % Fun, 30 % Useful. You can give your videos your touch with VLC Media Player with some cool visual effects available. Waves, Noise, Motion Blur and Whatnot are waiting for you.
You have a video of you and your friends, you can make it look funnier with some visual effects.

(Inserted some effects in Dark Knight)

For giving effects to your own videos, goto Tools > Effects and Filters.

There are many other features except video effects. Explore and learn more.

SNAPSHOTS

Until now did you use the “Print Screen” (PrntScr) button to take the snapshots of the video. Its Over Now !!!

Its really easy with VLC Media Player, just goto Video > Snapshot, and your pic would be saved in C:\Users\user-name\Pictures.

(click to enlarge)

To change the default save directory, goto Tools > Preferences > Video and browse to your preferred location and from the next time VLC will save the pics in that folder.

ASCII OUTPUT

100 % Fun. The first time i discovered it, i found it really annoying as you can barely see anything, But this is a no-use (i guess so) feature turns out be very funny when you see some bright videos.

See the Joker frm Dark Knight in the ASCII mode. This moving ASCII art was an amazing spectacle. Useless, but fun!

Try it, it will surely bring a grin on your face.

Again go to Tools > Preferences > Video, In Output change to ASCII OUTPUT and click Save. Restart the movie and you will get something like this.

(Click to enlarge)

These were some untouched features of the mighty VLC Media Player.

Do you use VLC or any other player ???

Remember you may download the software from our blog and i hope you try these.

Any of these tips useful? Let us know in the comments below.

Tags: ascii, edit, effects, motion blur, snapshot, stream, video, video capture device, vlc, vlc media