VideoLAN Wiki - User contributions [en]

VLC HowTo/Merge videos together

2007-06-03T19:31:37Z

ScottB:

==Merge & Transcode in Windows==

If you have more than one source files that need to be merged and transcoded resulting in a single out put file create a batch script with the following line in it:

<pre>
"PATH_TO_VLC" -vvv FILE1.EXT FILE2.EXT FILE3.EXT ETC.ETC --sout-keep --sout=#gather{} --sout=#transcode{vcodec=h264,vb=1024,scale=1,acodec=mp4a,ab=192,channels=6}:standard{access=file,mux=ts,dst=out.mpg} --sout-all
</pre>

Next edit the path to vlc, input files, and transcode peramiters to meet your needs.

VLC HowTo

2007-06-03T19:31:18Z

ScottB: /* Transcoding and Streaming */

__NOTOC__
Below are some handy guides for using {{VLC}}

===Playing Video and Audio===
;How to...
* [[What can vlc do#How to enable/use subtitles|Use Subtitles]]
*: Playing movies with subtitles
* [[How to Use a Capture Card|Use a Capture Card]]
*: This explains how to watch TV or get video from your capture card.
* [[What can vlc do#Play DVD/SVCD/VCD iso's / Images|Play DVDs and Disks from the image file]]
*: This explains how to use movies encoded onto an ISO file.

===Adjusting Settings===
;How to...
* [[What can vlc do#How to adjust picture brightness/colors/contrast..|Adjust Picture Brightness and Contrast]]
* [[What can vlc do#How to control the aspect ratio of the video|Edit the Aspect Ratio of a video]]
* [[How_to_disable_acceleration_in_Win32|Disable video acceleration in Win32]]
* [[How_to_save_bookmarks | Save bookmarks]]
* [[How_to_play_multiple_instances_of_VLC | How to play multiple instances]]

===Transcoding and Streaming===
;How to...
* [[Play_on_IPod|Play videos on your iPod]]
*: This explains how to convert your videos so they play on your iPod.
* [[Play_on_Yan Micro|Play videos on your Play-Yan Micro]]
*: This explains how to convert your videos so they play on your Play-Yan Micro.
* [[Play_on_Xbox|Play videos on your XBox and XBox 360 ]]
*: This explains how to convert your videos so they play on your XBox.
* [[Play_on_Zune| Play video on your Zune]]
*: This explains how to convert your videos so they play on your Zune.
* [[Fixing .flv to .avi with Ffmpeg]]
*: This explains how to use ffmpeg to a convert broken .flv files to a perfectly good .avi file '''DEPRECATED'''
* [[Transcode_WM_to_Mov_or_MP4|Convert Windows Media audio/video files to MOV or .MP4]]
*: This explains how to convert Windows Media-encoded files to Quicktime or MPEG-4 files
* [[Streaming_to_ActiveX_for_Windows_Media_Player | Streaming from a webcam to an ActiveX embedded object page]]
* [[How_to_add_logo | Add a logo on your videos]]
* [[Mosaic| Create a Mosaic]]
*: This explains how to set up a mosaic from a few streams like a portal TV.
* [[How to DBox|Set up Video on Demand on a Dreambox]]
* [[How to Batch Encode]]
*: This explains how to set up a batch transcode with all files in a directory of a certain file extension being transcoded to a specified format.
* [[How to Merge and Transcode Multipul Videos]]
*: This explains how to take several source videos and merge then transcode resulting in a single file output.

===Using VLC in other Applications===
;How to...
* [[ActiveX]]
*: Specification for ActiveX control
* [[ExternalAPI|Use VLC's External API]]
*: Information for using libvlc
* [[Use in Media Center]]

===Other Stuff===
;How to...
* [[How to Create a DVD|Create a DVD]]
*: This explains how to make a DVD from your home videos
* [[ActiveX/Delphi|Use the ActiveX control with Borland's Delphi]]
*: Using the VLC ActiveX plug-in in your programs
* [[ActiveX/HTML|Use the ActiveX control within a webpage.]]
* [[Control VLC via a browser]]
*: This explains how to use the HTTP [[interface]]
* [[Change the brightness or contrast of a video|Change a video]]
*: This explains how to edit a video and save the changes
* [[How to create thumbnails]]
* [[How to Use Lirc]]
* [[How to Use Creative Remote]]
*: Explains how to control {{VLC}} with Creative brand remote controls
* [[How to shut down computer]] when VLC playback is over...

== See also ==
* '''See also [[:Category:How To]]'''
[[Category:How To]]

How to merge and transcode multiple videos

2007-06-03T19:28:59Z

ScottB:

VLC HowTo

2007-06-03T19:26:05Z

ScottB: /* Transcoding and Streaming */

__NOTOC__
Below are some handy guides for using {{VLC}}

===Playing Video and Audio===
;How to...
* [[What can vlc do#How to enable/use subtitles|Use Subtitles]]
*: Playing movies with subtitles
* [[How to Use a Capture Card|Use a Capture Card]]
*: This explains how to watch TV or get video from your capture card.
* [[What can vlc do#Play DVD/SVCD/VCD iso's / Images|Play DVDs and Disks from the image file]]
*: This explains how to use movies encoded onto an ISO file.

===Adjusting Settings===
;How to...
* [[What can vlc do#How to adjust picture brightness/colors/contrast..|Adjust Picture Brightness and Contrast]]
* [[What can vlc do#How to control the aspect ratio of the video|Edit the Aspect Ratio of a video]]
* [[How_to_disable_acceleration_in_Win32|Disable video acceleration in Win32]]
* [[How_to_save_bookmarks | Save bookmarks]]
* [[How_to_play_multiple_instances_of_VLC | How to play multiple instances]]

===Transcoding and Streaming===
;How to...
* [[Play_on_IPod|Play videos on your iPod]]
*: This explains how to convert your videos so they play on your iPod.
* [[Play_on_Yan Micro|Play videos on your Play-Yan Micro]]
*: This explains how to convert your videos so they play on your Play-Yan Micro.
* [[Play_on_Xbox|Play videos on your XBox and XBox 360 ]]
*: This explains how to convert your videos so they play on your XBox.
* [[Play_on_Zune| Play video on your Zune]]
*: This explains how to convert your videos so they play on your Zune.
* [[Fixing .flv to .avi with Ffmpeg]]
*: This explains how to use ffmpeg to a convert broken .flv files to a perfectly good .avi file '''DEPRECATED'''
* [[Transcode_WM_to_Mov_or_MP4|Convert Windows Media audio/video files to MOV or .MP4]]
*: This explains how to convert Windows Media-encoded files to Quicktime or MPEG-4 files
* [[Streaming_to_ActiveX_for_Windows_Media_Player | Streaming from a webcam to an ActiveX embedded object page]]
* [[How_to_add_logo | Add a logo on your videos]]
* [[Mosaic| Create a Mosaic]]
*: This explains how to set up a mosaic from a few streams like a portal TV.
* [[How to DBox|Set up Video on Demand on a Dreambox]]
* [[How to Batch Encode]]
*: This explains how to set up a batch transcode with all files in a directory of a certain file extension being transcoded to a specified format.
* [[How to Merge & Transcode Multipul Videos]]
*: This explains how to take several source videos and merge then transcode resulting in a single file output.

===Using VLC in other Applications===
;How to...
* [[ActiveX]]
*: Specification for ActiveX control
* [[ExternalAPI|Use VLC's External API]]
*: Information for using libvlc
* [[Use in Media Center]]

===Other Stuff===
;How to...
* [[How to Create a DVD|Create a DVD]]
*: This explains how to make a DVD from your home videos
* [[ActiveX/Delphi|Use the ActiveX control with Borland's Delphi]]
*: Using the VLC ActiveX plug-in in your programs
* [[ActiveX/HTML|Use the ActiveX control within a webpage.]]
* [[Control VLC via a browser]]
*: This explains how to use the HTTP [[interface]]
* [[Change the brightness or contrast of a video|Change a video]]
*: This explains how to edit a video and save the changes
* [[How to create thumbnails]]
* [[How to Use Lirc]]
* [[How to Use Creative Remote]]
*: Explains how to control {{VLC}} with Creative brand remote controls
* [[How to shut down computer]] when VLC playback is over...

== See also ==
* '''See also [[:Category:How To]]'''
[[Category:How To]]

Transcode

2007-06-03T19:05:19Z

ScottB:

Transcoding is the process of taking a video file and changing it to a different format or bitrate.

Transcoding in VLC copies the movie to a new file in a different format, so you end up with both the original and new files. This means you need to have enough space on your hard drive to store this extra file. You should also have a reasonably fast computer, as transcoding can be very slow.

In VLC, transcoding is exactly the same as [[streaming]] accross a network, except that the output is sent to a file instead of a network.

== Transcoding with the Wizard ==

VLC includes a transcoding and streaming wizard. To transcode a file, just select the transcode option. You will then be asked what format to convert to: you can give a video [[codec]], and audio codec and an [[container]] format. Only some container formats can support some codecs - look [http://www.videolan.org/streaming/features.html here] to see what supportes what.

{{doc|http://www.videolan.org/doc/streaming-howto/en/ch02.html}}

== Transcoding with the Command Prompt ==

The most flexible way to transcode with vlc is using a [[command prompt]] to start vlc. Transcoding works the same as [[streaming]]. For example, the following command changes an [[asf]] file to an [[MPEG-2]] file:
:vlc "C:\Movies\Your File.asf" :sout='#transcode{vcodec=mp2v,vb=4096,acodec=mp2a,ab=192,scale=1,channels=2,deinterlace,audio-sync}:std{access=file, mux=ps,url="C:\Movies\Your File Output.ps.mpg"}'
The access=file instructs vlc to store the output in a file (and not stream it), and the url is the location of the new (output) file.

(Note: If you are running VLC on [[Mac OS X]], you should use clivlc instead of VLC to avoid possible Bus error problems.)

Transcoding takes quite a while, so it's advisable to use an option like '''--stop-time=30''' to only encode the first 30 seconds - this means you can check the file has transcoded correctly, and that the output is of a suitable quality. (Note: On [[Mac OS X]] this trick doesn't seem to work. Just press ctrl-c after a while, VLC will properly write out the already transcoded segment)

The transcode statement can contain '''vcodec''' and '''vb''' to change the video codec and '''acodec''' and '''ab''' to change the audio codec. If vcodec is missing, the video codec will stay the same (same for acodec).

Common additional options to use are '''audio-sync''' (to make sure the audio is in sync correctly) and '''deinterlace''' (to increase quality slightly on interlaced video).
===Under MS Windows===
the syntax on windows is slightly different:

C:\Program Files\VideoLAN\VLC>vlc -vvv "D:\688497.flv" --sout=#transcode{vcodec=
mp4v,acodec=mpga,vb=800,ab=128,deinterlace}:standard{access=file,mux=ts,url="D:\
asd.mpg"}

===Completely non-interactive transcoding===
For completely non-interactive transcoding (such as the case necessary when running under [[Mac OS X]]), the above example could be rewritten as
:vlc -I dummy "C:\Movies\Your File.asf" :sout='#transcode{vcodec=mp2v,vb=4096,acodec=mp2a,ab=192,scale=1,channels=2,deinterlace,audio-sync}:std{access=file, mux=ps,url="C:\Movies\Your File Output.ps.mpg"}' vlc:quit
The two extra options are
;-I dummy: Disables the graphical interface
;<nowiki>vlc:quit</nowiki>: Quit VLC after transcoding
If transcoding from a DVD, it is also necessary to use the dvdsimple:// notation instead of the dvd:// notation, in order to avoid interacting with the DVD menu system (which is quite impossible without the graphical interface).

{{doc|http://www.videolan.org/doc/streaming-howto/en/ch03.html}}

== Non-Interactive Batch Transcoding (Windows)==
To transcode several files without user interaction create a batch file in the folder where the files are contained and this line to the batch file:

<pre>
for %%a in (*.FILE_EXT) do "PATH_TO_VLC" -I dummy -vvv %%a --sout=#transcode{vcodec=VIDEO_CODEC,vb=VIDEO_BITRATE,scale=1,acodec=AUDIO_CODEC,ab=AUDIO_BITRATE,channels=6}:standard{access=file,mux=MUXER,dst=%%a.OUTPUT_EXT} vlc:quit
</pre>

== Non-Interactive Batch Transcoding (Linux)==
To transcode several files without user interaction create a bash script in the folder where the files are contained and add these lines to the bash script:

<pre>
#!/bin/bash
vcodec="VIDEO_CODEC"
acodec="AUDIO_CODEC"
bitrate="VIDEO_BITRATE"
arate="AUDIO_BITRATE"
ext="OUTPUT_EXT"
mux="MUXER"
vlc="PATH_TO_VLC"
fmt="INPUT_EXT"

for a in *$fmt; do
$vlc -I dummy -vvv "$a" --sout "#transcode{vcodec=$vcodec,vb=$bitrate,acodec=$acodec,ab=$arate,channels=6}:standard{mux=$mux,dst=\"$a.$ext\",access=file}"vlc:quit
done
</pre>

===Non-Interactive Merge/Transcode (Windows)===

If you have more than one source files that need to be merged and transcoded resulting in a single out put file create a batch script with the following line in it:

<pre>
"PATH_TO_VLC" -vvv FILE1.EXT FILE2.EXT FILE3.EXT ETC.ETC --sout-keep --sout=#gather{} --sout=#transcode{vcodec=h264,vb=1024,scale=1,acodec=mp4a,ab=192,channels=6}:standard{access=file,mux=ts,dst=out.mpg} --sout-all
</pre>

===Example script===
As an example, here is a bash script that will take a <tt>.mpg</tt> file as generated by an DVB capture device and transcode it into an MPEG4 file using the h.264 codec. Copy it to a file, for example <tt>dvb2mp4</tt>, and make it executable. It should work on any operating system that has bash, including windows if [http://www.cygwin.com Cygwin] is installed. It uses the cropping parameters proposed at [[Wikipedia:Overscan_amounts]] adapted so that the dimensions are divisible by 16 for better encoding.

<pre>
#!/bin/bash
#
# Transcode DVB TV signals to h.264-encoded MP4 files using VLC
# Wout.Mertens@gmail.com

#### Defaults, please edit for your settings ####

# VLC location, here is the Mac OS X example
VLC=/Applications/VLC.app/Contents/MacOS/clivlc
# Other possibilities: (Remove the # to activate)
#VLC=/usr/bin/vlc
#VLC=/usr/local/bin/vlc

# 16:9 or 4:3
aspect=16:9

# PAL (Europe) or NTSC (US)
src=PAL

# video bitrate
bitrate=1024

# audio bitrate
arate=128

# cropping?
crop=yes

# Deinterlace?
deint=yes

#### Program, do not change below this line ####
usage() {
cat 1>&2 <<EOF
Usage: $0 [-swpncC] [-b <rate>] [-a <rate>] <DVB source .mpg> <MP4 output file>
-s 4:3 aspect ratio (default=$aspect)
-w 16:9 aspect ratio
-p PAL (720x576) input (default=$src)
-n NTSC (720x480) input
-c Crop borders (default=$crop)
-C Do not crop borders
-d Perform de-interlacing (default=$deint)
-D Do not perform de-interlacing
-b video bitrate kb/s (default=$bitrate)
-a audio bitrate kb/s (default=$arate)
EOF
exit 1
}

error() {
echo "ERROR: $*" 1>&2
exit 2
}

while getopts 'swpncCb:a:h' opt; do
case $opt in
s) aspect=4:3 ;;
w) aspect=16:9 ;;
p) src=PAL ;;
n) src=NTSC ;;
c) crop=yes ;;
C) crop=no ;;
d) deint=yes ;;
D) deint=no ;;
b) bitrate=$OPTARG ;;
a) arate=$OPTARG ;;
h) usage ;;
*) echo "Unknown option $opt" 1>&2; usage ;;
esac
done
shift $(( $OPTIND - 1 ))

[ $# -ne 2 ] && usage

infile="$1"
outfile="$2"
case $outfile in
*.mp4|*.MP4) : ;;
*) outfile="$outfile.mp4" ;;
esac

[ -r "$infile" ] || error "Can't read from $infile"

case "$src,$aspect,$crop" in
PAL,16:9,yes) sizestr="cropleft=31,cropright=31,croptop=16,cropbottom=16,width=960,height=544" ;;
PAL,4:3,yes) sizestr="cropleft=31,cropright=31,croptop=16,cropbottom=16,width=720,height=544" ;;
NTSC,16:9,yes) sizestr="cropleft=30,cropright=30,croptop=17,cropbottom=17,width=800,height=448" ;;
NTSC,4:3,yes) sizestr="cropleft=26,cropright=26,croptop=17,cropbottom=17,width=608,height=448" ;;
PAL,16:9,no) sizestr="width=1024,height=576" ;;
PAL,4:3,no) sizestr="width=768,height=576" ;;
NTSC,16:9,no) sizestr="width=800,height=448" ;;
NTSC,4:3,no) sizestr="width=608,height=448" ;;
*) error "Could not handle $src,$aspect,$crop. This shouldn't happen!" ;;
esac

if [ "$deint" = "yes" ]; then
deintstr=",deinterlace=enable"
else
deintstr=
fi

# Let's do it
echo "Input file: $infile"
echo "Output file: $outfile"
echo "Encoding at $bitrate+$arate kb/s, input $src, $aspect, cropping $crop, de-interlace $deint"
echo
echo '>>>' $VLC -I dummy "$infile" --sout "#transcode{$sizestr$deintstr,vcodec=h264,vb=$bitrate,acodec=mp4a,ab=$arate}:standard{mux=mp4,dst=\"$outfile\",access=file}" vlc:quit
echo
$VLC -I dummy "$infile" --sout "#transcode{$sizestr$deintstr,vcodec=h264,vb=$bitrate,acodec=mp4a,ab=$arate}:standard{mux=mp4,dst=\"$outfile\",access=file}" vlc:quit
</pre>

[[Category:Glossary]]