Tutorials
VLC = VideoLAN Client
VLC Media Player can do a lot more to videos than just
playing it. We know that it can convert
videos or stream them from online sources. Those
are some of the good uses of VLC Media Player. Now comes the time to share an
interesting use of VLC Media Player. This interesting use of VLC Media Player
is to rotate videos while playing them.
Videos can be rotated, flipped and even transposed for
different purposes. Videos can be simply rotated by clockwise 90 degrees, 180
degrees, and 270 degrees. You can also rotate the video by arbitrary angles
such as 1 degree, 27 degrees and so on. Besides rotating, videos can also be
flipped horizontally and vertically. Finally, videos can also be transposed or
anti-transposed, which flips and rotates the videos at the same time. You will
be surprised by the number of things that VLC Media Player can do with videos.
To rotate, flip or transpose videos in VLC Media Player:
1.
From the VLC Media Player menu, go to Tools >
Effects and Filters [Shortcut: CTRL + E].
2.
From the Adjustment and Effects, go to the “Video Effects”
tab.
3.
Go to the sub tab of Video Effects that says “Geometry”.
Check on the checkbox beside the text
that says “Transform”. There you will find options to do the following to your
video:
- Rotate by Fixed Angle: Click on
transform, to rotate a video by a certain fixed and a standard number of
degrees: 90, 180 and 270 degrees. Those can be selected from the drop-down
after you check the transform button.
- Flip Videos: From the
drop-down select on “Flip horizontally” or “Flip vertically” to flip the
videos in those directions.
- Transpose: Click on “Transpose” and “Anti-transpose” from the same drop-down to flip as well as rotate the video. Transpose is when your video is rotated 270 degrees clockwise and flipped horizontally. Anti-transpose is the result when your video is rotated by 90 degrees clockwise and flipped horizontally.
4.
Rotate by Certain Angle: Check on the checkbox beside the text that says
“Rotate”. Move the angle dialer around. Your video will be rotated by a certain
arbitrary degree.
Note: Remember that this rotation setting
is saved and when you open a new video, it will still be rotated. You will have
to come to this section to unchecked the boxes to disable rotation for playing
other videos.
To Make the
Rotation Permanent
The steps that you followed above just rotated the
video for playing only. If you want to make the rotation permanent, follow
these instructions after the
above steps:
- From the menu bar, go to Media > Convert / Save. [CTRL +
R]
- Click on Add, and browse and add the
current video.
- Click on Convert/Save.
- In the Convert dialog, click on Settings next to the Profile.
- In the Profile edition dialog,
navigate to Video Codec > Filters tab tab
- Activate the Video transformation filter.
- Note: Activate the Rotate video filter if
the video was rotated at an angle like 59 degrees.
- Switch to the Audio codec tab,
and choose MP3 as the Codec under Encoding
parameters.
- In the Convert dialog, don’t forget to choose
a Destination file and press Start.
- Hit Play to begin the
transformation process
The video will be rotated and the changes will be
permanently saved in the destination file. If the player minimizes, bring it
back up. If the transformation process has not started, press Play in V.L. C. controls. The position
seeker will show the progress of the conversion.
Some Uses of Rotating a
Video
- Correcting a video that has been taken in the
wrong way or angle. For example the person who took the video decides to
rotate the camera device while taking the video. One way to watch it
normally is to rotate it by VLC.
- Watching the video in style by rotating it in a
certain angle.
- Filling up a portrait video of the entire area of
a widescreen. When a video’s height is longer than the width, the screen
displays black areas on the left and right. In such a case, rotating the
video by 90 degrees or 270 degrees will help fill up the entire monitors
which have more width then height normally.
Video Format and Containers Supported
By
default, VLC Media Player supports video conversion to the followin range of
video formats and containers:
- H.264 video format
in MP4 file container
- H.264 video format in TS file container
- Dirac video format in TS file container
- MPEG video format in TS file container
- Theora video format in OGG file container
- WMV video format in ASF file container
- DIV3 video format in ASF file container
- MPEG 1080p/720p video format for TV/device in MP4
file container
- DivX video format in AVI file container
- SD video format for iPod in MP4 file container
- HD video format for iPod HD/iPhone/PSP in MP4
file container
- SD low and high video format for Android in MP4
file container
- VP89 VIdeo File in Webm container
Note: Containers are responsible for the file
extension. Example: MP4 container would mean that the file would have *.mp4
file extension. You can also create new media profile with your own combination
of video and audio formats. It is explained in the profile section of step 4 of
the tutorial above.
Why Convert Video Formats?
- To reduce size of the videos while maintaining
the quality.
- For use of standard formats which are widely
popular.
- For use in special devices like television and
video players that support certain formats only.
- For ease of sharing with others.
- To import in video editing software which only
supports a limited number of formats.
- For support in mobile devices like iPhone, iPod,
Android devices, Windows phone and others.
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