VLC is one of the most popular media clients available and it’s close to our hearts here at Guiding Tech. VLC can do a lot more than just play any video file you throw at it. The fact that it’s free and open source is just the beginning.
We love VLC: Which is why we decided to write an eBook about it. You can read it online here.
From the outside, VLC can seem pretty basic. Truthfully, there are competing media playersthat have many more features. But luckily, it looks like VLC has taken notice of the matter and is trying to integrate some awesome new functionality. Chromecast support is rumored to be arriving sometime this year!
Today we’ll talk about two awesome features added in VLC 2.2 and how to use them: automaticsubtitle downloading and resuming a video from its last position.
How to Automatically Download Extensions
In our Ultimate Guide to VLC we mentioned the best extensions, one of which was
VLSub. Extensions for VLC are pretty awesome but they’re not easy to install. You can take a look at the process here.
Now, with version 2.2, VLC has decided to bundle the VLSub extension directly with the app. But it’s still in the extensions menu, which can lead to some confusion.
Load up the video, go to the VLC menu in Mac, then mouse over to Extensions and selectVLSub. On Windows go to View -> Extensions.
This window will let you search through extensions automatically and manually. Click theSearch by hash or Search by name to start searching. In my experience I’ve found that Search by name works better. The Search by hash searches for subtitles using metadata.
After you’ve found the subtitle you were looking for in the list, click on it to highlight and clickDownload Selection button. In a couple of seconds, the subtitle will be downloaded and embedded in the VLC video file.
Manual Search: There will be times when merely searching by file name will not yield results. At such moments you can type in the movie or TV show’s name yourself. If it’s a TV show, you can even specify the season and episode number.
Resume Video from Last Position
This was also possible via an extension before, but I think it works way better now that it’s a native feature.
Here’s how it works. You’re watching a long video, a movie or a lecture in VLC and you need to shut it down for some reason. Now, when you open that video again in VLC, it will show you the following prompt.
You can either choose to start a video from the beginning, continue the playback from where you left off or tell VLC you want to Always continue the playback. This means the next time you launch the video, VLC will start from where you left off automatically and there won’t be a popup.
You can go to Preferences -> General -> Continue Playback to override any previous settings.
What’s Your Favorite VLC Feature?
VLC keeps getting better with each new release and I’m glad for it. What is your favorite VLC feature? Share with us in the comments below.
