VLC 1.0 VLC 1.1 VLC 1.2 VLC 3.0.6 Remarks H.264 Yes Yes Yes GPU acceleration recommended VLC DxVA2 or VLC VAAPI. VC-1 Partial Partial Partial VC-1 Interlaced isn't ready: MPEG-2 Yes Yes Yes FFmpeg or libmpeg2: EAC3 Yes Yes Yes FFmpeg, libavcodec 52.0 TrueHD Yes Yes Yes FFmpeg, libavcodec 52.40 DTS Core Yes Yes Yes libdca or FFmpeg DTS-HD. VLC Media Player for Mac is a powerful and efficient app for playing all kinds of media in multiple formats right on your Mac. With this app in place, you can just download and watch what you want.
by Christine Smith • 2020-09-24 17:04:53 • Proven solutions
VLC Media Player is such an effective player that not only plays audio and video but enables you to resize video, cut video, and convert video. However, not many of us are aware of the VLC video compression function. Here we'll introduce three specific methods on how to reduce video size with VLC as well as the best VLC compressor alternative to compress video efficiently and professionally for your reference.
Part 1. VLC Compress Video to Smaller Size
- VlC is the best Free Mac video player I have used. Really love this app. Thanks for the continuous development. This player is irreplaceable if there is a need to play some special format files that other players just can't do. It has user-friendly.
- VLC Media Player is an Open Source Multimedia Player licensed with GPL that allows you to view videos and listen to audios in practically any format. VLC Media Player can play any video or audio format, including MPEG, WMV, AVI, MOV, MP4, MKV, H.264/AVC, FLV, MP3 and OGG, along with many others.
- Portable VLC OS X is the VLC video stream and multimedia palyer packaged as portable application so you can carry around with you on any portable device, USB thumb drive, iPod, portable hard drive.
Considering some formats like MKV and AVI occupy too much space, it's smart to convert video to smaller size formats like FLV, WMV, etc. Then you'd be happy to learn that VLC enables you to convert video/audio files without having to install any other additional software and allows you to reduce the video size to some extent. Below is the detailed tutorial on how VLC converts videos.
- Download, install the VLC Media Player, and open it. The download URL is https://VLC-media-player.en.softonic.com/.
- Go to Menu and click on Media > Convert/save and select the video you need clicking on Add > Convert/Save when you were done.
- Select the type of profile you want to convert the video.
- Start VLC video compression, selecting the Start button.
Part 2. Change the Video Bit Rate/Frame Rate
Different video parameters like frame rate, resolution, etc. also influence video size. So another way to use VLC resize the video for gaining more space on your memory device and make easy to upload to any website like YouTube is to change the video parameters like frame rate, bit rate.
Repeat the tutorial of converting video to a smaller size format in Part 1, then click on Settings under the profile section and then click on the Video Codec tab, and enter the height and width of the video. Please keep in mind that the aspect ratio should be the same as before to keep the better quality.
Part 3. VLC Resize Video by Cutting Unnecessary Video Segment
To shrink the video size, you can also use VLC to cut the unwanted parts and generate a new video. The detailed steps are as follows.
Step 1: Open VLC Media Player, click on Menu > View Menu > Advanced Controls.
Step 2: Play the video that you want and click the Record button on the scene you want to crop and stop it where you want to crop by clicking the same button.
Step 3: The video will save automatically in Library > Videos for Windows7, 8, and My Documents > My videos in Windows XP.
Part 4. Best VLC Alternative to Compress Videos Easily and Quickly
Indeed, VLC Media Player is one of the best free video players. Still, it's not the best video reducer that only uses some basic settings instead of advanced settings to reduce video size. Therefore, we recommend a better video compressor as an alternative - Wondershare UniConverter, the all-in-one video toolbox capable of video conversion, compression, download, recording, editing, burning, and more. You're allowed to compress video and audio files in 1000+ format with changing video resolution, bit rate, encoder, format, and other parameters with. Free download this VLC compressor alternative on your Windows/Mac and follow the simple steps below.
Wondershare UniConverter - Best Video Compressor for Windows / Mac (Mojave included)
- Reduce video size more efficiently than the VLC video compression tool.
- Facilitates changing file parameters like bit rate, frame rate, resolution, and quality to resize video.
- Allows cropping or trimming videos to reduce the size.
- Compress video and audio files in 1000+ formats with super fast speed and no quality loss.
- Convert video for mobile devices, including iPhone, iPad, Android, etc.
- Burn video to playable DVD with an attractive free DVD template.
- Versatile toolbox includes fixing video metadata, GIF maker, and screen recorder.
- Supported OS: Windows 10/8/7/XP/Vista, Mac OS 10.15 (Catalina), 10.14, 10.13, 10.12, 10.11, 10.10, 10.9, 10.8, 10.7, 10.6
How to Reduce Video Size with VLC Alternative - Wondershare UniConverter
Step 1 Add Videos to Wondershare Video Compressor
Firstly, you would have to download and install the application on your PC/Mac. Then move on to open it and go to the Video Compressor option, and then click on the Add files button. You will see a window showing the video files on your computer. Just select the videos you want to reduce video size and click on Open to load the videos.
Step 2 Reduce Your Video in Different Ways
With Wondershare UniConverter, you can downsize your video through 3 aspects: compress videos to small size files directly; trim or crop your video with smart editing features; and convert the video to a video format with a smaller size(adjust the video parameters like resolution, frame rate, encoder and more).
- Compress videos to small size files directly: Choose Video Compressor, click the '+' sign to add files, then click on the settings icon, and a new pop-up window will open. Move the slider next to the File Size to select the desired size and the quality, and the bit rate will change accordingly. You can even change the format and the resolution as required. Click on the OK button to confirm the settings.
Download Vlc Player Mac
- Convert video to a video format with a smaller size(Adjust video parameters): To shrink the video size further, choose the Video Converter option, click the Add files button to open the file you want to downsize. Then, click the Compress icon on the target tab to get a setting window, where you can change the resolution, file size, and more manually or move the progress bar to change all parameters. You're allowed to preview what the video will be for 20 seconds by clicking the Preview button.
- Trim or crop video: Click the Trim or Crop icon under the video thumbnail to enter the trimming or cropping window to resize the video size. Learn the detailed steps here.
Step 3 Start Reducing Video Size
You'll find the video size has been reduced after all settings are done. If you select the option of Video Compressor to compress videos directly, click on the Compress button or Start All button, and the VLC alternative will start reducing video size quickly.
If you select the option of Video Converter to compress videos before converting, click on the Convert or Start All button, and the VLC alternative will start reducing video size quickly.
If you're looking for a more natural way to compress a video without editing features, move to the Toolbox section and choose Video Compress option to Compress Video Size Easily >>.
So if you want to make VLC reduce video size and reproduce your HD videos without advanced editing requirements, VLC Media Player is a good choice. But if you have high-level requirements to reduce video size, we suggest you use Wondershare UniConverter.
← Back to VLC Features
This is a new page that lists the audio/video codecs that VLC can or cannot read. It is still under development, don't hesitate to add a some FourCC and infos.
It should now be a bit more complete than the official features page on VideoLAN website.
If you have any question about those codecs, just consult our Knowledge Base or our friends on the Multimedia Wiki. If you don't find information, search with Wikipedia or Google.
- 1Video Codecs
Video Codecs
Widely Used Video Codecs
Name | FOURCC | Playable | Encoder | library | Comment |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
MPEG-1 Part 2 | mpeg, mp1v, mpg1, PIM1 | Yes | Yes | libmpeg2 , ffmpeg | |
MPEG-2 Part 2 | mp2v, mpg2, vcr2, hdv1, hdv2, hdv3, mx*n, mx*p | Yes | Yes | libmpeg2 , ffmpeg | |
MJPEG (A/B) | Yes | Yes | ffmpeg | ||
Divx (1, 2, 3) | DIV1, DIV2, DIV3, mp41, mp42, MPG4, MPG3 | Yes | Yes | ffmpeg | |
DivX 4, 5, 6 , 3ivx D4, MPEG-4 | DIV4, DIV5, DIV6, col1, col0, 3ivd | Yes | Yes | ffmpeg | |
MPEG-4 Part 2 (AVP), Xvid | DIVX, Xvid, mp4s, m4s2, xvid, mp4v, fmp4, 3iv2, smp4, ... | Yes | Yes | ffmpeg | |
H.261 | h261 | Yes | Yes | ffmpeg | |
H.262 | h262 | Yes | Yes | ffmpeg | Same as MPEG-2 Video |
H.263 / H.263i | h263 | Yes | Yes | ffmpeg | |
H.264 / X.264 (MPEG-4/AVC) (MPEG-4 Part.10) | h264, s264, AVC1, DAVC, H264, X264, VSSH | Yes | Yes | ffmpeg (decode), x264 (encode) | |
Sorenson 1 (Quicktime) | SVQ 1 | Yes | Yes | ffmpeg | |
Sorenson 3 (Quicktime) | SVQ 3 | Yes | No | ffmpeg | |
DV | Yes | Yes | ffmpeg | ||
Cinepak | cvid | Yes | No | internal, ffmpeg | |
Theora | thra | Yes | Yes, violated | libtheora | |
WMV 1/2 (7/8) | wmv1, wmv2 | Yes | Yes | ffmepg | |
WMV 3 / WMV-9 / VC-1 | wmv3, wvc1, wmva | Yes | No | ffmpeg | Not all profiles are supported. See DMO. |
On2 VP3, | VP31, VP30, VP3 | Yes | No | ffmpeg | |
On2 VP5 | VP50, VP5, VP51 | Yes | No | ffmpeg | |
On2 VP6 (used by FLV) | VP60, VP61, VP62, VP6F, VP6A | Yes | Yes | ffmpeg | |
On2 VP7 | VP7 | No | No | ||
Flash Screen Video | FSV1 | Yes | Yes | ffmpeg | |
Indeo Video 3 | IV31, IV32 | Yes | No | ffmpeg | |
Indeo Video 4/5 | IV41, IV51 | Yes | No | libavcodec | |
Real Video 1.0, 1.3, 2.0 | RV10, RV13, RV20 | Yes | Yes | ffmpeg | |
Real Video 3.0, 4.0 | RV30, RV40 | No | No | ||
Dirac | BBCD | Yes | Yes | dirac | |
Huffyuv / | Yes | Yes | ffmpeg |
Rarer Video Codecs
Rare codecs | FOURCC | Decoder | Encoder | library | Comment |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Apple Animation, Graphics, Video, QuickDraw | 'rle','smc ','rpza', 'qdrw' | Yes | No | ffmpeg | |
SheerVideo | No | No | Professional use, no open source decoders | ||
CorePNG | ?? | ?? | |||
MSU Lossless | ?? | ?? | |||
Snow | Yes | Yes | |||
Pixlet | ?? | ?? | |||
Rare codecs (Asus V1, Asus V2) | ASV1, ASV2 | Yes | Yes | ffmpeg | |
Game Codecs (Some) | Yes | No | ffmpeg | ||
Tarkin | No | No | |||
QPEG | QPEG | Yes | untested ??? | ffmpeg |
Vlc Video Player For Mac
Audio Codecs
Name | FOURCC | Decoder | Encoder | library | Comment |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
MPEG-Audio 1 Layer-1/2 | mpga | Yes | Yes | libmad (decoding), twolame (encoding) | ISO/IEC MPEG |
MP3 | mp3, .mp3, LAME | Yes | Yes | libmad (decoding), ffmpeg-mp3lame | ISO/IEC MPEG - (recompile needed for encoding) |
AAC | mp4a | Yes | Yes | faad (decode), faac (encoding) | ISO/IEC MPEG |
HE-AAC | Yes | untested ??? | faad (decode), libaacplus + ffmpeg (encoding) | ISO/IEC MPEG, AAC+ encoding through libaacplus + ffmpeg (patched) - untested RECOMPILE VLC & ffmpeg for this Audio codec | |
AC-3 | a52, a52b | Yes | Yes | liba52 (decode), ffmpeg (encode) | |
ATRAC | atrc | Yes | No | ||
iLBC | ILBC, ilbc | untested ??? | untested ??? | QuickTime (decode) | (check for encoder and free decoder) |
Mu-Law | Yes | No | ffmpeg | (check for encoder) | |
NellyMoser | Yes | No | ffmpeg | ||
QCELP (PureVoice) | Qclp | Yes | No? | ffmpeg | Usually in QCP container. buggy? |
Real Audio | lpcJ, 28_8, dnet, sipr, cook, atrc, raac, racp, ralf | Yes | No | Some work. Half don't | |
Shorten | shrn | No | No | ffmpeg and ffplay do it. VLC doesn't. (It is in the FOURCC list in VLC's modules/codec/avcodec/fourcc.c --Dionoea) | |
Speex | spex | Yes | Yes | libspeex | |
Vorbis | vorb | Yes | Yes | libvorbis | |
DTS | dts | Yes | No | libdca | DTS-HD unsupported |
MPC | Yes | No | libmpcdec | ||
WMA 1/2 | wma1, wma2 | Yes | Yes, violated | ffmpeg | WMA9 is not supported |
Flac | flac | Yes | Yes | libflac | lossless |
Apple Lossless Audio Codec | alac | Yes | No | ffmpeg | lossless |
Monkey's Audio | Yes | No | lossless | ||
Musepack | Yes | No | libmpcdec | ||
ADMPCM (various) | Yes | Yes | ffmpeg and internal | ||
AMR | samr | Yes | Yes | ffmpeg + libamrnb + libamrwb | RECOMPILE VLC for this Speech codec |
Sonic | SONC | Yes | Yes | ffmpeg |
Subtitles Codecs
- Transcluded from Subtitles codecs
Subtitle Name | Extension | Subtitle Type | Character Encoding | Line Break | Text Styling | Metadata Info | Timings | Timing Precision | VLC media player Support |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
AQTitle | *.aqt | Text-based | None | Yes | No | No | Framings | Dependent on Frame | Yes (0.9.0 and over) |
Blu-Ray | N/A | Image-based | N/A | N/A | N/A | No | Elapsed Time | Unknown | Yes (1.1.0 and over) |
CVD subtitles | *.cvd | Image-based | N/A | N/A | N/A | No | Elapsed Time | Unknown | Yes |
DKS | *.dks | Text-based | None | Yes | No | No | Elapsed Time | Unknown | Yes (0.9.0 and over) |
DVB subtitles | N/A (in DVB streams) | Image-based | N/A | N/A | N/A | No | Elapsed Time | Unknown | Yes |
DVD subtitles | N/A | Image-based | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown |
JACOsub | *.jss | Text-based | None | Yes | Yes | No | Elapsed Time | 10 Milliseconds (1/100th sec) | Yes (0.9.0 and over), no styles |
Kate | N/A (inside OGG) | Text-based | None | Yes | Yes | No | Unknown | Unknown | Yes (0.9.0 and over), no styles |
MicroDVD | *.sub | Text-based | None | Yes | No | No | Framings | Dependent on Frames | Yes |
MPEG-4 Timed Text | .ttxt | XML | Unknown | Unknown | Yes | No | Elapsed Time | 1 Millisecond | Yes |
MPL2 | *.mpl/.txt | Text-based | None | Yes | No | No | Sequential Time | 100 Milliseconds (1/10th sec) | Yes, no italic |
MPSub | *.sub | Text-based | None | Yes | No | Yes | Sequential Time | 10 Milliseconds (1/100th sec) | Yes (0.9.0 and over) |
OggWrit | N/A (inside Oggs) | Text-based | None | No | Yes | Yes | Sequential Granules | Dependent on Bitstream | untested ???- Not specified yet. |
Phoenix Subtitle | *.pjs | Text-based | None | No | No | No | Framings | Dependent on Frames | Yes (0.9.0 and over) |
PowerDivX | .psb | Text-based | None | No | No | No | Elapsed Time | 1 Second | Yes (0.9.0 and over) |
RealText / SMIL | *.rt | HTML-based | Unicode (UTF-8) | Yes | Yes (SMIL) | No | Elapsed Time | 10 Milliseconds (1/100th sec) | Yes (0.9.0 and over) |
SAMI | *.smi | HTML-based | Unicode (Windows-1252) | Yes | Yes (CSS) | Yes | Framings | Dependent on Frames | Yes |
Structured Subtitle Format | .ssf | XML | None | No | Yes | Yes | Elapsed Time | 1 Millisecond | No |
SubRip | *.srt | Text-based | Informally Unicode | Yes | No | No | Elapsed Time | 1 Millisecond (1/1000th sec) | Yes |
SubStation Alpha | *.ssa/.ass | Text-based | None | No | Yes | Yes | Elapsed Time | 10 Milliseconds (1/100th sec) | Yes, 0.9.0 and over |
SubViewer | *.sub | Text-based | None | Yes | No | Yes | Elapsed Time | 10 Milliseconds (1/100th sec) | Yes |
SVCD subtitles | *.svcd | Image-based | N/A | N/A | N/A | No | Elapsed Time | Unknown | Yes |
Teletext | Unknown | Text-based | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Yes |
Universal Subtitle | *.usf | XML | Unicode (UTF-8) | No | Yes (XML DTD) | No | Elapsed Time | 1 Millisecond (1/1000th sec) | Yes, 0.9.0 and over |
VobSub | *.sub, *.idx | Image-based | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | Elapsed Time | 1 Millisecond (1/1000th sec) | Yes |
VPlayer | *.txt | Text-based | None | Yes | No | No | Framing or Time | 10 Milliseconds (1/100th sec) | Yes |
XSUB (DivX subtitles) | N/A (embedded in .divx) | Image-based | N/A | N/A | N/A | No | Elapsed Time | 1 Millisecond | Yes (1.1.0 and over) |
Format/Container/Muxers
Name | extensions | Playable | Savable | Comment |
---|---|---|---|---|
3GP | .3gp | Yes | untested ??? | |
AIFF | .asf, .wmv | Yes | No | |
ASF | .asf, .wmv | Yes | Yes | |
AU | .au | Yes | ||
AVI | .avi | Yes | Yes, violated | |
DMF | untested ??? | untested ??? | ||
FLV | .flv | Yes | Yes | through ffmpeg |
MOV | .mov | Yes | Yes | |
MP4 | .mp4 | Yes | Yes | |
OGG | .ogm, .ogg | Yes | Yes | |
MKV | .mkv, .mka | Yes | No, WIP | Summer of Code 2007 Project |
MPEG-2 / TS | .ts, .mpg | Yes | Yes | |
MPEG-2 / ES, PS, PVA, MP3 | .mpg, .mp3, .mp2 | Yes | Yes | |
NSC | .nsc | Yes | No | |
NSV | .nsv | Yes | No | |
Nut | .nut | Yes | Yes | Muxable through libavformat |
Real | .ra, .ram, .rm, .rv , .rmbv | Partial | No | version 4 and 5, no support for version 3 |
Raw (a52, dts, aac, flac, .dv, .vid) | .a52, .dts, .aac, .flac, .dv, .vid | Yes | ?? | |
True Audio Codec | .tta, .tac | Yes | No | |
Ty Tivo | .ty | Yes | No | |
Wav | .wav, .dts | Yes | Yes | |
Xa | .xa | Yes | No |
HD-Discs codecs
- Transcluded from HD-Discs codecs
Codec | VLC 1.0 | VLC 1.1 | VLC 1.2 | VLC 3.0.6 | Remarks |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
H.264 | Yes | Yes | Yes | GPU acceleration recommended VLC DxVA2 or VLC VAAPI. | |
VC-1 | Partial | Partial | Partial | VC-1 Interlaced isn't ready | |
MPEG-2 | Yes | Yes | Yes | FFmpeg or libmpeg2 | |
EAC3 | Yes | Yes | Yes | FFmpeg, libavcodec > 52.0 | |
TrueHD | Yes | Yes | Yes | FFmpeg, libavcodec > 52.40 | |
DTS Core | Yes | Yes | Yes | libdca or FFmpeg | |
DTS-HD Master Audio | No | No | No | Core is played | |
Blu-Ray Subtitles | No | Yes, libavcodec > 52.40 | Yes | FFmpeg | |
HD-DVD Subtitles | No | No | No | ||
HD-DVD Files (.evo) | No | No | No | ||
Blu-Ray folders | Partial | Partial | Partial | ||
Discs | No | No | Partial |