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Some people around the web say that VLC is the cinderella of the video players, they say it make too much automatically picked video filters and conversions that not decode properly the media in the best way.

While I'm not sure about what this persons are talking about the reason why I use VLC is without doubt the capability of being able to play audio/video with almost every codec and in whatever container without extra setup even by running just VLC in portable mode from a folder.

The same folks suggests XMBC but I don't need a full screen remote style video player, what I would like instead is a program capable of:

  • play practically everything without codec installation

  • fine playback controls to move across frames and keyframes ( a nice interface )

  • fast and handy codec informations to read in "one sight" Container, Streams, their Codecs and Bitrate used, then all the other useful info

  • if there are uncertain condition like a color conversion or something like that have a menu that allows you to try various options without force the user to have a certain choice.
  • free but highly appreciated OPEN SOURCE and MULTIPLATFORM
  • well optimized
  • No fancy Skins, possibly no skin support at all, this is to be intended as pro users program we like the os standard windows.

Bonus:

  • metadata full edit and managing
  • video proofing with gamut warnings and settings like photoshop for display in rec 709 or other color spaces
  • if the video is in a RAW supported format es: RED, CinemaDNG, ArriRAW would be nice have some minor extra controls to shift the exposure during the play and check also for clipped areas with red (highlights) and blue (blacks)

In short a VLC with Steroids for media review, able to show you all the flaws and things to check after you exported a video from your common tools/apps.

Would be cool if a program like this would exists :)

PS: Vlc has a codec info windows, but it could be improved, also the bitrate is not calculated in the same better way of ffprobe. Also vlc have not a nice and handy frame browsing interface, it also doesn't allow stuff like scrubbing on the timebar holding shift like you do in VirtualDub and so on. I'm searching for a program that offer the best sides of all this softwares.

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2 Answers 2

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Try out mpv.io. It supports backward frame stepping, precise seeking support, scripting. It can be embedded.

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I haven't used VLC as my primary player since 2007. I switched over initially to KMPlayer and then Potplayer. Potplayer allows fairly flexible splitter and codec assignment for decoding. It also sports a whole host of video and audio processing filters. In fact, I believe that one can use Avisynth filters to process the video during playback, too.

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  • Thank you, I will give a look on it however I think could be needed test it into a separate environment because of: virustotal.com/en/file/… The codec window is nicer than VLC one and informative, advanced playback controls are still not at the level I'm looking for and not open/multiplatform but it's a nice suggestion. Let's see what the community suggest, for now upvote!
    – user3450548
    Oct 31, 2015 at 10:40
  • Use the 32-bit version. I would ignore the virus flags; I have had no issues in the 3-4 years I've used it. What advanced playback controls do you want?
    – Gyan
    Oct 31, 2015 at 10:49
  • Next Frame, Previous Frame, Next x Frames, Previous x Frames, time expressed in timecode, customizable hotkeys for jump to next or previous frame, precise fine tuning of the speed without having to mess on a generic "faster" or "slower", goto frame or time directly on the same interface, hotkey mouse related to scrub on keyframes like in VirtualDub and even something better/nicer you have on professional tools. I'm aiming for a professional video review software not just a simple player but with the same principles of VLC.
    – user3450548
    Oct 31, 2015 at 15:08
  • Press 'Tab' for time code expressed in frames and other details. Press 'F' for next frame, 'D' for previous frame. 'G" for jump to specific frame or timestamp. Ctrl+Shift+Left or Right to jump to previous or next keyframe. You can also customize keys to jump 'x' seconds forward or back.
    – Gyan
    Oct 31, 2015 at 15:14
  • Explore the menu and the preferences. In most cases, it's more powerful and flexible than VLC. You can get skins where more of these functions are exposed as buttons in the interface. The default skin is meant to be minimalistic.
    – Gyan
    Oct 31, 2015 at 15:16

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