How to Create Video Playlists in VLC

Edited 5 hours ago by ExtremeHow Editorial Team

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VLC Media Player is one of the most popular open-source media players. It supports a wide variety of formats and features, the most useful of which is the ability to create playlists. Playlists can be described as a customized sequence of multiple videos and songs that you can play continuously without having to open each file manually. With VLC, you can easily create, save, and manage your playlists. This guide will go deep into the details of creating video playlists using VLC, covering everything from a basic introduction to more advanced techniques.

Understanding VLC and its playlist feature

VLC Media Player is a free and open-source multimedia player that provides users with the ability to play files, stream, and more. One of its lesser-used but quite powerful features is playlist creation. In short, a playlist in VLC is a list consisting of audio files, video files, or both, arranged in such a way that they play one after the other.

Playlists are especially useful when you want to enjoy hours of continuous playback without interruption. Whether you're setting music for a party, playing episodes of a series continuously, or organizing videos at home, playlists enhance your media consumption experience. While you explore this way of organizing your media, let's take a look at the detailed steps to create a video playlist using VLC.

Step-by-step guide to create a video playlist in VLC

Step 1: Open VLC media player

To start creating a playlist, first make sure you have VLC media player installed on your computer. If you haven't installed it yet, you can download it from the official VideoLAN website. After installing, open VLC by clicking its icon or searching for it in your menu.

Step 2: Adding files to the playlist

Once VLC opens, follow these steps to add a video to your playlist:

• Right-click on the interface: In VLC's main window, right-click anywhere on the media player interface. This will open a context menu with several options.
• Select the playlist option: From the context menu, click the "Playlist" option. This opens the VLC playlist window.
• Add your media: To add files, go to "Media" > "Open File" on the top menu bar. Select multiple files at once by holding down the Ctrl key (Command on a Mac) while clicking the files, or select a group by holding down the Shift key. Click Open after making your selection.

The selected videos will now appear in VLC's playlist pane. You'll see a list of the files you added in order.

Step 3: Organizing the playlist

Simply adding videos isn't enough when you want a seamless experience. You may need to customize their order, remove any unwanted files, or perhaps add more files.

• Reorder files: To change the order of videos in a playlist, simply click on each entry and drag it to the desired location. This drag-and-drop capability makes arranging and organizing files quite simple.
• Delete files: If you accidentally added an unwanted file or changed your mind about an entry, select the file by clicking on it and press the Delete key or right-click and select "Remove from Playlist."
• Add more files: You can add more files to your playlist at any time by repeating the adding file process (step 2).

Step 4: Saving the playlist

After you've created and organized your playlist, it's important to save it so you don't have to go through the whole process every time. Here's how:

• Go to the media menu: Click "Media" on the top toolbar in VLC.
• Choose Save Playlist: Select "Save Playlist to File..." from the dropdown menu.
• Select location: You will be asked to select a location to save your playlist file. Choose an easily accessible location for future playback.
• Name your playlist: Enter a suitable name for your playlist and remember that it will be saved as .xspf, .m3u, or .m3u8 file depending on the format you choose.
• Save the file: Complete the process by clicking Save.

Step 5: Play the playlist

To play your newly created playlist, you need to follow these simple steps:

• Open the playlist file: Double-click the saved playlist file in your file explorer or use "Media" > "Open File..." to locate and open it from within VLC.
• Enjoy continuous playback: The playlist will start playing as set, allowing for seamless enjoyment.

Advanced playlist management with VLC

VLC's strength lies not only in its user-friendly, straightforward playlist creation, but also in its ability to offer features that allow advanced playlist management. Such features cater to users who want to go deeper into organizing their media content and maximize their VLC experience.

Create a smart playlist with criteria

VLC empowers you extensively by allowing you to create smart playlists based on criteria. This kind of management lets you specify rules under which certain files are automatically included in the playlist. Unfortunately, as of now, this feature is more native to VLC's audio management, but here's how you can explore the concept:

• Go to the Playlists tab: Open the playlist view.
• Right-click in the playlist pane: select "Add Interface" > "Add Search Directory".
• Configure Criteria: You can use this option to define the directories from where VLC will scan for files, and automatically include new video files by folder to your playlist.

This approach is effective if you habitually add media to a specific folder and want a dynamic playlist that reflects changes to the folder's contents.

Using third-party integrations

VLC's compatibility extends to many integrations. By including additional scripts or plug-ins, you can significantly expand what is included in the playlist and playback. Examples might include integration with broadcast or streaming applications or using a remote control for playlist management during playback.

Automating playlist switching and queuing

Advanced users can script playlist operations through VLC's command-line interface or by using programming/scripting languages such as Python or batch scripts. Queuing and switching playlists can be useful for continuous play environments such as multimedia setups, jukebox software, or queue management systems at events.

However, this requires familiarity with command-line operations. For example, a Python script might look like this (remember to translate the programming symbols appropriately):

    import os def play_vlc_playlist(playlist_path): os.system("vlc " + playlist_path) # Call the function play_vlc_playlist(" your_playlist.xspf ")

Embedding playlists in other software projects

For developers, there may be interest in embedding VLC's capabilities into other applications. VLC has an extensive set of APIs and libraries, such as LibVLC, that developers can use to create applications that contain video playlists or even setups that require robust media management and playback solutions.

Here's a brief example where embedding could work: incorporating VLC's libraries within a Python application to manage video libraries and create playlists programmatically.

Conclusion

VLC media player offers great versatility and functionality, with playlist creation being a key feature that improves the way we consume video and audio content. From setting up simple lists to advanced playlist management involving automation, VLC meets a wide range of needs.

By learning the basics of creating and managing video playlists in VLC, you can equip yourself with the ability to customize your media playback experience, ensuring hours of uninterrupted enjoyment. Whether you are a simple user or a tech-savvy individual looking for more complex integrations, VLC's playlists provide the foundation and flexibility for almost every use case.

Immerse yourself in the innovative world of VLC and explore all the possibilities video playlist creation can bring to your digital entertainment landscape.

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