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VLC

How to create video clips in VLC

Now you can keep your favorite parts of any video.

With the holidays coming up, your creative side may be seeping into your thoughts. If you have a collection of videos of family, friends, or even events, you can do neat things with clips from these. VLC offers a superfast way to create clips for later editing or enjoyment.

Begin by downloading and installing VLC.

Step 1: Open VLC and open the menu labeled View. In this menu, select Advanced Controls.

Step 2: Open the video you wish to take a cut from. Use the slider to navigate to the … Read more

VLC update fixes MP4 security bug

The VLC media player for OS X has been updated with a small fix that addresses a potential security flaw in the MP4 decoder. As with many security flaws, the problem results in a buffer overflow that can crash the program and potentially lead to arbitrary code execution. This is a relatively minor issue, but is one that has the potential to cause problems for people who regularly use VLC to play Internet videos.

The bug would require a specifically crafted malicious video file in order for unwanted code to run on the system, and it is more likely that … Read more

VideoLAN updates VLC, improved language translation

One of the best video players for Mac has to be VideoLAN's VLC Player, now updated to version 1.1.8. This update fixes a number of small bugs and adds more support for several features, including better language translation as well as updating security patches for known vulnerabilities.

Core Security Technologies recognized vulnerabilities in AMV and NSV files when handled by previous versions of VLC.

Two vulnerabilities have been found in VLC media player [1], when handling AMV and NSV file formats. These vulnerabilities can be exploited by a remote attacker to obtain arbitrary code execution with the … Read more

Alt media player VLC cut from Apple App Store

Popular media player VLC has been pulled from Apple's App Store at the request of one of the program's original developers--in a move that's caused some hard feelings in the world of open-source software.

The situation involves a conflict between the General Public License, which governs VLC and many other open-source programs, and App Store policies.

"On January 7th, Apple removed VLC media player from its application store for iDevices," Remi Denis-Courmont, one of the developers of the desktop version of VLC, wrote in a blog post picked up by the Web site of the … Read more

Play nearly any video file

As you probably know, the iPhone and iPod Touch make terrific video players--but they're limited in terms of the video formats they support. If you've got, say, Divx or MKV files you want to watch, you're out of luck unless you run them through a converter first--a time-consuming hassle, to say the least. If you're lucky enough to own an iPad, the VLC Media Player app enables you to work around this limitation by playing virtually all video formats, no conversion required. Even better news: it's now available for iPhone and iPod Touch as well. (… Read more

Log-in session quits when running video in OS X 10.6.5

A few people on the Apple Discussion boards have described an issue that seems to have cropped up in OS X 10.6.5, where the system may force-quit the log-in session when attempting to play video.

This is not a widespread problem, but has affected a few people and seems to happen when they use certain media players that support hardware-accelerated video playback. When the crash occurs, the system may flash a blue or black screen and then present the log-in window, quitting all user applications and unsaved data. Not all video players spur this behavior, and the problem … Read more

VLC for iPhone may get pulled from App Store--by the developer

News of the weird: Remi Denis-Courmont, one of the developers of the VLC Media Player app, has apparently sent Apple a "formal notification of copyright infringement" and asked that the app be removed from the App Store.

Yes, we have apparently crossed over into Bizarro World.

In the old days, it was Apple that did the app yanking, usually for obscure or arbitrary reasons. In recent months, however, the company has lifted--or at least loosened--many of its previous restrictions. Prior to that, it's unlikely the VLC Media Player would have been allowed in the first place.

As … Read more

VLC for iPhone plays nearly any video file

As you probably know, the iPhone and iPod Touch make terrific video players--but they're limited in terms of the video formats they support. If you've got, say, Divx or MKV files you want to watch, you're out of luck unless you run them through a converter first--a time-consuming hassle, to say the least.

Last month, the VLC Media Player app for iPad enabled users to work around this limitation by playing virtually all video formats, no conversion required.

I'm happy to report that VLC just went universal, meaning it's now available for iPhone and iPod Touch … Read more

VLC Media Player comes to iPad at last

If you were excited last month by the arrival of CineXPlayer, which lets you view Xvid-formatted videos on your iPad, you'll love this: uber-popular open-source video player VLC is now available for iPad as well, meaning you can now watch just about any video in any format.

Indeed, as the developer's fractured-English description notes, "It comes with support for nearly all codec there is." And based on the dozen or so sample videos I threw at it--Divx, MKV, Xvid, etc.--that seems to be the case.

As with CineXPlayer, you copy videos to VLC by way … Read more