VLC is installed on millions of computers. This media player’s popularity is due to three things: free, ad-free and supports hundreds of file formats. And if you find that the media player still lacks a certain function, chances are there is an add-on or plug-in for it that fills that gap. We list the best plugins for VLC.
Tip 01: VLSub
A warm-up to start with: VLSub. This is the only plugin that comes standard in VLC. You activate it via the menu Display. The plugin helps to search and download subtitles for episodes of series and movies. At the top, select the desired subtitle language and enter the title of the movie or series. Then select the movie or series you are looking for from the search results and click on Download selection. In the case of series, you should also specify the season and the number of the episode, so that the results list does not become too long. Instead of searching by name, you can also search by hash. Search by hash only works if the video file has not been converted or modified.
Tip 02: Add-ons Manager
There are several ways to add extensions to VLC. The easiest way is the installation from within VLC itself. After launching the application, go to the menu Tools / Plugins and extensions. In this window, select the tab Addon Admin and tick the box Installed only off so that you can also see the uninstalled extensions. The extensions are in sections with somewhat confusing names: Playlist Processing, Service discovery…
If you only want to give VLC a new look, select the category Theme. If you know the name of a plugin, you can also search for it directly via the search box.
To activate a plugin, click on the desired item in the right-hand box. Then the button to install the add-on appears. To remove an installed plugin, follow the same steps. Then don’t forget the box Installed only to tick. Then select the installed plugin and click remove.
Administrator not error free
The built-in add-ons manager may be the easiest way to enable and disable plugins, but we’ve found to our frustration that there is a problem in the latest version of VLC. Often the add-on manager does not find certain plugins or installs them incorrectly, causing them not to work. Our advice is: initially just try it via the add-ons manager, but that doesn’t work, then you have to manually drag the lua script to the correct folder. We explain this method in tip 3. Whichever way you use, a new extension won’t work until you restart VLC.
Tip 03: Install yourself
Many extensions or plugins made for VLC are lua files. Lua is a lightweight scripting language used in certain programs. The range of plug-ins you can find in the menu Additional in VLC is only a small part of what is available. Here you will find the complete collection and the plug-ins are given a rating. But beware, because there is quite a bit of chaff among the wheat. Some plugins work on Linux but not on Windows, or they only work with an older version of VLC.
The lua files you download here must be placed in a specific folder, depending on the operating system. On Windows that is C:Program Files (x86)VideoLANVLCluaextensions. On macOS, look for the VLC program in the folder apps and then right click on VLC so you can run the command Show package contents can select. Then place the lua file in the folder MacOS/share/lua/extensions.
With Syncplay you can watch the same movie with friends, from your own home, at the same time
Tip 04: Install Syncplay
Syncplay is a useful solution if you can spend less time with friends and family than you actually want. With Syncplay you can watch the same video at the same time, even if you don’t live in the same house. Starting, pausing, jumping to a certain fragment, everything happens synchronously. This solution requires the Syncplay add-on and of course VLC to be installed on all participants’ computers. Each PC must then connect to the same server. If successful, one user can control playback on all systems. You do not install Syncplay from the extension manager window in VLC, but via https://syncplay.pl. There you will find the versions for Windows, Linux and macOS. Syncplay also works with other media players.
Tip 05: Set up Syncplay
After installing Syncplay, open the configuration window of this app. In the top box, select one of the active free Syncplay servers from the drop-down menu. Enter a username if you don’t want to be named as ‘anonymous’. Bee Default room you need to come up with a name for the room where you want to share the video. In the box Path to media player Syncplay makes the connection with VLC. By default, this tool fills in the location itself: C:Program Files (x86)videolanvlcvlc. If the media player is in a different location, you must click the Browse to use. Then click on the button Store configuration and run Syncplay. The other participants must of course select the same server and the correct room.
Tip 06: Play Syncplay
You then arrive at the Synplay client, where you will find a lot of text in the left box that keeps you informed about the server status. At the top right you can read who is in the room and below that you drag the media files that you want to view with the group. The other participants have to enter the name of the room and press Join room click. As the initiator, select the film you want to start with and check the option: I’m ready to watch! Then go to VLC and with the menu Open Media / File select the video that you just added to Syncplay in the list and click Play. As the film begins, you can see who is watching and in which server room the film is shared.
Tip 07: Super Skipper
There are people who have watched all episodes of The Big Bang Theory, but no one watches the same intro 279 times for fun. With Super Skipper you can set the number of seconds you want to leave out. Super Skipper you have to install manually. Drag or copy the lua file into the folder as we explained in tip 3. Restart VLC, and after that you will see in the menu Display the assignment Super Skipper. Then create a profile, for example ‘The Big Bang Theory’. Then you can specify the length of the intro and, for example, also that of the credits to save in the profile. By then applying the profile to the playlist of the series, you can easily skip the intro and credits.
Tip 08: Activate skins
Skins or themes are a different story. VLC’s extension manager presents in the section Theme a handful of skins, but they didn’t work for us. Through the menu Tools / Preferences it did work. In the tab Interface see you at the part Appearance and use that option Use default theme is checked. If you change this to Use custom theme, then the link to the skins webpage will appear: www.videolan.org/vlc/skins.php. All skins have been collected on this page since 2007. You can view the individual skins and download them individually. Or click on the download link to get the complete collection of skins. That is a 37 MB package of vlt files. Then select via Preferences / Interface / Theme File the desired vlt file in the downloaded folder.
The downside of this mini player is that the extensive menus are hidden
Tip 09: Deactivate skins
Some skins are specially designed to make VLC take up only minimal screen space. Something that is especially useful if you want to use VLC as an audio player. The disadvantage of this mini player is that the extensive menus are hidden. For example, to undo such a theme, you have to use the right mouse button, after which you can use the menu Interface can go back to the Institutions to restore the default theme. Also don’t forget on the Keepbutton and restart VLC, otherwise the theme will not change.
Tip 10: Sampler PG
Do you want to quickly get an impression of a new album or new TV series? Then let Sampler PG make a compilation based on a playlist. You get the plug-in from the add-ons manager or you place it lua file itself in the correct folder. Now first select the playlist, and then indicate whether it is a music list, a video preview or a series of which you obviously want to skip the intros. Then you decide how many samples you want to see per title and how long each fragment can last. You can also omit the beginning and the end of those fragments. Finally, it is possible to have all tracks played together, so that you are surprised by the composition.
