Learn how to convert multiple media files in VLC. VLC multimedia Player is one of the best multimedia players you can use, being known for its low usage of your system resources and it is able to play and edit a lot of formats thanks to the fact that it is an open source program.
This is recognized, since we can convert for example videos you downloaded from YouTube to MP3 files very easily, or any other format that suits you, plus you can do it with the number of files you want. Converting files in batches is a bit different from doing it one by one, but don’t worry, we will explain how to do it.
What do you need to consider when converting batch files in VLC?
Before you start converting a bunch of files you should know what is important to know that can happen when doing this action, because it is not the same, it is very different to extract the audio from a video than to batch convert several files. That’s why you should know these two points that you will see below.
The process will take a long time
The conversion of files will be practically the same quality as doing it one by one, but the time it may take is another story. The procedure itself has a few steps that will not take long, but the process itself can take some time.
This will depend on the amount and type of file you are converting, but it usually takes a computer with enough power a few minutes. It should be noted that the format is an important factor, since for example converting an MP4 Video to an MP3 file will take much less time than converting it to a heavier format.
Requires a lot of working memory
Another relevant point is that the task of compiling and converting these video files will consume a lot of your computer’s RAM memory. If your PC has enough RAM memory and a good processor it should not take so much work to do this action, but if it does not have enough resources it will take much longer to perform the conversion.
What is the way to avoid converting files one by one in VLC?
Now that you know what to keep in mind, let’s talk a little bit about this feature that we can enjoy since we decided to download VLC Media Player to our computer. Batch conversion helps you avoid that annoying job of having to convert one by one, as it happens in other video editors.
What to do if you need to convert many files from different formats to the same format?
In case you need to convert several files to the same format very quickly, you can do it with a series of commands or script files that you can use both for Power Shell and CMD on your Windows computer.
You can also use them inside the command terminal in case you are a Linux user. In this case as an example you must open your Power Shell as administrator and enter the following commands in the same order, all within the same text:
$outputExtension = ‘.mkv’ $bitrate = 8000 $channels = 4 foreach($inputFile in get-childitem -recurse -Filter *.MP4)
{
$outputFileName = [System.IO.Path]::GetFileNameWithoutExtension($inputFile.FullName) + $outputExtension;
$outputFileName = [System.IO.Path]::Combine($inputFile.DirectoryName, $outputFileName);
$programFiles = ${env:ProgramFiles(x86)};
if($programFiles -eq $null) { $programFiles = $env:ProgramFiles; }
$processName = $programFiles + ‘VideoLANVLCvlc.exe’
$processArgs = “-I dummy -vvv `’$($inputFile.FullName)`’ – sout=#transcode{acodec=`’mp3`’,ab=`’$bitrate`’,`’channels=$$channels`”}:standard{access=`”file`”,mux=`”wav`”,dst=`”$outputFileName`”} vlc://quit”
start-process $processName $processArgs -wait
}
This script can be configured to your convenience, to convert several types of audio or video files at once, to achieve this you must make some changes in ‘outputExtension’ modifying the type of file you want to convert, then at the end of the line ‘foreach’ put the output format you want.
You must also take care that the bitrates match the format type and the channels to adapt the audio.
How to select several files and convert them to VLC at the same time?
In case you prefer to do it the traditional way it is very easy to do it, you just need to enter the VLC Media Player program on your computer and do the following:
- Click on the multimedia option and in this click on ‘Open multiple files’.
- Now click on ‘Add’ to select the files inside your computer.
- You will need to click on the small arrow next to ‘Play’, which you will see on the bottom right.
- Click on ‘Convert’.
- Now select the format you want under ‘Profile’.
- You will have to select the destination where you want to save the new file.
- And finally click ‘Start’ to begin the conversion.
- Remember that the conversion of these files may take some time depending on the number of files you have selected to convert, as well as the format and size of each file. Depending on how powerful your computer is, it may take from a couple of minutes to several hours to complete the process.