Sometimes, when working on a project, we really need to combine several videos - this way some content needs to be conveyed, there are shots that, when neatly sorted and merged together, really create visual and content value which we aspire to make; The process becomes more enjoyable if we work on the videos produced by ourselves, or if the work is to be done for our side project. People always take special care of their own work, and the same can be emphasized freely about the editing as well - about the packaging with which we have to deliver our videos to the audience. Even in the absence of an audience, maybe we want to make a kind of video collage for ourselves, our children, or in general, for the family to make delightful memories?
Of course, not everyone who has taken a camera or a mobile phone to take videos at least one time, even so, for family and friends, has the experience of editing and making various manipulations. However, the function of merging videos in various editing programs or on online platforms is so simple that it can be learned in just a few minutes, without the help of other people, and with a kind of small, though very useful result at the same time.
One of the programs where videos can be uploaded is VLC Media Player, which is a free-to-use, robust, and feature-packed software that plays a wide range of audio, image, and video files. It can play multimedia files directly from extractable devices or the PC. The program is unique, as it can stream from popular websites like Disney +, Hulu, Gaia, and Netflix. VLC Multimedia Player also accepts live video from PlayStation Live, Xbox Live, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. While most competing programs display advertisements, VLC Player does not, as it receives support from a non-profit organization.
Interestingly, we can, as though with the help of a magic wand, turn this particular video player into video editing software. When one computer program delivers too many functions, it might make us think of the situation where one person claims to serve ten professions at the same time - there is a mood that they will not be good in any of them. It's not true with VLC Player, which, from experience, seems to be both a good "player" as well as a fairly user-friendly editing software with many interesting features and functions.
Before we move on to video streaming, let's look at two features that we can use in VLC player:
In the player, right when our video clip starts to play, we may find that the footage is taken vertically instead of horizontally! This is not a nightmare just for video enthusiasts. If you don't know how to rotate the video, then you have to rotate your head 90 degrees, and at this time you can not even get pleasure from watching, not to mention that it can even cause your neck to lock up. VLC Player took care of that - in the top panel, just click on Tools, then select Effects & Filters. In the opened window, we find Video Effects, select Geometry and check the Rotate option - so, the whole 360 degrees are at our disposal!
Sometimes it happens that we watch the video, we are crazy about one part of it, and the other part of it seems to spoil everything! Even if we are ready to publish the raw material on social media or just save it for ourselves, we just don't want some parts of the video to be there. So, it can be said - we are not satisfied with the full version and we wish to cut our clip and/or reduce its timeframe. VLC Player solves this problem "without any problem" - we find the View in the top panel, then we demand the cursor to aim for Advanced Controls button. As a result, a sort of video editor will appear, with its red record button on which we will click and the video will play until we reach the point where we want to split the footage. The cut video will be automatically saved in My Computer's My Video folder.
How to Merge Multiple Videos in VLC Media Player
Here we are, now the main topic of interest of this article - how to put together several videos so that they become one? This case, unlike other possibilities we discussed above, is more complicated, so we will study this feature step by step.
Technique one:
- Step one:
Open VLC media player.
Probably, you have already decided exactly which files you want to merge, so choose Open Multiple Files...
In the opened window, click on Add in the File tab.
Select the desired clips from the newly opened window (selecting order matters, because it dictates which clips will come first and which ones will be next in the finished version), then click Open.
- Step two:
The selected videos are shown in the File Selection list. At the bottom of the window, click the Arrow button next to the Play button, where you need to select Convert.
In the Profile, it is desirable to specify the following format: Video - H.264 + MP3 (MP4), and below you can choose the Destination file - the location where you want to save the merged video. Also, to find the edited video easily, check the following: Append ‘-converted’ to file name. Click on Start. Wait until it is done - then you can play the video.
Technique two:
- Create a New Folder and move the videos that you would like to merge Rename the videos (e.g. to 1, 2 etc.).
- Create a new text file. Copy and paste this line below:
vlc_location video1.mp4 video2.mp4 --sout "#gather:std{access=file,dst=final_file_name.mp4}" --sout-keep
- Type VLC in the taskbar search and right-click on the app. Choose Open File location.
Right-click on the app and choose Properties. A new window will be opened, where you need to go to Target. Select and copy the line.
Go to the text document file. Remove vlc_location and paste the copied text instead. Change the names of the video to match the names in the folder.
- Open the folder with videos. Click on the address line. Type cmd and press Enter.
sA new window will open. Cope the line from the text file and paste it into cmd window; then, click on Enter.
- VLC player will open and will play the merged video file.
An Easier Way to Merge Videos in A Few Clicks
It's true that merging videos in VLC Media Player takes quite a few steps, so to speak. But is this the only editing program in which a similar operation can be performed? Of course not. Therefore, in our article, we decided to offer you an alternative, where you can also easily merge the videos. This is the famous Filmora Video Editor , a software that is one of the easiest and most convenient to work with, especially for those who want to edit videos without having much experience in "complicated" software before. So again, step by step guideline on how to put together our video clips in Wondershare Filmora.
For Win 7 or later (64-bit)
For macOS 10.14 or later
- Open the program.
- Choose Import Media Files Here.
- Choose your
- We can click and drag, essentially, "insert" a video in a sequence below. The Linear Timeline allows us to understand exactly when a video clip ends and when a new one starts.
- Accordingly, we can make one video "sit" next to another. If we want or need it, we will add the third video clip, fourth, and so on.
- We can view the entire video and save the video afterwards.
- Start to save video - we make sure the result is exactly what we wanted, find the Export button above the timeline and click on it.
- In the opened window, on the left side, to be precise, if we observe well, we can already choose in which format we want to save our clip. On the right we can indicate what name we want to give to our video; The location where we want to store it; Also, we see the resolution (which we can modify freely after clicking on Settings); Size; Duration.
- In Settings, we can decide how much quality the video should have, how many kbps will be the Bit Rate, how many fps the Frame Rate should be, etc., but most likely, beginners will not need to change all this.
- After selecting everything, right-click on the Export button in the lower right corner of the window and the program will start saving the material.
Filmora 9, though, works a little differently.
- In the Import dropdown menu, select Import with instant cutting tool…
This will open the Filmora Instant Cutter window with two options - Trim and Merge. Since we need Merge in this case, this is what we choose.
- Then Open File, which will allow you to select multiple clips. Select the desired video clips and to Import, click Open.
- The window will show the files we selected and the entire video, and to save it, we click on Export.
- Specify File name, Save to (location), When done - the latter is what the program should do after the material is exported, e.g. open the containing folder. The export window also shows the approximate size of the footage.
- After hitting on Ok, the project will be saved, which will happen very quickly, since the program does not decode and encode the material.
That's it! In this article, we have tried to teach you how to use VLC Media Player as a video editor software, what features we can use and, most importantly, how to merge multiple videos in this dual program; We also learned an alternative way of how we can combine different video clips with the help of Wondershare Filmora. The choice is yours, the main thing is to know all the alternatives and find the most time and energy saving, preferable option for you personally!