The VideoLAN Forums

Hello all:
I'm a bit of a noob when it comes to doing more than the basics on VLC. What I'm trying to figure out is how to create an M3U. I have the playlist open and the files added, but I don't see how I can create the M3U file. Anyone out there that can help?

Any help, suggestions, etc are much appreciated

Edit: This is in regards to 0.9.2 version of VLC.

Kind Regards,
Daniel in Tulsa

Anyone out there that can help me create an M3U in VLC?

Hi,

I have not found a way to save a m3u file either. But maybe this helps you a bit:
You can create a m3u file using a DOS box (WinXP). Let's say you would like to create a m3u file in C:\Temp for all avi files in all subdirectories of "C:\My vids":

dir /s /b /a:-d "C:\My vids\*.avi" > "C:\Temp\My Vids.m3u"

if you are looking for all avi and wmv files:

dir /s /b /a:-d "C:\My vids\"*.avi,*.wmv > "C:\Temp\My Vids.m3u"

/s - looks into all subdiretories
/b - gives you the file name with full path
/a:-d - don't show directory names
> - redirects the output into a given file
"" - you have to quote if the path/file name contains spaces

You can edit "C:\Temp\My Vids.m3u" with the text editor of your liking.
I know this is not what you are looking for. Maybe a feature request would be in order.

Cheers

Sontras

Playlist -> Save playlist to file... and instead of XSPF, choose m3u.

Playlist -> Save playlist to file... and instead of XSPF, choose m3u.

Thank you so much for the instructions. The process is a bit convoluted, but it works nonetheless.

Kind Regards,
Daniel in Tulsa

An M3U file is basically a list of files which can be relative or absolute, URLs, UNCs, etc and any combination of the above.
One entry per line, can be a folder address, for example ../CaptainAndTennille/ would play all the files in all the folders.
# begins a comment line

create an ascii file with any editor
in the first line put #EXTM3U

for example:
#EXTM3U
#this is a comment
../CaptainAndTennille/
../DavidBowie/ScaryMonsters/song01.mp3
../DavidBowie/ScaryMonsters/song03.mp3
u:\music\noveltysongs\sinisterducks.mp3
http://www.example.com/movie.avi

The playlist is saved from the main VLC player window's menus, and not from a control in the Playlist window.

i.e.
Disable "Minimal View" if necessary, so the VLC player window has a menu bar (or CTRL+H)
Playlist/Save playlist to file (or CTRl+Y)
Select m3u in the "files of type" pulldown at the bottom of the dialog.