command line -> A better (Absolute) beginner’s guide

[T-buch]

I guess many more features is able in the command line
Therefore I tried to understand this “VLC-1-1-x command-line help” http://wiki.videolan.org/VLC-1-1-x_command-line_help
But when you are a absolute beginner it is hard to understand

There should be a basic beginner (idiot, if you will) guide – I would like to offer to help writing it but of course I need to understand it first

What is the problem you might ask? Let me give you some examples from the guide “VLC-1-1-x command-line help”

Running the command
vlc --help
will create a .TXT file containnig all the command-line options

No it won’t – sorry to tell (I just get a message in my OS-language (Danish) which doesn’t make sense)

The first thing you can read about in the help/Guide for the command line feature is this:

Usage: vlc [options] [stream] ...
You can specify multiple streams on the commandline. They will be enqueued in the playlist.
The first item specified will be played first.

If you are a beginner it is very hard to find out what that means without an introductory explanation. Just as the first thing to write “Usage: vlc [options] [stream]” is a bit (or really to much) private in talk – and that is my point - cause a beginner is not consent to this jargon
And the talking about a “playlist”? Do beginners not start thinking about a conventional playlist of music or video tracks?

And the beginners continue frustrating if reading further – I do not want to bore you – but here are just a coupe examples from the next following lines of the Guide:

-option A single letter version of a global --option.
Stream MRL syntax

(What is MRL)
---
Also I will bang the drum for more examples – some basic examples and not like this:

% vlc -vvv input_stream --sout
'#transcode{vcodec=mp4v,acodec=mpga,vb=800,ab=128,deinterlace}:
rtp{mux=ts,dst=239.255.12.42,sdp=sap,name="TestStream"}'

[freddef]

VLC is a terrific tool, appreciate the effort from the team, evolving it. Like it as sound and video tool.

But, I have to agree with this guy, making a still valid comment some 3 years ago.

VLC Wiki and help pages are for experts, living their life in VLC, not for ordinary users. The team need to acquire a VLC savvy user, able to to talk with the preachers and scholars in their way and us "farmers" in our way. Have spent some 20 consecutive hours, trying to find how to easily rip dvds with subtexts. I can get an acceptable rip video and sound wise via the GUI, but the subtitle is shot.

In the save/stream, you can give subtitle, so it should, but no. In another post from last year, the moderator told someone to use the cmd line, but as the guy above so aptly points out, not knowing the inner structure of VLC and video standards etc, your lost.

All needed is to fix the GUI part or to give 5-6 simple cmd examples for successful, if not optimal, ripping, for ordinary everyday users.
Cheers Freddef

[T-buch]

Thanks for your backing me up in my points

Just want to correct a little thing: My original post is from June - this year and not 3 years ago (I guess you have focus on the Day I joined the forum)

[VLC_help]

That command-line help page is (almost) direct output of vlc -H, and I personally created it because I sometimes have to post help to this forum from computer where I cannot run VLC. (so I can pick up right commands from there)
So it isn't a guide for new users.

(What is MRL)

http://wiki.videolan.org/Media_resource_locator

Also I will bang the drum for more examples

We have Wiki full of examples, but they are quite scattered. (finding correct one isn't easy)

Have spent some 20 consecutive hours, trying to find how to easily rip dvds with subtexts.

Don't use VLC for that. Use Handbrake or similar tool.

[eyeland]

Hi, T-buch, did you ever find a rescource of VLC knowledge for us beginners?
I am used to improvising my way through HTML and CCS by C&P here and there until something works or until I understand why it doesn't, but right now I am kinda stuck trying to understand how to control vlc without GUI.
First of all, I am trying to figure out the syntax of VLC in CMD.. how does one get started?
I tried the following in CMD which (probably obviously) didn't work:

C:\Program Files (x86)\VideoLAN\VLC>vlc -vvv "G:\Video\test.mpg" --sout=#transcode{vcodec=mp4v,acodec=mpga,vb=800,ab=128,deinterlace}:standard{access=file,mux=ts,dst="G:\Video\testtranscode.mpg"}

The only explanations I have found so far, seems to be for Linux, so any advide to start me offin windows would be great

[eyeland]

hmm, once again, a breakthrough mystically appears on the scene right after posting a newbie question
TO anyone with similar issues on merely getting started, I warmly recommend starting with a beginniers guide to CMD, terminal or shell. (eg. http://dosprompt.info/ for getting started with CMD in win)