Converting files in VLC and applying filters

[joel_graff]

So I'm trying to convert an AVI file to something else. It's an AVI created in VLC, capturing input from a VCR and I'm having two strange problems.

First, VLC refuses to apply any filters I've selected (both in the preferences and in the effects / filters dialog).

Second, After it's done writing the file, it pops up a dialog and asks if I want to overwrite the file it just created. If I click yes, it writes it again. So far as I can tell, this is an endless loop.

I've run VLC from the terminal and observed no errors or warnings in the output.

Any suggestions?

Incidentally, I'm using the latest snap-packaged version of VLC on ubuntu 20.04

[Rémi Denis-Courmont]

You might need to turn off hardware acceleration, depending on the filters.

[joel_graff]

You might need to turn off hardware acceleration, depending on the filters.

Unfortunately, disabling hardware-acclerated decoding in the preferences had no effect.

[Rémi Denis-Courmont]

Check the logs then.

[joel_graff]

Check the logs then.

Did that and, unfortunately, it didn't reveal much apart from a few warnings. I only had one filter active - color extraction.

https://pastebin.com/dp8ZepaF

[Rémi Denis-Courmont]

Problem is that you're using streaming output instead of playing.

[joel_graff]

Ok. So apparently, it's not sufficient to just choose "convert/save" from the File menu and proceed through the dialogs. I take it there's a setting elsewhere I need to change? I poked through the preferences and nothing jumped out at me...

[Rémi Denis-Courmont]

Filters preferences are for playback, not streaming output. This is working as expected.

[joel_graff]

Right. But the question is, how can I get filters to apply to a file conversion and not just playback within VLC?

[acffilterece]

VLC is a media player. It is not a filtering/converting/transcoding framework. Please use FFmpeg for this purpose.

[Lotesdelere]

It is not a filtering/converting/transcoding framework.

Wrong, VLC also has these abilities.

[acffilterece]

It is not a filtering/converting/transcoding framework.

Wrong, VLC also has these abilities.

It definitely does, the point I was attempting to make was that that doesn't appear to be its primary purpose and that I personally find FFmpeg to be better-suited for this purpose. Thanks!