Almost everyone knows VLC — the media player with a traffic cone icon. What most people don’t know is that VLC can provide more than video and audio playback. It can work as a basic video editor.
In addition to splitting and rotating videos, converting audio and video files, recording screen, and ripping DVDs, VLC can merge videos just like most video editing software.
You are probably thinking that the type files and size that it can merge is limited.
But it isn’t.
VLC media player can:
- Merge videos of large size
- Merge multiple videos.
- Merge videos of any format - MP4, WMV, M4V, MOV, and others. But the videos you are merging should be of similar format.
Besides providing plenty of audio and video decoders, one other charm of VLC is that you do not have to worry about incompatibility with your operating system. VLC supports most platforms, this includes:
- dialogue boxs
- Apple platforms
- Linux
- Android
- Chrome OS
- FreeBSD, NetBSD, and OpenBSD
- Solaris
- QNX
- OS/2
The big question is: How do you merge videos using VLC?
We will guide you through the two basic methods of merging videos with VLC, address problems you are likely to encounter, and the best part — we will give you a permanent solution to ‘video not playing issue”.
Let’s get into it.
Step 1: Download and Install VLC in Your Computer.
If you haven’t already, you will need to install VLC in your device.
- Go to the official VideoLAN website to get VLC: https://www.videolan.org/vlc/index.html
- Click on “Download VLC”
- A drop-down menu will appear with different versions of VLC. Choose the version that is compatible with the operating system of your device. You can check your operating system by going to “Start” on your device. Choose “Computer” and right click on the computer icon. Choose “Properties” and you will get the details of your operating system.
Image source: https://www.videolan.org/vlc/index.html
- A pop-up menu will appear prompting you to save the file details of the VLC. Click on “Save File”
- Go to your browser’s download dialogue box and click the latest .exe file to complete the installation and set up process. You are now ready to merge your videos with VLC.
Step 2: Convert Your Video into the Same File Format.
VLC will only merge videos in the same file format. If they are not in the same format, you need to convert your video files using VLC.
Begin the process by launching the VLC application.
Click on “Media” from the menu bar and choose “Convert / Save”. Alternatively, use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+R.
It will open a dialogue box as shown below. Click on the “Add” button on the right side of the dialogue box.
The “Add” button will take you to the files on your device. And you can choose the video files you would want to convert.
Make your selection and click “Open”.
Each file will be added to the open dialogue box in your VLC. In our illustration below, we have chosen the file named “Wildlife”, which is in WMV format.
At the bottom, on the right side of the dialogue box, select “Convert/Save”.
A drop-down menu will appear, select “Convert”. You could also use the keyboard shortcut Alt+O.
It will open yet another dialogue box.
Select “Profile” and a drop-down menu will appear with a long list of output formats that you could use. Pick your preferred file format, and have your videos in the same format.
In our case, we have chosen MP4, the first choice in the list.
Once you have made your choice, go to the “Destination” section. Select the destination by clicking on “Browse”. You will be redirected to your device’s “Libraries” and you can pick the location you would want to store your file and the name you would want to give it.
Selecting a different name for the converted file will help you have two files – the video in its original format and in its converted format.
We have saved our converted file as “Wildlife2”
Next, click “Start”.
Check your storage location for the converted file.
Here are our results, ‘Wildlife’ is in WMV format and ‘Wildlife2’ is in MP4 format.
Now it’s time to start merging your videos in VLC.
Step 3: Merge Your Videos
We will show you how to merge videos using two methods.
1. Using the VLC Interface
Once you convert your videos successfully, merging them will be a piece of cake.
It will be an easy 3-step process, quite similar to the conversion step:
- Import your videos.
- Use the convert feature.
- Save your merged videos
To get started, click “Media” on the menu bar and select “Open Multiple Files”.
Like we did on the conversion step, add the videos to be merged by clicking on “Add” and choosing your files from your device’s storage. In our illustration, we will be merging two videos – Wildlife2 and Oceans. Both videos are in MP4 format.
At the bottom-right of the dialogue box, select the “Play” button and select “Convert” from the drop-down menu that appears.
Another dialogue box will pop up. On the destination section, there will be a field labeled destination file. Clicking on “Browse” allows you to choose the name you would like to give to the merged videos and the location you want to save it on your device.
You can also:
- Check the box next to “Display the Output” to watch the videos merging in real time. This, however, may slow down the process.
- Check the box next to “Append ‘-converted’ to filename” to have your file name end with ‘converted’. For example, ‘video 1- converted’
To complete the merging process, click “Start”. The familiar VLC playback screen and status bar will appear, it means your videos are merging.
But there is a problem with this process.
Depending on the operating system in your device, VLC may refuse to give a name to your merged videos, and this means you cannot merge the videos.
You will find that the Destination field will read “Multiple Files Selected”, and cannot be customized as in our case below. The “Browse” button will also be missing.
This means you cannot save the individual video files as one merged file. Hitting the “Start” button will be fruitless.
In this case, you can use another method to merge your videos using VLC — the command line method.
2. Combining Your Videos Using a Command Line
We will be honest. Combining your videos using the command line will not be as easy as using the VLC interface.
It will be a tad technical. But it is more efficient if you need to combine multiple videos at a go. And this is the only method that will work with some operating systems, such as Linux.
Here are the steps for this method.
1. Start by creating a folder. Give it a name and move the videos you would like to merge into this folder. The videos should be in the same file format.
2. With one finger holding the ‘Shift’ key on your keyboard, right click the new folder containing your videos.
3. Select “Open Command Window Here”. It will open a terminal window.
4. You will need to type in a command. Here is the skeleton of the command you will need to use:
"vlc location" video1.mp4 video2.mp4 --sout "#gather:std{access=file,dst=merged.mp4}" --sout-keep
We will break it down for you:
- vlc location - This is the program path of VLC in your device
- video1 - The video you will be merging.
- video2 - The video you will be merging.
- merged - The name you will give to your merged videos.
The videos can be a s many as you need to merge.
Change the file names in the command to match the names of your videos. In our case, we will replace “video1” and “video2”with Ocean and Wildlife2, which are the videos we are merging. And we will replace “merged” with merged sample, which is the name we will give to the merged videos:
"C:\Program Files (x86)\VideoLAN\VLC\vlc.exe" Ocean.mp4 Wildlife2.mp4 --sout "#gather:std{access=file,dst=merged sample.mp4}" --sout-keep
- Once you enter your command, click Enter and VLC will merge your videos.
- Play your merged video to ensure it is correct. It will be located in the folder you created in step 1.
If the command results in an error, check that you have the program path of VLC right. We are referring to this part of our sample command: "C:\Program Files (x86)\VideoLAN\VLC\vlc.exe".
To get the exact program path of your device, right click on your VLC program and from the pop-up menu that appears select “Properties”. The program path will be the part highlighted in blue and labeled “Target”.
Here is the program path for our device’s VLC, which is what we have used in our command.
Let’s compare the details of the merged video to the original videos.
Now, let’s look at how to resolve the errors that can occur when merging your videos with VLC.
If you try to play your merged videos file and find that it has errors, such as:
- The video only has sound and no image.
- The merged video plays the image but with no sound.
- The sound and image of the merged video are out of sync.
- Brings the error message "VLC merge videos not working".
- VLC experiences lag issues when trying to play the video.
This could only mean that something did not go right during the conversion.
You can first check if your source videos are corrupted by trying to open them using another media player, such as Windows Media Player.
Another issue could be that VLC did not complete the merging process, or a video codec issue occurred but VLC completed the merging regardless.
Here are a few steps you can take to try and correct the problem:
1. Change the Videos Orientation to Landscape
Just like your videos will not merge if they are not in the same file format, VLC will also not merge videos that are in portrait orientation, or other orientations. It can only merge videos with landscape orientation.
If some of the videos you want to merge are in portrait orientation, you will need to rotate them.
Begin by opening the video would want to rotate. Open it using VLC media player.
We will be using our “Oceans” sample video that is in a portrait orientation to illustrate this process.
Click on “Tools” from the menu bar. And in the drop-down menu that appears, select “Effects and Filters”. You could also use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+E.
In the dialogue box that appears:
- Click on “Video Effects”.
- Select “Geometry”.
- Check the box next to “Transform”.
You can change your video’s orientation by rotating it by 90, 180, or 270 degrees. You can also choose to flip or transpose it. Work around the options provided to get your video to be in landscape orientation and match your other videos.
We selected rotate by 90 degrees. Here are the results.
Click “Close”.
Next you need to properly save the video you have rotated.
Go to the menu bar in VLC and click on “Tools”. Scroll down the drop-down list that appears and select “Preferences”.
A new dialogue box will open.
- At the bottom on the left side of the dialogue box, under show settings, select “All”
- Scroll down to “Sout Stream” and click on the arrow head next to it. Another drop-down list will appear. Click “Transcode”.
- On the right side of the dialogue box under Video Filter, choose “Video Transformation Filter”.
- Click “Save”.
The dialogue box will close and take you back to VLC.
Next:
- Go to the menu bar, and click on “Media” then select “Convert / Save”
- Select “Add” on the right side. It will take you to your files where you can select the video you have rotated.
- Once you have added your video, click “Convert / Save” at the bottom of the dialogue box.
- The Convert dialogue box will open. Under Destination, select “Browse”. It will take you to your library, where you can choose a location for your rotated video and give it a name.
- Click “Start” and VLC will save your rotated video.
This saving process will give you two versions of your video, one in its original portrait format, and another in a landscape format.
If for any reason you want to undo the rotation setting in the video, go to “Tools” on the menu bar of VLC. Select “Preferences” and at the bottom of the dialogue box that opens, choose “Reset Preferences”.
2. Turn off your Antivirus Software or Firewall
A merged video that is not playing properly could be caused by third party antivirus software or your dialogue boxs Defender Firewall.
The anti-virus tool or firewall could be blocking an important component, making VLC to experience issues when trying to play the video.
You can try one of these:
- Turning off your firewall or antivirus software.
- Adjusting the settings of the antivirus software or your Windows Defender Firewall to accommodate VLC.
3. Update your VLC
A VLC player that is not up to date could be the reason your merged videos are not playing as they should. Try updating it to the latest version:
- Open VLC in your device
- Click on “Help” in the menu bar.
- In the drop-down menu that appears, select “Check for Updates”.
A dialogue box will pop-up, and if the VLC is up to date the message “You have the latest version of VLC media player” will appear.
If there are updates available:
- Click “Yes” to accept the update.
- Choose a folder where you would want to have your download stored and click “Select Folder”.
- A dialogue box prompting you to install the newly downloaded version will appear. Click “Install” and complete the setup process.
4. Fix Corrupted AVI Videos
VLC media player comes with an in-built repair feature, but it only works for AVI video files.
If you are merging AVI video files and they are corrupted, try using this feature. Select Tools from the VLC menu bar and choose “Preferences”.
On the dialogue box that opens, choose Inputs / Codecs from the top section of the dialogue box.
On the files section in the same dialogue box, open the drop-down list next to “Damaged or Incomplete AVI file” and choose always fix. And then “Save”.
5. Troubleshoot Audio Problems
If your video is playing video and not audio, the audio troubleshooter of your computer might fix the problem.
Go to “Start” on your computer. Search ‘Troubleshoot’ and select it. Under ‘Hardware and Sound’ and choose “Troubleshoot Audio Playback”.
Run the troubleshooter.
6. Change Your VLC’s File Cache Value
A heavy or high-resolution video can cause VLC to lag due to insufficient video cache. You can try to resolve this by increasing the file cache value.
Go to “Tools” on the VLC menu and choose “Preferences”.
At the bottom of the dialogue box that opens, select “All”.
On the left side of the dialogue box, click the arrowhead next to Inputs / Codecs.
On the right side, scroll down to the “Advanced section and increase the value next to “File Caching” to around 700-1000ms. You can also increase the value next to “Network Caching”.
Click “Save”.
6. Change the FFmpeg Value
If you are still facing a lagging issue when trying to play your merged video, you could try to restrict the number of threads running in the background by changing the FFmpeg value. Too many threads in the background could cause VLC to lag.
Go to “Tools” on the menu bar and select “Preferences”. Choose “All” at the bottom of the dialogue box and select “Inputs / Codecs”. Click on the arrowhead next to “Video Codes”. In the drop-down list that appears, choose FFmpeg. On the right side of the dialogue box, next to “Threads”, restrict the number of threads to 2.
Click save to save your settings.
Use an Alternative Video Merger
Still have a problem trying to merge your videos?
VLC is a terrific program with numerous features that make it a favorite for many people. But trying to merge your videos using the convert feature can become unsuccessful. And using the command line method — which feels like programming — can be troublesome.
Worse, you could dot all the i’s, cross all the t’s, and still end up with a merged video that won’t play right.
You don’t have to go through all the trouble. Use a more straightforward alternative — Keevi.
What is Keevi?
Keevi is a content repurposing tool that will help you find everything you need to create content that is engaging. And you don’t need any training to get it right or to master coding.
With Keevi, you will also not have to worry about installing it in your device or checking for updates frequently. It is a web application with a user friendly interface.
It provides a fully customizable video player, with lots of exciting features.
Unlike VLC, Keevi does not limit users to only merging videos.
It will work with you from finding the videos you want to work with to editing the merged videos to suit your purpose.
What Makes Keevi Stand Out
Keevi goes the extra mile for every step you have to take in merging your videos. From sourcing the original videos to merging them, and putting them to use.
For sourcing your videos, you can:
- Search and collect videos from YouTube, Podcast Directories, and other sources, which you can then merge to fit your purpose. Keevi will carry out an AI-based smart and extensive search for you. The search is quick and targets high quality content pages on the web.
- Repurpose your content into videos. For instance, you can repurpose blog articles to videos. You can then merge the videos as you see fit.
- Edit the source videos by cutting, trimming, resizing, or cropping before merging.
Once you merge your videos, Keevi allows you to tweak them. You can:
- Add text in the video and edit it to suit the purpose of the video. For instance, you can edit the start time and end time of the text, change the appearance of the text, add animation effects, and much more.
- You can add giphy, emojis, and other stickers to the merged video to make it more interesting.
- You get to add an image to the video. It can be from a built-in stock images library or from your device. You can set its start time and end time, resize and reposition it optimally, and much more.
- You can add background music to the video from Keevi’s built-in stock music library or your own generated royalty free music. The audio can be edited, such as its start and end time, and its length.
You can then use the merged video as you intended. Keevi allows you to:
- Convert the merged videos into blog articles, social media, PDFs, and ebooks.
- You can add subtitles and even translate the subtitles into multiple languages.
- Add professional voice overs, graphics, and much more to your videos (this can come in handy when creating a Video Sales Letter).
- Publish your merged videos on social media and other publishing channels.
These are just a few of the features that Keevi has to offer. It allows you to enrich your content and take your video marketing to the next level.
Keevi makes it easy for you to create impressive videos without being a tech expert.
How to Merge Your Videos Using Keevi
Merging your videos using Keevi is as easy as it gets. Simply follow these steps:
- Begin by clicking on “Upload Video” on any page of Keevi. It will open up an “Add Video” dialogue box that allows you to upload your video from your device by clicking on “Browse”. The uploaded video can be in MP4, MOV, FLV, WebM, or AVI file version. Keevi also provides the option to get your video from YouTube, all you have to do is add the link to the space provided. You can also record a screen or use a camera by hitting “Record”. Alternatively, use one of the stock videos provided by Keevi.
- Once you have your videos, Keevi will redirect you to the video player window. On the top section, you can click on “Add Media” to add the extra video, and then select “ Add Video” from the left side of the screen.
Again, this will open the “Add Video” dialogue box and you can choose your second video.
The new video will be added to your timeline, next to the first one.
- Next, you can cut out the points of the video that you do not need. For instance, we will show you how to cut the part from the 30-second point to the 60-second point of our first video.
Place the pointer on the 30-second point of the timeline and click on “Split”.
Then place the pointer on the 60-second point and again, click “Split”.
Click on the delete icon and the entire part — from the 30-second point to the 60-second point — will be cut out from the video.
Place your pointer inside the timeline, then drag and join the remaining parts of the videos together to merge them. Ensure the edges properly line up.
Now it's time to add a little oomph to your video.
1. Add Text
You can add a text to your merged video. Click on “Text” and type your words in the box labelled ‘Text’. As you type, the words will appear inside your video.
Choose the point you would want the text to appear on the video by selecting the start and stop time at the bottom of the text box.
You can then change the appearance of the words to match your video or its purpose by clicking on “Styling” and “Animation”. You will get various options for the colour, font type, and font size of your text, and a lot more.
2. Adding Stickers to Your Video
You can add a fun element to your video using emojis and giphy. Click on Stickers at the top of the video and scroll down the emojis and giphy section to make your selection.
You will get the option to rotate the sticker and choose the starting and ending point. To delete the sticker, just select it and click on the delete icon.
3. Make Use of Subtitles
You can add subtitles to your videos by clicking “Subtitles”.
Keevi gives you three options:
- Auto Subtitles - Allows you to automatically generate subtitles. You get a selection of over 30 languages that you can use in your subtitles.
- Manual Subtitles - Allows you to type the subtitles yourself.
- Upload Subtitle File - This option allows you to upload SRT, VTT, and ASS file formats.
Once you are satisfied with your merged video and its appearance, it's time to use it.
Click on “Export” on the top-right side of the dialogue box. It will take you to the “Download Your Video” page. You can either share using social media channels, download the video, or copy it to be pasted in your destination.
Ready to Take Your Video Editing to the Next Level?
There are plenty of ways merging videos could benefit you:
- It enables you to share your ideas in one video, such as when making project presentations or creating marketing videos.
- You can save your special moments in one video instead of having multiple videos.
- You can merge two stories.
Combining two or more videos seems like a tedious job. And true, it can be exhausting. But only if you don’t have the right tool and the right guide to complete the process successfully.
Without these, you could spend hours trying to merge your videos and end up with something shabby.
We have provided you with a guide on how to properly merge videos. Now it’s up to you to get the right tool - Keevi.
With Keevi, merging your videos will be an easy, straightforward process with little room for error.
