Using VLC to convert audio files or extract audio to mp3

Using VLC to convert in Windows is mostly self guiding, however using the VLC on OSX can get a bit tricky, especially when you only want to convert/extract to an audio file like mp3.

From the VLC File menu select Streaming/Exporting Wizard

A new window will be opened and select Transcode/Save to file

 

From the next screen select the file you want to have converted and in the final screen select the transcoding options as follows:

(video to dummy and audio transcode to MP3). Next, you have to select the output format, just select RAW.

Finally select the output file. You cannot set it to mp3 and will need to use the raw extension.

Once it is converted, you can rename it from .raw to .mp3

For the advanced users under us you can also use the terminal:

/Applications/VLC.app/Contents/MacOS/VLC -I dummy "/Users/yourname/Music/Input File.mp4" --sout='#transcode{acodec=mp3,vcodec=dummy}:standard{access=file,mux=raw,dst="/Users/yourname/Music/Output File.mp3"}' vlc://quit

If you want to convert multiple files:

for file in /Users/$USER/Music/*.mp4; do /Applications/VLC.app/Contents/MacOS/VLC -I dummy "$file" --sout="#transcode{acodec=mp3,vcodec=dummy}:standard{access=file,mux=raw,dst=\"$(echo "$file" | sed 's/\.[^\.]*$/.mp3/')\"}" vlc://quit; done

Windows Media Player not responding

After the last update from Microsoft (september 2012), my Windows Media Player stopped responding… actually it starts up but it is just blank and nothing responds. The strange thing is that it does not also use CPU (0% utilization).

If this happens, best way is to use the MS Fixit tool located at:
http://support.microsoft.com/mats/windows_media_player_diagnostic/

 

Other options:

1) Reset Media Library manually

Close WMP12.

Type in %LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft in the search field, and press Enter Key.

Open the Microsoft Folder and locate Media Player and rename the Media Player folder to something like Media Player old.

2) Reinstall

via Turn Windows features on or off under the Control Panel.Uncheck Windows Media Player (under Media Features),follow on-screen instructions and reboot