Newbe Dev Stack

Answer : The VLC help says : "Unfortunately, VLC doesn’t support frame-stepping backwards; it’s only possible to move forward". Other players may have a limited support for backward playing. This would be somewhat slow, because video files are usually constructed with the occasional full frame, while in-between frames only contain the difference. Backward stepping would involve going back to the last full frame and then forward to the requested frame. I found two posts that relate to your request : Video players that have frame by frame playback feature video player that can step forward/backwards and change play speed These posts contain links to various players that are said to be able to step backward, but VLC is not one of them. You will need to test and see. Because product recommendations are not allowed on our site, I cannot list these players here.

Answer : ... a solution for windows: 1) Browse to the VLC folder, e.g. C:\Program Files (x86)\VideoLAN\VLC , and create a new folder called visualizations 2) Download the latest preset_samples of ProjectM, e.g. presets-2.0.0-Source.tar.gz and extract all the .milk files to the visualizations folder created above. 3) In VLC open Preferences from the menu, go to the audio tab and under Output select "Directx audio output" as your Output module. Also make sure that "LibprojectM effect" is selected as your Visualisation. 4) Still in the Preferences menu, click the "All" radiobutton at the bottom left corner. Go to advanced preferences > Audio > Visualizations > projectM and set the "projectM preset path" to C:\Program Files (x86)\VideoLAN\VLC\visualizations 4) Save your preferences, then activate the visualizations by going to the audio menu > visualizations > and select projectM VLC will now begin using random visua...

Answer : If you press C it will toggle through the crop ratios and may help you with eliminating the black bars. Well, I should have checked VLC's Video menu as I did while posting this question... There's the crop to 16:9 option I was looking for... Anyway, if you find an automatic cropping estimation method, the bounty will still be there. Simply go to VLC Player preferences > Video (you must be in "All" mode, not "Simple" mode). On the right-hand side, scroll down to "Video cropping" and type in either "16:10", "16:9", or "4:3", depending on what your screen's aspect ratio is. Press the Save button at the bottom. If black lines remain, then they are actually part of the video as opposed to just an empty section of the screen. In this case, adjusting manually is the only logical option left.