Need to watch it over and over and over...

November 21, 2007 12:54 PM

Is there a program for Mac OS X (Tiger, if it makes a difference) which I can use to play a DVD video file AND scan through, using the arrow keys, in increments of a few seconds?

I've tried the Mac DVD player and I've tried VLC. VLC is somewhat better but still doesn't offer scanning like I need.

If it matters, I'm working in a lab where I'm transcribing speech from a poorly-recorded video and it often takes several tries to get every bit of it down. I have full install privileges as far as I know.

posted by rhoticity to computers & internet (11 comments total)

What do you mean by scanning? I would think VLC would do the trick, it supports a bunch of different keys for jumping back and forward. Were you using the "jump" keys in VLC?
posted by ill3 at 1:01 PM on November 21, 2007

Have you considered RealPlayer for Mac (free download) ?

Disclaimer: I use this app under Windows, so I don't know if the functionality will be the same, and I don't know if it will play the DVDs that you are using...

I can navigate with the keyboard as follows:
Play: Ctrl+P
Stop: Ctrl+S
Fwd: Ctrl+Right arrow
Rew: Ctrl+Left arrow
Fwd a few seconds: Ctrl+]
Back a few seconds: Ctrl+[

Maybe this will help!
posted by bitteroldman at 1:03 PM on November 21, 2007

The jump keys in VLC (on Mac, at least) jump way too far forward/backward... I literally need a few seconds at most, a few frames would be best. Winamp on my PC at home does this just fine.
posted by rhoticity at 1:06 PM on November 21, 2007

As ill3 mentioned, VLC has this functionality. Ctrl+Cmd+Left goes back 3 seconds and Option+Cmd+Left goes back 10. You can find more information in Preferences -> Interface -> Hotkey Settings.
posted by harmfulray at 1:09 PM on November 21, 2007

Try preferences, interface, hotkey settings. VLC has three different jump lengths, with forward and backward keys for each. Even better, you can set the length of the jumps to be whatever you'd like.
posted by easyasy3k at 1:12 PM on November 21, 2007

MPEG Streamclip does this.
posted by pompomtom at 1:39 PM on November 21, 2007

Maybe you just need a different input device, like a dial? Don't video shops have special interface devices for controlling video? 'Pros' don't use the keyboard as input do they?
posted by mike_bling at 1:59 PM on November 21, 2007

mplayer. Command line but does what you want:

forward arrow: 1second fwd
back arrow: 1 sec back
up arrow: 5sec forward
down arrow: 5sec back
space: toggle pause.
posted by singingfish at 4:33 PM on November 21, 2007

No matter what app you settle on, I would imagine that you would benefit from the Griffin Powermate; it really was built for just this kind of use.
posted by delfuego at 4:34 PM on November 21, 2007

In Apple DVD Player you can scan back and forth using key commands. Hold the Apple key and press right/left arrows. The first press scans through at 2x speed, and subsequent presses double the scanning speed (up to 32x). To go back a few seconds, just scan backwards momentarily, then hit the space bar to resume at normal speed.
posted by reeddavid at 5:11 PM on November 21, 2007

Rather than constantly jumping back a few seconds, slowing down the audio playback will make the transcription work much easier. Convert the video to audio, then slow it down for free.
posted by nakedcodemonkey at 4:31 PM on November 23, 2007