Play DVDs automatically on insertion in VLC media player

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Tue, Sep 18 2007 at 7:30AM PDT • Contributed by: michalc

Here's how to get VLC media player to play a DVD automatically on insertion in Mac OS X. First, create and save this AppleScript:

tell application "VLC"
  OpenURL "dvdnav:///dev/rdisk1"
  play
end tell

Next, open System Preferences, and go to the CDs & DVDs tab. For the When you insert a video DVD option, in the drop down menu select Run Script, and then select the AppleScript you just saved. That's it!

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Play DVDs automatically on insertion in VLC media player
Authored by: sys0p on Tue, Sep 18 2007 at 9:19AM PDT

why would you want to use VLC and not the DVD player ?

Play DVDs automatically on insertion in VLC media player
Authored by: michalc on Tue, Sep 18 2007 at 9:32AM PDT

Several reasons for using VLC to play DVDs for me:

So I only one program for all my video playing.
I can skip those pesky copyright/anti-piracy messages and go straight to the menu
I like using the slider to move backward/forward through a chapter
Occasionally I would like to grab a frame from a DVD as an image. Using the DVD player that comes with OS X, the screen-grab utility is disabled. VLC doesn't disable it, and I've just noticed it even has a handy "Screen Grap" tool in one of the menus

Michal.

You wouldn't unless you wanted to do more than watch...
Authored by: sr105 on Tue, Sep 18 2007 at 9:45AM PDT

other than that, VLC uses 2x or more cpu than DVD Player to play a dvd (on my machine, ymmv).

You wouldn't unless you wanted to do more than watch...
Authored by: michalc on Tue, Sep 18 2007 at 9:52AM PDT

I've just very briefly tested my machine, and VLC used between 25% to 30% of my CPU when playing a DVD (Mary Poppins in my case!), while DVD Player uses 35% to 40%. I don't know if it makes a difference, but I'm on a PPC, and I'm using the PPC build of VLC, not the Universal Binary.

Michal.

Play DVDs automatically on insertion in VLC media player
Authored by: spoonerist on Tue, Sep 18 2007 at 4:47PM PDT

VLC can be used to play foreign DVDs, while the DVD player is region locked.

Play DVDs automatically on insertion in VLC media player: Updated Script
Authored by: michalc on Tue, Sep 18 2007 at 9:46AM PDT

I've just realised that the AppleScript I gave does not work if VLC was open and was used to play another video before the DVD was inserted. In such a case the original video played gets played again. The solution is to add a "next" command to the AppleScript":

tell application "VLC"
	OpenURL "dvdnav:///dev/rdisk1"
	play
	next
end tell

This should hopefully now work in all cases.

Play DVDs automatically on insertion in VLC media player
Authored by: tonyo on Wed, Sep 19 2007 at 4:28PM PDT

For the When you insert a video DVD option, in the drop down menu select Run Script, and then select the AppleScript you just saved. That's it!

Why don't you just choose VLC in that menu, instead of the applescript? That's what I do to launch HandBrake on insert instead of DVD player. Just seems like an unneeded step. Am I missing somethin'?

[ Reply to This | # ]

Play DVDs automatically on insertion in VLC media player
Authored by: michalc on Thu, Sep 20 2007 at 1:47AM PDT

If you select VLC in the drop down box, then it does run when a DVD is inserted, but it doesn't play the DVD. (On my system at least) The script is needed to tell VLC to actually start playing the DVD. Sorry - perhaps I should have explained that in the hint.

Michal.

Play DVDs automatically on insertion in VLC media player
Authored by: stringmint on Fri, Sep 21 2007 at 9:06PM PDT

I find its nice to have VLC fire up when you insert the disc, then hit play on the apple remote from the couch when ready to start watching.
If you dont have a remote, then space or enter should kick the disc off.

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