Video summary
The video features Chris from filmsbychris.com demonstrating how to use the MPV media player to resume playback exactly where it was left off. He begins by playing two different video files: one recorded by his father in 1988 showing a Halloween parade, and another black-and-white film of a party in New York from the 1940s. By default, when he presses the quit command to exit these videos, MPV restarts them from the beginning upon the next launch, which can be inconvenient if the user was only watching a portion of the file.
To solve this issue, Chris explains that users can edit the configuration file located in their home directory at `.config/mpv/config` on Linux systems. He shows how to uncomment or add the specific line `save-position-on-quit` to enable this feature. Once this setting is active, MPV automatically remembers the playback position for every video file. He demonstrates this by jumping ahead in both videos, quitting, and then restarting them; each time, the player correctly resumes from the exact timestamp where he previously stopped, rather than starting over.
Chris concludes by noting that while this specific trick is simple to implement, MPV offers a vast array of other customizable options for power users. He mentions that there are many additional features available, such as creating custom keyboard shortcuts and key combinations, though he suggests those topics have been covered in previous content. Ultimately, the video serves as a quick tutorial on how to enhance the viewing experience by ensuring that media playback continues seamlessly from where it was interrupted, saving time and effort for anyone using the player.
Read the full video transcript
Hello and welcome to a video from
filmsbychris.com. That's Chris with a K.
I'm Chris with a K. I'm in a directory
here and I have two video files to
watch. I like using MPV so I can watch
one of these by typing MPV and the name
of the file. This is a video my dad
recorded when I was a kid back in 1988
and a Halloween parade. So here we are.
Now I can jump ahead. This video's 5
minutes long. I hit O to see the time up
there on screen display. So let me go
ahead a little bit. So now I'm about a
minute and a half in. I hit Q to get out
of this. If I was to play the video
again, it's going to start from the
beginning. I have a another video here
which I believe my grandfather filmed
who died when my dad was three so I
never met him but this is just an old
black and oh, that's not the right
command. MPV
Um this is an old black and white film
that my dad has recorded and converted
digitally. Not the best quality but it's
people having party and dancing in a
basement up in New York
back in the 40s.
So again, I can go forward in this video
a little bit. You can see I'm about a
minute and probably about 20 seconds now
in. I hit quit. If I run it again, it
starts from the beginning. What if I
want MPV to remember where I was when I
was last watching a video? Well, MPV has
a config file on a Linux system it's
going to be in your home directory under
.config MPV config and there we are. I
have a few options in here. There's lots
of things you can put in here.
I have this line commented out but I'm
just going to uncomment save position on
quit. So now if I was to go back and
play this video and jump ahead, so now
I'm just over a minute in. I'll hit
quit. If I was to play it again, it's
going to remember where I was. I'll go
ahead a little bit more. I'll hit quit.
I'll start it again. It remembers where
I was. If I was to play this other video
and jump ahead a little bit.
Hey, there I am. And then I'll hit Q.
I'm Pee-wee Herman by the way. I'm going
to hit Q and if I was to start up again,
it remembers there I was. I'll hit Q,
and of course it remembers all of them,
so I can go back to the other video, and
it's going to start at the minute and
45-second mark here. Again, it remembers
that. I can go back to this one, and it
still remembers where I am. So, if you
want MPV to remember where you were when
you quit out of a video, so that it will
start up there again, you can just edit
this config file and add
save-position-on-quit.
So, it will save its position on quit.
Uh that is it for today's video. There's
lots of stuff you can do with MPV. It
has so many options. You can create your
own shortcuts and key combinations and
whatnot. I think I've kind of gone over
that in the past.
But, I do thank you for watching, and as
always, I hope that you have a great
day.