How to Rotate a Video in VLC (Step by Step)

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Pragadeesh N - February 17, 2021 - Leave your thoughts. 6 min read

Looking to rotate a video in VLC?

Filmed the video in the wrong orientation and looking to fix the orientation using VLC media player?

In this article, we’ll show you how to rotate videos in VLC, step by step.

Also, as a bonus, we’ll show you an easier way to rotate your video on your Windows PC.

Ready? Let’s dive in.

How to Rotate and Save a Video in VLC on Windows and Mac

VLC is a free media player available for Windows and Mac. If you don’t already have it installed, you can download VLC for Windows. Once you have installed VLC, follow the instructions below to rotate your video using the VLC media player:

  1. Open VLC and then open the video file you want to rotate. To open a video, go to Media > Open File.
    media and open file on windows
  2. Now from the main menu, select Tools > Effects and Filters.
    tools and effects and filters on windows
  3. In the Adjustments and Effects popup window, go to the Video Effects tab and then the Geometry tab.
    go to video effects and geometry
  4. There are many ways to rotate a video in VLC, we’ll explain all the ways you can rotate a video using VLC.
    Rotate your Video by a Fixed AngleWant to rotate a video by 90, 180, or 270 degrees? Tick the Transform checkbox and select an angle from the dropdown menu below.tick transform checkbox and pick an angle to rotateFlip Your Video (optional)

    You can also use the same dropdown menu to flip your video. Simply select the Flip horizontally or Flip vertically menu to flip your video horizontally or vertically.

    flip horizontally or vertically

    Rotate Your Video by a Certain Angle

    Need more control over the angle in which you want to rotate your video? Tick the Rotate checkbox and use the round button shown in the image below to control the angle of your video.

    rotate video to your desired angle

    Transpose

    If you want to both flip and rotate your video, you can select transpose or anti-transpose from the dropdown menu below the transform checkbox that you’d used earlier to flip your videos. transpose rotates your video 270 degrees clockwise and flips it horizontally. anti-transpose rotates your video 90 degrees clockwise and flips it horizontally.
    transpose or antitranspose

Rotate Your Video Permanently

The settings you’d modified using the steps above will be applied to all the videos you play using VLC. To permanently rotate your video, follow the steps below:

  1. From the main menu, select Tools > Preferences.

  2. In the Simple Preferences window, under the Show settings section, click on the All radio button.
    click all radio button under show settings section on windows
  3. Now go to Stream output > Sout stream > Transcode. Then tick the Video transformation filter checkbox. Finally, click Save.
    tick video transformaton filter checkbox
  4. Next, from the main menu, select Media > Convert / Save.
    go to media and convert save
  5. Now click on the Add button to select and add the video you rotated.
    click add to import the video
  6. Then click on the Convert / Save dropdown at the bottom and select Convert from the resulting dropdown menu.
    select convert
  7. In the Convert window, click on the Browse button under the destination section. Now pick a location to save your rotated video, enter a name for your video, and then click Save.
    click browse
  8. Finally, click Start to convert and save the video.
    click start

An Easier Way to Rotate Videos on Your Windows or Mac Computer

You can use Animaker’s video rotator to easily rotate your videos 90, 180, or 270 degrees for free! All it takes is 3 simple steps to rotate and download your videos using our super-simple video rotator.

For those who are unaware of Animaker, it is an all-in-one DIY video making app designed to help non-designers make professional-quality videos from the comfort of their browser.

It works on Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Internet Explorer, etc., and if you use one of these browsers, you can easily rotate your videos on your Windows or Mac computer.

If you’re looking to quickly rotate your videos for Instagram, YouTube, or Facebook, then Animaker’s video rotator should be your go-to tool. Also, you can use it to rotate your videos in formats such as MP4, MPG, WebM, MOV, and more. Below are the steps to rotate a video using Animaker:

Step 1: Sign Up/Login and Pick the Dimensions

Sign in to your account or create a free one. Now from the dashboard, pick the dimensions for your video. Do you want to turn your vertical video horizontal? Then choose Horizontal from the Create a video section in your dashboard. Do you want to turn your horizontal video vertical? Then choose Vertical from that same section.
pick the dimensions

Step 2: Upload the Video and Rotate It

Time to upload the video you wish to rotate. You can upload videos up to 20 GB in size. Click on the Upload tab in the menu bar and then click on the huge Upload button at the bottom.

go to uploads tab and click upload button

Now click on the video you just uploaded to set it onto the canvas.

set the video to rotate

Now click on the Rotate button in the top right corner of the canvas to start rotating your video. Animaker lets you rotate your video in the anti-clockwise direction. To rotate your video 90 degrees, simply click on the Rotate button three times. The first time you click, it’ll be rotated to an angle of 270 degrees, then it’ll be rotated to 180 degrees the second time, and finally to 90 degrees the third time.

rotate video in any angle

Now your video will be filled to occupy the entire space of the canvas size you chose earlier. You can, however, customize the way it fits the canvas with our video resizing tool. Adjust and fit the video to the chosen dimensions by clicking on the Resize button.

click resize or fit

drag the corners to make it fit

Optionally, you can also flip or mirror your videos using our video flipping software. To flip your video horizontally and/or vertically, simply click on the Flip button in the top right corner of the canvas.

flip video horizontally or vertically

Step 3: Preview and Download the Video

Now that you’ve rotated the video, preview the video to see if it’s in the orientation that you want it to be in. To preview your rotated video, click on the play button beside the Publish button. You can now download the video if everything looks fine. To download the video, click on the Publish button and then select Download Video from the dropdown menu. You can also share the video directly to various social media platforms from right within the app.

download rotated video

Apart from letting you easily rotate your videos, Animaker’s video editing suite offers various other video editing tools.  

You can use Animaker’s video editor to:

And the list goes on… feel free to check out these tools and learn why it’s the go-to video editor for marketers and content creators.

Got any questions about rotating your videos in VLC or on your computer? Any interesting tips or tools to rotate videos that we haven’t covered? Please let us know about them in the comment section below.

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