Playing Movie Files

Contents

27.1. Using the Totem Movie Player
27.2. Modifying Totem Movie Player Preferences

The Totem Movie Player application is a movie player for the GNOME desktop which provides the following features:

To start the Totem Movie Player, click Computer+More Applications+Multimedia+Totem Movie Player.

Using the Totem Movie Player

When you start Totem Movie Player, the following window is displayed.

Figure 27.1. Totem Movie Player Start Up Window

Totem Movie Player Start Up Window

Opening a Video or Audio File

  1. Click Movie+Open.

  2. Select the files you want to open, then click Add

You can also drag a file from another application (such as a file manager) to the Totem Movie Player window. The Totem Movie Player application opens the file and plays the movie or song. Totem Movie Player displays the title of the movie or song beneath the display area and in the titlebar of the window.

[Note]Unrecognized File Format

If you try to open a file format that Totem Movie Player does not recognize, the application displays an error message and proposes to search for suitable codec.

You can double-click a video or audio file in the Nautilus file manager to open it on the Totem Movie Player window.

Opening a Video or Audio File By URI Location

  1. Click Movie+Open Location.

  2. Specify the URI location of the file you want to open, then click Open.

Playing a DVD, VCD, or CD

To play a DVD, VCD, or CD, insert the disc in the optical device of your computer, then click Movie+Play Disc.

To eject a DVD, VCD, or CD, click Movie+Eject.

To pause a movie or song that is playing, click the Totem Pause button button, or click Movie+Play/Pause. When you pause a movie or song, the statusbar displays Paused and the time elapsed on the current movie or song stops.

To resume playing a movie or song, click the Totem Play button button, or click Movie+Play / Pause.

To view properties of a movie or song, click View+Sidebar to make the sidebar appear, then click Properties in the drop-down list. The dialog contains the title, artist, year, and duration of movie or song, video dimensions, codec and framerate, and the audio bitrate and codec.

Seeking Through Movies or Songs

To seek through movies or songs, use any of the following methods:

To skip forward

To skip forward a movie or song, click Go+Skip Forward.

To skip backward

To skip backward a movie or song, click Go+Skip Backward.

To move to next movie or song

To move to the next movie or song, click Go+Next Chapter/Movie, or click the Totem Next button button.

To move to previous movie or song

To move to the previous movie or song, click Go+Previous Chapter/Movie, or click the Totem Previous button button.

Changing the Zoom Factor

To change the zoom factor of the display area, use any of the following methods:

To zoom to full screen mode

Click View+Fullscreen. To exit fullscreen mode, click the Leave Fullscreen button or press Esc.

To zoom to half size (50%) of the original movie or visualization

Click View+Fit Window to Movie+Resize 1:2.

To zoom to size (100%) of the original movie or visualization

Click View+Fit Window to Movie+Resize 1:1.

To zoom to double size (200%) of the original movie or visualization

Click View+Fit Window to Movie +Resize 2:1.

To switch between different aspect ratios, click View+Aspect Ratio. The supported aspect ratios include:

  • Auto

  • Square

  • 4:3 (TV)

  • 16:9 (Widescreen)

  • 2.11:1 (DVB)

The default aspect ratio is Auto.

Showing or Hiding Controls

To hide the Totem Movie Player window controls, click View+Show Controls to deselect the Show Controls option. To show the controls on the Totem Movie Player window, right-click the window, then select Show Controls.If the Show Controls option is selected, Totem Movie Player shows the menubar, time elapsed slider, seek control buttons, volume slider, and statusbar on the window. If the Show Controls option is not selected, the application hides these controls and shows only display area.

Managing Playlists

To show the playlist, click View+Sidebar, then click Playlist at the top of the sidebar. The Playlist dialog box is displayed.

You can use the Playlist dialog box to do the following:

  • To add a track or movie:  Click the Add button. Select the file you want to add to the playlist, then click OK

  • To remove a track or movie:  Select the filenames from the filename list box, then click Remove.

  • To save a playlist to file:  Click the Save button, then specify a filename

  • To move a track or movie up the playlist:  Select the filename from the filename list box, then click the Up button.

  • To move a track or movie down the playlist:  Select the filename from the filename list box, then click the Down button

To hide the playlist, click View+Sidebar, or click the Sidebar button.

To enable or disable repeat mode, click Edit+Repeat Mode. To enable or disable shuffle mode, click Edit+Shuffle Mode.

Choosing Subtitles

To choose the language of the subtitles, click View+Subtitles, then select the subtitles language you want to display.

To disable the display of subtitles, click View+Subtitles+None.

By default, Totem Movie Player chooses the same language for the subtitles that you use on your computer.

Totem Movie Player automatically loads and displays subtitles if the file that contains them has the same name as the video file and has an asc, txt, sub, smi, or ssa file extension.

Taking Screenshots

To take a screenshot of a movie or a visualization of song that is playing, click Edit+Take Screenshot. You can save a screenshot to either of the following:

  • File:  Select Save screenshot to file, then click the Browse button to specify a filename.

  • Desktop:  Select Save screenshot to the desktop.