VirtualDub is designed for
Microsoft Windows but may run on
Linux and
Mac OS X using
Wine (for example, to use it with the popular Deshaker plugin). However, native support for these systems is not available. VirtualDub was made to operate exclusively on
AVI files; however, a plugin API was added from version 1.7.2 which allows the import of other formats. Appropriate video and audio
codecs need to be installed.
Video capture VirtualDub supports both
DirectShow and
Video for Windows for video capture. Capture features include capture to any AVI variant, audio
VU meters,
overlay and preview modes,
histogram, selectable
crop area, video
noise reduction, auto stop settings (based on capture time, file size, free space, and/or dropped frames), and designate alternate drive(s) for capture overflow. VirtualDub can help overcome problems with
digital cameras that also record video. Many models, especially Canon, record in an
M-JPEG format incompatible with
Sony Vegas 6.0 and 7.0. Saving AVI files as "old-style AVI" files allows them to appear in Vegas. VirtualDub supports
DV capture from Type 2 (VfW)
FireWire controllers only (It cannot work with Type 1). There is no DV batch capture, still image capture, or DV device control capability.
Video assembly VirtualDub can create a video file from a series of image files in
Truevision TGA or
Windows Bitmap file formats. Individual frames must be given file names numbered in sequential order without any gaps (e.g. 001.bmp, 002.bmp, 003.bmp..). From those, the frame rate can be adjusted, and other modifications such as the addition of a
soundtrack can be made. VirtualDub can also disassemble a video by extracting its soundtracks and saving its frames into Truevision TGA or Windows Bitmap files.
Editing VirtualDub can delete segments of a video file, append new segments, or reorder existing segments. Appended segments must have similar audio and
video formats, dimensions, number of
audio channels,
frame rates and
sampling rates. Otherwise, VirtualDub is incapable of mixing dissimilar video files or adding
transition effects between segments.
Video processing VirtualDub comes with a number of video editing components known as "filters". They can perform basic tasks as arbitrary resize, converting the video to
grayscale, arbitrary rotation, crop, or changing simple values like brightness and contrast. Filters may be used during the video assembly as well. Filter plug-ins further extend VirtualDub's capabilities. A plug-in
SDK is available for developers to create their own video and audio filters. Besides those basic features, third-party plug-ins are available to extend VirtualDub's feature set, including filters related to either aesthetic effects or cleaning, fixing, and restoring image quality, such as various denoising and sharpening methods targeted especially at analogue and digital video signal and film defects (be they related to
VHS, faulty cables, a distorted analogue
terrestrial or
satellite TV reception, or
digital compression),
deinterlacing and
fields manipulation,
colorspace conversion and manipulation,
reverse telecine aka IVTC, deflickering, deshaking, adding and removing logos and subtitles, analysis of video content, etc. All of these processing features are fully
batchable to apply the same effects on a large number of files. ==Development==