vlc-media-player
I have some video files with distorted aspect ratios. With VLC I can modify the displayed ratio, but this setting is not saved, i.e. when I play a different file and return to the previous one, the original wrong ratio is restored.
Is it possible to save this setting on a per-file basis? Perhaps some meta data file for each media file?
This is the solution that worked best for me: there was a video stream I had to play in VLC because RTMP is/was poorly supported in my preferred media player, MPCHC (which has this feature builtin to the numpad keys). This stream had both vertical and horizontal letterboxes and when I needed to zoom it, I realized the thing.
Just use the crop function: if you leave default aspect ratio options the video will scale to fit the window, thus giving the zooming effect!
To access cropping you need to first open the Tools menu, then click Effects and Filters or just use the default CTRL+E shortcut.
Then you need to select the Video Effects tab, and navigate to the Crop sub-tab: play with the cropping values to achieve the desired zoom level.
Final Remarks: You can fine-tune it during play and you have pixel-level control. Enjoy!
Your iTunes volume settings are stored in iTunes-only metadata called "iTunNORM." The universal standard is ReplayGain. They are measured a little bit differently but will both adjust playback for perceived loudness.
One difference is that you generally don't set ReplayGain values manually; you run ReplayGain analysis to have volume levels set for you.
To convert existing iTunNORM values to ReplayGain values using Mp3tag: There are multiple steps and considerations, so try this forum post: http://forums.mp3tag.de/lofiversion/index.php/t9139.html
To measure ReplayGain correctly: Use a ReplayGain scanner to update audio file metadata. (foobar2000 -- the greatest audio player ever invented by humans -- can do this for you as well.)
To use ReplayGain in VLC: In v2.0.5, go to Preferences > Audio > Replay gain mode, then select either Track or Album.
I suspect you want Track mode. Regarding Track-gain and album-gain (from Wikipedia again),
ReplayGain analysis can be performed on individual tracks, so that all tracks will be of equal volume on playback. Analysis can also be performed on a per-album basis. In album-gain analysis an additional peak-value and gain-value, which will be shared by the whole album, is calculated. Using the album-gain values during playback will preserve the volume differences among tracks on an album.
On playback, listeners may decide if they want all tracks to sound equally loud or if they want all albums to sound equally loud with different tracks having different loudness. In album-gain mode, when album-gain data is missing, players should use track-gain data instead.
If you still use iTunes, iPod, etc. you may also try finding some tools available to convert ReplayGain values back to iTunNORM. (A few are listed in the "Scanners" section of the Wikipedia links above.)
Best Answer
AFAIK you can't save aspect ratios.
Using VLC, the only solution I can think of is to transcode the video into the right aspect ratio.