Open a video at a specific time in Media Player Classic
How can I open a video file in Media Player Classic at a specific time in the file?
There are two ways to do this: favorites or the /startpos hh:mm:ss commandline switch.
Favorites
The GUI has limited support for creating Favorites from the menu. These favorites support relative paths and can be set to remember the file position. The main downside is that all favorites created are shown in a single drop-down with no way to organize or categorize them.
Command line
More convenient, if more cumbersome, is to use Media Player Classic's command line switches, specifically the /startpos hh:mm:ss command. Simply call the executable with a filename and a specific time:
"C:\Tools\mpc-hc.exe" "filePath" /startpos hh:mm:ss
The simplest way to call this in Windows is with a shortcut. The above command can be used as the Target in a shortcut. The Start in option of the shortcut determines whether the path to MPC or the path to the file can be relative or if it should be absolute. If you create the shortcut from the executable folder (such as with an ALT+drag), you'll have to fully qualify the path to the video file.
Alternatively, you can also create a batch file to serve as a shortcut like so:
:: Variables
:: A title is required if you use quotes around the executable path
SET windowTitle="MPCSeek"
SET mpcExecutable="C:\Tools\mpc-hc.exe"
:: Use an absolute path unless this bat file is in the same folder as the video file
SET fileLocation="pathToFile"
SET position=01:09:00
START %windowTitle% %mpcExecutable% %fileLocation% /startpos %position%
The CMD window will instantly close after starting (or restarting) the media player thanks to the START command and usually won't even be visible.
Other switches can be combined with this command. You can get an up to date list by calling the executable with the /? switch, but these are some of the most interesting to use alongside startpos:
-
/close: close the player after playback (may only work if used with/play) -
/playnextOpen next file in the folder after playback -
/fullscreen: Start in full-screen mode -
/minimized: Start in minimized mode -
/nofocus: Open MPC-HC in background -
/new: Use a new instance of the player -
/monitor #: Start player on monitor N, where N starts from 1 -
start #: alternative tostartposthat uses milliseconds instead