vlc-ai-subs

VLC media player plugin that generates subtitles using OpenAI Whisper — works with any video, any language.

Features

• Two modes — Real-time OSD (subtitles appear as they're generated) or Generate & Load SRT (synced to playback)
• Any language — Auto-detection or specify a language code
• Translation — Translate any language to English subtitles
• 5 model sizes — From tiny (fastest) to large (most accurate)
• Quiet voice detection — Tuned to catch whispers, husky voices, and low speech
• VLC 3.x & 4.x — Compatible with both versions
• Cross-platform — Windows, macOS, and Linux (native, snap, flatpak)

Quick Start

Linux / macOS

git clone https://github.com/voidrlm/vlc-ai-subs.git
cd vlc-ai-subs
./setup.sh

Windows

git clone https://github.com/voidrlm/vlc-ai-subs.git
cd vlc-ai-subs
setup.bat

Then:

1. Restart VLC
2. Open a video
3. View → AI Subs Generator
4. Click Generate

Requirements

• Python 3.8+
• VLC 3.x or 4.x
• ~150 MB disk space for the base model (downloaded on first use)

How It Works

Mode	Description
Real-time OSD	Subtitles appear on screen as Whisper transcribes. Great for first-time viewing.
Generate & Load SRT	Full transcription runs first, then the .srt file is loaded as a proper subtitle track. Perfect sync on replay.

Models

Model	Speed	Accuracy	RAM	Download
tiny	Fastest	Basic	~1 GB	~75 MB
base	Fast	Good	~1 GB	~140 MB
small	Moderate	Better	~2 GB	~460 MB
medium	Slow	Great	~5 GB	~1.5 GB
large	Slowest	Best	~10 GB	~3 GB

Options

• Language — auto for detection, or a code like en, es, fr, hi, ja, zh, etc.
• Task — Transcribe (same language) or Translate to English

Files

vlc-ai-subs/
├── aisubs.lua           # VLC Lua extension (the UI)
├── aisubs_whisper.py    # Python Whisper backend
├── setup.sh             # Setup & install (Linux / macOS)
├── setup.bat            # Setup & install (Windows)
├── LICENSE
└── README.md

Manual Installation

If the setup script doesn't work for your system:

1. Install faster-whisper:

   python3 -m venv venv
   venv/bin/pip install faster-whisper        # Linux/macOS
   venv\Scripts\pip.exe install faster-whisper # Windows

2. Copy aisubs.lua to your VLC extensions folder:

   • Linux: ~/.local/share/vlc/lua/extensions/
   • macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/org.videolan.vlc/lua/extensions/
   • Windows: %APPDATA%\vlc\lua\extensions\

3. Restart VLC.

To update just the VLC extension without reinstalling Python deps:

./setup.sh --install        # Linux/macOS
setup.bat --install         # Windows

License

MIT