Play Quicktime movie from Terminal

Question

Is there a possibility to play a Quicktime movie (.mov) file from the command line (i.e., Terminal)?

I haven't found a way to achieve this. I could do it with an Automator script but it would be nicer if I can run it directly from the Terminal.

This kind of question I presume is welcome on apple.stackexchange.com, by the way. — Flimm, Sep 24 '16 at 11:04

score 26 · Accepted Answer · answered Sep 11 '12 at 11:40

26

open movie_file_name.mov

will open the default player from the terminal.

answered Sep 11 '12 at 11:40

Riccardo Marotti

1

Is there also a way to auto play this file after opening? – JonEasy Feb 18 '15 at 07:23
It depends on the player: some could have a command line interface. Others can be set to automatically play files at startup. Anyway there is not a general way to achieve what you ask, at least not that I know.. – Riccardo Marotti Feb 22 '15 at 11:35
Is there a way we could also specify the player ? – Sunny Jain Jul 11 '16 at 06:03

score 21 · Answer 2 · answered Aug 24 '16 at 11:07

21

open -a "quicktime player" movie_file_name.mov

You can specify other players, like VLC if you want:

open -a vlc movie_file_name.mov

answered Aug 24 '16 at 11:07

Flimm

2 Answers2