Vantage Player Documentation

1

Getting Started

01 Install

• Grab the build from the downloads page and unzip it anywhere
• Make sure the .NET 10 Desktop Runtime is installed (Windows offers it on first run)
• Launch VantagePlayer.exe — no admin required

02 Open a video

• Drag and drop any video onto the window
• Ctrl+O for the file picker
• Pass a path on the command line: VantagePlayer.exe "C:\Videos\clip.mp4"

What it plays

MP4 / H.264, HEVC / H.265, .MOV, .MKV, WebM, AVI, and more — using the embedded VLC engine. No Windows Store codec extensions required.

2

Keyboard Shortcuts

Key	Action
`Space`	Play / pause
`←` / `→`	Previous / next video in the folder
`↑` / `↓`	Volume up / down
`,` / `.`	Seek −10 s / +10 s
`F` or `F11`	Toggle fullscreen
`Esc`	Exit fullscreen
`Ctrl+O`	Open file dialog

Mouse shortcuts

• Single-click on the video — play / pause
• Double-click on the video — toggle fullscreen
• Right-click anywhere — menu (Open, fullscreen, file-type registration, exit)

3

Folder Navigation

Open any video and Vantage Player treats the rest of the folder as the playlist. There's nothing to manage — the folder is the playlist.

Arrow keys

← previous, → next.

Drag-swipe

Drag right across the video for previous, left for next.

On-screen buttons

The control bar's ◀ ▶ buttons do the same.

Heads up: The control bar auto-hides after about 2.5 seconds of inactivity during playback (so does the mouse cursor). Move the mouse to bring it back.

4

Make It Your Default Video App

1. Right-click anywhere inside Vantage Player and pick "Set VantagePlayer as a video app (Open with)". This registers a per-user file association — no admin prompt.
2. Find a video in Explorer, right-click it, choose Open with → Choose another app.
3. Pick VantagePlayer, check Always use this app, and OK.

?

Troubleshooting

Won't launch / "missing .NET" ▼

Vantage Player needs the .NET 10 Desktop Runtime (the WPF / Windows Desktop variant). Install it from dotnet.microsoft.com/download and relaunch.

Black screen on HEVC / MKV ▼

The VLC native libraries live in a libvlc\ folder next to VantagePlayer.exe. If that folder is missing or got separated from the exe (e.g. only the .exe was copied), playback can't decode anything. Re-unzip the original download into one place.

Arrow keys don't change videos ▼

Folder navigation needs a video that was opened from a real folder — drag-and-drop from a network share or the Recents pane may not give a usable folder context. Open via Ctrl+O or by double-clicking a file in Explorer.

Control bar won't go away in fullscreen ▼

It hides after about 2.5 seconds of mouse-still time during playback. If something else is moving the cursor (a screen-recording overlay, RDP, a touch device), it stays visible.

Q

FAQ

Do I need to install VLC separately?

No. The native VLC libraries are shipped next to the exe and loaded internally — your machine doesn't need a separate VLC install.

Does it work with HDR / 4K?

Yes — anything VLC can decode, Vantage Player plays. The control surface is small; the heavy lifting is the same.

Mac / Linux build?

Not currently — Vantage Player is a WPF app, so it's Windows-only.

Is it really free?

Yes. It dynamically links the LGPL'd VLC engine — see THIRD-PARTY-NOTICES.md next to the exe for the full attribution.

System Requirements

✓Windows 10 or 11 (x64)

✓.NET 10 Desktop Runtime

✓No admin install

Vantage Player