How to record youtube videos
February 1, 2011 8:57 PM Subscribe
Is there any way to record or download youtube videos for free using some software? Thanks.
Steam Transport was recommended in the Green at some earlier point in time, so that's what I downloaded.
posted by sardonyx at 9:40 PM on February 1, 2011
posted by sardonyx at 9:40 PM on February 1, 2011
I use youtube-dl. It's command line based, and prone to break, as it's not in Youtube's interest to let this happen. But it's easily updated, and someday I'll build a podcast tool with it.
posted by pwnguin at 9:42 PM on February 1, 2011
posted by pwnguin at 9:42 PM on February 1, 2011
You don't say what system you're on so, just in case - MacTubes for Mac OS X.
posted by unliteral at 10:09 PM on February 1, 2011
posted by unliteral at 10:09 PM on February 1, 2011
I'm on a Mac. If you use Safari browser there's an easy way to download the original flv file. Open the page with the movie and press Command-Option-A, which shows the Activity window. Click on the arrow to show details about what is being loaded.
You'll notice an element whose size is over 0.5MB (most of the time, over 5MB). Double-click on it (even if it is still loading), and Safari will download it. When the download is over, navigate to the file in the Finder (which will probably be called get_video) and add the extension .flv to its name. Now you can play it with VLC or with QuickTime (only if you have Perian installed).
posted by [vagabond] at 10:32 PM on February 1, 2011 [1 favorite]
You'll notice an element whose size is over 0.5MB (most of the time, over 5MB). Double-click on it (even if it is still loading), and Safari will download it. When the download is over, navigate to the file in the Finder (which will probably be called get_video) and add the extension .flv to its name. Now you can play it with VLC or with QuickTime (only if you have Perian installed).
posted by [vagabond] at 10:32 PM on February 1, 2011 [1 favorite]
Firefox with DownloadHelper add-on, simple as can be, and cross-platform; long as you have Firefox, you're set.
posted by dancestoblue at 10:56 PM on February 1, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by dancestoblue at 10:56 PM on February 1, 2011 [1 favorite]
Youtube Downloader. If it breaks, check for an update to the program - they usually update it to fix it again.
posted by IndigoRain at 1:47 AM on February 2, 2011
posted by IndigoRain at 1:47 AM on February 2, 2011
I use downloadhelper too. The only tricky bit is sometimes the down load list it produces has several .flv on it; for youtube the one at the top is the one you want.
posted by Mitheral at 5:13 AM on February 2, 2011
posted by Mitheral at 5:13 AM on February 2, 2011
xVideoThief takes the page URL and downloads the video in any of a series of formats.
It, quite handily, lets you download a video and save just the sound part as an mp3.
posted by sodium lights the horizon at 5:39 AM on February 2, 2011
It, quite handily, lets you download a video and save just the sound part as an mp3.
posted by sodium lights the horizon at 5:39 AM on February 2, 2011
I meant to say - it's comes in Win / Lin / Mac flavours too.
posted by sodium lights the horizon at 5:40 AM on February 2, 2011
posted by sodium lights the horizon at 5:40 AM on February 2, 2011
I use the Easy YouTube Video Downloader addon for Firefox. Works great.
posted by katyggls at 10:29 AM on February 2, 2011
posted by katyggls at 10:29 AM on February 2, 2011
chrome extension. just adds a little download button under the youtube video. link
VideoDownloader for YouTube - Version: 1.0
Adds an option to download YouTube videos.
posted by Spumante at 2:17 AM on February 3, 2011
VideoDownloader for YouTube - Version: 1.0
Adds an option to download YouTube videos.
posted by Spumante at 2:17 AM on February 3, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Sternmeyer at 8:59 PM on February 1, 2011 [4 favorites]