Can I save a video to my computer ?

flynnboy

Hi

Can someone tell me this: Once I've loaded a video on the net can I save it to my computer as a loaded video to view whenever I want without having to wait for it to load up ?

I want to be able to do this because my broadband is so painfully slow I can't watch videos before I've waited 1/2 hr for it to upload....... :-(

Thanks for any advice

cheers

fb

Amalgam

http://keepvid.com/

Enter the URL of your video and download the video from KeepVid.

Amalgam

Usually the video from sites like YouTube is the .flv Flash video format.

I would advise using VLC as the player of choice to play them with.

(free and safe) http://www.videolan.org/vlc/

flynnboy

Amalgam wrote: »

http://keepvid.com/

Enter the URL of your video and download the video from KeepVid.

Thanks but what is Keepvid ???

Biggins

There is a number of ways of doing it.

1. If you have Realplayer installed, this then puts a box (see example below) on the top right of all video clips, one click on it and you can download it to your desired location.


2. There is a number of applications you can install that will download the video file for you aw well. One mentioned above.

3. There are tools directly useable from the net that will also do the job for you without having to install anything.
Example:
http://youtubecatcher.com/
or
http://downloadyoutubevideos.in/

Amalgam

Biggins, no disrespect, but I wouldn't be into telling people, myself, to install RealPlayer, it can be annoying..

Biggins

Amalgam wrote: »

Biggins, no disrespect, but I wouldn't be into telling people, myself, to install RealPlayer, it can be annoying..

Sometimes true but just mentioned it as a possibility.
As long as your system settings are set for sound/video (when you click on them) to start with another app, it shouldn't annoy you in any way.
Have it installed on my pc's (Vista and Win7 on them) and it has never given me any hassle, not even once.

mordeith

You could also try downloadhelper Its an add-on for Firefox

silverwood

I like to use SaveVid and find it does the job easily!

Amalgam

If you're a Firefox user, the UnPlug plugin works great.

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/2254

K-9

I've tried the above Firefox addons but find this one really easy to use:
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/8818

monkeypants

This also works.

If you have K-Lite installed, WMP will pretty much play anything. Put it this way, I have never come across a file type that WMP won't play.

flynnboy

Hi Guys

Just a quick word to say thanks for all of the advice which I'll look into today. One thing to say is that I do have realplayer as well as others but I never see any box like the one shown over the video in utube?

Thanks again

FB

flynnboy

Well I'm having problems.

From what I can see most of the download site/apps mentioned record the videos in real time so that all they are doing is recording all of the stops and starts of my pathetically slow broadband i.e. it's just a recording of a pathetically slow download complete with all of the faults. Some of them like keepvid simply will not recognise my source - this is not Utube stuff but videos of people playing music on a musical society website and most of the download helpers seem to be geared to Utube.

What I need to do is first of all wait for the video to upload fully - which can take 1/2 hr. Once it has done that I can then go back to the beginning and watch the whole thing without interruptions. So, it is at this point - when it has fully uploaded itself - that I need to save it to my computer but as far as can see I can't do this with the methods mentioned.

Amalgam

Sorry, I have to call you up..

There's no recording for nearly all the links posted, except maybe one. What the applications and plugins do is extract a download link for you from the video page, the video file is then served to you as a download, instead of appearing on screen.

What happens when you go to a site to view a video, say YouTube, is the video is loaded into your browser memory, streamed from the server.

No recording takes place.

Looking at your posts, nothing suggests a software problem, it seems to be linked entirely to your slow access.

The solution might be to get faster internet access.

Nichololas

Amalgam wrote: »

If you're a Firefox user, the UnPlug plugin works great.

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/2254

+1 for UnPlug. Works for downloading youtube vids and most other .avis and whatnot.

flynnboy

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/8818

This one does record, but in real time and after it's finished you can save it to your computer but as I said it's simply recording all of the crap associated with the slow download. I need to record 'after' it's finished uploading.

Of course getting faster BB would be a solution and extremely desirable as it's not just this that's a problem, everything associated with the internet is a complete pain in the arse. BUT it's simply not possible because we are not served by anything faster than what we have with o2 and there doesn't appear to be any prospect of a reasonable bb coverage in the near future (Donegal) it's beyond frustrating. We can't do anything that most people take for granted with the web, can't listen to radio, can't watch pods, TV clips Videos or anything. It's like the feckin dark ages here.

So, there doesn't appear to be any way of saving this video file after its downloaded itself then ?

Amalgam

Your post suggests you don't understand how the video appears on your screen. Do you not understand you're downloading it anyway, as you view it, through your browser?

The plugins, other than the one you've pointed out, simply download the video directly from the server, without loading it into your browser. You can then view it (offline) using a media player on your PC.

There is a difference between downloading and uploading. Misusing those terms will limit the help people can give you in this thread, because it is hard to assess your needs\situation.

K-9

K-9 wrote: »

I've tried the above Firefox addons but find this one really easy to use:
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/8818

flynnboy wrote: »

Well I'm having problems.

From what I can see most of the download site/apps mentioned record the videos in real time so that all they are doing is recording all of the stops and starts of my pathetically slow broadband i.e. it's just a recording of a pathetically slow download complete with all of the faults. Some of them like keepvid simply will not recognise my source - this is not Utube stuff but videos of people playing music on a musical society website and most of the download helpers seem to be geared to Utube.

What I need to do is first of all wait for the video to upload fully - which can take 1/2 hr. Once it has done that I can then go back to the beginning and watch the whole thing without interruptions. So, it is at this point - when it has fully uploaded itself - that I need to save it to my computer but as far as can see I can't do this with the methods mentioned.

The link above will do it, IMO. I only installed it a couple of weeks ago and find it the best.

From my experience of it, No, it will not record stoppages or buffering of the video. It will play it straight back when you save it to your My Documents or Video folder.

flynnboy

Amalgam wrote: »

There is a difference between downloading and uploading. Misusing those terms will limit the help people can give you in this thread, because it is hard to assess your needs\situation.

Whether I am 'uploading or 'downloading' or whether I am using those terms 'correctly' or not is not really the issue. I would have thought that the help I am asking for is very simple to understand. It's simple - after the video has finished buffering and it's fully loaded ('up' or 'down' is immaterial to understanding my problem here) I can then view the whole thing in an uninterrupted fashion and it's at this point I want to be able to save it to my computer so I can view it offline at my leisure.

Amalgam

If that's what you think, then good luck, because people can only interpret what you have asked, it is hard to understand what your needs are.

Give me an example, clearly, of what website you want to save video from. It doesn't have to be a specific clip, just the website.

At that point, knowing what site you're at, someone will be able to assist you with a clear solution.

mordeith

After a video has fully buffered, you should be able to use downloadhelper (only one I'm familiar with) to save the video. The software installs a little icon to your Firefox toolbar and there is a little arrow on it. Click the arrow and the name of the video you have just watched should appear. Then its just a matter of clicking 'download' and selecting where you want to save the video.

flynnboy

Amalgam wrote: »

it is hard to understand what your needs are.

"...after the video has finished buffering and it's fully loaded I can then view the whole thing in an uninterrupted fashion and it's at this point I want to be able to save it to my computer so I can view it offline at my leisure."

What's so difficult to understand about that...... ?


K9. Thanks. I think the first time I tried it it must have encountered a problem as it recorded the buffering. The 2nd time it worked fine and I have an uninterrupted recording I can view. The only other problem I encountered with it is that it saves itself as a 'flashplayer' file and when I click on the 'flashplayer' icon after I've saved it, it asks me what program I want to use.....and I can't open it ? However, I can still view it in Firefox using the 'preview' button on the MMWR.

Do you have any idea about the problem playing back the video through the flashplayer file it saves itself as?

mordeith Thanks also. I'll have a look at that and see what it's like.

Amalgam

mordeith wrote: »

After a video has fully buffered, you should be able to use downloadhelper (only one I'm familiar with) to save the video. The software installs a little icon to your Firefox toolbar and there is a little arrow on it. Click the arrow and the name of the video you have just watched should appear. Then its just a matter of clicking 'download' and selecting where you want to save the video.

You don't have to wait for it to buffer. Downloadhelper will extract a link for you to download from the server straight away. This is the case for YouTube anyway.

K-9

flynnboy wrote: »

"...after the video has finished buffering and it's fully loaded I can then view the whole thing in an uninterrupted fashion and it's at this point I want to be able to save it to my computer so I can view it offline at my leisure."

What's so difficult to understand about that...... ?


K9. Thanks. I think the first time I tried it it must have encountered a problem as it recorded the buffering. The 2nd time it worked fine and I have an uninterrupted recording I can view. The only other problem I encountered with it is that it saves itself as a 'flashplayer' file and when I click on the 'flashplayer' icon after I've saved it, it asks me what program I want to use.....and I can't open it ? However, I can still view it in Firefox using the 'preview' button on the MMWR.

Do you have any idea about the problem playing back the video through the flashplayer file it saves itself as?

mordeith Thanks also. I'll have a look at that and see what it's like.

I use VLC Media Player and save them in flv format. VLC usually plays anything you throw at it!

bonzodog2

I use Opera (sometimes) and can find fioles in its cache, here on my PC:
C:\Documents and Settings\dell\Local Settings\Application Data\Opera\Opera\profile\cache4

[dell being logged-in user]
sort the items by size, descending. copy big files to temp folder and rename to .flv
I used to be able to get youtube vids from the IE cache too, but they changed something

I'd recommend MPC [Media Player Classic]. It comes with the k-lite codec pack, and theres also a Home Cinema version I haven't tried yet

flynnboy

Thanks guys. This: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/8818

and the VLC media player are working perfectly together. I've done 6 or so recordings today without probs'.

Go raibh maith agat

FB

K-9

flynnboy wrote: »

Thanks guys. This: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/8818

and the VLC media player are working perfectly together. I've done 6 or so recordings today without probs'.

Go raibh maith agat

FB

VLC is great. Not the easiest on the eye but by God, it usually works!