Many people have experienced the frustration of trying to download YouTube videos. These videos are in Flash (flv) format which do not allow you to simply right-click to save it. This format is very common these days and many websites use it because its displays well in most browsers. There are several ways to capture these videos and save them on your computer.
One way is to use a site like KeepVid. This is a website which allows you to download streaming videos through your browser and requires no software at all. Once you have found a video that you want to save, simply enter the URL of that video page into the download bar, click “DOWNLOAD” and follow the instructions. Once saved in FLV format you will then need a player to play it. VLC player is probably the best player available for playing virtually all formats of video.
If you use the Firefox browser there are some good extensions that you can download which make grabbing flash videos very easy. DownloadHelper is an add on that can be used with Firefox. Its purpose is to capture both video and image files from many different sites. Some videos and music files can be quite large, so the program gives you the option of downloading lesser quality files. It can also work with any video converter program you have installed to convert videos to more useful formats.
Another great way to save flash videos is with realPlayer. It is a free media manager program that also allows you to transfer media to mobile devices. It offers a one-click solution for downloading videos as well as a simple-to-use video-trimming tool that allows you to select only certain bits of a video to transfer or share. You also have the option to strip the audio out of the videos and save those as separate files which can be very useful for teaching.
