Dr. Zaius

I noticed when I first signed up for Youtube that the videos cannot be down loaded. They have a disclaimer about it somewhere that mentions that at this time it is not possible. Google used to let you download videos in the original form but now it's just for Ipod and is an MP4 file and is not able to be edited or even viewed without very current software.

So the other day I had to reboot my computer. It was a mess of files that were all over the place and I had a Norton message stating that I was infected with spyware. I removed it but kept getting a message.

Anyway once I rebooted back to factory spec I had to reload all my Windows updates as well as Norton updates. while I was doing this I got bored and went to watch some videos on the net. When I clicked on the video's a real player notice came up that said I was running an old version and asked if I wanted to update. While I don't normally use real player, I hadn't configured my Window media player yet so I clicked "OK". after that I noticed that nearly every video I watched had a button that said "Download this video" So, for shits and giggles I clicked it and it was downloaded as a Flash Video. It could not be used in my Movie maker editor so I decided to make another effort to find a freeware video converter. I downloaded several. Some were trial software that left a water mark. Then I installed "Any Video Converter", a freeware software with no watermark that is not trial software. IT"S FREAKING GREAT!!! I am now able to download nearly any video off the Internet and convert it to nearly any file I could want or use. It also converts all those videos I made on my Panasonic HDD recorder hooked up to my TV, that will play on my computer but will not allow me to edit with my current software.

Does anyone know anything about this software or perhaps know an even better free program for converting video?

gonzo

You could always just go into your temporary internet file folder and move the video file you want to a folder you wish to store it in.

Dr. Zaius

I'll have to try that.

Kana

There are a bunch of options for saving Youtube videos to your computer, many of which are listed here:

Download YouTube Videos

If you use Firefox, I recommend the Video Download Helper extension. It works for pretty much any site, and will also pick up other embedded files, like mp3s from MySpace.

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Groovyville

Dr. Zaius

Great tip! I will add Firefox!

poetrychic

firefox is great

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"it was a creed written into the founding documents that declared the destiny of a nation, yes we can!"

Dr. Zaius

I used Firefox for months but my spouse didn't like it and dumped it and loaded IE 7 which screwed up our computer. Now I'll leave it on the desktop with IE6 so we both have what we want.

Rollerball

Zaius, you seem to know quite a bit about formats. Maybe you could shed some light.

I'm not very happy with the quality of my videos on YouTube, compared to the originals on my PC they are doo-doo.

I have Adobe Premiere Elements 3.0 and some software that came with the camera, but from the looks of it they both export in MPEG2 format.

There are some other format options that I haven't tried yet, I thought I'd give cheating a shot and ask you first.


I'm so new at digital video any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Dr. Zaius

What is the size of the output video in that form. I use MS Movie Maker which outputs my videos at 320x240 and I seem to get decent detail and flow of movement.

Movie maker saves the file as Window Media Video file but there are other formats that are as easy to upload like your MPeg 1 2 and 4 and AVI which is very common as well. I don't like Mpeg 4 because it's generally for small devices and needs conversion to edit of manipulate. Personally I like Mpeg1

I have another program that saves in a NTSC 600x800 full size video but that is a slide show program.

I think you have a pretty good program but if you have Windows Vista you can upload the new Movie Maker which outputs even HD size video.

So see if there is a way to either increase the video size in your camera (it will tell you what size) and then make sure the program your using is set to the largest output if it is adjustable.

Rollerball

Great advice.
Size, OF COURSE! I didn't even think of that. Funny thing is, if these were still images that would be the first thing I'd check. Slap me up side the head.

Thanks Doc!