If you ’ve spend more than a couple of hour on the vane you understand that the affair is choked with video — fromYouTubetoVimeoto news and entertainment situation . There ’s so much , in fact , that it ’s heavy to watch over everything you need to when you ’re sitting down in front of your computer . And because there is , it ’s not uncommon to assay ways to entrance that video for by and by see on other devices or when an Internet connection is n’t available .
entrance Web video can be a one- or multi - step appendage , depending on how the original content is encode and protect . For lesson , it ’s clean easy to download MPEG-4 - encoded substance and toy those videos on your Mac and iOS gimmick because MPEG-4 is natively indorse on these gimmick . However , many websites extend to offer TV encoded in the Flash ( flv ) format . While you’re able to play these videos in a browser app or with a third - company app such as theVideoLAN client(or in QuickTime Player if you ’ve instal thePerian stopper - in ) , you must convert these to a format compatible with iOS gimmick . Easy or hard , it ’s possible to becharm just about any video on the Web . countenance ’s explore how .
Downloading files with a Web browser
If you ’re using Safari you ’ll ascertain that there ’s no obvious command for capturing well out YouTube videos , but it can be done with the browser app ’s built - in tool provided that you ’re downloading a Flash file . For example , sail to a YouTube video recording you require to capture and bug out it playing . Press Command - Option - A to produce Safari ’s Activity window . In this window you ’ll see the name of the video followed by the wordYouTube . In the list of links below flavour for an entry of several MB that seem to be loading . Option - double - tap it and it will download to your Mac as an flv file . As mentioned earlier , you may then wager this file with a third - party tool . regrettably , you ca n’t download MPEG-4 file using this method . For those files , plough to Firefox or a third - political party tool .
Speaking of Firefox , its user have a better option thanks to the freeDownloadHelper reference . Once you ’ve installed the file name extension , a DownloadHelper icon appears in Firefox ’s reference barroom at the top of the web browser windowpane , or in the condition legal community at the bottom of the web browser windowpane ( we found dissimilar demeanor on unlike Macs ) . Start playing a video and tap the icon and you ’ll see one or more listings for the video recording . If you ’re looking at a YouTube telecasting ( the filename extension supports downloads from many different sites ) you ’ll see multiple itemization — some in Flash format and others in MPEG-4 data formatting . Choose one of the MPEG-4 edition ( standard or gamey definition , for example ) and it download to your Mac , ready to play in iTunes , QuickTime Player , or another video player of your choosing . If a site offers only one version of the picture — MPEG-4 or Flash — you’ll see the option to download only that file .
DownloadHelper
DownloadHelper
If that filing cabinet is in the MPEG-4 formatting , you ’re set . Just download and play it . However , if it ’s a Flash file cabinet you may wish to convert it so you could play it in iTunes and on your iOS devices . DownloadHelper can do that but only if you ’ve put in theFFMpegor Mencoder libraries — a appendage that requires some knowledge of the Terminal program and the wherewithal to traverse down the correct program library builds . Otherwise , there are many tools to commute your video .
Third-party tools
unfortunately , not all websites provide video in MPEG-4 formatting . If you need to watch downloaded flv file with an software that does n’t support Flash , or watch them on your iOS gimmick , you must convert them . There are a variety of ways to go about this .
picture Monkey
But first a word on how tonotgo about it . If you seek the Web for video conversion cock , you ’ll find many of them . Most are n’t worth your while . These are poorly - built practical app produced by companies that push these pecker via spam and simulated review . Worse yet , some of them cost upwards of $ 40 , which is far too much to yield when there are some perfectly okay tools that do the caper for innocent .
Video Monkey
One of those detached tools isVideo Monkey ( ) , an program that borrow heavily from the beloved - but - now - discontinuedVisualHub . Once you ’ve download a movie using one of the method acting described earlier , just set up Video Monkey , cast off your movie into its window , and choose the output machine or video format you want to expend . Video Monkey offer batch conversion and include a timbre slipper . It can also bring your converted movies to iTunes when it completes its workplace .
Shedworx ’s freeSmart Converter(Mac App Store link ) is another good pick . It too can convert flv videos as well as audio files . Just drop down your videos into the Smart Converter windowpane , select a preset ( Apple TV , iPad , or iPhone / iPod , to name a few ) , and click Convert . The free version of Smart Converter does n’t put up sight processing however . If you want that , ferment to the $ 10Smart Converter Pro(Mac App Store linkup ) .
Videobox
Videobox
Although $ 15 is n’t free , it ’s not atrociously expensive either . If you ’d choose to capture and convert in one step , take a look at TastyApps’Videobox . To use Videobox , just hale the uniform resource locator for a picture you want to download into the Videobox windowpane . A mini - browser app window appears that includes the contents of the Sir Frederick Handley Page the video is post on , and an submission for the TV appear in Videobox ’s windowpane . select the Download ikon and a Save As windowpane appears . From the yield For pop - up carte , take the data formatting you ’d like to save the telecasting in — iDVD / iMovie , iPad , iPod Classic , iPod touch / iPhone , or Mac Viewing are some of the choices — and click the Save button . ( Click the Show options release in this windowpane and you could further adjust the video setting . ) Videobox downloads and then converts the telecasting .
Brute force
And then there ’s the ugly way — using a screen capture utility to grab picture and audio recording in real time . you may do this with QuickTime Player by take File - > New Screen Recording , but you wo n’t be able to capture the video recording ’s audio until you establish Cycling ’ 74 ’s liberal Soundflower . To do that , download and install Soundflower , open up the Sound system preference , and take Soundflower ( 2 - ch ) in the Output tabloid . Within QuickTime ’s Screen Recording window , snap on the Triangulum and under the Microphone heading choose Soundflower ( 2ch ) . Start the transcription and then start the picture acting .
The consequence from a QuickTime Player gaining control can be choppy , even on a fast Mac . In such cases , you may require to change state to a consecrate screen capture app such as Ambrosia Software ’s $ 69Snapz Pro X , Shinywhitebox ’s $ 30iShowU HD Pro , TechSmith ’s $ 99Camtasia 2or Telestream ’s $ 99 ScreenFlow 3 ( ) .
