How to capture/record streaming video

[Baldrick]

Try first to right click on the video link and select save target/link as. If it wont work try record / save the stream using / saving the streaming media :


Flash video like youtube
Use http://www.savevid.com/ or http://www.keephd.com/ or http://keepvid.com/ or or http://www.keepv.com/ or http://videodownloader.net to download.
Or
Install the Firefox browser http://www.mozilla.com/firefox/ then install the DownloadHelper https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/3006/ or VideoDownloader plugin https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/2390/ or
Unplug plugin https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/2254/ or Ook? Video Ook! plugin https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/2584/

If that wont help try the free StreamTransport, it supports most new flash flv streaming protocols (RTMP, RTMPE, HTTP).


More streaming Recording tools
StreamRecorder.NET
StreamTransport
Replay Media Catcher
Replay Video Capture
CoCSoft Stream Down
Net Transport
WM Recorder
RM Recorder
HiDownload
mplayer, command line tool and you use it like mplayer -playlist 'http://www.video.com/video.asf' -dumpstream -dumpfile video.asf
VLC Media Player, see http://www.videohelp.com/guides.php?guideid=957#957


Or post your own streaming media recording tips in this topic.

[Semaphoric]

WM Recorder 11.0 will record .FLV files.

[Captain Satellite]

There is no easier way now than the new version of Real Player. When the video starts to play, place your cursor over the video and a drop down window will appear to give you the option of downloading.

It is 100% FREE.

[kemcel]

There is no easier way now than the new version of Real Player. When the video starts to play, place your cursor over the video and a drop down window will appear to give you the option of downloading.

It is 100% FREE.

Hello.
Thanks for the advice, it is useful to us. It will try out this.

[vhelp]

Hi guys. Are there any other sites for downloading youtube videos besides keepvid.com ??
If there are, could they also be added to the list (when the admin gets arounds to it) at the
top of this forum. I'm sure there are other people like myself who visit this topic in hopes
for any updated/new links of such sites.

I know there is another site, but I can't remember the name, and I use it at work because
they have keepvid blocked, but not the one I use, so far. But I'd like to have other options
available in case they block the one I'm using currerntly. I think its called xvide or something
like that.

Thank you,
-vhelp 4729

[miamaria]

YouTube Clip Extractor - addon to IE, downloads from youtube and other sites + works as a youtube converter

[uk_dan2k]

I've been testing out some of the programs listed at the top and WMRecorder works best for capturing the streams and they play the same as they're shown on the pc.

Only problem is it saves my file as an .asf file, i'm saving the files in a share folder so i can play them on my big t.v. using a standalone mediaplayer and wifi (but the player doesn't play .asf files).

So is there another program that can do the same and convert on the fly to another format like .xvid or wm9 etc.

thanks for the help

[Ai Haibara]

Try renaming the extension from .asf to .wmv, and see if that works. ASF is actually the predecessor to WMV/WMA, though it's not that far removed, and it's still being used quite a bit in streaming.

[uk_dan2k]

i'd have to wait till the recording finished to rename the file, i was after an instant fix

[KLouis22]

I upgraded to RealPlayer11 from 10 after reading Captain Satellite's post, and could then download FLVs from YouTube and others like it. Until then RP wouldn't do this.
Recently it stopped showing that white box when cursor placed in upper right and can't download now. Not sure when it lost that, but fairly recently.

Have others seen this change? Is problem because of something YouTube has changed, or a RealPlayer change? Seems like I recently had a RP update, not sure if that changed this. Can't find if/when I updated, to maybe restore before that update. Ideas?

[bevills1]

Even the latest Realplayer 11 doesn't work on all streaming video and seems to only work from Youtube and similar sites that offer a wide variety of videos. I received some url links to videos in email which I've been unable to capture/record, and I've trie Realplayer 11, all the free programs recommended in this thread as well as a couple of the trial programs. Even Snagit from Camtasia Studios gives error message when attempt is made to record, and Camtasia Studios is by whom the videos in the urls were created. Has anyone else encountered videos that couldn't be recorded?

[poisondeathray]

Even the latest Realplayer 11 doesn't work on all streaming video and seems to only work from Youtube and similar sites that offer a wide variety of videos. I received some url links to videos in email which I've been unable to capture/record, and I've trie Realplayer 11, all the free programs recommended in this thread as well as a couple of the trial programs. Even Snagit from Camtasia Studios gives error message when attempt is made to record, and Camtasia Studios is by whom the videos in the urls were created. Has anyone else encountered videos that couldn't be recorded?

In my experience, if it is able to play, you can record it with something like Camtasia Studio (not SnagIt). Perhaps your settings were incorrect?

Again, in my experience, Flash based videos are captured most successfully with replay media capture. WMV based videos are captured best with WMRecorder

Can you provide an example where this doesn't work.

[INFRATOM]

If you have Realplayer when you are watching the clip you get a pop up to save the clip. Realplayer does not have a plugin for Firefox 3+ but it works nicely with IE. Realplayer also plays FLV files.

[bevills1]

I tried Realplayer 11 with both IE and Firefox, and Realplayer doesn't give the popup to record that it's supposed to with both browsers; clicking "File," "Open" and the "Record" in Realplayer 11 also fails to record video from the url.

It is a flash video because I had to download and install latest Flashplayer to view it from the url. Did poisondeathray mean replay media catcher to which there is a link in the first post of this thread instead of replay media capture as posted in above Jan 24 post?

[poisondeathray]

If it's a flash based format , use replay media capture from www.applian.com. Unfortunately, it's not free, but it's the only one that works with most flash based videos. You can use the trial to see if it works before buying. Hint: make sure RTMP, RTSP, MMS streams plugins are enabled and you start it before you open the url in your browser


But using a program that actually downloads it is preferable than one that re-encodes it (and lowers the quality).

The last resort is using something like camtasia, capturing to something lossless like lagarith, then transcoding to your final format.

Bottom line: If you can see it, you should be able to record it, even with software methods

If you still can't figure it out, perhaps you are not using it correctly, or even better, post the url here and someone will look at it

[bevills1]

Replay media capture generates errors when it's tried, but I'm not sure what RTMP, RTSP, MMS streams are or how to enable them which could by the problem. I did start replay media capture before the url was opened.

Camtasia Studio costs $300, and recording the video isn't that important. A program that cost less than $50 and works is more what I'd like to find. The url for one of the videos is http://www.forexincomeengine.com/ff4_discovery.php if anybody might be able to determine a reasonable way to record it. BTW I recorded it using Firefox DownloadHelper plugin to record it as flv file, but that recording plays incorrectly.

[poisondeathray]

bevills1 - your problem is not a capturing issue, it is a playback issue

It is a shockwave flash file (.swf), it can be found in your temporary internet folder, if you let it download completely. No need for any software (other than your free browser)

You can play it back with mpc with ffdshow, or kmplayer, for example. You just have to playback in full screen or larger window, so the words aren't cut off

cheers

[INFRATOM]

There is a setup for realplayer to download the streaming video and it has few options, pop up is one of them. Check your real player see if it is active. Mine still works at least with youtube I haven't tried anything else and also realplayer plugin is not compatible with Firefox3+ so you have to be watching the video in IE. It downloads pretty fast and puts in a folder under "My Documents" called "RealPlayer Downloads" .

[bevills1]

By download completely do you mean let it play to its end when the url is clicked, or how should it be downloaded? The only .swf files found in my temporary internet folder are only a few bytes to a few kilobytes with none that appear related to the url video.

The problem seen with the flv file from Firefox DownloadHelper plugin is that the upper left quadrant of the window the video plays in has overlayed on it the lower right quadrant of some video that appears later in the video stream. It seems the video isn't properly downloaded for some reason based on poisondeathray comments. There must be something I'm missing or something not being done right.

INFRATOM, I tried to record the video using both IE and Firefox without success as stated in my second Jan 24 post. There appears to be something about this video that's incompatible with Realplayer 11 and several other programs I've tried.

[poisondeathray]

By "download completely" you will notice when you first open the page, the seek bar is greyed out and slowly "fills up". When it's full, the download is complete (You don't need to wait through playing the whole thing, just wait until the bar is "full")

The 1st .swf is a 15.2MB. Check to see if you are looking in the correct temp. internet folder, some people change the directory. Maybe clear it out before you try it again to find it more easily. Perhaps your security settings or firewall are not allowing it to be downloaded? I used IE7 for this

C:\Documents and Settings\USER NAME\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files

"video2_01[1].swf 15,629KB"

[bevills1]

Does the 1st swf file you recorded play correctly? The flv file captured by Firefox is also 15.2MB, but it plays improperly as described in my above Jan 25 post.

Your results differs from mine seemingly due to differences between IE6 that I use and IE7 that you use. IE6 uses swf plugin described at http://www.browsertools.net/Flash-Saving-Plugin/index.html but the file it records shows it to be a Shockwave Flash object that's only 192KB but not a swf file. This Shockwave Flash object doesn't play at all.

It seems I will have to upgrade to IE7 to get results you achieved. Are there any problems or disadvantages to IE7 compared to IE6 to your knowledge?

Edit: I found some IE7 problems at http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=ie7+problems&aq=4&oq=ie7, but also found how to uninstall IE7 if need be at http://forums.techguy.org/web-email/459906-ie7-problems.html. Have you experienced any of these problems or other IE7 problems?

[poisondeathray]

bevills1 - yes the full file plays correctly in a media player that supports .swf (e.g. kmplayer in full screen). Obviously the 192kb file is not the entire file, and would not play correctly.

If you captured a 15.2MB .flv, it might not work either, because it should be a .swf file, so something might have gone wrong if there was a conversion. Also you might be using a media player or setup that doesn't allow for .swf/.flv playback. (e.g. vlc and mplayer had issues playing it back successfully). Try KMPlayer in full screen mode.

I did not use any special plugins to capture this. It is similar to youtube, where it automatically downloads to the temp internet folder. I don't see why IE6 can't do the same thing.

No issues with IE7 here. I also use firefox on some of my PC's. I think many of the problems listed there and elsewhere are patched if you do the windows updates. Also security issues may stem from bad browsing practices and possibly poor firewall/antivirus/security suite software, not necessarily the choice of browser

[bevills1]

IE7 was installed after which I find no Temporary Internet Files or .swf files except the ones associated with the Windows Tour. I don't know if it's some kind of IE7 problem or what, but it's certainly quite perplexing and frustrating. Have you any more ideas?

[poisondeathray]

Did you let the file download completely (wait until the grey bar was filled) after you installed IE7? It shouldn't be a problem specific with IE7 or IE6. I bet IE5 would even work.

Maybe you are looking in the wrong folder? Access the temp internet folder by using tools=>internet options=>browsing history settings button => view files button

I just tried it on 2 different computers, I'm 100% certain this works. Try clearing out the folder first

Do you have some firewall or security settings that might block the download? If you left everything on default it should work

Did you try playing the 15.2MB file captured by Firefox with KMplayer (in full screen mode)? I suspect it's the same thing

EDIT:
I uploaded the file here; again many media players have difficulties playing it, but KMPlayer works fine (in full screen mode)

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=UX8Y40WS

[bevills1]

Solution to find Temporary Internet Files including the video2_01[1] file which plays with KMplayer was found in post #7 at http://forums.cnet.com/5208-6620_102-0.html?forumID=14&threadID=226120&messageID=2361547 However, it inducates it is a Shockwave Flash object and doesn't play in wmp, vlc and other players.

KMplayer gives message "No combination of filters could be found to render this stream" when the flv file recorded using Firefox is tried. This same error is given when attempt is made to play it in Realplayer 11.

Converting this file to avi to play in other players results in a file that plays with the same problems as the flv file recorded using Firefox. Is there a way to convert it to play on other players or convert it to burn to DVD that will play correctly on DVD players?

[poisondeathray]

It's difficult to convert, because the .swf direct show source filters that I've tried show the same corruption, and most converting programs will use the directshow method to convert it. Medialooks has a .swf directshow filter, but it doesn't work quite correctly when you construct a graph with graphstudio / avisynth

You can still use the screen capture methods (e.g. camtasia studio) and then convert to any format (incl. DVD) at a 2nd stage. I think camstudio is a free version, but has limited capabilities. You can do captures directly out of KMplayer as well (i.e. record while it "plays"). To minimize quality loss (not that it was that high to begin with), you could capture using some lossless codec (.e.g. lagarith) for your intermediate stage

The other option is just stick to playing with KMplayer (MPC-HC and MPC will also play it properly on my pc)

Consider opening a thread in the conversion sub-forum, maybe others have better ideas.

Cheers

[bevills1]

All the free conversion programs from the conversion forum plus a couple of the trialware programs were tried without success. All either found no supported file types or converted to files that still played with problems.

A solution that works was finally found. After I upgraded from IE6 to IE7 which captures SWF file that plays correctly with KMplayer, I then had to find a conversion that would play in wmp, vlc, etc. which was Moyea SWF2Video_Pro from http://www.softpedia.com/progDownload/Moyea-SWF-to-Video-Converter-Pro-Download-75041.html Conversion of SWF to AVI still played with problems, but conversion of SWF to MP4 plays correctly in wmp, vlc, etc. Finally DVDFlick converts to DVD format and burns to DVD.

[bevills1]

Just to clarify the link in my above post to the Moyea program has only info and screen shots, and the link for the actual download is http://www.swfkits.com/ in case anybody is looking for the actual download link.

[Remyisme]

can anyone recomen me a good programm, for ripping videos of websites like MTV, ABC, ABCNews, ?, I tyed, streamdown, nettransport, Flashget, replay media catcher. None work.

[mknorr]

I use internet download manager. Whenever I am on a web site with audio or video content, a little window pops up prompting me to download it. Very simple but does not work for flash player video.