PBS Download

[RustyBob]

I'm trying to download a documentary from from PBS. So far I can only capture the commercial just before the beginning of the video. Can anyone suggest a way to bypass the commercial and capture the documentary, or capture both ? Something free to use.

[MindController]

Is the video on the website flash or silverlight?

[jman98]

You can try Stream Transport or Stream Hijacker. Depending on what PBS is using they may not work. If they don't work, most likely you'll have to use a commercial product like Replay Video Capture. If they are using Silverlight, I don't know any free tool that can capture such streams.

[jagabo]

RTMP Explorer appears to work for video.pbs.org. I just used it to downloaded an episode of Nova.

[jman98]

RTMP Explorer appears to work for video.pbs.org. I just used it to downloaded an episode of Nova.

RustyBob - Try this suggestion first before you try what I suggested.

[RustyBob]

Works great. Thanks.

[Hal05154]

I tried RTMP Explorer also, but when I did, it just sat there and did nothing. If I understood it correctly, didn't this program pick up the streaming video automaticly and download it? Am I missing somthing? If anyone could offer some advice I'd sure appreciate it.

Here is the video I wish to download.

http://www.pbs.org/woodwrightsshop/video/3100/3105.html

Thank you,

Hal

[jagabo]

I had no problem. Pasted the URL in into the browser window, waited for the page to load, pressed the play button.



A few minutes later the file was complete.

[Hal05154]

Hmmmm. Something tells me I have the wrong program. I have RTMPDumpHelper.exe, not rtmpsrv.exe. Or Explorer. Methinks I need to go look at the files again.

Ah, looks like I only got half of what I needed. Wouldn't have caught it without your response. Thanks Jagabo! The img was a big help! Won't be able to do anything until later tonight, but I'll let you know how it goes.

Hal

[wb8nbs]

PBS used RTMP last year. In 2013 they are using Adobe HDS streaming. This breaks up the video into hundreds of ten second files. There is a manifest file (.M3U8) file that lists all the (.TS) files that make up the video. You can find and copy the M3U8 URL by accessing the video in Firefox then before you click the forward button to start playing it, open a network debug window (Tools -> Web Developer -> Network). Click forward and then stop it as soon as it starts playing. You can then copy the URL from the Network window and paste the URL into ffmpeg or better avconv which understand the M3U8 format to download the stream. Example:

avconv -i http://ga.video.cdn.pbs.org/cove2.0/woodwrights-shop/e7b30a81-e9b6-4679-b829-13ca12424...-hls-800k.m3u8 wows3301800k.mp4

Disclaimer: this works in Ubuntu linux. It is probably the same in windows.

I am very happy with this procedure. For those that consider this piracy (I don't), consider that on a slow DSL line like mine, the only way to see these videos in high definition is to download the stream and replay it from the hard drive. On line playback from PBS is awful especially during network busy times.

[CristianoA]

PBS used RTMP last year. In 2013 they are using Adobe HDS streaming. This breaks up the video into hundreds of ten second files. There is a manifest file (.M3U8) file that lists all the (.TS) files that make up the video. You can find and copy the M3U8 URL by accessing the video in Firefox then before you click the forward button to start playing it, open a network debug window (Tools -> Web Developer -> Network). Click forward and then stop it as soon as it starts playing. You can then copy the URL from the Network window and paste the URL into ffmpeg or better avconv which understand the M3U8 format to download the stream. Example:

avconv -i http://ga.video.cdn.pbs.org/cove2.0/woodwrights-shop/e7b30a81-e9b6-4679-b829-13ca12424...-hls-800k.m3u8 wows3301800k.mp4

Disclaimer: this works in Ubuntu linux. It is probably the same in windows.

I am very happy with this procedure. For those that consider this piracy (I don't), consider that on a slow DSL line like mine, the only way to see these videos in high definition is to download the stream and replay it from the hard drive. On line playback from PBS is awful especially during network busy times.

or you can download it directly from site just change hls-800k.m3u8 to mp4-800k.mp4

http://ga.video.cdn.pbs.org/cove2.0/woodwrights-shop/e7b30a81-e9b6-4679-b829-13ca12424bad/2013-08-20-150756/hd-mezzanine-16x9/wows330143-16x9-mp4-800k.mp4

credits: chapun67

update: 2500k is the best quality

[chapun67]

better

http://ga.video.cdn.pbs.org/cove2.0/woodwrights-shop/e7b30a81-e9b6-4679-b829-13ca12424bad/2013-08-20-150756/hd-mezzanine-16x9/wows330143-16x9-mp4-1200k.mp4

[wb8nbs]

Wow thanks for the tips. Trying a 2500 D/L now. 800 was the highest resolution listed in the network capture.

[chapun67]

update: 2500k is the best quality

[MarkSawSust]

I too am attempting to capture PBS programming and I'm almost there. I have successfully been able to create a mp4 file using ffmpeg on the m3u8 file mentioned above. However, I am unable to discover the reference to the m3u8 file using the development tools for Firefox, Chrome or Safari.

Any tips for determining the m3u8 url name would be appreciated. I am running MacOS.

Or, has PBS changed their streaming techniques again?

MG

[jimdagys]

ChristianoA.

I was able to download the below video no problem when I just pasted into Firefox browser and download dialogue box comes up . Can you tell me with detailed screenshots how you were able to get the below link? I want to learn how to download the PBS Nature programs. What I find interesting is that (due to poor internet connection) I can barely access PBS website, and certainly cannot watch anything that plays smoothly from their website, but I can download the below video with no problem.

http://ga.video.cdn.pbs.org/cove2.0/woodwrights-shop/e7b30a81-e9b6-4679-b829-13ca12424...9-mp4-800k.mp4

[MarkSawSust]

ChristianoA.

I was able to download the below video no problem when I just pasted into Firefox browser and download dialogue box comes up . Can you tell me with detailed screenshots how you were able to get the below link? I want to learn how to download the PBS Nature programs. What I find interesting is that (due to poor internet connection) I can barely access PBS website, and certainly cannot watch anything that plays smoothly from their website, but I can download the below video with no problem.

http://ga.video.cdn.pbs.org/cove2.0/woodwrights-shop/e7b30a81-e9b6-4679-b829-13ca12424...9-mp4-800k.mp4

Hi. You're asking pretty much the same thing I asked above. However, detailed screen shots will probably not help here. Getting the address of the m3u8 file requires a bit of development knowledge. There are many ways of getting this file location. All will differ depending on what operating system and browser.

My question was, is the process listed a few month ago still valid? I've been checking the Network 'Gets' using various browser development tools and I have failed to see any references to a m3u8 file. I see a reference to a mp4 file but it is the 30 second ad PBS places before the show.

MG

[denobisipsis]

Try http://www.mediafire.com/download/bzco2zpfeep2gsd/a3toMP4v15.2.exe, which works for pbs.

[CristianoA]

ChristianoA.

I was able to download the below video no problem when I just pasted into Firefox browser and download dialogue box comes up . Can you tell me with detailed screenshots how you were able to get the below link? I want to learn how to download the PBS Nature programs. What I find interesting is that (due to poor internet connection) I can barely access PBS website, and certainly cannot watch anything that plays smoothly from their website, but I can download the below video with no problem.

http://ga.video.cdn.pbs.org/cove2.0/woodwrights-shop/e7b30a81-e9b6-4679-b829-13ca12424...9-mp4-800k.mp4

Hi. You're asking pretty much the same thing I asked above. However, detailed screen shots will probably not help here. Getting the address of the m3u8 file requires a bit of development knowledge. There are many ways of getting this file location. All will differ depending on what operating system and browser.

My question was, is the process listed a few month ago still valid? I've been checking the Network 'Gets' using various browser development tools and I have failed to see any references to a m3u8 file. I see a reference to a mp4 file but it is the 30 second ad PBS places before the show.

MG

hi i'm using two addons for firefox

user agent switcher install it and change user agent to iPhone 3.0
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/user-agent-switcher/

and for urls sniffing i'm using adblock plus
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/adblock-plus/

[MarkSawSust]

CristianoA,
Thanks! It seems to be just what I needed!

MG

[jimdagys]

denobisipsis,
I downloaded the software you linked, but was unable to figure out how to use it. Can you give some instructions with screenshots?
Useful would be to use an actual pbs program as an example and show how to download it with your software.

[MarkSawSust]

denobisipsis,
I downloaded the software you linked, but was unable to figure out how to use it. Can you give some instructions with screenshots?
Useful would be to use an actual pbs program as an example and show how to download it with your software.

I googled that .exe file and could only see references to it in a Google+ page in a non-Englidh language. These days you have to be careful what you run on your computer. I ignored it and decided not to download it. My apologies to denobisipsis if I miscalculated.

MG

[monkeyhouserodge]

Okay, I'm having trouble finding the reference for the m3U8 on this video. Somebody show me what I am missing, tried it in both chrome and ff. Here is the link to the video:

http://video.mpt.tv/video/2358829766/

[MarkSawSust]

Okay, I'm having trouble finding the reference for the m3U8 on this video. Somebody show me what I am missing, tried it in both chrome and ff. Here is the link to the video:

http://video.mpt.tv/video/2358829766/

Try starting with this URL:

http://video.pbs.org/video/2358829766/

[monkeyhouserodge]

Thanks. I still am not seeing any reference to the actual file location though. I'll keep looking.

[MarkSawSust]

Thanks. I still am not seeing any reference to the actual file location though. I'll keep looking.

If you follow CristianoA's instructions from March 30, you'll find it.

[blimey]

Thanks. I still am not seeing any reference to the actual file location though. I'll keep looking.

You're using firefox with adblock+ and the user agent setting? It shows straight away.

[monkeyhouserodge]

My mistake, forgot the second plugin. Can I just use firefox to download the mp4, or is ffmpeg/aconv the only way to get the file?

[MarkSawSust]

Thanks. I still am not seeing any reference to the actual file location though. I'll keep looking.

You're using firefox with adblock+ and the user agent setting? It shows straight away;

http://ga.video.cdn.pbs.org/videos/mpt-specials/1360e168-b762-4560-8d2f-62ac3c09b956/20005/hd-mezzanine-16x9/Our_Town_Cumberland-16x9-mp4-2500k.mp4

Blimey,
How did you get the high-res version (2500k)? When I run the above, I get the low-res version (800k).

http://ga.video.cdn.pbs.org/videos/mpt-specials/1360e168-b762-4560-8d2f-62ac3c09b956/20005/hd-mezzanine-16x9/Our_Town_Cumberland-16x9-hls-64-800k.m3u8

[MarkSawSust]

My mistake, forgot the second plugin. Can I just use firefox to download the mp4, or is ffmpeg/aconv the only way to get the file?

I use ffmpeg.