can't save as quicktime file? why not?

[kevs]

I got quicktime Pro, one , well only main reason was for the little arrow on the right which provided dropdown to save as quicktime file, movies I see on web.

But some come up, play, and the dropdown is grayed out? why? thanks!

[Case]

Some content providers don't want the website visiters to download their clips and use an authoring setting that prohibits the save as option in the dropdown menu. Or prohibits other manipulations. Welcome to the wonderful world of DRM.

Unless it's true streaming this save-as setting may prove futile. If the disk cache is used, then the clip already has been downloaded.

[kevs]

thanks Case that was I was thinking. please let me know what true streaming means in your definition, and streaming means you cannot download clip as well, correct? also disk cache, if you can let me know what that means-- appreciate it!

[Case]

(True) streaming video i.m.o. means serving as many frames as the bandwidth allows up to the captured maximum. This in turn means that what you receive may not be complete: sometimes a few frames may be missing due to arriving too late, and the player just skips these. E.g. live content. This streaming video normally won't end up in a cache.

Then there is semi-streaming, which can start playing before the file is completely downloaded. E.g. trailers from Apple's site. These clips normally are complete files when finished and normally do end up in the cache. If you play the clip again, then the player can present the content once more without downloading again: the player uses the file in cache that time.

Your computer is full of caches. Your CPU has a cache built-in for recently used items, your hard disk has a cache built-in, the OS has a cache on disk (part of virtual memory) and in RAM, and many programs also have a cache on disk (and often in RAM memory too).
It's the disk cache of programs that's of interest here.

Browsers have a disk cache. A special file or folder where just about everything viewed in the browser gets saved for a set period. If you visit the same page twice, the second viewing is faster, because the content is local (on your hard disk). Video is a separate issue, as it is not handled by the browser, but by the player, often QuickTime. QuickTime also uses a cache.

QuickTime makes it quite difficult to extract files from the it's cache, as it changes the file itself. E.g. the Vitus trailer (vitus-h.ref.mov) gets cached as /Users/username/Library/Caches/QuickTime/downloads/13/12/dc56fc10-20b8f364-3702bbce-acee1ee7.qtch with an added 655 bytes and more altered bytes (it is the only cache file with the right timestamp and approximate file size).

So, while the content is there, there may be an easier way to get what you want (the clip) in a playable form.

Enter Firefox. One of the popular add-ons is the VideoDownloader. A status bar icon to access any video on a page with a download link. Control-click the link, choose Save Link As, and you can easily download from most video websites, without spitting through the source code.

[kevs]

thanks Case, interesting stuff.
How did you now that was the cache for the vitus trailer?

funny, I found it, but it would not play, also notice that vitus save as qt movie grayed out.

Saying that in Firefox this will allow you to download many web videos that would be undowloadable in Safari?

I just started a film website with QT clips -- geared for high end directory community. no reason to stream, correct? any opinon on presenting video on web for people

[dcsos]

Web video streaming for the most popular sources now relys on ADOBE FLASH
its not stricly only a VIDEO but video embedded with FLASH & JAVA combined.
This is downloadable via the plug in mentioned.
It's not free however its a $40.00 tool
and there's no guarantee the sites won't make it dysfunctional soon!
https://applian.securesites.com/order_RCAT.php?page_tag=none&referral=VideoDownload&

[kevs]

thanks G, what does that mean,

"ites won't make it dysfunctional soon!"

[kevs]

PS so your verdict? just keep it way I have it set up, with clickable links that download? I tell you if you are on mac it seems instant and most people who are in biz (commercial prod) are QT ready

[dcsos]

What I mean is sites may opt to rewrite thier interface such that the product you buy ceases to function!!