keepvid.com and their new "high quality" download tool

[snafubaby]

For those who have frequented this site, it is good to download youtube videos, as well as myspace videos, and lots of other sites. Up until about a month or so ago, it would allow you just to download a video, if it was a flash video (.flv extension). NOW, it allows you to download flash (they call it low quality), and also, they allow you to download videos that are called high quality, by somehow encoding it in .mp4. Let's cut the b.s. though. NOTHING that is low quality can be made high quality. Nothing from youtube can be improved THAT much. I think that maybe, just maybe, the person or persons who run that site are trying to fool the ones that are not "in the know", when it comes to video conversions, which probably are most of the people who frequent it. Many people who are into video encoding, transfering, converting, etc. especially the ones who frequent Videohelp.com and similiar sites, will know that it's impossible to make a low quality video a high quality one, especially when it comes to flash videos. I think that they should have called it just a conversion.

Anyone have any thoughts?

[guns1inger]

Youtube has recently been allowing higher quality video to be uploaded. If this uses H.264 video in an FLV container, it would not be difficult for KeepVid to repackage the same video in an mp4 container to make it easier to play. Of course, this is all complete supposition on my part, as I have only a moderate to low interest in most youtube content.

[manono]

Anyone have any thoughts?

My understanding is that these so-called "high quality" FLVs from YouTube are created not from the low quality videos, but from the originally uploaded source videos which can, indeed, be of a higher quality. I'm not sure I'd dignify them by calling them "high quality", but if the ones they originally had are "low quality", then perhaps these are "mediocre quality".

[PuzZLeR]

I would say that keepvid.com probably found a way to get you to download the original uploaded source in the YouTube bank instead of the displayed version.

That would be my hunch if they're not misleading about "converting to a higher quality".

[Seeker47]

I don't believe I have ever seen any evidence that KeepVid.Com works, at all ! I've thrown dozens and dozens of video URLs at it, and it always comes up with ZILCH. So, I regard it as a complete waste of time, and am turning to other tools, instead.

[PuzZLeR]

I don't believe I have ever seen any evidence that KeepVid.Com works, at all ! I've thrown dozens and dozens of video URLs at it, and it always comes up with ZILCH. So, I regard it as a complete waste of time, and am turning to other tools, instead.

I had the same problem with other download urls that supposedly work, but waste my time too so I can relate. Cut-paste-link-download-nothing. Yeah, I understand.

Maybe it's our different browsers, or browser settings or maybe it has something to do with our networks or firewalls, etc. It could be anything.

[DarrellS]

When these sites first started up, you could get the original upload and then the sites discovered how to keep you from getting the original source files and force you to get the crap flv files by hiding the address to the source file in the script.

Some websites you can find both the supercompressed FLV and a higher quality WMV or other file type using UrlSnooper2 depending on the script of the site.

I am in the same boat with Keepvid. Most of the time it doesn't work for me. Not sure why. Seems like it used to work when it first came out. I was using dial-up back then and now I'm using cable internet and have a router with a firewall so that could be the problem, I don't know.

Both Orbit and UrlSnooper work well for me unless the script hides the address. I also use SBVCR and SDP Downloader for known addresses.

[k.]

[theewizard]

actually I have had pretty decent luck with keepvid, but i often try unplug or just the firfox tools 'page info' first because its faster

last year before getting unplug, i used keepvid to dl a whole bunch of stuff for my wife, i then converted it too 3g2 for her cell phone

she has her music and her videos on her verizon phone

[WishMaker]

I have 173 .flv files I've downloaded off youtube thru keepvid. I know, a lot, but after some favorites got pulled, I decided to keep some off line. Mostly music vids.

I haven't tried the mp4 option, because my hard drives are getting full. If I want to convert the .flv files to another format for better quality, I use an online converter. http://www.media-convert.com/ The conversion quality was MUCH better than I expected.

I tried it on one I uploaded to utoob. Ran it through Keepvid and converted it with media convert. I could barely tell the difference from the original, so maybe youtube has the original files, but what you see is low quality conversion??? A mystery for this 10 copies of for idiots books, but hey, I'll take it.

[DarrellS]

If I want to convert the .flv files to another format for better quality, I use an online converter.

Sorry but you can not convert low quality flv files to something else and increase the quality. Once the files have been ruined, there is no way to get the quality back.

[Johnson Nguyen]

Keepvid is alright. He's right though. I don't think or I haven't even see anything bad quality being converted to better quality. Think about all the equipment you see on the media. They can't enhance any footage that's gone bad no matter how badly it's needed.

[LOWTECH]

I have no trouble at all in downloading using KEEPVID.

The new MP4 format after doing a test was better quality than an FLV file after converting to a MPEG 2 for DVD.

Of course the final quality result depends as always with quality to start with.

I hope this is of help....... I am impressed with the improved quality of MP4 downloads compared to the FLV file downloads

[Xenogear900]

I love the High Quality format that KeepVid gives you, but I'm looking to download many many many videos. Is there any program that downloads the HIGH QUALITY videos (I guess from the YouTube Bank, NOT the displayed compressed crap)? There are like a billion youtube download programs out there and pretty much all do not download the high quality stuff! Preferably something with a batch download feature?

Please lemme know!

[ntscuser]

Where's it gone? Keepvid.com I mean.

I checked with justforme and there's no trace of it!

[manono]

Gone for me, too. Hope it's only temporary.

[LOWTECH]

http://keepvid.com/

No problem today

[ntscuser]

Thanks for the heads-up.

[aplsaws]

I have used keepvid.com to dl videos to iTunes and it seems to be hit and miss as far as quality is concerned, ... some dl's are complete some mysteriously cut off at some point and the rest of the file is silent. I tranfer thru garageband, cut the video track and export the audio to iTunes....anyone have any ideas whats going on? any tips?

[yoda313]

I would suggest using antbar for places like youtube. THat is what I use most of the time. For rtmpe sites I use stream transport with good results.

[Seeker47]

I would suggest using antbar for places like youtube. THat is what I use most of the time. For rtmpe sites I use stream transport with good results.

Orbit has generally worked for me with YT, but I just installed the Greasemonkey add-on to FireFox, and discovered the YousableTubeFix script for Greasemonkey. Too soon for me to say, but it looks promising.

[sluggie]

Have you tried the many other free web services out there like KeepVideo and HDDownloader?

[Seeker47]

Have you tried the many other free web services out there like KeepVideo and HDDownloader?

The first one was a total bust for me. But that was awhile ago -- have they changed ? Haven't tried the latter (or heard of it until your mention), but I will.

[sluggie]

Have you tried the many other free web services out there like KeepVideo and HDDownloader?

The first one was a total bust for me. But that was awhile ago -- have they changed ? Haven't tried the latter (or heard of it until your mention), but I will.

I have luck with both websites, though I usually use KeepVideo since I often download non-English videos and HDDownloader seems to have problems encoding/decoding file names when a video title contains Chinese characters, for instance. Also, there appears to be occasional quirks with both if you are working with Internet Explorer, but I use Mozilla Firefox most of the time and I have yet to encounter any problem.

[Bob740]

I may have missed something, but I use Xilisoft Video Converter to convert everything to .avi, even the flv files. Someway I got hooked into a IMAX which was blue ray, with a really weird extension. I pitched it in Xilisoft, and it converted to .avi.