converting Format 35 Youtube video to H.264 on Mac for iPod viewing

[Anonymous85454]

I have been using iSquint on my Mac to convert Youtube FLV videos to H.264 for viewing on my iPod. But iSquint does not work on the new Youtube default "high quality" video, which is Format 35. And iSquint is no longer being updated, which is a pity because it worked fantastically well!

Has anyone successfully converted Format 35 Youtube videos to H.264 on a Mac for iPod viewing using the tools on this forum?

Thank you for your time.

[rumplestiltskin]

If you point me to a specific video, I'll test it with the apps I use and report back.

[Anonymous85454]

rumplestiltskin,

Thank you for your offer. Please pick any Youtube video clip that has a "high quality" viewing option (Format 35) and let me know if your apps will successfully convert the Format 35 version of the clip. I believe that, if the conversion works on one clip, it will work on any other.

[Herve]

pick any Youtube video clip that has a "high quality" viewing option (Format 35)

Where did you fond this "Format 35" string? I just downloaded a HD file from youtube and the wrapper is flv, audio is aac and video h264 (this the "new" flv format introduced last year = flash player 10)
so, give a real link

PS: install Perian and iSquint (with decoder "QuickTime") will certainly be able to read it.

bye

[rumplestiltskin]

Yes, I see the "HQ35" designation when I DL the flv. Herve is correct; install Perian. I used MPEG Streamclip for the conversion. Many other apps will also work but MPEG Streamclip is free.

Edit: A number of the HD videos do not have that designation but are, nevertheless, HD. Hmmm. I use DownloadHelper (a FireFox extension) and, when I click the download popup menu it installs, the "HD35" prefix appears (or not). In either case, Perian and MPEG Streamclip will convert the video for you.

[Anonymous85454]

Thank you both for your replies! Being a relative newbie, I was not familiar with Perian and the need for it and will check it out. Then, I will try to convert with iSquint or MPEG Streamclip.

Sorry about the confusion re "high quality", HD, etc. My understanding is that Youtube clips uploaded with high enough specs have either a HQ (high quality, format 35) or HD (high definition, format 22) button to view the better quality version of the clip. Or you can manually append e.g. "&fmt=35" at the end of the initial URL to access the better quality version.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Youtube#Video_format

The specs on this wikipedia page can also help you identify the format of a downloaded file if you are uncertain of the format.

Again, your advice is very much appreciated!

[rumplestiltskin]

"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Youtube#Video_format"

Excellent link. Thanks. I didn't know the specs but was aware (and used) the "HQ" button. I might have seen an "HD" button, as well, but just didn't recognize it; let's call it situational blindness.

[Anonymous85454]

I tried out a number of converters last night. Here are the results. No guarantee that everything stated below is correct, however, as I am a relative newbie.

1. MPEG Streamclip

After installing Perian, MPEG Streamclip was able to open the Format 35 Youtube files and export them as MPEG-4 files without any problem. But I think that Video Monkey is a better choice, as explained below.

2. iSquint

After installing Perian, iSquint still was not able to convert the Format 35 files. Since it uses FFMPEG and not Quicktime for its decoding/encoding, I suppose this is expected. Herve seemed to recommend setting Quicktime as the decoder, but I could not figure out how to do this, and, in any case, I found that the Video Monkey conversion based on FFMPEG was better than a Quicktime-based conversion, again as explained below.

3. Video Monkey

I came across Video Monkey, which is a kind of successor product to iSquint produced by another developer after Techspansion closed its doors. It uses FFMPEG for decoding/encoding

http://videomonkey.org/Video_Monkey/About.html (also in the Tools section of videohelp)

I was a little hesitant to download it because it seemed to be in a beta-type phase. But it worked fine on the Format 35 files. Also, Video Monkey produced much smaller files compared to MPEG Streamclip, even though the parameters and visual quality were comparable. Also, the cooling fan on my Mac was going crazy with MPEG Streamclip, while Video Monkey did not elicit such an extreme reaction. So, I plan to go with Video Monkey for the time being.

bottom line conclusion (conversion to .mp4 for iPod viewing):

For Youtube Format 6 (pre Feb. 2009 format) or 35 (current default "high quality" format), use Video Monkey (iSquint also works for Format 6)

For Youtube Format 18 (old default "high quality" format), I think you can just add a .mp4 suffix to the cache file without doing any conversion, since the container is MPEG-4. But I think that running the file through Video Monkey (or iSquint) will reduce the file size. Not sure why.

[rumplestiltskin]

Thanks for the reminder about VideoMonkey. I'll give it a try for some of my projects.

[Cyrax9]

I have a couple of similar questions that tie into this topic so I'll post them here.

1. What program/programs can I use to download the "Format 35" or "Format 22" High-Quality/Hi-Definition *.flv videos? I currently have Flash Video Downloader 2, which works quite well with standard YouTube files, but seems to choke on High-Quality (Format 35) files if I remember correctly--I don't think I've tried it with "Format 22" videos.

2. Once I have the *.flv file converting a video for playback on the iPod is a piece of cake, but what if I want to preserve the original FLV file and play that instead; is this doable? I have a program called SWF & FLV player and I see no reason why it shouldn't play the "Format 35" and "Format 22" YouTube videos, but I just want to be sure. Correct me if I'm wrong, but shouldn't I also be able to open the FLV files using Adobe Flash CS3?

3. We all know, or all should know at least, that *.flv is a "wrapper" format; in other words it holds both a video codec and an audio codec. This might seem like a bit of an odd question, but is there a way that I could just "unwrap" the audio/video in the *.flv file and play them back on my Mac without any form of conversion? Basically, is there a way to take the original audio and video file from the *.flv and avoid converting them, (and subsequently lowering their quality) while still being able to play them back on my mac? I know I need to convert them for use with my iPod, but if I want to watch a video sitting at my computer, I'd prefer to avoid hitting it with more compression. As always, any help is appreciated, and I'm going to take a look at Perian since it sounds very useful.

[rumplestiltskin]

I use Download Helper - it's an add-on for Firefox. While it can do both the downloading and the converting, I just use it for DL'ing and use MPEG Streamclip (with Perian) to do the conversion.

Once you install Perian, QT Player will play the flv just fine.

[Herve]

…and Handbrake is a good (and free) converter for AppleTV, iPod, etc

[Smithcraft]

I use keepvid.com to download the "high quality" mp4. That way, I don't have to bother with converting it from flash to something more agreeable with my Macs.

I think the Greasemonkey plugin for FireFox will also let you download an HD file, if one is available.

SC