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  1. There is a very old joke but we all understand the meaning:

    How do you spell (any word)?
    Look it up in the dictionary.
    How can I look it up if I can't spell the word!


    I joined this forum trying to resolve a simple problem. When the problem was resolved,
    I didn't think I'd be returning in the near future. I'm glad I always save all passwords.

    Here is what I'm looking for:

    You go to a website with a long list of downloadable video files about marine life (dolphins,
    whales, etc.) Each title is a link to a file hosted by the site, or stored on file sharing servers.

    Is there an app that can identify the video format for each title without having to select
    and read the info for each title individually?

    Let's say the file title is "Happy Dolphins Playing." I can imagine an app that would pop-up
    a bubble when you hover the mouse pointer naming the video format like, wmv, mp4,
    rm, etc. If not that, maybe an app that would scan the titles and create a text file with
    the video format for each title. I'm just guessing. I don't know if anything like this exists!

    Someone with a nonprofit organization trying to save marine life asked me for help. I said
    "yes" but if I can't find a way to resolve this problem I'll make a donation and wish them
    a lot of luck.

    I'm a newbie here, but I always think about all the people who have been helped when
    they select Google links to excellent forums like this one. Thanks guys.
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  2. I'm a MEGA Super Moderator Baldrick's Avatar
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    Sweden
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    Mediainfo can scan folders and output a list with all video details.
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  3. VH Wanderer Ai Haibara's Avatar
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    Jan 2006
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    Somewhere on VideoHelp...
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    I think box-turtle's looking for a way to identify specific video details from download links on a webpage, but I could be wrong. MediaInfo wouldn't be much help with that, unfortunately.

    It would be able to help if you have file access to all the videos. But through webpage links? No.
    If cameras add ten pounds, why would people want to eat them?
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  4. I'm a MEGA Super Moderator Baldrick's Avatar
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    Sweden
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    I see. Then no.
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  5. Member DB83's Avatar
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    Jul 2007
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    United Kingdom
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    Of course the person who created the webpage could quite easily put this info as part of the link with the 'title' tag. Invisible until you mouse-over.

    The forum works like this (maybe a little more sophisticated) and you get info when you mouse-over a member's profile and get a preview of a post without opening the topic.
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  6. Member vhelp's Avatar
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    Mar 2001
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    New York
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    the only way to know for sure what format the video is in is to download it. actually, you don't have to download the complete video, just a small piece, enough to read (scan) it while it is still downloading, then you can stop the download if it is not the format you want.

    however, after finding out what the format is in the first download, it is probably safe to assume that the remaining list of videos in that group are in the same format and you can download the rest.

    but even if this was not entirely true, you could at least check each video as each download and determine if you want to keep it or skip it. but i don't know what software would give you the kind of ability to download groups of files and skip any one of them in real time. it would be best if you found a customized tool to download files that allow flagging (or cancelling) any number of files while it downloads (so you can verify them through a scan, ie, mediainfo) and cancel the download of that video and the program would continue to the next download, and so on. you will need to search for some kind of download manager, and review its features.
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  7. Thanks for the replies.

    I was trying to think of a forum to post about this subject. My first choice was a really huge pc support forum.
    No replies. In the early days of the web I was a software beta tester, so I tried thousands of apps. I didn't
    want to waste my time searching for something that probably didn't exist.

    Many times I think about a complex task that I'd like to simplify. I create my own scripts to automate
    hundreds of tedious jobs, so I was hoping that some genius figured a way to identify video formats from
    a list of website titles.

    It's incredible how a 30 minute video can vary in size depending on the format! I was hoping to find a lot
    of RealMedia files about marine life because a 30 minute RM video might be 100 mb. The same WMV video
    could be larger than 1000 mb (1 gb). It's easy enough to use a video converter (if needed) after the file is
    downloaded.

    I normally don't work for free, but the person who asked me for help has been a friend for thirty years.
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