Downloading or Copying Video From History Channel?

[brispuss]

Trying to download this video.

Problem is this video can't be watched, probably because I'm on a slow internet connection, I only get the sound with no images.

Tried several download managers such as -

Tube Digger
IDM
AllMyTube
FLVGrabber
VideoDownloader

plus a couple of other generic downloaders.

Don't think I can use real-time "capture" software as I'm on a slow connection (so I only receive audio, and no images), so I have to download this video somehow instead.

I understand this site uses some sort of download prevention code, so it may not be possible to download this video (easily)?

Is it possible to download this video, and how please?

[biezom]

hi

the site use hls protocol (.m3u8)

you can use Adblock plus Addon on firefox to find the m3u8 link

and use livestreamer to download the content








then

livestreamer "hlsvariant://LINK-FOUND-WITH-ADBLOCK-PLUS" best -o Gyratory-Rock-Crushers.ts

livestreamer "hlsvariant://https://os-vh.akamaihd.net/i/AE,001/AETN-History_VMS/History_MM_Gyratory_Rock_Crusher_SF_S3_64,001/AETN-History_VMS/History_MM_Gyratory_Rock_Crusher_SF_S3_1800,001/AETN-History_VMS/History_MM_Gyratory_Rock_Crusher_SF_S3_1300,001/AETN-History_VMS/History_MM_Gyratory_Rock_Crusher_SF_S3_1000,TN-History_VMS/History_MM_Gyratory_Rock_Crusher_SF_S3_700_2,TN-History_VMS/History_MM_Gyratory_Rock_Crusher_SF_S3_400_2,TN-History_VMS/History_MM_Gyratory_Rock_Crusher_SF_S3_200_2,TN-History_VMS/History_MM_Gyratory_Rock_Crusher_SF_21152116_S3_100,.mp4.csmil/master.m3u8?__b__=400&hdnea=st=1453450579~exp=1453461409~acl=/i/AE*~hmac=831e540447b1a08a6378a0da4df6ab196e7db2deb79f3e9d0ca498ad0df29361&set-cc-attribute=CC" best -o Gyratory-Rock-Crushers.ts

[cli][info] Available streams: 53k (worst), 180p, 252p, 288p, 360p, 404p (best)
[cli][info] Opening stream: 404p (hls)
[download][Gyratory-Rock-Crushers.ts] Written 35.9 MB (34s @ 1.1 MB/s)          [cli][info] Stream ended

[jimdagys]

Biezom,
Thanks, I was able to follow your clear directions and download the video. Though I have no interest in the video, it is very useful as a learning tool to be able to download different protocols.
Question: How can I vary the code to choose a different (lower) resolution? In other words, how can I see and then choose from all available resolutions?

[ponens]

Trying to download this video.

Tried several download managers such as -
IDM

IDM does detect it. Try firefox broswer if it doesn't detect it using chrome broswer. Set agent to android to get 720p (718p) http progressive url. History_MM_Gyratory_Rock_Crusher_SF_S3_2500.mp4

[brispuss]

biezom, many thanks for the detailed instructions for downloading videos!

I followed the procedure exactly, except where I changed the livestream options from "best -o Gyratory-Rock-Crushers.ts" to "worst -o GC.ts". So I just changed the video resolution to the lowest resolution as a test, and changed the file name (to "GC.ts").

livestream seemed to download the video OK, but when playing the video ("GC.ts") back using VLC Player, there is audio ONLY. There are no video images at all being played!? What is wrong?

Maybe because I'm on a slow (dialup) connection??

Yes, IDM detects the video, but is unable to download it. IDM gives an error message like - "IDM cannot download this protected stream for legal reasons. The download of such streams is not supported because IDM may not bypass the technological measures which are made for the protection of audio, video and data content".

Thanks for the link to a copy of the mp4 video. But if I'm wanting to download other videos from history channel, and from other similar sites, then some means has to be found for me to do so reliably and consistently.

So what is wrong with the livestream download? Any suggestions please?

[ponens]

So I just changed the video resolution to the lowest resolution as a test, and changed the file name (to "GC.ts").

livestream seemed to download the video OK, but when playing the video ("GC.ts") back using VLC Player, there is audio ONLY. There are no video images at all being played!? What is wrong?

The "worst" (53k) stream is an audio-only stream.
{Available streams: 53k (worst), 180p, 252p, 288p, 360p, 404p (best)}

If you want the "worst" stream that also includes video, use "180p" rather than "best" or "worst".

Yes, IDM detects the video, but is unable to download it. IDM gives an error message like - "IDM cannot download this protected stream for legal reasons. The download of such streams is not supported because IDM may not bypass the technological measures which are made for the protection of audio, video and data content".

Did you read (and apply) the third sentence of my last post? If you can't do it, then you can just stay with the lower quality hls streams. Since you want lower quality anyway, you don't need to access the android streams.

[brispuss]

So "worst" quality is audio only. Actually I had some suspicion that this might be the case.

Another reason why I didn't attempt downloading using the "best" option is that file size is around 35 MB I believe. Now as I'm on dialup, it would take up to two hours to download this video (assuming there were no interruptions/disconnections). Now during this time it is possible there would be interruptions, and the downloads do not resume I understand, so the video would have to be redownloaded from the start again. This video may have to be attempted to be downloaded several times until the download is successful. Not the best of situations as this could take many hours.

As asked by jimdagys in post #3, apart from "worst" and "best" options, how does one select different video resolutions while using livestream?

EDIT: By experimenting, it seems that by entering the required video resolution to download in pixels instead of "worst" or "best" will enable the wanted video at the wanted resolution to be downloaded. So if wanting 180 pixels, 180p would be entered in place of worst or best.

I tried downloading the video using livestreamer and selected the resolution as 180 pixels (180p). Livestreamer started to process the download, but stopped with error message -

"[cli][error] Failed to read data from stream: Read timeout" and then "(timed out)".

Tried several times to download this video at 180p resolution but livestreamer failed every time with the above error messages!

Suspect that because I'm on a slow internet connection, data wasn't being downloaded fast enough (for livestreamer), with the download being stopped. So it seems livestreamer may not be useful for me after all(?)

Regarding IDM, the comment . . ." Set agent to android to get 720p (718p) http progressive url" . .in post #4 was noted but it is not quite clear what and how this is done in IDM (despite looking at IDM options).

So in theory IDM could still download videos from history (and other similar) channel(s) provided certain settings have been made in IDM first? If so, what in detail are those IDM settings please?

[ponens]

"Worst" isn't always audio-only for every possible hls playlist, but it is audio-only in the case of your particular example.

Using dial-up to download videos from history.com is bound to consume a sizable chunk of your time. Are you really up for a new full-time hobby? I'd rather go down in a plane crash than embark on the adventure you're contemplating.

If you really have that much spare time and can't be talked out of it, you can download the hls segments in pieces and then assemble them later. For the lowest quality, the segments are about 700k-1mb each. There is quite a learning curve in doing this; you first download the hls playlist (master.m3u8), then examine it and find and download the index playlist for the desired quality, then from the index file you can get a list of all the segment urls. There is more to it than just that, and there are also pitfalls aplenty (the auth on the urls expires, for one thing). After you get all of the segments and the key file downloaded, they can be assembled using ffmpeg.

Forget about IDM and the android streams. They are too big and the auth would expire before you could ever finish downloading them.

[ponens]

As asked by jimdagys in post #3, apart from "worst" and "best" options, how does one select different video resolutions while using livestreamer?

My prior post contained the answer to this question;

-----
{Available streams: 53k (worst), 180p, 252p, 288p, 360p, 404p (best)}

If you want the "worst" stream that also includes video, use "180p" rather than "best" or "worst".
-----

If you don't understand, on the command line where you put "best" or "worst", you instead would put "180p", or "252p" or one of the other qualities.

[poisondeathray]

Do you live in the boonies / some rural area ? Many places have free wifi many times faster than dial up. Think of coffee shops, libraries, universities, fast food places, etc...

[jimdagys]

If you don't understand, on the command line where you put "best" or "worst", you instead would put "180p", or "252p" or one of the other qualities.

I substituted
180p
for
best
ie (see 180p near end of code),

livestreamer "hlsvariant://https://os-vh.akamaihd.net/i/AE,001/AETN-History_VMS/History_MM_Gyratory_Rock_Crusher_SF_S3_1800,001/AETN-History_VMS/History_MM_Gyratory_Rock_Crusher_SF_S3_1300,001/AETN-History_VMS/History_MM_Gyratory_Rock_Crusher_SF_S3_1000,TN-History_VMS/History_MM_Gyratory_Rock_Crusher_SF_S3_700_2,TN-History_VMS/History_MM_Gyratory_Rock_Crusher_SF_S3_400_2,TN-History_VMS/History_MM_Gyratory_Rock_Crusher_SF_S3_200_2,TN-History_VMS/History_MM_Gyratory_Rock_Crusher_SF_21152116_S3_100,001/AETN-History_VMS/History_MM_Gyratory_Rock_Crusher_SF_S3_64,.mp4.csmil/master.m3u8?__b__=400&hdnea=st=1453566109~exp=1453576939~acl=/i/AE*~hmac=8fc9ee208fc4f1eb579bbd121bc0fe2af9f3d7a3afffab9e23388ce49a7772c1&set-cc-attribute=CC" 180p -o video.ts

and was able to download the video in a much smaller file size.

[brispuss]

Broadband and I think Wi-Fi is available here. But owing to extremely limited income, I can't afford a broadband connection and can't afford any hardware/software that may be required to connect to a Wi-Fi network. I don't have any Wi-Fi capable hardware.

Finally managed to download the video at 180 pixel resolution using Firefox with the Ad Block Plus add-on (which provided the video link address), copying and then pasting the link address into TubeDigger. TubeDigger successfully downloaded the 180p video!

But it was found that this video is a shortened version of a video I had already downloaded from YouTube previously! Not all is lost. I can now download from history channel (and similar sites, presumably) any videos of interest in the future.

Unfortunately livestreamer doesn't seem to work/download properly for me, probably due to my slow dialup connection, so it has been uninstalled.

[miked76]

You can try ChrisPC VideoTube Downloader:
http://downloadvideo.how/video-downloader/history-com-download-videos-tv-series.html

[ponens]

Finally managed to download the video at 180 pixel resolution using Firefox with the Ad Block Plus add-on (which provided the video link address), copying and then pasting the link address into TubeDigger. TubeDigger successfully downloaded the 180p video!

But it was found that this video is a shortened version of a video I had already downloaded from YouTube previously!

The full-length clip that is inclusive of the gyratory rock crusher segment is still 106mb for the smallest 180p video.

106mb probably takes many-hours to download on dialup.

[brispuss]

You can try ChrisPC VideoTube Downloader:
http://downloadvideo.how/video-downloader/history-com-download-videos-tv-series.html

Thanks for the suggestion!

I tried using the trial professional version of this downloader (the free version of this downloader is limited to lower resolution files, amongst other things), but on installing, it tried to download an extra file which failed to complete downloading on every attempt! In the end I gave up on this downloader.

[brispuss]

Finally managed to download the video at 180 pixel resolution using Firefox with the Ad Block Plus add-on (which provided the video link address), copying and then pasting the link address into TubeDigger. TubeDigger successfully downloaded the 180p video!

But it was found that this video is a shortened version of a video I had already downloaded from YouTube previously!

The full-length clip that is inclusive of the gyratory rock crusher segment is still 106mb for the smallest 180p video.

106mb probably takes many-hours to download on dialup.

Actually the video I downloaded previously from You Tube is in flv format, 39.5 MB size, 320 x 240 resolution, and runs for about 16 minutes. The part relating to the gyratory crusher runs for about 8 minutes. Downloading took approximately 2 and a half hours.

Downloading from You Tube usually results in downloads frequently pausing and then continuing. These frequent pauses makes downloading from You Tube take longer compared to downloading similar sized files from other sites where pauses rarely occur. This frequent pausing is a major irritation!!

[ponens]

Actually the video I downloaded previously from You Tube is in flv format, 39.5 MB size, 320 x 240 resolution, and runs for about 16 minutes. The part relating to the gyratory crusher runs for about 8 minutes. Downloading took approximately 2 and a half hours.

Downloading from You Tube usually results in downloads frequently pausing and then continuing.

What method do you use to download from youtube?

The 106 MB clip (that includes the gyratory rock crusher segment) on history (in 180p) runs 45:12 in total (world's biggest machines 4). The same clip in 720p is 848 MB. Downloading the full 45:12 clip in 180p from history would probably take you over 7 hours.

[brispuss]

Actually the video I downloaded previously from You Tube is in flv format, 39.5 MB size, 320 x 240 resolution, and runs for about 16 minutes. The part relating to the gyratory crusher runs for about 8 minutes. Downloading took approximately 2 and a half hours.

Downloading from You Tube usually results in downloads frequently pausing and then continuing.

What method do you use to download from youtube?

The 106 MB clip (that includes the gyratory rock crusher segment) on history (in 180p) runs 45:12 in total (world's biggest machines 4). The same clip in 720p is 848 MB. Downloading the full 45:12 clip in 180p from history would probably take you over 7 hours.

I use IDM by itself to download most videos.

The clip I downloaded from You Tube is entitled "Extreme Machinery Chain Trencher and Gyratory Crusher" and runs for 16 minutes and 10 seconds.

[Anonymous]

hi

the site use hls protocol (.m3u8)

you can use Adblock plus Addon on firefox to find the m3u8 link

and use livestreamer to download the content





[Attachment 35314 - Click to enlarge]



then

livestreamer "hlsvariant://LINK-FOUND-WITH-ADBLOCK-PLUS" best -o Gyratory-Rock-Crushers.ts

livestreamer "hlsvariant://https://os-vh.akamaihd.net/i/AE,001/AETN-History_VMS/History_MM_Gyratory_Rock_Crusher_SF_S3_64,001/AETN-History_VMS/History_MM_Gyratory_Rock_Crusher_SF_S3_1800,001/AETN-History_VMS/History_MM_Gyratory_Rock_Crusher_SF_S3_1300,001/AETN-History_VMS/History_MM_Gyratory_Rock_Crusher_SF_S3_1000,TN-History_VMS/History_MM_Gyratory_Rock_Crusher_SF_S3_700_2,TN-History_VMS/History_MM_Gyratory_Rock_Crusher_SF_S3_400_2,TN-History_VMS/History_MM_Gyratory_Rock_Crusher_SF_S3_200_2,TN-History_VMS/History_MM_Gyratory_Rock_Crusher_SF_21152116_S3_100,.mp4.csmil/master.m3u8?__b__=400&hdnea=st=1453450579~exp=1453461409~acl=/i/AE*~hmac=831e540447b1a08a6378a0da4df6ab196e7db2deb79f3e9d0ca498ad0df29361&set-cc-attribute=CC" best -o Gyratory-Rock-Crushers.ts

[cli][info] Available streams: 53k (worst), 180p, 252p, 288p, 360p, 404p (best)
[cli][info] Opening stream: 404p (hls)
[download][Gyratory-Rock-Crushers.ts] Written 35.9 MB (34s @ 1.1 MB/s)          [cli][info] Stream ended

[Attachment 35315 - Click to enlarge]

Thanks for that very instructional. Op please excuse me jumping in your thread

[hemstock]

I tried the trick with livestreamer and I get an error (403 Client Error: Forbidden)

With IDM I get a similar error



Is there anything I can do to download the file? File is M3U8 file which links to TS files. Fwiw the site I'm trying to download from is a VOD streaming only service from a site that I am a subscriber on. So it would make sense giving forbidden error on livestreamer.

[Anonymous]

I tried the trick with livestreamer and I get an error (403 Client Error: Forbidden)

With IDM I get a similar error


[Attachment 41822 - Click to enlarge]

Is there anything I can do to download the file? File is M3U8 file which links to TS files. Fwiw the site I'm trying to download from is a VOD streaming only service from a site that I am a subscriber on. So it would make sense giving forbidden error on livestreamer.

What are you trying to download?

[ponens]

...

[redwudz]

hemstock's posts are a violation of our rules as they request help on DL'ing copyrighted material from a paid site.
They have been moved to a separate topic and closed. Please read our rules before posting.

Moderator redwudz

[hemstock]

My apologies.