Sunday, 23 December 2012

How to Download a YouTube Video to Computer


Do you want to save a YouTube video on your computer to record it in a flash drive or hard drive and access it anytime, even when you have no Internet connection?

Actually, this topic was what I had in mind to write on next after the publishing of How to Unlock Stubborn Modems With Dc-Unlocker.

In this article, you will find quick and easy methods on how to download a YouTube video to computer (and other sites like Vimeo, MetaCafe and DailyMotion). They are options that work for anyone who uses Windows, Mac OS or Linux.

Check out the recommended steps to download any video from YouTube.

1 - Keepvid.com


One of the easiest ways on how to download a youtube video to computer is by pasting the URL of the video you want on the Keepvid.com site. This method is particularly attractive because it dispenses the user to install any program on your computer.

Copy the video link and paste it into the search field at Keepvid.com site. Then, simply click on the "download" button, located on the right side of the search field. Nevertheless, beware, as some advertisements with the message "Download Now" can trick the user and take you to an advertisements page. If you click in the right button, the video will load in Keepvid and the user will have the option to choose which format to save the file. The site generates videos with extensions 3GP, FLV, MP4 and WebM. Choose one of them (MP4 is the most commonly accepted format for video players) and click on "Download >> <<".

You can specify which directory you want to save the video (My Documents, for example) and the file will be saved on your computer. Important tip: the Keepvid is a software that works with "virtual machine" method, meaning that it only runs on machines with plug-in Java installed and updated. So, if your computer does not have Java's latest version, update it before trying to download.


2 - Voobys

Another service that lets you download YouTube videos without the need of installing software on the computer is the site Voobys.com. To download the file to your computer, just change the word "youtube" by the word "voobys" in the URL of the original video and visit the link changed.

Original Youtube Video URL:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=PctD-8y0FRg

Changed by:

www.voobys.com/watch?v=PctD-8y0FRg

When loading a modified URL, the site will ask you what format do you want to save the video and in which directory of your computer you will save it. Voobys website may take some time to convert the video, but at the end of the process, it will write the file correctly on your machine. Besides the traditional formats (such as MP4 and MPEG), the Voobys website lets you save files with FLV extension to run applications in Flash.

Like Keepvid, this site uses a Java application to convert and burn videos. Therefore, you must have Java's latest version installed on your machine.

3 - YouTube HD Transfer

YouTube HD Transfer is a program designed to download videos in high definition to your computer.

The method is very simple: just paste the link of the video you want from the program's initial tab and click "download". When you create a copy on your hard drive, the program will allow the user to choose the file definition (Full HD is 1080p) and choose the extension FLV or MP4.
One advantage of this software is that it allows you to copy the captions and tags in a separate file, which ensures much more quality to reproduce these characters on the TV. As HD files tend to be large, the download can be a bit time consuming, but the effort is very valid.

After all, when the process is complete you will have a high-definition movie to run on TV from home, transfer it to your tablet or run it on your computer without worrying about gagging, caused by the buffering of a streaming video.

You can download YouTube HD Transfer accessing this url: http://youtube-hd-transfer.en.softonic.com/

4 - Chrome YouTube Video Download

Fans of Google's browser can use the "Chrome YouTube Downloader" plug-in to download videos easily and quickly. Once installed the add-on into your browser, a download option shall be automatically displayed below each video you see on YouTube pages.

Then, just click download, choose the file extension (FLV, MP3 or MP4) and the download will be done.

You can download Chrome YouTube Downloader plug-in accessing this url: http://www.chromeextensions.org/utilities/chrome-youtube-downloader/

Now, you are no longer limited to only watching videos online and not being able to watch them offline. You are most welcome to comment below if you have more light to share on this topic.

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