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Author Topic: Downloading videos from Youtube  (Read 9604 times)

Giampy

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Downloading videos from Youtube
« on: December 12, 2013, 07:30 AM »
Hail!
I'd like to know why the programs to download videos from Youtube can download videos having a resolution higher than the maximum one that Youtube shows.

As a simple example, in Youtube we may choose a maximum resolution of 360p but a download program can download even the video of 480p.
"A refrigerator without beer is like a body without soul"

tomos

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Re: Downloading videos from Youtube
« Reply #1 on: December 12, 2013, 03:19 PM »
DownloadHelper - addon for Firefox was recommended here.
I have it but use it so seldom I couldnt say much about it. The choice can be confusing at times, but it's usually easy enough to figure out the best option.

Screenshot - 2013-12-12 , 22_15_13.pngDownloading videos from Youtube

AFAIK WYSIWYG = if a high quality video is there on YouTube, you'll see it on the video itself.
I've never heard of "videos having a resolution higher than the maximum one that Youtube shows"
Tom

Giampy

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Re: Downloading videos from Youtube
« Reply #2 on: December 12, 2013, 04:09 PM »
I've never heard of "videos having a resolution higher than the maximum one that Youtube shows"

It happened to me more than once.
For example, on September, YoutubedownloaderHD and YTD downloaded two videos 360p while Youtube showed 240p as the maximum.
Yesterday it happened again with another video.
"A refrigerator without beer is like a body without soul"

tomos

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Re: Downloading videos from Youtube
« Reply #3 on: December 12, 2013, 04:31 PM »
I've never heard of "videos having a resolution higher than the maximum one that Youtube shows"

It happened to me more than once.
For example, on September, YoutubedownloaderHD and YTD downloaded two videos 360p while Youtube showed 240p as the maximum.
Yesterday it happened again with another video.

Interesting - haven't seen it myself. I have seen some of the options greyed out - I dont know if this is because YT is overloaded and blocks the higher quality versions - or if it decides that your connection isnt good enough to handle them.

Apologies - I see now that your OP question was why this is the case.
I'd like to know why the programs to download videos from Youtube can download videos having a resolution higher than the maximum one that Youtube shows.

As a simple example, in Youtube we may choose a maximum resolution of 360p but a download program can download even the video of 480p.
Tom

Giampy

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Re: Downloading videos from Youtube
« Reply #4 on: December 12, 2013, 05:09 PM »
I have seen some of the options greyed out - I dont know if this is because YT is overloaded and blocks the higher quality versions - or if it decides that your connection isnt good enough to handle them.

This is not my case. I have always seen that the maximum resolution in Youtube is always available and clickable. Nobody must think that my original question depends on grey items in Youtube.
"A refrigerator without beer is like a body without soul"

Curt

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Re: Downloading videos from Youtube
« Reply #5 on: December 12, 2013, 05:37 PM »
it would help a lot if you can supply us with a link to one of such videos.

 :tellme:

Deozaan

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Re: Downloading videos from Youtube
« Reply #6 on: December 12, 2013, 05:40 PM »
I've been using the YousableTubeFix for Chrome extension for quite some time and I think it's pretty good.

There's also dirpy. Or pwnyoutube. Take any YouTube URL and add "pwn" to the beginning of the domain. (and make sure you're not using https!)

e.g.:

http://www.youtube.c.../watch?v=MCdfkVyDvhQ

becomes

http://www.pwnyoutube.com/watch?v=MCdfkVyDvhQ

tomos

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Re: Downloading videos from Youtube
« Reply #7 on: December 12, 2013, 06:06 PM »
^ I think I led the way earlier deo, by missing the point of the OP.
Which is that some videos are downloadable in higher quality than the maximum one that Youtube shows.

But as Curt points out:
it would help a lot if you can supply us with a link to one of such videos.
 :tellme:
Tom

rgdot

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Re: Downloading videos from Youtube
« Reply #8 on: December 12, 2013, 06:08 PM »
Interesting - haven't seen it myself. I have seen some of the options greyed out - I dont know if this is because YT is overloaded and blocks the higher quality versions - or if it decides that your connection isnt good enough to handle them.

This has definitely happened to me. Whether or not youtube is making the choice, based on a hiccup in connection or something more accurate, is another question  :-\

tomos

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Re: Downloading videos from Youtube
« Reply #9 on: December 12, 2013, 06:16 PM »
Interesting - haven't seen it myself. I have seen some of the options greyed out - I dont know if this is because YT is overloaded and blocks the higher quality versions - or if it decides that your connection isnt good enough to handle them.

This has definitely happened to me. Whether or not youtube is making the choice, based on a hiccup in connection or something more accurate, is another question  :-\

I've usually seen this at peak times, which would argue for an overload somewhere along the line.
Tom

Giampy

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Re: Downloading videos from Youtube
« Reply #10 on: December 13, 2013, 07:39 AM »
it would help a lot if you can supply us with a link to one of such videos

I had already sent the data that Curt asked, then I have accidentally found the probable explanation of the matter.

I use Internet Explorer 8 and Youtube and Flash Player. I read the maximum values of resolution from such software.
Just now I have read those values by another source (not Flash Player. I believe the new format HTML5) and I have read greater values.
I think this is the explanation. I think Flash Player sucks...
"A refrigerator without beer is like a body without soul"
« Last Edit: December 13, 2013, 08:10 AM by Giampy »

tslim

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Re: Downloading videos from Youtube
« Reply #11 on: December 14, 2013, 02:19 AM »
I have been using Internet Download Manager for quite sometime. It is very good in downloading youtube video, you can easily select the resolution and video format that you prefer (if a video uploaded to youtube have multiple format and resolution).

Most importantly, whenever youtube make changes to its download mechanism, the author of IDM acts very promptly to come up with a new version to take care of youtube changes.

Shades

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Re: Downloading videos from Youtube
« Reply #12 on: December 15, 2013, 04:08 AM »
EagleGet is a desktop tool that acts as a downloadhelper in your browser, but it also can be used separately. It has a YouTube search and download function. It's free, so it might be a nice solution to your problem.

tomos

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Re: Downloading videos from Youtube
« Reply #13 on: December 15, 2013, 07:37 AM »
I think the main lesson of this thread is to make your thread title very clear and accurate ;)
Tom

Giampy

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Re: Downloading videos from Youtube
« Reply #14 on: December 15, 2013, 11:37 AM »
I think the main lesson of this thread is to make your thread title very clear and accurate ;)

I always care the title, but in this case I didn't know how to summarize the question.

Second lesson (for everyone): read carefully the message before answering! (I asked why... not how!)
"A refrigerator without beer is like a body without soul"

tomos

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Re: Downloading videos from Youtube
« Reply #15 on: December 15, 2013, 12:59 PM »
I think the main lesson of this thread is to make your thread title very clear and accurate ;)

I always care the title, but in this case I didn't know how to summarize the question.

Second lesson (for everyone): read carefully the message before answering! (I asked why... not how!)

yes, good point too :D
Tom

Shades

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Re: Downloading videos from Youtube
« Reply #16 on: December 15, 2013, 01:08 PM »
My bad, apparently skimming text is a skill I need to master still.  :-[

Simply said: most operating systems negotiate about the speed with which their network card can communicate to the next point, for most people that is the router/switch provided by their ISP. That device in turn negotiates the speed with which it can communicate with the servers from the ISP. And this goes on and on until the destination is reached. Often referred to as bandwidth.

Determination of the communication speed is a vital part to provide the best possible service with any streaming content being sent to the browser. There are many factors that have a negative effect on the communication speed and if I were Youtube there would be rules in place that would deliver the highest quality uninterrupted video stream possible to the browser, while keeping the load and bandwidth consumption on the Youtube servers as low as possible. Bandwidth cost serious money and Google is a business so the service needs to make money.

Scaling down the resolution from the original content to the resolution of the stream that is actually sent to your browser is easy and can be done fast. This is already quite fast on my old Core2Duo processor and Google has lots of way better hardware deployed just for this purpose.

Flash is used to show video's in a browser and does the same speed determination at the time of installation. Quite likely it is even more conservative in selecting the default resolution at this time. If you have problems with the Flash settings, they are easily enough adjusted in the Flash player itself. But if you feel too limited in the options there, let me tell you about an add-on for FireFox that doesn't care about these settings or the limitations that Google imposes on the video stream that is sent to the browser.

With plugin 'Youtube Center' you gain a lot of control back that Youtube and Flash have taken away from you with each new version.
Default resolution can be set permanently high, the 'Dash playback' functionality can be disabled (so the video keeps downloading till the end while it is paused) and lots more.

Also handy, the settings made with add-on can be stored in a file for backup purposes or to be applied when you install this add-on on a different FireFox instance, or Chrome, or Internet Explorer or Opera for that matter.

Once you figured out the settings that work best for your situation, you will enjoy Youtube a lot more. The add-on did that for me at least.