Download YouTube Videos as MP4 Files
An interesting side-effect of YouTube’s recent is that most videos can be downloaded as MP4 files directly from YouTube. Until now, you could only get FLV files from your browser’s cache or using one of the many websites that let you has more detailed instructions.
When you want to download a YouTube video, click on the bookmarklet and you should see a new option below the embeddable code.
Because YouTube doesn’t send the right MIME type, you shouldn’t click on the download link. Right-click and select “save link as” or “save target as” and enter a proper name for the video. Make sure to use the .mp4 extension when you enter the filename.
Having to click on the bookmarklet is annoying, so is a better alternative because it adds the download link automatically. It requires , so you only need to go to Tools > Preferences > Advanced > Content > JavaScript options, select the directory where you will put your script and copy the script to that directory.
YouTube’s MP4 files have a higher resolution, stereo sound and can be played with applications like , , . Not all YouTube videos can be downloaded as MP4 files and the fallback format is FLV.
Note that YouTube’s terms of use require you “not to access User Submissions or YouTube Content through any technology or means other than the video playback pages of the Website itself, the YouTube Embeddable Player, or other explicitly authorized means YouTube may designate,” so these scripts could break YouTube’s policies. The scripts only download files that are used by YouTube’s player, so you may also find the videos in your browser’s cache.
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