Source : mashable.com
There are billions of hours of video on YouTube, literally. And that’s hardly the most astounding statistic about the site, which has been the go-to destination for uploading and watching videos online since 2005. That said, sometimes you really want or need to have one of those videos on your own computer or phone. But when the topic of downloading YouTube videos comes up, there’s a side subject that must be broached: Is it legal?
On the copyright front, as long as you’re downloading a video for your own personal offline use, you’re probably okay. It’s more black and white when you consider Google’s terms of service for YouTube, which read: “You are not allowed to…access, reproduce, download, distribute, transmit, broadcast, display, sell, license, alter, modify or otherwise use any part of the Service or any Content except: (a) as expressly authorized by the Service; or (b) with prior written permission from YouTube and, if applicable, the respective rights holders.”
To read the original post in PC Mag, click here.
Watching YouTube videos offline through unofficial channels takes money from Google and video creators. There’s a reason YouTube runs ads: People make a living this way.
Obviously, stealing videos from YouTube is a big no-no. If you want to share a video, YouTube and most other video sites make it easy, from embedding to emailing to sharing via social networks. You simply do not need to download a video most of the time.
But you have your reasons. If you must download a YouTube video—absolutely need to, just for yourself, and not for dissemination, and not to be a jerk—here’s how.
Note: This story is updated frequently, as the tools involved change regularly. Some of those changes are not always pleasant, such as software so full of “extras,” it gets flagged as malware by antivirus tools. The same goes for the helper websites—a change in a site’s ad network can also create issues with malware.
To prevent this from becoming a laundry list of programs and sites that can download YouTube videos, we came up with a few rules for inclusion. Services must:
Work with the top three video sites: YouTube, Facebook, and Vimeo.
Download entire playlists or channels in a batch (on YouTube), at least with a paid version.
Output to MP3 for audio (or offer companion software that does so).
Have an interface that doesn’t suck.
Not collect your personal data beyond your email address.
Not contain malware. If there’s even a whiff of it, even a PUP, it’s out.
The programs, services, and sites in this story are all free of spam and virus problems as of this writing, but caveat emptor—let the buyer beware. (Especially if you’re not really buying.)
How to download YouTube Premium videos
Now available for subscribers of YouTube Premium — the paid version of YouTube that allows you to watch without ads—are video downloads—kind of. There’s one limitation with quality: All the video you download is limited to 1080p quality max or lower. No 4K.
The biggest issue is, this feature doesn’t really download a video to save on your computer forever. It is more akin to the download feature found on mobile apps for Netflix and Hulu, which makes a streaming video available to watch later using your local storage using the app’s interface only. This is not a method that allows you to, say, watch a video using different software such as the VLC Media Player or Plex.
You access the download by going to the YouTube hamburger menu and selecting Downloads to view the list of what you’ve grabbed. The page says “Downloads remain available as long as your device has an active internet connection at least once every 30 days.” This probably isn’t exactly what you are looking for in a download; read on for tools that are a better fit.
Using desktop software for downloading
Third-party software is what will give you the best control over downloading online videos. Typically, you paste the URL for the YouTube video you want into the program, and it downloads the highest-quality version it can find. For videos in 1080p high definition (HD) format, that’s usually an MP4 file. For anything higher in quality—4K or 8K—the file format is typically MKV.
In the past, YouTube videos were Flash-based, so your download was an FLV file, but those tend to be harder to play back. MP4 (short for MPEG-4 Part 14 multimedia format) files can play anywhere
Note that the MKV file, also called a Matroska, is a container—the file could contain video utilizing any number of codecs inside. The foolproof way to play them all is to use the VLC Media Player for Windows, which plays everything. (Read more about it below.) As for the downloaders, here are the best options.
VLC Media Player
Free; Windows, macOS, Linux
VLC Media Player is a fantastic tool for Windows, Mac, and Linux users that plays back just about any media ever created. It also has the ability to download YouTube videos, albeit in a convoluted way. (If you run into any problems, try a full re-install of VLC and clear your cache to make it work.)
Copy a URL from a YouTube video, then open up VLC. From the Media menu, select Open Network Stream (Ctrl+N) and paste in the URL. Click Play. When the video is playing, go to Tools > Codec Information. There is a box at the bottom called “Source” — copy the URL you find in that box.
Comments