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2.12.08

On Downloading Video from YouTube

As a teacher I frequently encounter videos on YouTube that I think would be great to use with students, but because of firewalls am unable to use directly from the web.

There are a number of ways that videos can be downloaded from YouTube to enable their use directly from your computer. I tend to use Zamzar, following the process described toward the end this post. I like Zamzar because

  • The site provides the facility for the video files to be converted and downloaded in a number of different formats. This is important as not all media players will play all file types.
  • When a file is ready, a link to the file is sent by email, allowing the file to be picked up and downloaded from school, within a 24 hour time period after reciept.
Today in my feeds this post by Tony Karrer, points to another option, a "bookmarklet" that can added to the links bar of Firefox, or added to favourites in IE, and then used to download YouTube Videos directly as mP4s, when visiting the host page. A nice tool and shortcut for anyone with Quick Time installed.

3 comments:

Paul C said...

I too have used Zamzar and am pleased with their prompt conversions. Then it's a snap to upload the video to a jump drive and use it in class when the opportunity arises.

Anonymous said...

try www.youconvertit.com

Two Whizzy said...

Thanks both. Will try out youconvertit later.