If you’re like anyone else browsing the internet today, you have found that the number of videos that are made available for your viewing pleasure have been increasing at an explosive rate. You will also find that there are a ton of these videos that you would like to keep on your computer so that you can view them offline or on your media player (Zune, iPod, etc) when away from home.

The guide below will show you how to do just that. I have listed some of the programs and services available for you to download videos from different sources all over the internet, this includes YouTube, Google Video, MySpace, Facebook, and others.

If you have any tips or suggestions on other ways to download videos from the internet, please post them below and I will do my best to incorporate them in this article.

Note: The number of applications and services to download videos from the internet is constantly changing so I will do my best to update this article as often as possible.

Site #1 - iDesktop.tv

You can download any video on YouTube using iDesktop.tv, you simply go to the site and click on the download link. You are given the option to download that video in multiple formats, MPEG, MOV, AVI, and many others.

Site review and links can be found here

Site#2 - Vixy.net

Similar but not as powerful as iDesktop.tv, Vixy allows you to save the videos by simply entering the URL(YouTube and other FLV files)for a specific video, please see the example below. Conversion started… Done! The two samples above illustrate ways of getting those videos downloaded using a website to process and encode those files. If you want to go the other route and download the FLV files and convert them yourself, you can use the software listed below to accomplish this, as well as the original article I wrote.

Program #1 - Video DownloadHelper 2.6.1 (Firefox Add-on)

“DownloadHelper is a tool for web content extraction. Its purpose is to capture video and image files from many sites.
Just surf the Web as you are used to, when DownloadHelper detects it can do something for you, the icon gets animated and a menu allows you to download files by simply clicking an item.”

Download

Via Mozilla

Program #2 - Free FLV Downloader

“Moyea FLV Downloader is a freeware to download FLV (Flash video) from all video sharing sites at great speed. This program is a one-stop solution to download, manage, play back and convert downloaded videos for Ipod, Iphone, PSP, Cell Phone, Windows Media, XVid and MP3.”

Download

Via FLV Soft

Original Article - Published July 10th, 2006

This simple tutorial will show you how to download videos from the internet (MySpace, YouTube, Google Video, etc) and save them to your computer. The reason you have to through this process to download the videos is due to the fact that content providers use special formats that do not allow playback in traditional media players as such this method allows you to save the video files to a universal .avi video file that you can play back almost anywhere. As always comments/suggestions are welcome.

1. Download & install Firefox (You need firefox for the extension to work)

2. Download & install the Video Downloader extension for Firefox (The video downloader extension allows you to save videos from popular websites like Myspace, YouTube, Google, and others.)

3. Download & install Media Coder (This encoder converts the video you download into .avi files which allow you to view and store them at your won discretion)

4. Find the video you wish to save. Once you are on the page click the Video Downloader Button in the bottom right part of your Firefox Browser window.

5. A window will pop-up. Click the button that says Download Link

6. When prompted select Save to Disk and then click OK

>>>>>Please note that if the file you download does not have the extension .flv, then rename the file and end the name with .flv <<<<<

7. Start up MediaCoder

8. Click on the I agree radio button and on the Skip Setup Wizard button, then close the window that appears after that.

9. Drag and drop the .flv files you downloaded into the large white area in Media Coder

10. Click on the Video tab in the lower left-hand section on the window and select XviD in the Format drop-down menu.

11. Click the large Start buttonon the top toolbar window to start transcoding your video.

12. When completed a window will propmt you saying that transcoding is completed, go your file’s original location and an .AVI file shoudl be there with the same file name. Now you can play it with Windows Media or your favorite media player.

Original tutorial found at DVD Help Forums

Note: You should not download/copy/distribute videos which you have no rights to.

Article posted on 07 10th, 2006

Related & Suggested Posts

1. How to Download Videos from YouTube and View Them On Your iPod
2. How to Download Videos Using DownloadHelper
3. Why Use YouTube When There Are Better Ways to Watch & Download Videos Online?
4. Another Way to Download Youtube, Gooogle, and other Videos
5. Convert Videos for Your iPod, iPhone, Pre, and Other Mobile Devices