Fun with downloading videos
While Firefox has an extension for downloads of videos for on-line sources, it can be a bit hit and miss if it works. Video DownloadHelper has had a few problems in the past. When I last tried downloading a series of videos from YouTube it insisted on saving the download with the name of the previous download. Go figure. At least today it's getting the name right, but often it will say that there are no videos on the page ... while I'm watching one. Part of this is of cause down to the fact that YouTube and the likes do not like them being downloaded and keep changing the rules. Something similar happens with the BBC and get_iplayer, but I haven't had a problem with those videos recently.
Today's exercise was to download a series of videos relating to the building of a model boat, Norske Love, which I'd picked up at an auction at the weekend. Frankie Day Models had started a build 8 years ago, but only finished 2 years ago. Most simply downloaded as 720p files complete with audio, but three pretended not to exist. Even trying these on a few on-line download sites id not do any better. The link does not exist or wrong format being returned. A couple of sites did return 360p resolution copies which was a start, and I eventually found SnapScooper which was a little slow, but eventually downloaded the video ... without sound. There was a separate link for sound, so I ended up with two files that needed joining together. Quick query to Mistral and yes avidemux will be able to do it ... except it can't download a second file, only make a selection on the tracks already in the file. Next option was a little more helpful, although the command line provided would not work. " ffmpeg -i "Billing Boats NORSKE LOVE - Video 9 Pt2 HR.mp4" -i "Billing Boats NORSKE LOVE - Video 9 Pt2 HR aud.m4a" -c:v copy merged9.mp4" is where I ended up after a few false starts and out tumbled a perfect 720p video with audio.
avidemux does come into it's own when cleaning up video clips. Such as stripping advertising weaved in a file, or trimming the waffle just leaving the actual build elements in the case of the likes of these videos. The social stuff is nice, and probably works when videos appear at 2 month intervals but after 3 or 4 videos with minutes of the same introduction it gets irritating. Also while it can't add a separate sound file, it can stitch back together videos that have been trimmed back to fit the 30 minute limit on YouTube. So I end up with in this case, 14 parts covering the whole build. Now I just need to relax and watch them.
Need a way to add private links to these posts to access the material hidden in the background.