# Is there a way to download youtube clips? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 24, 2008, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-download-youtube-clips/442585 "2008-03-24T20:33:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2008, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-download-youtube-clips/442585/21 "2008-03-25T23:11:20Z")
In many cases, the clip is rare and unavailable elsewhere, and a low-quality clip is far better than none. Good examples are the 60s Tom Lehrer videos posted by [http://www.youtube.com/user/6funswede](http://www.youtube.com/user/6funswede) (which Tom has apparently okayed). ---
**Author:** ![madrabbitwoman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c37758/32.png) [@madrabbitwoman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madrabbitwoman)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2008, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-download-youtube-clips/442585/22 "2008-03-26T02:53:06Z")
After downloading IE7pro I discovered it had this nice little feature. > **[JOIN88: Situs Slot Online Terbaik dan Terpercaya di Indonesia](https://ie7pro.com/)** > > Daftarkan akun untuk bermain slot online terbaik di situs resmi JOIN88, temukan bocoran slot gacor dan jackpot maxwin hingga jutaan rupiah. ---
**Author:** ![Savannah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Savannah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Savannah)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2008, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-download-youtube-clips/442585/23 "2008-03-26T04:01:25Z")
So… what do you folks use to save _ **Red** _Tube clips? ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2008, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-download-youtube-clips/442585/24 "2008-03-26T15:10:40Z")
[QUOTE=Savannah] So… what do you folks use to save _ **Red** _Tube clips? [/QUOTE] Same tools. The file format is the same. Why are you looking at me like that? 😕 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2008, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-download-youtube-clips/442585/25 "2008-03-26T16:01:17Z")
[QUOTE=jtgain] If you download the latest version of RealPlayer, whenever you watch a YouTube video a “Download this video” link pops up above the video. Pretty nice.. [/QUOTE] Not on the Mac, apparenlty ☹ I use gettopc most of the time — just replace the string “youtube” in the URL with “gettopc”. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2008, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-download-youtube-clips/442585/26 "2008-03-26T16:15:41Z")
[QUOTE=hotflungwok] The easiest way I’ve found: [keepvid.com/](http://keepvid.com/) [/QUOTE] I’ve just tried this and it works fine for me. 🙂 I hate RealPlayer - it kept trying to do things on my machine and was a b_gg_r to uninstall. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2008, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-download-youtube-clips/442585/27 "2008-03-26T16:54:05Z")
[QUOTE=j\_sum1] > **[DVDVideoSoft.com: #1 YT Downloader and Converter Apps](https://www.dvdvideosoft.com/en12)** > > Download and Convert YT videos with Free YouTube Download and Free YouTube to MP3 Converter in any format. Easy to use apps for PC and Mac. Go for the free Studio manager which then organises a number of useful apps and installs more if you want them. Top of the list are numerous apps for uploading/downloading/converting Youtube clips as well as various mobile phone formats. [/QUOTE] That’s amazing. I’ve been wanting a video editor that doesn’t make me convert back to raw video, like that iVideo or whatever on Macs does. But I can’t get the Studio Manager to download. There’s no DL link on those pages. Can you find one? ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2008, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-download-youtube-clips/442585/28 "2008-03-26T17:47:03Z")
Can any of you who say RealPlayer is a malware source say which version you’re talking about? I recently installed an older version so I’m hoping I didn’t screw myself. ---
**Author:** ![brujaja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@brujaja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brujaja)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2008, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-download-youtube-clips/442585/29 "2008-03-26T18:28:34Z")
**Little Radius Ulna** : PM me; I’ll send you a link to a tiny, simple tool for this. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2008, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-download-youtube-clips/442585/30 "2008-03-26T19:37:53Z")
[QUOTE=BwanaBob] Can any of you who say RealPlayer is a malware source say which version you’re talking about? I recently installed an older version so I’m hoping I didn’t screw myself. [/QUOTE] I have not had any problems with RealPlayer and have used it on and off for years. I think there are some legitimate gripes about ads and Rhapsody but these are not harmful. The article linked to in an earlier post says as much. I have tried using RealPlayer to download YouTube videos and it does download a file, but when I bring up Windows Explorer and double click it, Windows doesn’t know what application to use. Is RealPlayer required to view videos downloaded in this way? Do I have to open the file from within RealPlayer? ---
**Author:** ![Savannah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Savannah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Savannah)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2008, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-download-youtube-clips/442585/31 "2008-03-27T01:29:14Z")
[QUOTE=D\_Odds] Same tools. The file format is the same. Why are you looking at me like that? 😕 🆒 [/QUOTE] I installed the Firefox extension Downloadhelper, but it didn’t go colours and get animated\* whilst on RedTube. It was like it didn’t recognise the flash movies. However, digging through Firefox’s cache, renaming .flv, etc. did work. \*The jokes, they write themselves. ---
**Author:** ![MadPansy64](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dc4da7/32.png) [@MadPansy64](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadPansy64)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2008, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-download-youtube-clips/442585/32 "2008-04-15T03:26:47Z")
[QUOTE=jtgain] If you download the latest version of RealPlayer, whenever you watch a YouTube video a “Download this video” link pops up above the video. Pretty nice.. [/QUOTE] Wow. I think I just stopped hating realplayer. Well, maybe not stopped hating RealPlayer entirely, more like it’s ebbed to merely the fury of two white hot suns. Thank you. Now, can I turn 'em into mp3’s, or is that an unreasonable request? ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2008, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-download-youtube-clips/442585/33 "2008-04-15T06:13:02Z")
[QUOTE=Telemark] Of course the downside is that with all their compression, the video quality of YouTube is crap. [/QUOTE] Not all. There’s an option in Preferences to Play Video in High Quality Where Available. Admittedly, most videos aren’t, but the number of high quality vids is growing. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2008, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-download-youtube-clips/442585/34 "2008-04-15T07:22:58Z")
[QUOTE=AHunter3] Not on the Mac, apparenlty ☹ [/QUOTE] In Safari, just open Activity in the Window menu. Double-click the largest file from the youtube page and it downloads. Add a .flv extension and play. ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2008, 9:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-download-youtube-clips/442585/35 "2008-04-15T09:37:28Z")
[QUOTE=CookingWithGas] I have tried using RealPlayer to download YouTube videos and it does download a file, but when I bring up Windows Explorer and double click it, Windows doesn’t know what application to use. Is RealPlayer required to view videos downloaded in this way? Do I have to open the file from within RealPlayer? [/QUOTE] I know this post is a couple weeks old, but in case you’re still curious, you should be able to view FLV videos in Windows Media Player by right-clicking on the file and choosing “Open With.” If you’re having trouble, install [ffdshow](http://www.afterdawn.com/software/video_software/codecs_and_filters/ffdshow.cfm). When it comes to FLV, though, some people prefer to play it in the freeware [MC Media Player](http://www.mcmediaplayer.com/). As to a more recent query: > [@MadPansy64](#): > > Thank you. Now, can I turn 'em into mp3’s, or is that an unreasonable request? Sure. You can either use the [FLV Extract](http://www.moitah.net/) program to split your video into seperate video and audio streams. FLV already uses MP3 audio, so no conversion is necessary. And if that’s not convenient enough for you, there’s [this handy little site](http://vixy.net/). It’s similar to the other sites linked in this thread where you paste a YouTube URL into a box and are given an option to download the video except that you can set it to download an MP3 of only the audio from your link. ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2008, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-download-youtube-clips/442585/36 "2008-04-15T21:21:36Z")
[QUOTE=jtgain] If you download the latest version of RealPlayer, whenever you watch a YouTube video a “Download this video” link pops up above the video. Pretty nice.. [/QUOTE] Ermmmmm, I’m missing something. I have a video going, and no “download” link is there. Am I supposed to paste the URL into RealPlayer or what? ---
**Author:** ![MadPansy64](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dc4da7/32.png) [@MadPansy64](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadPansy64)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2008, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-download-youtube-clips/442585/37 "2008-04-16T00:28:11Z")
[QUOTE=Oslo Ostragoth] Ermmmmm, I’m missing something. I have a video going, and no “download” link is there. Am I supposed to paste the URL into RealPlayer or what? [/QUOTE] Mouse over the picture, then look for a little tab at the upper right (your right) corner. **neutron star** Thank you! This is all exceedingly shiny! ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2008, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-download-youtube-clips/442585/38 "2008-04-16T04:30:35Z")
[QUOTE=MadPansy64] Mouse over the picture, then look for a little tab at the upper right (your right) corner. [/QUOTE] Still not happening for me. ☹ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-download-youtube-clips/442585.md?page=1)