Recording streaming video on computer

Factual Questions
1

I’m trying to download video clips from the internet for research and reference. I have no problem getting them from YouTube, but I’m having all kind of trouble with, I believe, Flash-type streaming vids. I have been trying to use Quicktime with Audioflower, with mixed success; and am trying a free trial of something called Snapz, which so far has not satisfied.

What programs are out there to accomplish this? I am willing to pay if the thing really is going to solve my problems, though free is better of course if the quality/reliability/ease of use is the same.

I’m on an iMac with Yosemite.

Thanks for any and all suggestions.

2

I used to useDownloadHelper, and it may work for you, but after one of the Firefox upgrades it seemed to stop working right. I use another one now at home, but I can’t remember the name right now. Try a search for video download programs, if you haven’t already, otherwise just keep trying different ones until you find one that works for you.

3

Remember the sites are trying to prevent you from saving the vids. So non-standard implementations abound as they try to erect barriers to downloading. So you may need a different tool for each website you want to scavenge. And some sites may defeat every tool in your arsenal.

4

JDownloader has a lot of plugins for different sites. I generally use it to get stuff off YouTube as it is more user friendly than other methods I have seen.

5

You can, of course, use something like Camtasia to actually record whatever is playing on your computer. It’s not cheap, but it always works and is also a decent video editor. You can do the free trial and see if you think it’s worth it.

6

Thanks for the replies. I know there are lots of downloaders, and I have used a few. Trying every single one seems like an impossibly time-consuming task for me.

I’m wondering now if the problem is either in my computer, or operator error. I asked a friend to try a couple of the vids I was having trouble with and he was able to do it without a problem.

I will look into Camtasia.

7

I have not tried it but here is a free alternative to payware such as Camtasia: https://obsproject.com/

8

Macs have that by default using Quicktime Player. To get better sound quality the freeware “Soundflower” can be used.

9

Thanks for the replies. I upgraded my RAM because I thought that might be slowing the capture speed, and although everything else now runs faster, capturing still isn’t working as it should. I think it must be either processor speed or video card that just can’t ingest at the rate required. So I’ll have to get someone else to do this.