Downloading videos February 21, 2009
Posted by anne marie in Web 2.0, Websites.Tags: Video downloads
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Lately I have been asked by several teachers how they can download YouTube videos and embed them as a Flash file into a Notebook lesson so I thought I’d take a minute to share a couple of ways I have found to be quick and easy.
The first is to head over to Tube Leecher, which is a website that allows you to download videos. You simply paste the URL of the YouTube video into the text box, click download and it will download the video into a Flash file onto your desktop. Did I say easy!!
There is a YouTube Downloader that is a free download and very easy to use. Once you install this, it will create a short cut on your desktop. Simply bring up the interface when you are ready to download a video and copy and paste the URL, click download and it will download the video as Flash file. Here is a nice video that explains how to use the YouTube Downloader and also how to embed the video into a Notebook file.
Another option would be to use Kick YouTube. To use this option you find the YouTube video you wish to download and in the URL box add the word “kick” right after the www. and before the “Y” and select enter. The Kick You Tube converter will appear on your screen, select the format you want (for a Flash file you would select FLV) and click on Go. When it is converted the Download button will appear, click on that to save the file to your computer. Here is a link to a YouTube video explaining this process.
Firefox has a wonderful Add-on to make downloading videos quick and easy called Video DownloadHelper. You simply download and it will add a balloon-type icon to your address bar. When the balloons are moving it indicates that it is ready to download a video, click on the balloons to download. If there is more than one option make sure you click on the FLV file. Here is a link to a YouTube video that demonstrates how to download and use this option.
Since Teacher Tube is not blocked at many schools I thought I’d mention a quick way to download videos you may find on that site. First you will need to visit the TeacherTube Downloader site and download the interface- it’s quick and easy and free. The free version does have some limitations just as only allowing you to download 3 videos at a time, but there is a paid version that will give you extra options, including the ability to download from a variety of sites. Once downloaded it will create a shortcut to your desktop, click on the shortcut when you want to download a TeacherTube video, find a TeacherTube video you want to download, highlight it, select add on the download page and it should bring it directly into the download page, select where you want to save it and what format (for Notebook files select FLV) then select the green download arrow and the video will begin to download as indicated by the download progress bar.
Once you have your video downloaded as a FLASH (FLV) file using one of these options you can simply drag and drop the Flash video into your Notebook file or use the insert Flash Video Option. Either way it is quick and easy. And don’t forget, once you embed your Flash video into a Notebook file you can re-size it, write on it, move it and use the video tool bar to stop, pause, etc. the video during your lesson. I hope this has been helpful. ENJOY!
Update 2/22/09- I recieved an email from my friend Janet reminding me that I had forgtotten to mention KeepVid.com, which is another web based video download option, similiar to TubeLeecher.com. You would head over to YouTube, select the video you want to download, copy the URL and then paste it in KeepVid text box. Click download and once the process is complete the download options will appear below a green line under the text box. Select the format you want (for Notebook files select FLV), right click and save the video to a file on your computer.
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