How to capture streaming video and save to your PC

[RickM]

With some free time I decided to research a free and relatively easy way to capture streaming video and save to a PC.

While there are many pay solutions there are also free alternatives. A common offering is a web based conversion service. This is where you enter the desired video URL at the site and all processing is done on their server. After playing with two such sites I met with defeat.

I then played with several downloadable apps and found one combination that worked rather well and offers quite a bit of flexibility. Unfortunately the software is rather complex and not very intuitive...but it works.

The first step is to mine the native video file from the link where the streaming video is initiated. To accomplish this I installed a Mozilla Firefox ad-on (AKA Extension) called UnPlug. After installation it situates it's icon on your browser toolbar. You can download UnPlug here: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/2254

UnPlug will mine, capture and save the video file to your PC's hard drive. With the http://tv-links.co.uk/ website I see that the TopGear shows are in Flash Video format. With UnPlug it will be saved as a FLV file.

If you have or obtain a Flash Video viewer you're pretty much set. However, if you want to convert to a more widely used format you'll need to convert the FLV file to whatever you'd like.

After playing with many freeware apps I found only one that worked reliably. This software is called MediaCoder. With this software I converted a Topgear episode from FLV to AVI and the results were very acceptable. You can download MediaCoder here: http://mediacoder.sourceforge.net/dlfull.htm This version is their newest and many say the prior versions can be more reliable. I had success after tweaking a few controls.

Below are image captures that will illustrate the process:

First go to the site where the video stream exists. Here I'm at

1: Select (left click) and initiate video
2: When video starts right click in area designated by the Red X.
3: After the drop down box appears select (left click) UnPlug...Onto next image....






4: Here is the UnPlug app after it has mined the video from the link. The first file is what the app believes to be the target video. Select (left click) to save to your hard drive. (see red arrow)

After download you can view the downloaded file with a Flash Video viewer. Other readers may be required depending on the source.

Go on to the next image to view the process to convert to another format.






Conversion

1: Here I've opened the MediaCoder app and selected the Add icon. A browser box will open where I can locate and load the video file I've just downloaded.






2: Once the video file is identified a destination folder must be identified to house the converted file. (see red arrow)
Note: make sure there is adequate space to hold the file. If not the process will end with "No outputted file"

3: In this example I'm converting the FLV file to AVI. Note the read square as it shows the required selections to achieve this.

4: Select the Start icon and the conversion initiates. The process took approx 10 minutes to convert this particular episode.

Let me know how this works out. Good luck!

[azasadny]

Rick,
Thank you!!

[RickM]

My pleasure Art.

If you have problems let me know and I'll adjust the instructions accordingly.

[epbrown]

Any idea how much drive space you need for 23 and 43 minutes of video in .flv format?

[RickM]

I can tell you that an episode of Topgear is approx 325 Meg.


EDIT: Just looked.

FLV = 302
AVI = 345

Apparently the conversion/format adds weight.

[epbrown]

Hmm - hefty, but doable. I was thinking of recording something to a USB flash drive and watching it on my laptop later.

[gr8fl4porsche]

Rick,
I am trying to use Unplug and TV Links and when I try to save to the HD it is still in .htm format rather than flash, etc. I can't get it to save the video - just the link.

Any ideas why?