There are plenty of youtube extensions out there that will let you download youtube streams, often seperately from the one you are watching. Sometimes these extensions are not very reliable, and they often don't work for third-party sites that use flash video.
And sometimes you want to save a flash video AFTER you are done watching it, without waiting for the flash saver extensions to redownload the entire video again.
Enter the save-flash-linux script by Janos Gyerik. This will look in your browser's cache folders for flash streams and give you the option to save them.
Installing the Script
It's fairly easy. To start, right click on this link and save it to your home folder as something like saveflash or saveflash.sh.
Once it is saved, you'll need to set it as executable. This can be done through the 'properties' menu on your file browser, or you can use a terminal window to run a command like this:
Running the Script
It's pretty easy. If you've installed it to your home folder, you can run it by opening a terminal window (which starts at your home folder). And running this command
It will list any open flash streams (I've only tested this using firefox), but not give you the names of them.
If there is only one flash stream listed, you can do a command like this
To save it as a file with the name 'video.flv', which can be opened in VLC Media Player or many other video players.
If there are multiple streams listed, you can do a command like this
Which will save the second video in the list.
Run from Anywhere
You can make it so that the script can be run from any folder you're in, in the terminal. It's really easy to do and involves you copying the script to a different location.
Assuming you're in the terminal and in the directory where saveflash or saveflash.sh is stored. You can run a command like this:
This will copy it to a special folder that allow you to run the script from any directory you are in, in the terminal. Once it's installed into /usr/local/bin. You can simply run this command from any directory you have write access to.
No need for the ./
![[Image: saveflash-terminal.png]]()
Improving the reliability for Youtube [Firefox Only]
Youtube has recently started implementing a streaming method called DASH (Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP). What this does is allow the video quality to adjust itself depending on how much bandwidth you have available.
DASH unfortunately causes problems with saving the live flash streams. It also breaks backwards-seeking, causing the entire video to have to re-load if you clicked on a part that you already watched. However you can disable dash using a Firefox Extension called Youtube Center.
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-us/firefox...be-center/
Once the addon is installed, you can change its options by going to youtube and clicking on the little gear icon near the top-right of the screen.
![[Image: youtube-center-settings1.png]]()
And from there you can disable DASH in the 'Player' options
![[Image: youtube-center-settings2.png]]()
The only downside to disabling DASH (besides your video resolution not changing dynamically should you want that) is that some resolutions like 480p and 1080p will become unavailable. But it will allow you to save flash videos reliably using saveflash.sh script.
Feel free to explore the Youtube Center extension as it has a lot of useful options like the ability to auto-pause background youtube windows/tabs when a new video opens.
And sometimes you want to save a flash video AFTER you are done watching it, without waiting for the flash saver extensions to redownload the entire video again.
Enter the save-flash-linux script by Janos Gyerik. This will look in your browser's cache folders for flash streams and give you the option to save them.
Installing the Script
It's fairly easy. To start, right click on this link and save it to your home folder as something like saveflash or saveflash.sh.
Once it is saved, you'll need to set it as executable. This can be done through the 'properties' menu on your file browser, or you can use a terminal window to run a command like this:
Code:
chmod +x saveflash.shRunning the Script
It's pretty easy. If you've installed it to your home folder, you can run it by opening a terminal window (which starts at your home folder). And running this command
Code:
./saveflash.shIt will list any open flash streams (I've only tested this using firefox), but not give you the names of them.
If there is only one flash stream listed, you can do a command like this
Code:
./saveflash.sh video.flvIf there are multiple streams listed, you can do a command like this
Code:
./saveflash.sh -n 2 video.flvRun from Anywhere
You can make it so that the script can be run from any folder you're in, in the terminal. It's really easy to do and involves you copying the script to a different location.
Assuming you're in the terminal and in the directory where saveflash or saveflash.sh is stored. You can run a command like this:
Code:
sudo cp saveflash.sh /usr/local/binThis will copy it to a special folder that allow you to run the script from any directory you are in, in the terminal. Once it's installed into /usr/local/bin. You can simply run this command from any directory you have write access to.
Code:
saveflash.sh video.flv![[Image: saveflash-terminal.png]](http://zeroangel.overminddl1.com/misc_images/saveflash-terminal.png)
Improving the reliability for Youtube [Firefox Only]
Youtube has recently started implementing a streaming method called DASH (Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP). What this does is allow the video quality to adjust itself depending on how much bandwidth you have available.
DASH unfortunately causes problems with saving the live flash streams. It also breaks backwards-seeking, causing the entire video to have to re-load if you clicked on a part that you already watched. However you can disable dash using a Firefox Extension called Youtube Center.
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-us/firefox...be-center/
Once the addon is installed, you can change its options by going to youtube and clicking on the little gear icon near the top-right of the screen.
![[Image: youtube-center-settings1.png]](http://zeroangel.overminddl1.com/misc_images/youtube-center-settings1.png)
And from there you can disable DASH in the 'Player' options
![[Image: youtube-center-settings2.png]](http://zeroangel.overminddl1.com/misc_images/youtube-center-settings2.png)
The only downside to disabling DASH (besides your video resolution not changing dynamically should you want that) is that some resolutions like 480p and 1080p will become unavailable. But it will allow you to save flash videos reliably using saveflash.sh script.
Feel free to explore the Youtube Center extension as it has a lot of useful options like the ability to auto-pause background youtube windows/tabs when a new video opens.