How to Copy a Scene From a YouTube Movie

It is possible to copy YouTube scenes to your computer for offline use, to play on a portable device, or to edit and repost online.

YouTube is an immense resource for online video content. Because of YouTube's policies and, in some cases, copyright considerations, YouTube does not offer the option to directly download a movie clip to your computer's hard drive. The fact remains that there are a plethora of videos on the site that are not copyright protected and are eligible for sharing. There are three methods for copying YouTube videos. One is a category of web-based applications accessible through any web browser with a Javascript plugin. The second method is through a Firefox browser plugin called YouTube Loader. The third requires installing a desktop downloader program on your computer to copy and save the YouTube video clips. Some of these programs are available for purchase and some are available for free.

Things You'll Need

• Firefox, Chrome or Safari web browser
• VLC Media Player

Instructions

Web-Based Method

1. Install the Java plugin into your web browser, available at the company's website. Users who already have the Java plugin may skip this step. The web based methods require the Java plugin to download YouTube scenes. If you try the browser-based method without the Java plugin you will get an error message and the download will not begin.

2. Choose your preferred online video conversion website. All of the sites operate on similar principles, using a Java applet to save the video as an FLV file on your computer. Some examples of these sites are Clip Nabber, Zamzar, KissYouTube, Hey! Watch, Media Converter, Videoronk, Keepvid, Vixy and more. Some of the sites require registration, all are free.

3. Find the scene on YouTube that you want to download to your hard drive. Let the entire clip load in your web browser. Do not continue until the entire video loads, because you want the temporary video info in your computer's cache.

4. Copy the YouTube URL at the top of your browser window. (It will look something like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxxxxxx.) Visit your preferred downloading site, paste the URL into the box and click download. The YouTube movie will copy to your hard drive as a FLV file, which can be played with the VLC Media Player, available free online.

Browser-Based Method

1. Launch the Firefox web browser. Download the Greasemonkey extension for Firefox. Next, install the You Tube Loader Firefox plugin. Search for it by name or follow the link in the Resources section to the developer's website. These two short downloads will require a restart of Firefox.

2. Visit the YouTube website and look up the movie scene you want to download. The embedded YouTube player will now have a link among the controls entitled "Download." Click this link. It will redirect you to the You Tube Loader website with the movie previewed.

3. Select the type and quality of the file you would like to download from the links adjacent to the preview. Unlike the web-based methods, this method allows you to automatically convert the file to MP4 format, which is more accessible than FVL. MP4 files are QuickTime compatible. Windows Media Player also has an MP4 codec available. You may still download the FLV format if that better suits your needs.

Desktop Downloader Method

1. Choose and install one of the available applications written expressly for downloading video clips from YouTube, as well as any other video websites. There are A Tube Catcher, Orbit Downloader, VDownloader, Ares Tube, YouTube Grabber, Keep V and others.

2. Launch the program and paste the YouTube movie URL into the appropriate field. Each program has its own characteristic interface but the principle is the same. They download the FLV file and convert it to a user-specified format. This category of applications is for users who plan to frequently download YouTube scenes.

3. Choose the format and size of movie file you want to download, depending on if you are downloading the movie for a media player, DVD, iPod, iPhone, PSP or other media device. Select the destination of the file on your drive and start the download.

Tips & Warnings

• YouTube has a vested interest in keeping visitors coming to their website to access videos. For this reason, YouTube periodically updates their protocols to prevent users from downloading clips. In turn, coders rewrite their software to bypass YouTube's updates. As of January 2011, all of the aforementioned methods are up to date. But if one of the download methods described here does not work, check for updates to the software.

• Downloading YouTube videos may not be illegal, but downloading and/or redistributing copyrighted materials available on YouTube is illegal. Do not download illegally.

References

• Method Shop: Saving Videos from YouTube
• 4 Quick Ways To Download YouTube Videos Off The Net
• You Tube Loader: Plugin: Firefox Plugin

Resources

• Make Use Of: 18 Free Ways To Download Any Video off the Internet
• A Tube Catcher: Home Page
• Pgoh13: How To Copy YouTube Video Clips