Save It and Save Yourself: YouTube

About a month ago, I directed people to a site that downloaded YouTube videos via their links, but this turned out to be more trouble than it was worth. I spent a few hours looking for cookies... the less interesting kind. But thanks to my friend Zhenia, YouTube now has immortality in its grasp once more!


Download Helper:

Download helper is a widget / add-on that works with the Firefox web browser to save YouTube videos as flash (.flv) files or other file types, depending on your preference. As often as videos get taken down or changed on YouTube, this widga-ma-jig has become my new best friend. My Queen karaoke videos will not be taken from me if (against all expectations) Freddy Mercury rises from the dead to join the ranks of Metallica and McCartney on the side of corporate greed.


Instructions

1. Download Firefox. If you don't have it already, chances are you do a whole lot of waiting, when you could be doing much more surfing. It's much safer than Internet Explorer, too!

2. On the Menu bar (File, Edit, View, etc), click "Tools."

3. On the drop-down list, click "Add-Ons," then on the pop-up window, click the button that says "Get Add-Ons."

4. The screen will change to a list with a small search bar above it. Search for "Download Helper." A few different devices will pop up, but the one you want is named Download Helper and has an icon of three atomic-looking balls: yellow, red, and blue.

5. After the Download Helper is successfully widgetegrated into Firefox, its icon will appear next to the address bar and above YouTube videos. If you want to just save them as flash files, you're work is done!

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But it's often helpful to be able to alter the content of the video-- cut parts out, add an intro slide, add subtitles, etc. The easiest way I've found to do this is with Windows Movie Maker, which comes free with most Windows packages and is very user friendly. To be able to use the video file in Windows Movie Maker, you will need to download a file converter.

1. In YouTube, find a video you want to download. Notice that next to the Download Helper icon there is a little arrow pointing down.

2. Click the arrow, and the available download will appear. Don't click the selection! (The world won't explode. You'll just get an .flv file) Just put your cursor over it, and another menu will appear that includes the option "Download and Convert."

3. When you click this option, you will be informed in a pop-up that you need to click a little box that allows conversion. Sort of ridiculous, I know, but check the little box.

4. You may receive another pop-up that says you need to install a converter. Even if you don't get the pop-up or you already have a converter, it's easiest to just click the link that downloads one for you, since then the add-on will download and convert for you. (The link is about half way down in the pop-up window.)

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After you've downloaded a video, you can start playing with Windows Movie Maker. I'll list a few unintuitive things about the program, but there are a lot of tutorials for the program on YouTube.

1. To shorten movies, you need to view them on the timeline. If you are presently in Storyboard mode, just click where it says Storyboard in the lower left hand corner, and a drop down list will appear.

2. To add subtitles, "Titles and Credits" in the left hand bar. On the next page, select "Title on the Selected Clip."

3. On the following page, there will be two text boxes to type in. The bottom one will make subtitles. Once you have added this subtitle, it will appear below the clip on the timeline, where you can select how long you want it to last.