I'm sure there other ways of doing it, but this is my current
preferred way to search for and download YouTube videos that have been
published with a Creative Commons License, that allows you to use or
adapt the videos, even for commercial purposes. In this article, you'll
learn the free tools that I use, and I'll tell you, step-by-step, how I
get the videos from YouTube, down onto my computer, so I can begin
editing them in a video editing program, like Camtasia, AVS Video
Editor, or iMovie.
So, let's first get you kitted out with the tools you'll need...
The reason Firefox is needed is because of the special "Add-on" that you need to install. AS far as I'm aware, the tool has been created just for Mozilla Firefox; there may be version for other popular web browsers, such as Google Chrome or Opera, but I confess I've not checked - I've not really needed to, because the method using Firefox works so well to download YouTube videos to my computer (the ones published with Creative Commons Licenses, that is).
So, if you've got Mozilla Firefox, great. If not, go and install it now (from Mozilla.org), you can thank me later.
With Firefox open, follow these steps to install the DownloadHelper Add-on:
Now for the third and final tool that I use to source and then download YouTube videos...
Visit Search.CreativeCommons.org, to bookmark this tool. It was created by the very same organisation that created the Creative Commons Licenses. Not only can you use it to search for YouTube videos tagged with a Creative Commons permission, you can also find all sorts of content, from images, to music, to videos and other types of media, which all allow you to use or adapt other people's work, even for commercial purposes (I.e. so you can try and make money with them, if that's your wish).
CC Search automatically has the two boxes checked that filter your searches to find only content that you can use for commercial purposes, and that you can modify, adapt, or build upon.
For our purposes, to enable you to download YouTube videos, type your search query into the box where it says "Enter your search query", then click on the button marked "YouTube", which you'll find below the search box.
You'll be taken straight to YouTube's results page for your specific query. You'll notice your search query has been automatically entered into the YouTube search box, along with the search query "creativecommons", and below that, the "Creative Commons" tag will also have been activated.
Now all you need to do is browse the YouTube videos to find the one you want.
When you click through to watch a video, and you've decided that's the one you want to download, this is what I do...
P.S. If you're on a Windows PC, you will need to download Apple's QuickTime player, in order to view the downloaded video. You can do that, from Apple's website.
P.P.S. And, if you want to edit the videos, you'll need video editing software. If you're on Windows, you can use Camtasia, or AVS Video Editor. If you've got an Apple iMac, try iMovie.
Most important of all, whenever you use other people's content that they've published with a Creative Commons License, you must give credit to the creator, where details are give. You do this by stating their name or nickname provided, and by linking to their original work (such as a link to their website). If you modify their work, you must also state what changes you made to the original.
So, let's first get you kitted out with the tools you'll need...
Use Free Tools To Download YouTube Videos
Tool #1. Mozilla Firefox
The reason Firefox is needed is because of the special "Add-on" that you need to install. AS far as I'm aware, the tool has been created just for Mozilla Firefox; there may be version for other popular web browsers, such as Google Chrome or Opera, but I confess I've not checked - I've not really needed to, because the method using Firefox works so well to download YouTube videos to my computer (the ones published with Creative Commons Licenses, that is).
So, if you've got Mozilla Firefox, great. If not, go and install it now (from Mozilla.org), you can thank me later.
Tool #2. Video DownloadHelper Add-on for Mozilla Firefox
With Firefox open, follow these steps to install the DownloadHelper Add-on:
- Click to open the Menu (it's the button with the 3 horizontal lines, toward the very top-right of the browser).
- With the Menu open, click the "Add-ons" option, and that will take you to the Add-ons Manager.
- Do a search for "downloadhelper" (use the search box just below Firefox's Menu button). You don't need to add the quotation marks, but make sure there aren't any spaces when typing in the search term, downloadhelper. You can either hit the Enter key on your keyboard or click the search button to the right (the magnifying glass icon).
- At the very top of the search results for the relevant available Add-ons, you should see the "Video DownloadHelper" Add-on. At the time of writing this article, the latest version was 4.9.23, but just get whatever latest version is available, as the developer of this Add-on is constantly striving to improve it.
- Click on the "Install" button, over to the right, and Firefox will download, then install the Video DownloadHelper Add-on to your Firefox browser.
- Once installed, a notice will appear telling you to restart Firefox. Go ahead and click the "Restart now" link, and Firefox will close, then automatically re-load itself.
Now for the third and final tool that I use to source and then download YouTube videos...
Tool #3. CC Search
Visit Search.CreativeCommons.org, to bookmark this tool. It was created by the very same organisation that created the Creative Commons Licenses. Not only can you use it to search for YouTube videos tagged with a Creative Commons permission, you can also find all sorts of content, from images, to music, to videos and other types of media, which all allow you to use or adapt other people's work, even for commercial purposes (I.e. so you can try and make money with them, if that's your wish).
CC Search automatically has the two boxes checked that filter your searches to find only content that you can use for commercial purposes, and that you can modify, adapt, or build upon.
For our purposes, to enable you to download YouTube videos, type your search query into the box where it says "Enter your search query", then click on the button marked "YouTube", which you'll find below the search box.
You'll be taken straight to YouTube's results page for your specific query. You'll notice your search query has been automatically entered into the YouTube search box, along with the search query "creativecommons", and below that, the "Creative Commons" tag will also have been activated.
Now all you need to do is browse the YouTube videos to find the one you want.
The Process I Use To Download YouTube Videos
When you click through to watch a video, and you've decided that's the one you want to download, this is what I do...
- Go to the DownloadHelper tool, in Firefox; ignore the button with the three balls on it (that just opens a load of data). Instead, click the drop-down arrow to the right of that balls button, and you'll be presented with a list of video formats to download.
- For my purposes, which is to download videos that I can edit in Camtasia 7 (perhaps create music compilations, or combine other people's CC content with my own video content), I ALWAYS select the [Medium].mp4 option. I find this to be the most stable option and gives me a good size video to work with (I can always use Camtasia to enlarge the video, if I need to). I avoid the [HQ5].flv option; when I downloaded that, I sometimes found the audio distorted (try it and find out). I don't know why it happens, and I don't have the knowledge to find out; all I know is that I've had no quality issues when downloading the [Medium].mp4 file format.
- You'll be prompted to choose where to save the video, on your computer, so go ahead and do that. When you click the save button, you'll see a download status bar appear, showing you an approximate time remaining until your download is complete. You can continue to play and watch the video while it's downloading).
- You'll know when the video has successfully downloaded, as there will be a large arrow animation over the download status bar icon.
P.S. If you're on a Windows PC, you will need to download Apple's QuickTime player, in order to view the downloaded video. You can do that, from Apple's website.
P.P.S. And, if you want to edit the videos, you'll need video editing software. If you're on Windows, you can use Camtasia, or AVS Video Editor. If you've got an Apple iMac, try iMovie.
Most important of all, whenever you use other people's content that they've published with a Creative Commons License, you must give credit to the creator, where details are give. You do this by stating their name or nickname provided, and by linking to their original work (such as a link to their website). If you modify their work, you must also state what changes you made to the original.
This article, explaining How To Download YouTube Videos, was created by Graham Wadden.
WaddenCC.com is a Creative Commons publishing experiment, published by Graham Wadden, to test to see if it's financially viable for content creators to generate income while publishing their work with a Creative Commons License that allows others to use or adapt their work, even for commercial purposes.
WaddenCC.com is a Creative Commons publishing experiment, published by Graham Wadden, to test to see if it's financially viable for content creators to generate income while publishing their work with a Creative Commons License that allows others to use or adapt their work, even for commercial purposes.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Graham_Wadden
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