How to save YouTube videos

I also recommend youtube-dl(1) from the Ports collection (www/youtube_dl). It does not only support youtube, but literally thousands of video sites, including some that are not allowed to be mentioned here. ;)
Also, being a command line tool, youtube_dl can easily be embedded in your own scripts. It works independent of a browser, and it doesn't even require Xorg. By default it downloads and saves the best format (highest resolution) of the video available, but there are options to select other formats of video and audio. It can also convert the video to other formats if desired (using ffmpeg), extract the audio only (if you're just interested in the music of a video clip), and a plethora of other features.
 
If you want to avoid using the Youtube interface, I recommend multimedia/mps-youtube. From the description:
Terminal based YouTube jukebox with playlist management.
Main features:
- Search and play audio/video from YouTube
- Search tracks of albums by album title
- Search and import YouTube playlists
- Create and save local playlists - Download audio/video
- Convert to mp3 & other formats (requires ffmpeg or avconv)
- View video comments
- Works with 3.x
- Works with Windows, Linux and Mac OS X
- Requires mplayer or mpv
Click to expand...
 
twllnbrck said:
Which shell do you use? I think e.g. zsh needs double quotes for the URL.
Click to expand...
Thank you. I confirm your observation. I first tried with my default shell sh, and youtube-dl() worked without issue. When changed to csh (I don't have zsh installed), got same error as balanga mentioned. Used quotes (both single and double) and it worked fine again.
 
balanga said:
Am I missing something obvious?

Code: 
 youtube-dl https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ib7tFvw34DM
youtube-dl: No match.
I have no problem using YouTube with this video
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ib7tFvw34DMe
.

Same happens with every URL I've tried
Click to expand...
Actually for YouTube you don't even need the entire URL. The video ID (e.g. $ youtube-dl Ib7tFvw34DMe) will suffice. Yep, it is that great!

And I know this may sound rather unorthodox, but I suggest you keep a copy of the script in your own ~/bin directory so that you can run $ youtube-dl.py -U every few days. YouTube changes frequently and the script is changed accordingly. Changes in the ports tree may be too slow, so doing what I suggest will guarantee you it's always up to date and ready to go. Case in point, the tree has 2019.07.30 while I'm at 2019.08.13. Sometimes it may not be a big deal but oftentimes it will be completely broken.

By the way, you can pass it multiple video IDs. E.g. $ youtube-dl.py -f '160+worstaudio[ext=m4a]' -- vid_ID_1 vid_ID_2 vid_ID_3 vid_ID_4. As you can see, you can be very creative with audio and video formats. The double dash is of course to tell the shell it's the end of command options because YouTube IDs will sometimes start with a dash and confuse the shell.

Check $ youtube-dl.py --help and have fun.
 
Here are some alias you can try, I have not tried these yet in here (Fbsd), they are from my arcoLinux install off of their .bashrc, so you might or might not be able to use them. but the actual command line part should work.

Code: 
#youtube-dl
alias yta-aac="youtube-dl --extract-audio --audio-format aac "
alias yta-best="youtube-dl --extract-audio --audio-format best "
alias yta-flac="youtube-dl --extract-audio --audio-format flac "
alias yta-m4a="youtube-dl --extract-audio --audio-format m4a "
alias yta-mp3="youtube-dl --extract-audio --audio-format mp3 "
alias yta-opus="youtube-dl --extract-audio --audio-format opus "
alias yta-vorbis="youtube-dl --extract-audio --audio-format vorbis "
alias yta-wav="youtube-dl --extract-audio --audio-format wav "

alias ytv-best="youtube-dl -f bestvideo+bestaudio "
 
If you use Firefox there are a bunch of extensions support not only this but also with the help of ffmpeg, joint audio and video, or extract audio from media file or even converting between media format. You don't have to mess with youtube-dl.
 
balanga said:
How do people save YouTube videos for watching them offline?
Click to expand...
I often download entire playlists like BSDCan proceedings or MIT OpenCourseware lectures and it's handy to keep the downloaded videos in proper order by prepending the index and make it all look better by removing the no-longer needed IDs such as Ib7tFvw34DMe. I just put the appropriate command in a youtube-playlist shell script in my ~/bin directory.
Code: 
#!/bin/sh
url="$1"
shift
opts="$@"
youtube-dl $opts -o "%(playlist_index)s-%(title)s.%(ext)s" $url
sync
so for example
Code: 
youtube-playlist 'https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0C2D950BA6965E22'  -f bestvideo+bestaudio
and I get files with names such as
01-<title1>.mp4
02-<title2>.mp4
 
balanga said:
How do people save YouTube videos for watching them offline?
Click to expand...
I also used the Firefox extension, but now I'm using a video converter for downloading videos from YouTube, Instagram or even Facebook. The downloader that I have is free and I need no registration to use it. Also, it's quick and easy to download. Usually, I use it to convert videos from Facebook to mp4, but what I like the most is that the videos are of good quality, moreover, I can download them in HD format. However, there are many other platforms for downloading, I recommend the one that I use, you should check it.
 
Last edited:
Hello to everyone. I was looking for a tool to download a youtube video and I've reached this page. After having read the whole post,I didn't understand well how to get the best video and audio for a single video downloaded from youtube.
Code: 
marietto@marietto:/usr/home/marietto/Desktop/TUTs $ youtube-dl -F https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9lylHK4jmo -f bestvideo+bestaudio 

[youtube] c9lylHK4jmo: Downloading webpage
[info] Available formats for c9lylHK4jmo:
format code  extension  resolution note
249          webm       audio only tiny   50k , webm_dash container, opus @ 50k (48000Hz), 9.96MiB
250          webm       audio only tiny   65k , webm_dash container, opus @ 65k (48000Hz), 12.94MiB
251          webm       audio only tiny  125k , webm_dash container, opus @125k (48000Hz), 24.83MiB
140          m4a        audio only tiny  129k , m4a_dash container, mp4a.40.2@129k (44100Hz), 25.60MiB
160          mp4        256x144    144p   74k , mp4_dash container, avc1.4d400c@  74k, 30fps, video only, 14.68MiB
278          webm       256x144    144p   93k , webm_dash container, vp9@  93k, 30fps, video only, 18.42MiB
133          mp4        426x240    240p  143k , mp4_dash container, avc1.4d4015@ 143k, 30fps, video only, 28.42MiB
242          webm       426x240    240p  181k , webm_dash container, vp9@ 181k, 30fps, video only, 35.95MiB
134          mp4        640x360    360p  300k , mp4_dash container, avc1.4d401e@ 300k, 30fps, video only, 59.42MiB
243          webm       640x360    360p  323k , webm_dash container, vp9@ 323k, 30fps, video only, 63.94MiB
135          mp4        854x480    480p  459k , mp4_dash container, avc1.4d401f@ 459k, 30fps, video only, 90.81MiB
244          webm       854x480    480p  467k , webm_dash container, vp9@ 467k, 30fps, video only, 92.50MiB
298          mp4        1280x720   720p60  741k , mp4_dash container, avc1.4d4020@ 741k, 60fps, video only, 146.65MiB
302          webm       1280x720   720p60 1136k , webm_dash container, vp9@1136k, 60fps, video only, 224.65MiB
247          webm       1280x720   720p 1289k , webm_dash container, vp9@1289k, 30fps, video only, 255.02MiB
136          mp4        1280x720   720p 1362k , mp4_dash container, avc1.4d401f@1362k, 30fps, video only, 269.43MiB
299          mp4        1920x1080  1080p60 2591k , mp4_dash container, avc1.64002a@2591k, 60fps, video only, 512.42MiB
303          webm       1920x1080  1080p60 3459k , webm_dash container, vp9@3459k, 60fps, video only, 683.94MiB
18           mp4        640x360    360p  656k , avc1.42001E, 30fps, mp4a.40.2 (44100Hz), 129.79MiB
22           mp4        1280x720   720p 1491k , avc1.64001F, 30fps, mp4a.40.2 (44100Hz) (best)

marietto@marietto:/usr/home/marietto/Desktop/TUTs $ youtube-dl -F https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9lylHK4jmo -f 22


[youtube] c9lylHK4jmo: Downloading webpage
[info] Available formats for c9lylHK4jmo:
format code  extension  resolution note
249          webm       audio only tiny   50k , webm_dash container, opus @ 50k (48000Hz), 9.96MiB
250          webm       audio only tiny   65k , webm_dash container, opus @ 65k (48000Hz), 12.94MiB
251          webm       audio only tiny  125k , webm_dash container, opus @125k (48000Hz), 24.83MiB
140          m4a        audio only tiny  129k , m4a_dash container, mp4a.40.2@129k (44100Hz), 25.60MiB
160          mp4        256x144    144p   74k , mp4_dash container, avc1.4d400c@  74k, 30fps, video only, 14.68MiB
278          webm       256x144    144p   93k , webm_dash container, vp9@  93k, 30fps, video only, 18.42MiB
133          mp4        426x240    240p  143k , mp4_dash container, avc1.4d4015@ 143k, 30fps, video only, 28.42MiB
242          webm       426x240    240p  181k , webm_dash container, vp9@ 181k, 30fps, video only, 35.95MiB
134          mp4        640x360    360p  300k , mp4_dash container, avc1.4d401e@ 300k, 30fps, video only, 59.42MiB
243          webm       640x360    360p  323k , webm_dash container, vp9@ 323k, 30fps, video only, 63.94MiB
135          mp4        854x480    480p  459k , mp4_dash container, avc1.4d401f@ 459k, 30fps, video only, 90.81MiB
244          webm       854x480    480p  467k , webm_dash container, vp9@ 467k, 30fps, video only, 92.50MiB
298          mp4        1280x720   720p60  741k , mp4_dash container, avc1.4d4020@ 741k, 60fps, video only, 146.65MiB
302          webm       1280x720   720p60 1136k , webm_dash container, vp9@1136k, 60fps, video only, 224.65MiB
247          webm       1280x720   720p 1289k , webm_dash container, vp9@1289k, 30fps, video only, 255.02MiB
136          mp4        1280x720   720p 1362k , mp4_dash container, avc1.4d401f@1362k, 30fps, video only, 269.43MiB
299          mp4        1920x1080  1080p60 2591k , mp4_dash container, avc1.64002a@2591k, 60fps, video only, 512.42MiB
303          webm       1920x1080  1080p60 3459k , webm_dash container, vp9@3459k, 60fps, video only, 683.94MiB
18           mp4        640x360    360p  656k , avc1.42001E, 30fps, mp4a.40.2 (44100Hz), 129.79MiB
22           mp4        1280x720   720p 1491k , avc1.64001F, 30fps, mp4a.40.2 (44100Hz) (best)
 
ziomario said:
I didn't understand well how to get the best video and audio for a single video downloaded from youtube.
Click to expand...
Have you seen the examples in the man page of youtube-dl?
Bash: 
#    Download best mp4 format available or any other best if no mp4 available
$    youtube-dl -f 'bestvideo[ext=mp4]+bestaudio[ext=m4a]/best[ext=mp4]/best'

#    Download best format available but no better than 480p
$    youtube-dl -f 'bestvideo[height<=480]+bestaudio/best[height<=480]'

#    Download best video only format but no bigger than 50 MB
$    youtube-dl -f 'best[filesize<50M]'

#    Download best format available via direct link over HTTP/HTTPS protocol
$    youtube-dl -f '(bestvideo+bestaudio/best)[protocol^=http]'

#    Download the best video format and the best audio format without merging them
$    youtube-dl -f 'bestvideo,bestaudio' -o '%(title)s.f%(format_id)s.%(ext)s'

Note that
By default youtube-dl tries to download the best available quality, i.e. if you want the best quality you don't need to pass any special options, youtube-dl will guess it for you by default.
Click to expand...
 
marietto@marietto:/usr/home/marietto/Desktop/TUTs $ youtube-dl -f '(bestvideo+bestaudio/best)protocol=http://youtubec9lylHK4jmo'

Usage: youtube-dl [OPTIONS] URL [URL...]

youtube-dl: error: You must provide at least one URL.

my achilles' heel is the difficulty in strictly respecting the syntactic form.
 
eternal_noob said:
Yeah, you're doing it wrong. You mix up options and the url.
Click to expand...

don't make me suffer :D. I've got the file using the command below,but it's not good for me. It grabs the webm file,but I want the mp4 file with the maximum quality.

Code: 
marietto@marietto:/usr/home/marietto/Desktop/TUTs $ youtube-dl wDox97l3fcQ
 
Ok. :cool:

But you know the saying "give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime".
Understanding the syntax of man pages is essential to be sucessful in the long term.

Code: 
youtube-dl -f '(bestvideo+bestaudio/best)[protocol^=http]' http://youtubec9lylHK4jmo

Edit:
ziomario said:
I want the mp4 file with the maximum quality.
Click to expand...

Then you would use
Code: 
youtube-dl -f 'bestvideo[ext=mp4]+bestaudio[ext=m4a]/best[ext=mp4]/best' wDox97l3fcQ
 
eternal_noob said:
Ok. :cool: But you know the saying "give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime"

Code: 
youtube-dl -f '(bestvideo+bestaudio/best)[protocol^=http]' http://youtubec9lylHK4jmo
Click to expand...

I knew nothing of yesterday or tomorrow, I was enveloped and gently caressed by a happy today. Herman Hesse.
 
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