DOWNLOADING VIDEO (YOUTUBE, GOOGLE VIDEO, INTERNET ARCHIVE)

A. GET A DOWNLOAD TOOL AND DOWNLOAD A VIDEO

1. Make sure you’re using the Firefox browser for this exercise.

2. Get a Download tool. We're going to download two: Fast Video Download and Video Download Helper (it's good to have 2 on hand!).

3. Install Fast Video Download on your computer (follow the link). You'll have to restart Firefox, and when you do, you should have a little symbol on the bottom right hand screen that looks like this:

4. Let's try using it. Switch over to Youtube. Find a very short video (around 1 minute) to download. It’s important that the clip loads ALL THE WAY, so it’s all the way in the red). See the little Fast Video Download symbol on the bottom right hand screen? Click on that. Sometimes you’ll have to click more than once, as Fast Video Download suggests. A regular “Save As” dialog with already placed video title and extension will come up. If FVD shows a message like “Can’t process video” on YouTube page, this is normal, and you just need to click the icon a couple of times again. Save to your desktop. You have saved an flv. File (note the extension).

DO IT AGAIN!

5. Install a second download tool: Video Download Helper is a wonderful downloading tool that appears in the upper top right of the Firefox toolbar. It both downloads and converts.

B. DOWNLOADING FROM THE INTERNET ARCHIVE

6. Find a movie clip to download. (For practicing purposes, try to find a very short one, like a 30-second commercial).

7. Choose a download format: Ogg Video, MPEG4, or MPEG2 (as you'll note, MPEG2 is highest quality so I recommend that one). Sometimes Quicktime is also an option. Always go for the highest resolution!

8. After the clip opens in a new window, go up to the menu bar and choose File/Save Page As, and select a folder in which to save the video (preferably on your external portable drive). You can also do this before the clip has finished loading.

9. Wait for the entire clip to download…longer clips will take LONGER….you can see the clip's progress by selecting the green arrow button at the bottom of the screen.

D. DOWNLOADING FROM PIRATE BAY

10. A good source for TV shows is Pirate Bay, the Swedish-based downloading site. For fun, read some of their legal threats and Pirate Bay's responses to them!

Click on a show to download and then select "DOWNLOAD THIS TORRENT."