Topic: Way to download streaming video?

[scottws]

There is a video online that I want to save to my computer, but it's a streaming WMV.  Does anyone know any way to actually save it to your computer?  I can't seem to find an option in WMP to do that.

[nickclone]

You can try viewing the page source or viewing the properties of the video.

[scottws]

Yeah I found the video in page source, but it's a streaming video, even in WMP.  Properties didn't help.

[Cobra951]

I'm curious about this too.  I can grab most videos except when streaming is a property of the video itself.  My feeling is that you're going to have to record it as it comes in, somehow.  If there's a better answer, I want to hear it too.

[nickclone]

You can try a site ripper, but I can promise you that its more trouble than its worth. I tried it once and gave up out of frustration.

[idolminds]

I've used this in the past.

[scottws]

This site suggests using wget.  Seems like a really good idea.  I didn't think of that.

[idolminds]

I didnt know wget could do that. Awesome.

[WindAndConfusion]

So, did wget work?

[scottws]

No, wget did not work.  It downloaded a 1kB file.  When I try to open in, WMP says "The file you are attempting to play has an extension (.WMV) that does not match the file format."

I opened the WMV file it downloaded in notepad and found this:

Code: [Select]

[Reference]
Ref1=http://70.61.148.132/WXOD/WCT%2016094.WMV?MSWMExt=.asf
Ref2=http://70.61.148.132:80/WXOD/WCT%2016094.WMV?MSWMExt=.asf

But I can't seem to do anything with that info.

[scottws]

I tried using VLC player but it can't play the file at all.

One of the sucky things is that I can't even view the damn stream.  The audio is fine, but the video locks on a frame for 30-40 seconds at a time.

[WindAndConfusion]

VLC doesn't work, even if you try opening it as a network stream?

[nickclone]

Have you tried Media Played Classic?

[Xessive]

VideoDownloader Firefox plugin works pretty well for me.

[Cobra951]

That's for Flash video (FLV) which ironically is not a streaming video format.  (You can get at the whole file all at once.)  WMV9 can have streaming as a property of the video itself, meaning that when you download the video, you get something like a 1 KB file, to get the ball rolling.  Getting the streaming video data must be more than a passive download process (?).

This page claims to have the answers.  Check it out.

Edit:  The link to GAS there is dead.  After some frustration with Japanese sites, I found this link to an even newer version.  The UI is in English, although release notes and help are not.

[scottws]

VLC doesn't work, even if you try opening it as a network stream?

Nope.

[scottws]

This page claims to have the answers.  Check it out.

Edit:  The link to GAS there is dead.  After some frustration with Japanese sites, I found this link to an even newer version.  The UI is in English, although release notes and help are not.

That program seems to want files ending in ASX.  Mine ends in WMV and the file downloaded references ASF files.

[Cobra951]

According to this page, the ASX is a metadata file which references the ASF, which is the actual media file.  It's supposed to be a short text file.  Don't know if that helps, but there it is.  Did you try the VLC method described after GAS in my first link?