SaveTube.com

Easily Save YouTube & Google Videos

I get this question all the time:

"What is the best way to save YouTube videos so they can be moved from one computer to another?

In the past, I used to tell people how to get to their Internet Temporary Files folder, delete all of their temp files, and then click on the YouTube video of their choice. It downloads a video file to the Internet Temp folder, which they could then copy and paste to their desktop. The remaining steps require a converter, such as Media-Convert, which I featured in my March 19th post. This process has all changed now that I have learned of SaveTube.com. SaveTube is another one of those sites that provides a much-needed service which we used to acquire through other methods, such as the one I just described. Although the site does feature advertising which may be of a scantily-clad supermodel from YouTube (I'm only warning you in advance if you're easily offended), or a blinking banner ad, it is worth its weight in gold if you want to save all of your favorite online video clips.

The site does include a "Help Me! Videos and Examples" button under the "Video to Save" box. This little tutorial goes through the process of how to save a video from a site like YouTube or Google Video. It also has a listing of the most common problems users have reported. I would recommend that you take a look at these common problems before you even try to use the site. Basically it is only a 2-step process. 1) Go to the video you want to back up and copy the address, then 2) Paste it into the "Video to Save" box and press Go.

I know there are some readers who may ask: "Why would you want to do this? Can't you just go to the YouTube or Google Video site at another computer and find the video clip?" What if you work in a school district or a company where sites like YouTube are blocked? In the school district where I work, YouTube is blocked by our Web filter, yet teachers still want to use these video clips for educational purposes. SaveTube.com provides a much-needed service to these teachers, for example.

There is one missing piece of the YouTube moving/saving process that I need to address though. It is listed as Common Problem #2 on the SaveTube site:

"I don't know what to do with the get_video file that I got from SaveTube."

When the download is finished, just re-name the file from get_video to some other name, such as somevideo.flv, adding the .flv extension to the end of the file name. Now, most importantly, instead of going through the extra steps of converting the file to some other video format, just download an FLV Player so you can easily play it on any computer. The link I'm including here is to the FLV Player made by Applian Technologies. Clicking on this link will take you to their Web site where you can find other recommended software they make, like the Freecorder Toolbar, which allows you to record audio directly from the Internet.

Once you download the video and change its file type to .FLV, you have the option to either play the video in the FLV Player (which must be installed...Don't worry, it's a quick install), or you can convert it to another video format (such as .WMV) using the recommended Media-convert.com Web site. So, as you can see, you're not exactly done once you download a YouTube video from SaveTube.com. Once you've installed an FLV Player though, you can then view the video without having to go back to the YouTube site, and that is the purpose of SaveTube. Give it a try, and see if helps you in your quest of creating a YouTube library all your own.

http://www.savetube.com/