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Trouble ripping YouTube videos - problem with Leopard?

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I rip YouTube videos from time to time and convert them to .mov or .mp4 format. In the past, I have used a convertor like getvid.com or Tech Crunch to covert it to .flv, and then another .flv to .mov converter like iSquint (kind of complicated, I know, but the only way I knew how to do it!)

For some reason, none of those sites work for me any more; I either get an error message or the file will play sound, but not the video images. I tried a trial version of a YouTube to .mp4 converter called TubeSock (I would prefer something free, but I'll buy a program if I need to), but the files it converted again only played sound, not the video.

I've only had problems after installing Leopard. I don't know if this is the problem or not, but thought someone might have some insight. Thanks so much!
 
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Well I use tubeTV thats free would that help? its free as well :D
 
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I'm not sure I follow, are you saying you're having trouble getting videos off of Youtube or you're having trouble converting them after the fact?
 
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Just an FYI, there's a much easier way to download the .flv files from youtube. Instead of using the sites, when in safari click Window>Activity when you're viewing the video you want to download. There will be a big file (the only one over 1 MB usually) which is the video. Double click it and your download manager will open and you will download the video as "get_video" (no extension, but it's an .flv file) convert it using iSquint or whatever and you're good to go. Works with any site that's using .flv files I believe.

I know for sure this works in leopard as I just did it a few hours ago. Should provide a detour to your problem. Those sites have never worked for me, even before leopard.
 
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I was having trouble converting the files...but after using iSquint (MPEG Streamclip works well too) the problem is solved.
 
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If you have RealPlayer, you can enable RealPlayer Downloader which checks in the background the sites you go to with downloadable videos. From YouTube, for example, you can then download the .flv file with one click only. It is really quite neat.

And you can watch them with RealPlayer, VLC or QuickTime Player (you might need to install Perian for QuickTime Player though, am not sure).
 
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.flv download error -- isquint

I just tried downloading a file from youtube to my mac, and I hit a snag. I followed the window/activity instructions and it downloaded perfectly to my desktop. When I tried to drag the video.flv file it into isquint and convert it, isquint gave me this error message: "VIDEO_TS folders can't be directly converted. Sorry." Did I do something wrong? Thanks for the help.
 
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And also, I went and did the Window/Activity thing and clicked on the video file but the download manager never came up. I'm on Safari with Leopard on one of the newer versions of MacBook but I'm also not trying to rip from YouTube (the video has been deleted). I'm trying MTV videos. Does that make a difference?
 
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my thoughts exactly never had a problem with that

Writes the vid to a FLV file and then Handbrake to convert m4v for iPod playback
Actually the newer version downloads MP4 versions if they are available. I find that converting FLV videos usually results in terrible A/V sync issues.
 

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