Please forgive the dumb question: now I have my multimedia hardware working I enjoy watching material from BBC using their iPlayer (which I understand is flash based) and other video material from various websites.
Is it possible to save the file locally so that it can be viewed again without the need for streaming download?
All info & suggested reading on this would be much appreciated.
Budgie2
Follow up question. I have found ant video downloader which enables me to grab an .flv file when playing. This seems to work well with most flash video but not with the bbc iplayer. Is there any reason for this?
Budgie2
Maybe because BBC didn’t want people doing what you are attempting and put DRM into the format? Just a guess, it’s such a hassle to play BBC’s videos, have to endure ads at the beginning that I gave up trying, even though I like their news site.
I use the BBC iPlayer regularly, and I don’t see any ads. What kind of ads are you referring to?
The ones on the news site prepended to news videos. I don’t use iPlayer.
I think video news is in general a waste of time, unless the news is inherently visual. If I want to read say of Aung San Suu Kyi’s release, I don’t need to sit through a video for that. Text is so much more efficient.
Some iPlayer videos are downloadable, but usually with time-limited local viewing. You will need to download additional s/w (e.g. iPlayer Desktop). If available you will see a Download button in a panel below the embedded video player. See the iPlayer Download help linked here.
I agree with that, and hardly ever watch news clips, unless they supplement the information in the newsfeed page. I use the BBC’s RSS newsfeed from Firefox’s Bookmarks Toolbar.
Hi all,
I agree entirely with the comment about the adverts or self promotion on bbc although a bit OT. Total waste of space and money. So too is having a reporter stand in Downing Street when they are talking about news from the pm even when there is nothing to see but a closed door. For news I prefer radio but mention of RSS newsfeed looks interesting. Will check that out.
Back to my question. The ant video downloader is a video stream ripper and I want to know why it will not work with bbc stream. It might be a DRM issue but I was hoping for certain reply. Of course there are some downloads available from bbc but these time out. I want to be in control and am trying to understand the underlying software issues.
Thanks for the replies.
Budgie2