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Introduction
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| Sick of just watching streamed videos and audio tracks but not being able to save them? So are many others, and this demand has given rise to nearly a dozen utilities that will record them to your PC. While it is possible to record streaming media, you need to be very aware that a lot of streamed content is copyright and that recording such content may violate the copyright laws of your country. So in advising you about products that record streaming media I am assuming you only want to record non-copyright material. Right? The bad news is that the best recording utilities in this category are shareware not freeware. That is because the Website of most of the better free programs like StreamBox VCR and GetASFStream have been chased off the web by copyright owners and their lawyers. You can still occasionally locate these on some obscure download sites but none of these are stable enough to warrant listing here. A better option for most users is to use a free web service to record the streaming media, and, if that fails, simply record the streaming media while it is playing on your PC. |
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Discussion
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If you just want to do something simple like record a YouTube video, then sites like ZamZar, SplanDoo and YouConvertIt will do the job for you. Just plug in the address of the stream and select the format you want and you are finished. Depending on which site you've chosen, either a download link will be emailed to you or you will be able to download the captured file directly from the site. Unfortunately, this simple approach will not work for many streams. In this situation I suggest you simply play the media stream on your PC and record what is happening on the screen and coming out your speakers.
Krut in particular works well, though it can only output files in .MOV and .WAV formats. However, the output files can readily be converted to other formats using free conversion sites like ZamZar and YouConvertIt. There are some traps with Krut, particularly with video card and sound card settings, so I strongly suggest that you read this excellent tutorial.
Just as you can record streaming videos playing on your PC, you can also record audio streams playing through your PC speakers. In fact, there are several free and shareware programs designed specifically for this task but my favorite way of doing this is to use the record option which is available in the Audacity Audio Editor. By using Audacity you not only can record streaming audio but edit it as well. |
| http://www.zamzar.com/url/ http://splandoo.com/ http://youconvertit.com/OnlineVideo.aspx |
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2.0 
Unrestricted Freeware 
Windows 98 - XP
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Editor
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This software category is in need of an editor. If you are interested in taking it over, please email Elizabeth, our editorial co-ordinator with a little bit about your background and in particular, whether you have any commercial affiliation with products in this category. If you are currently logged in, you can contact Elizabeth directly by clicking here, if not then click here. |
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What can you tell us about the "FREE Hi-Q Recorder"?
It can be downloaded from this location:
http://www.roemersoftware.com/free-sound-recorder.html
According to its author(s), "FREE Hi-Q Recorder is free sound recording software - which allows to record streaming audio, Internet radio, webcasts, music, meetings, classes, seminars; to convert LP's, records, tapes; to make free ringtones and a lot more. It's an MP3 sound recorder able to record anything you can hear!"
Wolfram
BLODY HELL !!!!!!!!!!!
THIS WEBSITE IS HEAVEN:
CLEVER PEOPLE ADVISING ITS OWN KNOWLEDGE MAKING A BETTER WORLD
THANK YOU ALL GUYS!!
memoemc2
I would recommend Video DownloadHelper to be included on the list. Although it's a Firefox extension, it can detect streaming videos from many sites (every site I personally visited), and downloads + converts it.
My second recommendation is VideoCacheView from NirSoft. It detects .flv videos within your browser's cache (Internet Explorer, Firefox, other Mozila-based Browsers, Safari, Opera, and Chrome!), which you can play offline or save to another directory. It works very well, and saved me quite a bit of bandwidth.
Personally, I think they're far more superior than any of those YouTube recording sites, and better than using session recorders in most situations.
This Krut it loock like Mp3 my Mp3.I think that is very good in this category.Don't install add on.
http://flvencoder.com has been available for years as an online encoder
It will do FLV or MP4 Hi def too
I think some people here are confusing (Streaming) Media RECORDERS with Stream Capturing Tools. Apps such as Orbit Downloader allow you to DOWNLOAD streaming media from sites such as YouTube directly to your harddrive. However, these tools do not work for sites that rigorously appose such methods, such as the BBC iPlayer.
(Streaming) Media RECORDERS aim to capture all screen and audio activity on your computer. Forget the "streaming" part if you like, that only refers to what they are most commonly used for. They could also be used for recording the playing of a game (online or off), video tutorials etc. There is no "bypass downloading" going on, the recoding happens in real time.
Of course, there is the issue that media sites that block stream capturing probably call upon copyright laws to fight against recording their content..
And how are "Stream Capturing Tools" different (other than superior) in their technique than the Youtube recording sites? Both requires you to download the detected videos separately from your streaming.
Leaving aside the distinction between capturing and recording, I think you'll find that BBC iPlayer radio and TV content are protected somewhat differently.
If you try downloading a direct radio 'link' to your computer and then open it in your browser you should be able to access a 'RadioBridge'. And from there stream the radio program in a Media player which supports 'audio capture' (GOM, KMPlayer, Media Player Classic etc; see http://www.techsupportalert.com/best-free-windows-media-player-replaceme...).
I use the SoThink Web Video Downloader for Firefox. Its FREE !!!
You can use this video download tool to download embedded Flash videos and direct Flash video content in different formats including flv, wmv, asf, avi, mov, rm and rmvb. It also lets you download Flash SWF files like Flash games, Flash cards and presentation, etc from Internet at the same time. And now you can run it under WINDOWS, LINUX, Mac OS X (x86), or Mac OS X (PPC).
This simply IS The " Best Free Streaming Media Recorder " I have ever used and I've tried a ton.
Most people use Firefox over IE and this app runs in the toolbar out of the way. Its a snap to just click and download your favorite videos.
Get it HERE:
http://www.sothinkmedia.com/web-video-downloader-firefox/
I tried Real player and was not impressed at all.
For starters it sent Comodo firewall into overtime and I spent a lot of time clicking the Comodo pop up OK button and all that good stuff. Comodo reported in some messages that realplayer could be injecting a key logger, so...
Eventually it finished installing itself, but no record button was found in my IE explorer as the RealP install said it was doing.
Trying to find how to record a stream in RP also proved fruitless, so I gave up and removed the program.
Just out of curiousity, I downloaded BSP again, this time from the Brothersoft website, and installed it this morning. It worked flawlessly. The version that I had downloaded from CNet apparently has a glitch that causes computer shutdowns. If you're going to try BSP, I would suggest the download from Brothersoft.
Broadcaster Studio Pro getz lousy reviews at download.com. Like:
BSP causes system crashes, blue screen of death, difficult to use etc.
Ironically, you're reply to my recommendation of BSP is so timely. I used BSP for over a year with no problems at all. Since recently rebuilding my computer I had to download/install BSP yesterday. Lo and behold, after installing BSP, my computer now shuts down completely whenever I use it. I just removed it from my computer and will now try one of the recommended capture programs. Thanks for the timely advice.
Broadcaster Studio Pro is my favorite freeware for capturing video and converting to just about any format.
What about realplayer? Just saw an article which says it's good for streaming utube type recording. Anyone tried it?
Yessssss!
RealPlayer is OK for youtube and download/record
videos from much more sites...
(And the free version of RealPlayer is enough - withouth registration.)
Padre53
"...The bad news is that the best recording utilities in this category are shareware not freeware. That's because the websites of most of the better free programs like StreamBox VCR and GetASFStream have been chased off the web by copyright owners and their lawyers..."
How can you say that there are no freeware solutions to capture streams?
Orbit Downloader is free and can capture most streaming protocols like RTMP, RTSP, MMS etc.
what about freecorder?
Free Flv Converter can do all of this. Don't ne fooled by the name, it can browse many sites (youtube, dailymotion...) and download the files you want with or withoud conversion. Please consider testing and reviewing it.
MP3 Direct Cut is a great recorder that records directly to mp3 using the Lame encoder. It doesn't install and can be run as a portable. It also allows you to do some redumentary editing, cut, paste, levels and fades, directly in the mp3 domain. It's not as pretty as mp3mymp3 (or as big, less than a meg) but seems to offer some advantages.
Is there a way to capture webcam streams on Yahoo Messenger?
Screamer Radio is a great audio streamer which has s large database of radio stations.It's also portable.
No tools required to install use Opera -
To save most youtube and other videos or mp3 streams, use opera browser. Watch /listen to end. Do not close browser, go to cache folder, find the latest file with the extension flv/mp3 and copy it. Remember do not close browser otherwise cache will get cleared.
To prevent the cache clearing when closing Opera: Tools- Preferences- Advanced- History- and then by "Disk Cache" uncheck "Empty on exit". Now your cache stays filled after closing Opera.
rgds
Floor Windemuller
A very good streaming media recorder for audio streams is Screamer Radio available at http://www.screamer-radio.com/
It has a built-in database of presets; I found all of my preferred internet radio stations on it; this list is updatable; can save favourites; it adds tags and splits files if the station broadcasts info; it is extremely light-weight; has a no-frills no-nonsense interface;
Of course, if you want to record MP3 streams, StreamRipper (Winamp plugin), available at http://streamripper.sourceforge.net/, has been around for a very long time and has good features.
Regards.
[update] Yes, Screamer Radio can record MP3 streams. Unfortunately StreamRipper supports only MP3 streams.
Screamer Radio is a great little streamer. It gets a little confused once in a while. Might be I'm being impatient when the stream is broken and takes a while to figure out that it doesn't work. I like it way better than winamp because it's nice and uncomplicated. I'd like it even better if there were not so many broken links and there were more choices but there is a good enough selection so I can find what I like to listen to.
You can record MP3 Streems with screamer-radio
Flash Video Downloader - YouTube
This is the easiest FREE download manager for grabbing and downloading video files from YouTube. You simply browse YouTube using the built-in web browser, and click the download button when you want to save a video to your computer. The software will instantly download the video as FLV file. It supports simultaneous downloads of multiple videos, so you do not need to wait for a download to finish before you can start another one.
You can get it here:
http://www.download.com/Flash-Video-Downloader-YouTube/3000-2071_4-10823...
Check this one: WebVideoCap - http://nirsoft.net/utils/web_video_capture.html
See the developer's description:
"While watching a video in a Web site, you may sometimes want to save the video into your local drive, and then play it offline later. This utility allows you to capture .flv (Flash Video) files and RTSP/MMS video streams while the Web browser download and play them inside a Web page. After the entire video file is downloaded and played by the Web browser, the video file is saved in the folder that you selected, and you can play it offline later with any Video player.
WebVideoCap can capture the video files of most popular video-sharing sites, including YouTube, Google Video, Yahoo Video, iFilm, Metacafe, Putfile, and more... "
I've been using it succesfully and I also recommend several other free small utilities provided in the developer's site: http://nirsoft.net
You really got to see it.
Have just tried Ant Toolbar from ant.com and found it to be excellent for downloading flash. Very simple and easy to use, it is also a .afv player. Supports both IE7 and Firefox.
You should check out JING from techmedia. http://www.jingproject.com/
Simple and easily shared over http.
Another good way of recording AUDIO streams is to use KMPlayer―an excellent, lightweight WMP replacement.
KMP lets you record many types of audio, including Real Media.
(Right click, then "Capture" -> "Audio:Capture")
Download link: http://www.kmplayer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4094
Good suggestion Bob
downloadhelper, an extension for firefox lets you right click anywhere on the screen and click the file to download, unfortunately, it doesn't do any file conversion, but it's easy to use, and gets every file, mp3, jpg, jpeg, mp4, flv, mpeg, mpg, avi...etc.
Agree. Very nice piece of software!
I would also like to recommend Net Transport v1.90 and FlashGet v1.9.6.
Make sure that your firewall or similar-type programs, e.g. PeerGuardian, are not blocking the downloaders!
I agree about NetTransport - its great for RealMedia (incl BBC radio) and does multi-thread download, getting the broadcast in many parts at the same time then reassembling them - so it is fast.
NetTransport is NOT FREE
True. The latest version is not free. However, the older versions, such 1.9, were free. It is a great download utility, if you can find the older version. (I use 1.94.281)
This bookmarklet is also useful for getting higher quality MP4 (as opposed to FLV) files out of YouTube:
javascript:if%20(document.getElementById('download-youtube-video')==null%20&&%20!!(document.location.href.match(/http:\/\/[a-zA-Z\.]*youtube\.com\/watch/)))%20{var%20yt_mp4_path='http://www.youtube.com/get_video?fmt=18&video_id='+swfArgs['video_id']+'&t='+swfArgs['t'];%20var%20div_embed=document.getElementById('watch-embed-div');div_embed.innerHTML=div_embed.innerHTML+'
%20Download%20as%20MP4%20(right-click%20and%20select%20Save%20'+%20(navigator.appName=='Microsoft%20Internet%20Explorer'?'target':'link')%20+'%20as)';}void(0);
A new link should appear on the page, drag or download that, then rename.
This page should be linked with the Best Free Download Manager page since they are related, and a good Streaming Media Recorder will also be a good Download Manager. The best of both that I've found is an old freeware copy of Net Transport. It handles MMS, RTSP, HTTP, FTP, etc. and is great as both a download manager and a streaming media recorder. Technically the last freeware version is 1.87, and the first shareware version is 1.90, but I've found v1.90 to function completely as freeware - that is no nags, crippled features, etc. Version 1.91, on the other hand, has nags (and so would anything later). You can download both v1.87 and v1.90 from OldVersion.com.
--
Yours Truly,
Paul R.
Paul while there is some overlap in function between streaming media recorders and download managers they are quite different product classes.
I'm sure I'm missing something, but I thought that if you played a video or steaming media, it's temporarily saved to the browser cache. Thus instead of programs to re-record wouldn't they just allow you to copy or rename or convert to different types. Also I tried zamzar - and there's a bunch of options and types - is there an explanation of the best, simplest type etc. TIA
Streaming media from protocols like mms:// or rtsp:// cannot be saved in the browser's cache so specialized tools are needed for that job. There's a really great .pdf explaining the way download managers work or more specificly how they should compared to the ovewhelming amount of features in DownloadStudio (a product of the company who made this guide). It can be found here:
http://www.conceiva.com/products/downloadstudio/WhitePaper-DownloadManag...
(Conceiva are the makers of DownloadStudio. Unfortunately DownloadStudio is not free otherwise it's a great download manager that can handle even sreaming media recording.
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