How Do I Save Flash Videos From Web Pages?

Online videos are great, but you need to be online to watch them. Unless, that is, you download them to your computer. If you can see it in a browser you can download it to your hard drive. Getting those files off the Internet and onto your computer for offline viewer is easier than you think–and perfect for the constant commuter looking for some cheap entertainment.

NetVideoHunter

1. If you’re not using Firefox, you should be. This free, open-source browser has millions of users for a number of reasons. Security is a good one, but perhaps the most important reason is the thousands of plug-ins you can download. One such plug-in is NetVideoHunter.

   NetVideoHunter seeks out flash video files so you can download them to your computer. To begin, you must install the plug-in (find a link in “Resources,” below). After you’ve installed the plug-in and restarted Firefox, browse to the page with the flash video you want to download and NetVideoHunter will find it. Click the blue icon in the bottom right and you’re ready to download the file.

Protected files

2. Some videos, such as those at Hulu.com and other proprietary video sites, protect their videos from being downloaded by software like NetVideoHunter. This protection means you cannot easily download content from these sites. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act states that if you try to bypass this protection you are breaking the law, so it’s best to enjoy such protected videos online.

Playback

3. If you can’t get your downloaded flash videos to play back, you may need another video player. These videos, which have a .flv file extension, require a flash codec to play back. The easiest way to get this codec is to download the lightweight, free, open-source media player VLC. This player is free, available for Windows, Mac and Linux, and is linked to in “Resources,” below

Source: Internet