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Top 10 YouTube Hacks
Posted by Kevin Purdy at 2:00 AM on August 21, 2008
The end of the week is approaching, and with it comes a certain sense of taking it easier, relaxing a bit at the office—you know, caching up on all that YouTube browsing you skip when there's real work to be done. The popular video sharing site is a great resource (and source of entertainment) that gets better with the right add-ons, plug-ins, third-party tools, and clever usage. Let's take a look at the best ways to get better video, download clips, and just find the video you're looking for at YouTube, so you can get more from your guilty pleasure.
10. Paste together YouTube clips, no editor necessary.
Even without iMovie or another paid-for editor, you can use the ridiculously vast realm of YouTube videos to patch together funny/poignant/clever projects. Free tools like Yahoo's JumpCut can take in the FLV and other format video clips you downloaded using the other tools in this list. Want to patch together your own clip-sing-along in the style of BarackRoll? Creator Hugh Atkin says he used Google's political video search tool to find all the relevant words and copy them. Now it's just a matter of finding the time to pull it off...9. Sort all your YouTube links in Gmail with Xoopit.
If your inbox is anything like ours, you get a regular stream of YouTube links from friends, relatives, friends-of-friends, friends-of-relatives-of-friends ... and you only occasionally click through. Gmail add-on Xoopit lets you sort and run through all those links, playing them right from within Gmail. It's an easy way to avoid hurting that avid linker's feelings the next time they ask you if you saw that hilarious Amy Winehouse parody. 8. Get baked-in improvements with Better YouTube.
You'll have to excuse the horn-tooting, but we've put together a Firefox extension that combines some of the best JavaScript we've seen for YouTube and makes them all in check-on, check-off usable for any Firefox browser. The Better YouTube Firefox extension empowers you to keep videos from auto-playing, put clips in a wide-screen, no-distraction background, and embeds download links on every clip. If you're a serious YouTube user, there probably isn't something here you'll find useful. 7. Download audio from videos.
There are a lot of great live performances lurking around YouTube, many of which have never seen the light of day in the recorded audio realm. To jump those jams into your playlist, use a web-based converter like VidToMP3, or follow one intrepid LH reader's guide to recording and converting YouTube vids into MP3. It may take a few more steps, but Matt's guide will still work, while many web-based hacks end up on the pile of dead-end links. 6. Get around international video restrictions.
This summer's Olympics has been a good lesson in the necessity of working around networks' and video providers' often ridiculous restrictions based on location and timing. On YouTube, there's often a simple work-around, as explained by the Google Operating System blog. Most YouTube links look like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEOIDYou'll find a string of characters where
VIDEOID is. Copy that string, and paste it like so: http://www.youtube.com/v/VIDEOIDYou'll get a copy of the video meant for embedding, one that doesn't care as much about where you're watching from.
5. Search YouTube videos on a timeline.
Free video timeline creator TimeTube is one of those tools that you should never head to while on deadline. Those without willpower issues, however, can find fascinating looks at the evolution of trends, organise TV and news clips for a wider view, and even get a little research done on current or net-related topics. It also definitely helps narrow down your searching when the results list is enormously unmanageable. 4. Get videos delivered TiVo-style with Miro.
You could, if you wanted, keep track of all your favourite net-based video shows in a feed reader or just wait to hear about them a week after they're released. Or you could use the free, cross-platform Miro player to turn your computer into a TiVo for net video. As Gina detailed in her look at Miro, the software keeps track of what you've watched, auto-recycles stuff you probably won't get to, and otherwise does a smart job of handling video streams. And if you want to hook Miro up to your real TV, it's got the chops to go full-screen with any format. 3. Turn YouTube searches into vidcast feeds.
YouTube offers up a few RSS feeds of videos—"Recently Featured," "Top Favourites Today," and the like—but not for individual searches, the kind you'd make if you were keeping up with The Guild or keeping on top of the latest Xbox 360 hacks. YouTube Podcaster, a free service from vixy.net (who also provide a nifty converter you'll see below), makes YouTube videos as easy to grab and watch as podcasts. Enter in your search URL, copy the iTunes link, and you'll get an on-demand feed of videos that meet your criteria. You'll want to be specific, but skipping the comments and stream loading time are your rewards. 2. Watch YouTube on TV.
Many web videos are perfect for quick desktop scanning, but YouTube also contains entire series and longer clips—especially those with higher resolutions available—that make for great couch fare. If you've got a classic Xbox or a Windows Media Centre hooked up to the tube, you can flip your Xbox into a YouTube-friendly media center, or add YouTube capabilities to that Microsoft-built box with free plug-in Yougle. Now you can force your already-sitting friends to catch up on Chad Vader and all your other I-swear-it's-funny-just-watch memes. 1. Make videos easy to download.
If you want to stash a YouTube clip away for editing or watching without the net, you've definitely got options. Internet Explorer users might appreciate YouTube File Hack, which grabs FLV files for you. The Better YouTube Firefox extension, crafted by our own site editor, adds a simple "Download this video" link to any YouTube page, and the All-In-One Video Bookmarklet is a nice cross-browser conversion tool. If you're away from your own setup, Vixy.net and Viddownloader are your go-to sites for downloading clips. As for watching FLV files, we like and use the cross-platform VLC player.
What are your favourite tricks for getting the most out of YouTube? Post 'em up in the comments.
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
phraedus
Posted August 21, 2008 8:00 PM
If you're a serious YouTube user, there probably isn't something here you'll find useful.
don't you mean?
If you're a serious YouTube user, there probably isn't something here you _wont_ find useful?
Feel free to delete this after it's changed.
skilled1
Posted 2:48 AM 21/8/08
First, You forgot the firefox extention 'DownloadHelper'
secondly, how many times do i have to suggest for betteryoutube a DISABLE AUTO PLAY
skilled1
OrazioAloeus
Posted 2:45 AM 21/8/08
For Mac users, download Videobox. Even if you don't have safari, you can drag the tab header into videobox which will then list all your wanted videos. Clicking the convert button downloads it and converts it into an iPod-compatible format and also places it straight into iTunes for you.
OrazioAloeus
jsmorley
Posted 2:42 AM 21/8/08
Easiest one I have found is YouTubeGet (free edition at www.youtubeget.com)
jsmorley
pinkskittles
Posted 2:41 AM 21/8/08
I definitely use the S
pinkskittles
cartman005
Posted 2:35 AM 21/8/08
I use zamzar.com to download Youtube videos. It works great.
cartman005
zmarn
Posted 2:29 AM 21/8/08
@zmarn:
Hm, damn url-shortening
zmarn
zmarn
Posted 2:27 AM 21/8/08
The easiest way to download from youtube (in my opinion):
[zmarn.zm.ohost.de]
zmarn
codykniffen
Posted 2:24 AM 21/8/08
Downloading embedded flash videos?
Safari--> Activity Window
I cannot stress this enough.
codykniffen
Kevin Purdy
Posted 2:18 AM 21/8/08
@MarcLister: Opera can run some Greasemonkey scripts. Gina pulled that feature (with permission) from Yansky's script. Here's a guide to using scripts in Opera.
Kevin Purdy
MarcLister
Posted 2:06 AM 21/8/08
Any way of getting Opera to not auto play Firefox vids? I see the Better Firefox extension can do that. How could I replicate that with Opera?
MarcLister
Gina Trapani
Posted 3:12 AM 21/8/08
@skilled1: Alternate player disables autoplay (in Better YouTube).
Gina Trapani
ian320
Posted 3:10 AM 21/8/08
I think this was mentioned on LH before, but #6 can also be used to view PG-13 material without signing in.
ian320
structuralpoke
Posted 3:06 AM 21/8/08
to add to #2 -- tivo just rolled out their youtube-on-tv update August 1. It works pretty good, but does not have the ability to get to channels or subscriptions (that I've found yet).
structuralpoke
Torley
Posted 3:03 AM 21/8/08
For those of you into Second Life and interested in playing YouTube videos inworld, the trick is to use a persistent link to the high-quality, MP4 version. It isn't available for all vids, but see [wiki.secondlife.com] for info.
^ That is also useful for accessing the high-quality versions more directly in general. But YouTube's hi-qual is still poor compared to, say, [blip.tv]
For downloading YouTube and other rich media and FLV content, I recommend DownloadHelper. Extremely popular at the Firefox Add-Ons site, no coincidence!
ยป [www.downloadhelper.net]
Thx in particular for #7, I used to use [www.flv2mp3.com] but it's down now.
Torley
CK
Posted 4:03 AM 21/8/08
@codykniffen: Agreed. It's a great trick, especially when combined a .flv converter.
CK
str88f
Posted 4:03 AM 21/8/08
@Kevin Purdy: "If you're a serious YouTube user, there probably isn't something here you'll find useful." Eh? Serious users need not apply? or did you mean "there isn't something here you won't find useful"?
str88f
simpsim
Posted 3:58 AM 21/8/08
The Wii is not too bad for youtube videos if you got the Internet channel installed (500 Wii Points).
simpsim
fredygamer
Posted 3:49 AM 21/8/08
I use the youtube on xbox(2) and downloading them (1)
remember the trick to watch in high quality just add
[lifehacker.com]
fredygamer
Rev. Eaton Yorke Hunt
Posted 4:31 AM 21/8/08
@codykniffen:
Then I will stress it again.
Safari activity window.
Find your video (usually the largest file).
Double click on file.
Check your download folder.
MMMMMMM... Video on the go.
Rev. Eaton Yorke Hunt
ww2db.com
Posted 4:25 AM 21/8/08
VidToMP3 is a great tip, thanks!!
ww2db.com
katscanne
Posted 4:18 AM 21/8/08
#6 apparently no longer works, or so says the blog post that the entry links to. I'm in the US, constantly logged in, and old, so it's never really affected me.
katscanne
cnayan
Posted 4:55 AM 21/8/08
keepvid.com is good resource too!
cnayan
MarcLister
Posted 4:40 AM 21/8/08
@Kevin Purdy: Thank you Mr Purdy. I'll check that out.
MarcLister
Asian Angel
Posted 4:38 AM 21/8/08
For downloading videos, the "Unplug" extension from Mozilla attitude-adjusted (courtesy of Mr Tech Toolkit) to work with Firefox 3.0.1. ^__^
To make a LOT of video formats play easily in your favorite media player, install K-Lite Codec Pack Full Version (currently at version 4.1.7).
Asian Angel
MuglyTheWorm
Posted 5:09 AM 21/8/08
a really great youtube hack would be to get google to butt out of everything and put it back the way it was. it's 100% commercialized garbage now. the only way to find real content is to start clicking on peoples names in the comments. for some reason youtube/google doesn't want you to see the real video's by the amateurs that made youtube what it was. blip.tv is a far better site...
MuglyTheWorm
Botticelli711
Posted 3:52 AM 21/8/08
I wish it was easier to stitch together videos when they split them into 1/5, 2/5, 3/5 etc.
Botticelli711
atomicrabbit
Posted 5:48 AM 21/8/08
vixy.net FTW!! no extra software require... just a browser! ;D
atomicrabbit
Icantthinkofsomethingwitty
Posted 7:07 AM 21/8/08
@Icantthinkofsomethingwitty: For some reason, that link seems to be broken. Try youconvert.com
Icantthinkofsomethingwitty
Icantthinkofsomethingwitty
Posted 7:06 AM 21/8/08
For converting and downloading YouTube video, I always use youconvertit [www.youconvertit.com] No software, easy, and fast. Plus, it offers some additional tools, as well.
Icantthinkofsomethingwitty
burnblue
Posted 7:35 AM 21/8/08
YouPlayer: Firefox extension to watch youtube videos in the sidebar without having to avert my eyes from the LifeHacker home page
burnblue
Richard Cosgrove
Posted 8:09 AM 21/8/08
Surprised no-one's mentioned the YouTube Comment Snob yet: [tinyurl.com] It's great - when it works.
Richard Cosgrove
Darkmatter91
Posted 8:07 AM 21/8/08
youtubedesktop.com
Darkmatter91
Mister Cow Pnoy
Posted 8:02 AM 21/8/08
Surprisingly, I never jumped on the youtube bandwagon. It isn't all that funny to me. However it is one of the easiest places to find a song that is stuck in your head.
Mister Cow Pnoy
thelushie
Posted 9:08 AM 21/8/08
You can watch Youtube vids on Apple tv ([www.apple.com])
thelushie
almostdvs
Posted 2:07 PM 21/8/08
the international video restrictions hack doesn't work for me. I'm trying to view
+ Watch video
It's the let's build a home white stripes video. the user is ADNCRAG if anyone would like to troubleshoot how to view it. or post at a different location and link me so i can download it.
almostdvs
upnishad
Posted 4:25 PM 21/8/08
Hi,
Great article. But I have one requirement. How to mass-download from YouTube.
Here is what I am looking for :
0. Search for something "Murray Perahia"
1. The tool fetches all possible videos
2. I select all videos to download
3. Press "Download"
and all videos are downloaded. I have selecting each video URL and download every video individually.
[the-geek.in]
upnishad
Asian Angel
Posted 4:54 PM 21/8/08
@upnishad: You could try Miro (current version is 1.2.7)...that should be very close to what you are wanting. ^__^
Miro Download @ Beta News
If I remember correctly, it should not only look at Youtube, but also other websites too...
Asian Angel
Geoff
Posted 12:03 AM 22/8/08
For when you're browsing websites or forums or any thing where people might throw a YouTube link that's just the URL (or is a misguided Rick Astley link), try Prognos. It'll add the YouTube video title to the link. Also works for IMDB links.
So when you see "Watch this video!" you'll get "Watch this video! (Reel Big Fish - Take on Me)"
Geoff
Albaraha
Posted 9:34 AM 22/8/08
To download youtube videos, you could use Free Download Manager: [www.freedownloadmanager.org]
Albaraha
ConorB
Posted 12:20 AM 23/8/08
I use this grease monkey script [userscripts.org] to download youtube video's as mp4 files (for the old ipod)
Here's the description
"Adds an option to download YouTube videos as MP4 files. Unlike most other scripts, this one downloads the videos directly from YouTube and doesn't connect to any other site."
ConorB
TF2Soldier914
Posted 4:04 PM 23/8/08
Cool
TF2Soldier914
Styyl
Posted 4:17 AM 24/8/08
I prefer to use the DVDVideoSoft suite for downloading and converting Youtube videos. The software works perfectly fine for downloading videos to iPod, etc...
Styyl
mack2332
Posted 3:00 AM 22/8/08
Here's another one - a large selection of educational video clips mostly from YouTube, with various search options:
EduTube
mack2332
strengthofmind
Posted 3:57 AM 21/8/08
I find VLC cannot skip through FLVs, whereas KMPlayer can.
strengthofmind
strengthofmind
Posted 2:56 AM 21/8/08
7. Download audio from videos.
Moitah's FLV Extract does this well if you;ve already downloaded the video.
1. Make videos easy to download.
as skilled1 said, DownloadHelper is good for downloading video off most sites.
strengthofmind
lals
Posted 11:12 AM 21/8/08
I browse to blueapple.mobi on my blackberry to download youtube videos on to the phone. This site searches and transcodes the video to .3gp format.
lals
thegreatmoocow
Posted 6:22 AM 24/8/08
YouPlayer is a great little extension for Firefox that lets you make playlists and download YouTube videos as well. It runs in the sidebar.
thegreatmoocow
raomina
Posted 4:25 AM 21/8/08
#6 does not work anymore. Look at the update on the source page.
raomina
kbaird
Posted 3:31 AM 21/8/08
To upgrade to the higher quality MP4 version of a video, I put this javascript in my bookmark bar:
javascript:document.location=window.location+'&fmt=18';
kbaird
hm933
Posted 2:56 AM 21/8/08
KeepVid.com - you can get high and low quality MP4's and FLV's and quickly see which YouTube videos are available in high quality.
hm933