WebVideoCap - Capture Flash video (.flv) and RTSP/MMS streams from Video Web sites

WebVideoCap v1.25 - Capture Flash video and RTSP/MMS streams.
Copyright (c) 2007 - 2008 Nir Sofer

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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...

Important Notice for Vista/SP1 Users

It seems that the SP1 update of Windows Vista completely breaks the capture mechanism of WebVideoCap, and thus it cannot capture any video after installing SP1. I'll try to find a solution for this problem in future versions.

System Requirements

This utility works on Windows 2000/XP/2003/Vista. Older versions of Windows are not supported. Be aware that under Windows 2000/XP, WebVideoCap can only capture the video files if you log on as a user with admin rights.

Versions History

Version 1.25:
- Added support for .swf files.
Version 1.20:
- Added in 'Advanced Options': 'Keep the captured files opened until the capture is finished'.
Version 1.19:
- Added error messages when the starting the capture process fails.
Version 1.18:
- Added new option: Automatically delete captured files smaller than...
Version 1.17:
- Added 'Advanced Options' window, that allows you to control the capture buffer size.
- Fixed the tab order in the main window of WebVideoCap.
Version 1.16 - Added support for another type of .wmv stream.
Version 1.15 - Added support for capturing MMS streams.
Version 1.10 - Added support for capturing .wmv files and RTSP streams.
Version 1.01 - Fixed bug: WebVideoCap failed to capture files if computer name was 'localhost'.
Version 1.00 - First release.

Known Limitations

Currently, WebVideoCap can only capture the following types of video streams:
- Flash video files (with .flv extension).
- Microsoft Windows media files (with .wmv extension).
- RTSP streams. (RTSP protocol is used by many news and live TV/radio Web sites)
- MMS streams. (MMS protocol is used by many news and live TV/radio Web sites)
Support for more types of video or audio streams may be added in future versions.
While capturing RTSP/MMS streams, WebVideoCap save the video raw data into the file in a format that you won't be able to play it. Only after you press the 'Stop Capture' button, the captured .wmv file is converted into a format that will allow you to play it with a Video player.
If you use the Windows Media Player to play a video file captured from RTSP/MMS stream, you won't be able to move it forward or backward.
If the video file is already saved in your browser's cache, WebVideoCap won't be able to capture it. However, in that case, you can retrieve the cached video file by using the VideoCacheView utility. Alternatively, you can simply clear the cache of your Web browser, and then reload the video Web page.

Using WebVideoCap

WebVideoCap doesn't require any installation process or additional DLL files. In order to start using it, simply run the executable file - WebVideoCap.exe
After you run it, the main window of WebVideoCap is displayed. First, you have to select the folder that you want to save the captured video files. By default, the save folder is located in the 'files' folder under the folder of the executable file. If you have more than one network or dialup adapter, you should also select the right IP address.
After that, you can click the 'Start Capture' button. While WebVideoCap is in capture mode, open your browser in a video Web page. If everything goes right, you should see a new video file created and grown inside the folder that you have selected. You can continue watching more Web site videos while WebVideoCap capture the video files in the background. After you finish, click the 'Stop Capture' button.

Playing The Video Files

Most Web sites today use Flash video files (.flv extension) for playing video inside the Web page.
WebVideoCap doesn't provide a build-in video player, but you can use any flv player to play the video files that you captured with WebVideoCap.

If you don't have a video player that can play .flv files, you may try one of the following freeware solutions:

Capture Buffer Size

Starting from version 1.17, WebVideoCap allows you to control the capture buffer size, in the 'Advanced' options window. In most cases, you should not change this value. However, if the files that you capture are corrupted, increasing this 'Buffer Size' value may solve the problem.

Keep the captured files opened until the capture is finished

If you have a very fast Internet connection, and the files that you capture are corrupted even after increasing the buffer size, selecting this option should increase the performances of saving the video files to disk, and thus it may solve corrupted files problems.
However, be aware that when you choose this option, the capture files will be remained open until you stop the capture process by clicking the "Stop Capture" button.

Translating WebVideoCap to other languages

In order to translate WebVideoCap to other language, follow the instructions below:

Run WebVideoCap with /savelangfile parameter:
WebVideoCap.exe /savelangfile
A file named WebVideoCap_lng.ini will be created in the folder of WebVideoCap utility.
Open the created language file in Notepad or in any other text editor.
Translate all string entries to the desired language. Optionally, you can also add your name and/or a link to your Web site. (TranslatorName and TranslatorURL values) If you add this information, it'll be used in the 'About' window.
After you finish the translation, Run WebVideoCap, and all translated strings will be loaded from the language file.
If you want to run WebVideoCap without the translation, simply rename the language file, or move it to another folder.

License

This utility is released as freeware. You are allowed to freely distribute this utility via floppy disk, CD-ROM, Internet, or in any other way, as long as you don't charge anything for this. If you distribute this utility, you must include all files in the distribution package, without any modification !

Disclaimer

The software is provided "AS IS" without any warranty, either expressed or implied, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. The author will not be liable for any special, incidental, consequential or indirect damages due to loss of data or any other reason.

Feedback

If you have any problem, suggestion, comment, or you found a bug in my utility, you can send a message to nirsofer@yahoo.com

Download WebVideoCap

WebVideoCap is also available in other languages. In order to change the language of WebVideoCap, download the appropriate language zip file, extract the 'WebVideoCap_lng.ini', and put it in the same folder that you Installed WebVideoCap utility.

Language Translated By
Simplified Chinese renda
German Latino
French LiberKey.com
Turkish Hüseyin Tüfekçilerli
Italian Fabio Mastroianni
Portuguese MReis
Galician Xosé Antón Vicente Rodríguez
Korean ÀÌÁ¾±¸(Lee Jong Ku)
Traditional Chinese lordmi
Swedish Leif Larsson
Spanish Jorge Ronald Cribb
Valencian vjatv
Greek George Georgiou
Japanese James Gallardo - Philippines