Re: Saving BBC streaming video clips?

de Manatee Memories 01/31/2008 10:30

On Thu, 31 Jan 2008 10:43:20 +0000, Terry Pinnell
<terrypin@dial.pipex.com> wrote, by way of
<mq83q3dkpsi4hbpacu4shdoljh94vfofm6@4ax.com>, in alt.comp.freeware -->

>Anyone have a recommendation for a straightforward method to capture a
>BBC video clip (typically streaming RealPlayer media) to my HD please?
>
>I looked for a short example with which to experiment and found this
>24 second clip:
>http://www.bbc.co.uk/videonation/articles/d/devon_thebarton.shtml
>I can view that OK by clicking WATCH THIS VIDEO. But how do I capture
>it permanently? (Ideally in MPEG or WMV. But if in 'rm' format, I can
>probably use something like SUPER to convert it).
>
>Apart from half a dozen commercial programs, my research produced one
>possibility called Real7ime Converter (R7C). But I can't get it
>working. Probably because I use RealPlayer Alternative, as I found
>RealPlayer too intrusive.
>
>I also tried a method based on the assumption that, after playing in
>full, the file must be in my Firefox cache folder. But immediately
>after playing that short video example, I found not one but two new
>files in there:
>_CACHE_001_
>_CACHE_002_
>
>Neither have extensions (which I find an annoyance - one small
>advantage that IE Temporary Internet Files had!) so I tried adding
>one, to give
>_CACHE_001_.rm
>_CACHE_002_.rm
>But although d-clicking opens Media Player Classic, I just get an
>unhelpful error message "RealMedia error".
>
>Any practical advice would be much appreciated please. There must be
>some no-brainer way to do this!

(the below may discuss some non-freeware, so please tread carefully)

I have come-upon your situation previously. For browser, I used Opera;
browse to the above url/site, right-click on "Launch this in standalone
player", then "Copy Link Location". Once the link's properties are in
the clipboard, I start "Free Download Manager"
(<http://www.freedownloadmanager.com>), open its' main-window, click on
(far left of button-bar) "Add download", then download the file
"devon_thebarton_4x3_nb.ram" (all of 1 Kb in size). I then use "Hex
Workshop" (<http://www.bpsoft.com/>) to properly view the files'
contents, whereupon I see
"rtsp://rmv8.bbc.net.uk/videonation/d/devon_thebarton_56.rm" prominently
displayed.

Since the "rtsp" format is not too-often seen, another downloading
program must be used; I favour "CoCSoft Stream Down", version 6.2. This
will download the relevant ".rm" file to your hard-drive, ready for
playage.