It is likely that you have heard and used VLC media player for playing streaming videos. But it is more likely that you are fooled by its name — VLC media player is by no means a one-trick pony. Instead, it is a feature-packed powerful tool which is not only capable of playing streaming videos but also able to download videos from all the popular websites, like YouTube.
Today, you are going to learn about how to download video with VLC on Mac/Windows and solve a series of problems involved when using it all in one passage.
CONTENTS
VLC Media Player for Mac is a powerful and efficient app for playing all kinds of media in multiple formats right on your Mac. With this app in place, you can just download and watch what you want.
Download Vlc Player For Mac 10.5.8 - real advice. VLC media player and 1 more program. The VLC Player is available for 32-bit and 64-bit systems. It is executable on different chip formats. The new big update includes, as previously, the conversion function (for example, from video to mp3). VLC media player download. Plays AVI, MP4, WMP and other popular video formats. Download Review Comments (323) Questions & Answers (54) Download the latest version from Software Informer. Scanned by 4 antivirus programs on Dec 21, 2020. The file is clean, see report. Version: 3.0.11 (x86).
- 1. VLC's Hidden Feature — Download Video from Internet
- 2. Problems Tackled in YouTube Downloading Using VLC
- 3. An Alternative to VLC for Downloading Web Video Including YouTube
VLC's Hidden Feature — Download Video from Internet
In fact, there are two methods to download videos with VLC. Here I will introduce the easier one. Please follow the steps below with VLC downloading a YouTube video as an example.
Step 1. Fire up VLC
After installing VLC media player to your Windows or Mac, fire it up.
Step 2. Copy the Video URL from YouTube
Go for the video on YouTube and copy the link from the browser’s address bar above the page.
Step 3. Paste the Video URL into VLC and Start Playing
On Windows:
Click on 'Media' > 'Open Network Stream' in VLC main interface.
Then under the Network tab on the pop-up window, you should then enter the YouTube video URL that you have copied from YouTube. Press the 'Play' button to start playing the video.
On Mac:
Click on 'File' > 'Open Network', enter the YouTube video URL and click 'Open'.
Step 4. Get and Copy Codec Information of the YouTube Video
On Windows:
Hit 'Tools' > 'Codec Information' to copy the full URL besides the 'Location' title. This is the direct URL of the YouTube video.
On Mac:
Select the YouTube video in VLC, hit 'Window' > 'Media Information'. You are looking for the 'Location' input box.
Step 5. Enter the URL into Address Bar and Download the YouTube Video
Open a web browser page and paste the copied Location URL into the address bar before hitting 'Enter' on your keyboard. More clicks of 'Save' button might be needed after that, which depends on the video link and the setting of your browser.
Problems Tackled in YouTube Downloading Using VLC
Now, have you learned about how to download YouTube videos using VLC yet? Don't worry if you encounter some problems when in practice. The first thing you need to do is to repeat the above steps more carefully in order to rule out the possibility of not following the right procedures. If that problem does continue to exist, you might need to read the second part of the passage. We have listed some common problems involved in saving video from websites with VLC and given out our solutions.
Problem 1:
'Sadly this didn't work for me. It downloaded the video but instead of getting a playable video I get a file called 'file' in my download folder.'
Solution A: Put an extension to the file name when it gives you 'Enter file name', like '.mp4' or '.avi'.
Solution B: Use a video converter to convert the file into '.mp4'.
Problem 2:
'I could download some YouTube videos with VLC while others didn't work.'
Solution: Check if the video is tagged 'Age-restricted video (based on Community Guidelines)'. If that is the case, the video will NOT download using the established method due to YouTube policies. There is no way of getting rid of it. So try VLC alternatives.
An Alternative to VLC for Downloading Web Video Including YouTube
The built-in download feature of VLC cannot go without drawbacks since it is not an expert in video download. Indeed, some videos are highly protected by their website program and prevented from grabbing by VLC. To solve such a problem, I suggest you to try some online tools to download videos from popular websites for offline viewing.
VideoSolo Online Video Downloader is one of the best free online downloaders on the internet for grabbing YouTube videos. Aside from YouTube, it claims to support Facebook, Instagram, Dailymotion, Vimeo, SoundCloud, etc. in almost all browsers and all operating systems including Mac/Windows/Android/iOS. With a clean and intuitive interface, VideoSolo Online Video Downloader is very easy to use within just several clicks.
In addition, VideoSolo now released a video downloader which can also download online videos easily.
You can take a try with it from the button below.
Follow the 3 steps to grab videos from the Internet easily with VideoSolo Online Video Downloader.
Step 1. Go to the page containing your loved video and copy the video link from the address bar above.
Step 2. Head to the VideoSolo Online Video Downloader homepage and paste the video link into the search box. Press the 'Download' button to the right of the box to interpret the video.
Step 3. After deciding on the output format and quality, hit the corresponding 'Download' button to the right hand. Then the browser immediately pops up a download dialog; if not, click the menu button > 'Download' on the pop-up window, or right-click the mouse and select 'Save as'.
Hope the above information can settle your problems when downloading videos with VLC on your Mac or Windows. If you are not so satisfied with VLC’s inherent download function, your best bet is to try VideoSolo Online Video Downloader, which is quite easy and efficient to use.
VLC Media Player is available on several popular platforms. This free and awesome player is readily available for Apple computer users. The software is freely available for Mac OS X systems. Different versions of the player is required for a different Mac OS X version and the VideoLAN team has got it covered. Read the instructions below to understand how you will be able to install VLC in your Mac.
Vlc Player Mac 64 Bit Download Chip
Downloading for Mac
Basically, you download a dmg package for your Mac computers from the following page:
You will see different download links for:
VLC for Mac OS X: 64 bit VLC dmg package download link which works for Mac OS X 10.6 and later.
32 bits Intel Mac: This dmg package is for 32 bit Intel Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard users.
PowerPC Mac: Dmg package for 32 bit PowerPC Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard users.
You will also see two web browser plugin download links. Those are for playing/streaming videos straight from your browser. The plugins are available for Intel Mac and Power Mac users. They require the OS X version to be 10.5 or lower.
Installing in Mac OS X
Download Vlc For Mac
- Download VLC installation file from the location mentioned above (VideoLAN website).
- Locate the downloaded file which will be named something like vlc-2.1.0.dmg
- Open the file. After verifying the contents of the file, it will open.
- Click and drag the VLC icon to the applications folder. Release it.
- VLC will be copied to your applications folder.
- Double click on VLC media player (the icon with the cone). Provide it the permissions if your Mac computer asks for it.
- VLC Media Player will launch for the first time. Use it to play all your media with ease.