How useful was this tip for you?  Very  Somewhat  Not at all    View results

If you're a regular YouTube viewer, you've probably experienced the frustration of trying to save your favorite videos. The movies are presented in the Flash Video (FLV) format and can't be downloaded with a simple right-click. Flash Video makes highly-compressed streaming video possible, and many Web sites use it because it displays well in most browsers.

One of the easiest ways to capture videos is with KeepVid a download-helper site. It's completely browser-based, so there's no software to download. After you've found a video you want to save, enter that video's URL at KeepVid, then select its originating site from a pop-up list. KeepVid works with a wide variety of video sites. You can reuse its sites list to discover new places to surf for videos.

When you enter your video URLs, KeepVid prompts you to change the suffix of the downloaded file (so that instead of Video.htm, you download Video.flv). The only problem with the site is it leaves FLV files in their original format, so downloading alone isn't enough. To view your file, you'll need to either download a FLV viewer such as FLV Player, or convert your file into a more usable format (for conversion help, see Tip 2).

Another good site for saving online video is YouTube Downloader, a simpler option that only works with YouTube. In this site, you enter the URL of the page with your chosen video and click "Get Download URL." You'll then create a URL for the video itself. Click that new link to download the video file. You shouldn't need to add a FLV suffix, but it's a possible fix if you have problems. Again, you'll either need to convert this file or download a FLV viewer to play it.