Hi folks,
I'm wordering how apps such as Video DownloadHelper work.
Any ideas?
+6
A:
They simply resolve the link to the actual FLV file, and download it.
This is done by copying the video identifier from the URL:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEeqHj3Nj2c
Which is used to request info about the video:
http://www.youtube.com/get_video_info?&video_id=WEeqHj3Nj2c
The video info includes a TOKEN, which you can then you use to make another request:
http://www.youtube.com/get_video?video_id=WEeqHj3Nj2c&t=TOKEN
If all goes well, YouTube will respond with HTTP 303 See Other, including a Location header with a direct link to the FLV file.
Dolph
2010-07-03 21:48:24
@Dolph: thanks for this!!! This is great, I suppose I can do the same for most of other sites too?
RadiantHex
2010-07-03 21:56:16
Yes, every site has the FLV available *somewhere*. YouTube is likely more difficult than most! Fire up a tool like FireBug to monitor the transaction between your browser and the server to figure out where the FLV's are tucked away.
Dolph
2010-07-03 21:57:30
@Dolph: awesome and very informative reply! =D thanks!
RadiantHex
2010-07-03 22:04:28