Firstly, if you’re running a group similar to Befinity and are looking for some interesting video resources, I suggest that you check out the following link:
It provides an impressive list of spiritually-oriented videos, ranging in duration from a few minutes to a few hours. Most links are accompanied by at least some info about the video content. Other sites worth checking out are http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/ and http://dprogram.net/ Be warned though, some of their content is highly controversial and discretion is advised.
It's perhaps worth noting that the quality of clips downloaded from the Web varies quite a lot and if you use a data projector to show the videos at discussion group meetings, you may find that the resolution is poor. However, since the primary aim of the exercise is not to provide entertainment but rather to present material as a basis for discussion, the quality of the image is usually not a big issue.
As far as software for downloading YouTube and other video/audio clips is concerned, I’ve had success with a few different options, described below. I’ve found that they don't all work for all requirements, so I've tried to outline the key differences between them:
1. Orbit Downloader: http://www.orbitdownloader.com/ This is really useful for downloading videos from a range of sources, such as YouTube, Google Video & TED (www.ted.com). Once you've downloaded it, it becomes automatically active in Internet Explorer; it doesn't seem to work in Firefox, however. All you have to do is move the cursor over the video window and a little 'Getit' icon appears; click on the icon and the ‘Create New Download’ window appears; wait till the file size appears, then click Download. Video file sizes are generally quite large – in MB rather than KB – so if the size is measured in KB, it probably means that Getit hasn't selected the correct file to download and you'll have to use the Grab++ option, as explained in next paragraph.
If you find that the file size info doesn't appear in the download window, or the size of the file that it wants to download is small (i.e. in KB rather than MB), then you won’t be able to download the video directly with Getit. If this happens, go to the main Orbit page, click on Tools and open the Grab++ utility. You'll be instructed to refresh the page that you're trying to download from. Once you’ve done that you’ll probably see a number of different files appear in the Grab++ window. Look for the file that seems most likely to be the video file – it’s usually easy to distinguish, because it’s measured in MB rather than KB. Highlight it and click Download. The Create New Download window should then open.
One of the features I like about Orbit, which is not available with the other downloaders I’ve worked with (refer below), is that you can pause a download and continue it at a later time, even if you disconnect from the internet and close the programme. Similarly, if your internet connection is unstable and the download fails, you can usually continue with it once your connection is satisfactory, simply by retrieving it from the ‘Inactive’ folder and clicking on ‘Start’.
Problems with Orbit Downloader: At one stage, after having used Orbit successfully for a good many months, I encountered a problem with downloading YouTube clips, characterised by the fact that the file size usually appeared as 1.7MB. On investigation, I came across a claim in a chat forum that this was a deliberate strategy by YouTube to make it difficult for Orbit (and presumably other download tools) to download YouTube clips. The problem prompted me to look for alternative downloaders (described in 2 & 3, below), although it subsequently disappeared when I got a new notebook.
2. Easy YTD: In view of the ‘1.7MB’ problem I encountered with Orbit, I followed the advice of one of the correspondents in the above-mentioned forum and downloaded Easy YouTube Downloader (EasyYTD), which is designed specifically to work with Firefox
I find that it works really well, and it gives you a range of file format options; the Download button appears automatically below the YouTube video. Once you make your selection, it opens the Firefox download window and starts the download. It is usually possible to pause downloads and resume them later, but only if you keep Firefox open. If your internet connection is unstable, it is advisable to pause any downloads you're busy with and then resume them once the connection is stable again; if you continue trying to download and the internet connection fails, you will have to start the download from scratch. The disadvantage of Easy YTD is that it seems to be limited to YouTube clips only.
3. YouTube Downloader: This is available from
It is apparently designed to work with a variety of other video types (e.g.
Vimeo), in addition to YouTube. I have thus far used it only for YouTube videos
and, in my experience, it works well. Unlike Orbit and EAsy YTD, however, it's
not automatically active, so you have to open the software each time you want
to use it. The primary disadvantage is that any break in the internet
connection of more than a few seconds will result in a failure of the download,
irrespective of whether you've paused the download or not. So you will have to
start again from scratch, even if you had almost completed the download. In
other words, it’s best used only when you have a really solid internet
connection.
4. TED
Talks / iTunes: Many TED talks (www.ted.com) can be saved, using
the download option provided beneath the video window. You’ll be offered the
option of saving the file either to your desktop or to iTunes. TED videos that don't have the download button can be saved using Orbit Downloader and played with the VLC player.
If you don’t have iTunes software, it can be downloaded free of charge from
If you don’t have iTunes software, it can be downloaded free of charge from
VLC Media Player, available at www.videolan.org/vlc/index.html.
It's an extremely useful, versatile video player, compatible with various file formats, and is very quick and easy to download and install. For a little more info about FLV files see:
MP4 is another common video file format. These files can be played in Windows Media Player and iTunes video player, as well as the VLC player.
