Update x2
Out with the old, in with the new. It has been quite a while since this article was written, and it was seriously out of date. I have updated the bookmarklets, included here for convenience. Be sure to use these links here at the top, and click and drag them to your bookmarks bar.
More information about this newest version can be found in my post detailing them.
Update
After doing some looking at YouTube’s code it turns out that it is possible to determine which formats of a video exist beforehand so I’ve updated my approach to use this consideration. These now grab the highest quality copy available in the particular format.
More information about these can be found on my post detailing them.
Earlier today I was annoyed by all of the existing YouTube file download links and decided to cook up something of my own that made the entire process automatic (one click pops up the download window).
So, without further ado, I present the YouTube HD Download bookmarklet: YouTube HD DL.
And, for those movies that just aren’t up to snuff, there is also the YouTube SD Download bookmarklet: YouTube SD DL.
Notes:
- I’ve only tested it in Firefox 3.0.4 for Mac OS X Leopard 10.5.5. Your mileage may vary. The video I tested it on: Big Buck Bunny.
- If your mileage does vary, it really isn’t anything too fancy and the code is easy to read. Have a look and fix problems you run into!
- Not all videos have a HD version. If no download window pops up then the file is not available at that quality level. If that is the case, try the SD bookmarklet.
- I borrowed the url string approach from user macskeeball‘s hint submitted to macosxhints.com.