Introduction
Often we have the need to download videos, such as for learning or collection. Here is how I download videos. I usually use Aria2
to download BT, yt-dlp
to download streaming video.
The machine used in this article is Windows 11, please change it as appropriate for other systems.
1. Aria2
In theory, aria2 is the silver bullet, which can download anything, multi-protocol & cross platform, etc. But I only use it to download BT, because other have better tools.
First of all, I think it’s better to introduce what is BT, Track and P2P.
The full name of BT is BitTorrent, a protocol for P2P, which enables users to distribute and download files over internet. Where P2P means Peer-to-peer file sharing. It’s decentralized and doesn’t even require a network. Track is a special type of server that assists in the communication between peers using BT. If you want to increase the download speed, you should add the appropriate Tracker servers.
1.1 Config
Create this new files (or folder):
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Download # Path to save the downloaded file
aria2.conf # Config
aria2.log # Log storage, ignore it if you not needed
aria2.session # Blank file
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Then your file tree should look like this:
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│ aria2.conf
│ aria2.log
│ aria2.session
│ aria2c.exe
│ AUTHORS
│ ChangeLog
│ COPYING
│ index.html
│ LICENSE.OpenSSL
│ NEWS
│ README.html
│ README.mingw
│
└─Download
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This is my aria2.conf, you can modify it according to your needs.
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# File name：aria2.conf
## aria2 config ##
# Download path. absolute path or relative path can be used. Default: current startup location
# Absolute path: dir=Folder path
# Relative path: dir=~/Download
dir=~/Download
# Disk cache, 0 is to disable cache, default: 16M
# Enable disk cache. If SIZE is 0, the disk cache is disabled. Default: 16M
# This feature caches the downloaded data in memory, which grows to at most SIZE bytes. SIZE can include K or M.
disk-cache=64M
# File pre-allocation method, optional: none, prealloc, trunc, falloc, default: prealloc
# Pre-allocation can effectively reduce disk fragmentation, improve disk read and write performance, and extend disk life for mechanical hard disks.
# The mechanical hard disk uses ext4 (with extended support), btrfs, xfs or NTFS (only MinGW compiled version) and other file systems are recommended to be set to falloc
# SSD does not need to be pre-allocated, it is only recommended to set it to none.
file-allocation=none
# File allocation limit size，Unit K or M，default: 5M
no-file-allocation-limit=64M
# Resume from break-point
continue=true
# Always try to resume the download, if the download cannot be resumed, the download will be terminated, default: true
always-resume=false
# URI values that do not support resumable uploads, take effect when always-resume=false.
max-resume-failure-tries=0
# Get remote server time, default:false
# I set this to true to prevent cross-time zone situations.
remote-time=true
## Session setting ##
# Path of input download file
input-file=~/aria2.session
# Path of saved session
save-session=~/aria2.session
save-session-interval=1
# The time interval to automatically save to the session, default: 60
auto-save-interval=20
# Force save, default: false
force-save=false
## Download connection settings ##
# File not found retries, default: 0 (disabled)
max-file-not-found=10
# Maximum number of attempts, 0 means unlimited, default: 5
max-tries=0
# Retry wait time (s), default: 0 (disable)
retry-wait=10
# Default(s)
connect-timeout=10
# Default(s)
timeout=10
# The maximum number of simultaneous download tasks, default: 5
max-concurrent-downloads=15
# Max connection per server, default: 1, max: 16
max-connection-per-server=16
# The maximum number of connection threads for one task, default: 5
split=64
# file minimum segment size, 1M-1024M, default 20M
min-split-size=4M
piece-length=1M
# Allow piece length change, default: false
allow-piece-length-change=true
# Minimum download speed limit, Unit K or M ，default：0 (unlimited)
lowest-speed-limit=0
# Global maximum download speed limit, can be modified at runtime, default: 0 (unlimited)
max-overall-download-limit=0
# Single task download speed limit, default: 0 (unlimited)
max-download-limit=0
# Disable IPv6, default: false
disable-ipv6=true
# GZip，default:false
http-accept-gzip=true
# URI
reuse-uri=false
# Disable netrc
no-netrc=true
# Allows overwriting, re-downloading from scratch when the control file (.aria2) doesn't exist.
# Default: false
allow-overwrite=false
# Auto rename files
auto-file-renaming=true
# UTF-8 to Content-Disposition, default:false
content-disposition-default-utf8=true
# TLS version, option: TLSv1.1、TLSv1.2、TLSv1.3 default: TLSv1.2
#min-tls-version=TLSv1.2
## BT/PT setting ##
# BT listen port(TCP), default: 6881-6999
# Devices directly connected to internet, such as VPS, must configure firewalls and security group policies to allow this port to enter
# Devices in the internal network environment, such as NAS, in addition to firewall settings, you also need to set the external network port forwarding to this port on the router
listen-port=51413
# DHT and UDP tracker listen port(UDP), default:6881-6999
dht-listen-port=51413
# enable IPv4 DHT, PT download will disable, default:false
enable-dht=true
# enable IPv6 DHT, PT download will disable, default:false
# Enabling it in an environment without IPv6 support may cause DHT to malfunction
enable-dht6=false
# IPv4 DHT path，default：$HOME/.aria2/dht.dat
dht-file-path=/root/.aria2/dht.dat
# IPv6 DHT path，default：$HOME/.aria2/dht6.dat
dht-file-path6=/root/.aria2/dht6.dat
# IPv4 DHT
dht-entry-point=dht.transmissionbt.com:6881
# IPv6 DHT
dht-entry-point6=dht.transmissionbt.com:6881
# local peer discovery, PT download will disable, default:false
bt-enable-lpd=true
# Enable peer exchange, PT will auto disable
enable-peer-exchange=true
# BT maximum connections，0 means unlimted, default: 55
bt-max-peers=128
# BT download expected speed value (single task) Unit K or M. Default: 50K
bt-request-peer-speed-limit=10M
# Global maximum upload speed limit, default: 0 (default)
max-overall-upload-limit=2M
# Single task upload speed limit, default: 0 (unlimited)
max-upload-limit=0
# Minimum share rate. Stop seeding when the seed sharing rate reaches the value set by this option
# 0 means always seeding, default: 1.0
# It is strongly recommended that you set this option to >= 1.0
seed-ratio=1.5
# min seed time (min)。Setting to 0 will stop seeding after the torrent download is complete.
seed-time=0
# Check file hash before seeding, default: true
bt-hash-check-seed=true
# When continuing the previous BT task, there is no need to verify again, default: false
bt-seed-unverified=false
# BT tracker server connection timeout (s). Default: 60
bt-tracker-connect-timeout=10
# BT tracker max timeout (s). default: 60
bt-tracker-timeout=10
# BT track max time interval. Default: 0 (auto)
#bt-tracker-interval=0
# BT downloads the beginning or end of the file first
bt-prioritize-piece=head=32M,tail=32M
# Save torrent uploaded via RPC, default: true
rpc-save-upload-metadata=true
# Automatically start downloading after downloading a torrent.
# option：true, false, mem, default: true
follow-torrent=true
# only download feed, default: false
pause-metadata=false
# save feed(.torrent), default: false
bt-save-metadata=true
# Bt load saved metadata(.torrent), default: false
bt-load-saved-metadata=true
# remove BT file which be unselected, default: false
bt-remove-unselected-file=true
# BT force encrypt, default: false
# It can solve the blockade of BT download by some Telecom operators, and can anti-Xunlei(反迅雷)
# If you enable it, the next option(bt-require-crypto=true, bt-min-crypto-level=arc4) don't need setting.
bt-force-encryption=true
# BT require crypto，default：false
# bt-require-crypto=true
# BT min crypto，option：plain, arc4, default: plain
# bt-min-crypto-level=arc4
# Bt detach the task of seed only, default: false
bt-detach-seed-only=true
## Client agent ##
# Customize User Agent
user-agent=Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/93.0.4577.63 Safari/537.36 Edg/93.0.961.47
# BT agent
# PT download needs to keep the two parameters of user-agent and peer-agent consistent
peer-id-prefix=-TR2770-
user-agent=Transmission/2.77
peer-agent=Transmission/2.77
## RPC ##
# If you are not a professional, I do not recommend modifying these
# enable JSON-RPC/XML-RPC server, default: false
enable-rpc=true
# Accept all remote requests, default: false
rpc-allow-origin-all=true
# Accept all remote listen, default:false
rpc-listen-all=true
# RPC port, default:6800
rpc-listen-port=6800
# RPC key
rpc-secret=P3TERX
# RPC max request
rpc-max-request-size=10M
# RPC server, SSL/TLS encryption, default: false
# After enabling encryption, you must use https or wss protocol to connect. It is not recommended to enable it.
# It is recommended to use web server reverse proxy, such as Nginx and Caddy, which are more flexible.
#rpc-secure=false
# 在 RPC certificate(.pem/.crt)
#rpc-certificate=/root/.aria2/xxx.pem
# 在 RPC private key(.key)
#rpc-private-key=/root/.aria2/xxx.key
## log setting ##
# Log file save path, ignore or set to empty to not save, default: not save
log=~/aria2.log
# log level, option: debug, info, notice, warn, error. Default: debug
#log-level=warn
# console log lever, option debug, info, notice, warn, error, default: notice
console-log-level=notice
# Quiet mode, disable log output on the console, default: false
quiet=false
#Download summary output interval (s)，0 is disable. Default：60
summary-interval=0
## BitTorrent trackers ##
# Different trackers are separated by commas(,)
# For example bt-tracker=tracker-a,tracker-v
bt-tracker=
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If you want to make more in-depth changes, I recommend you to read aria2 doc
.
1.2 Tracker
Adding tracker is crucial to improve torrent download speed. Here are some trackers I use, it is very helpful for downloading anime.
1.3 Usage
For example I want to download Vivy-Flourite Eye’s Song OST, in Nyaa, I can download via BitTorrent or Magnet.
BitTorrent:
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aria2c https://nyaa.si/download/1525645.torrent
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Magnet:
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aria2c 'magnet:?xt=urn:btih:ebaa26b16ba4c3b9b618019e0e988a687c28aba1&dn=Vivy-Flourite%20Eye%27s%20Song%20OST&tr=http%3A%2F%2Fnyaa.tracker.wf%3A7777%2Fannounce&tr=udp%3A%2F%2Fopen.stealth.si%3A80%2Fannounce&tr=udp%3A%2F%2Ftracker.opentrackr.org%3A1337%2Fannounce&tr=udp%3A%2F%2Fexodus.desync.com%3A6969%2Fannounce&tr=udp%3A%2F%2Ftracker.torrent.eu.org%3A451%2Fannounce'
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If you want to know more commands, run
1.4 GUI
If you don’t want to use command line, you can also use third-party GUI, here I list some of the more well-known GUI. But I recommend using the command line, and you will understand the command line after using it a few times.
2. yt-dlp
yt-dp is a free and open source program to download videos from YouTube and other video sites, build written by Python, so we need download Python
and pip. In this way, Python isn’t useless.
You can find all sites which support youtube-dl in here
.
2.1 Download
The following default installed Python version >= 3.10, if not, download Python
please.
Download youtube-dl
Enter the following code to check the installation.
Download FFmpeg
Enter the following code to check the installation.
If running FFmpeg fails, please go to the official website to download and add environment variables.
Download FFmpeg
and add bin folder path to Environment variables path. For me, the path is D:\Download\ffmpeg-5.1.2-full_build\bin.
2.2 Usage
2.2.1 Download single video
For instance, I want install Mili - String Theocracy / “Library of Ruina” theme song
.
List all format of the video (YouTube only).
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yt-dlp -F https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOj_A3aZxGs
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Then the following will be printed out
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[youtube] Extracting URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOj_A3aZxGs
[youtube] nOj_A3aZxGs: Downloading webpage
[youtube] nOj_A3aZxGs: Downloading android player API JSON
[info] Available formats for nOj_A3aZxGs:
ID EXT RESOLUTION FPS CH │ FILESIZE TBR PROTO │ VCODEC VBR ACODEC ABR ASR MORE INFO
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
sb2 mhtml 48x27 1 │ mhtml │ images storyboard
sb1 mhtml 80x45 1 │ mhtml │ images storyboard
sb0 mhtml 160x90 1 │ mhtml │ images storyboard
599 m4a audio only 2 │ 658.58KiB 31k https │ audio only mp4a.40.5 31k 22k ultralow, m4a_dash
600 webm audio only 2 │ 721.82KiB 34k https │ audio only opus 34k 48k ultralow, webm_dash
139 m4a audio only 2 │ 1.02MiB 49k https │ audio only mp4a.40.5 49k 22k low, m4a_dash
249 webm audio only 2 │ 1.04MiB 50k https │ audio only opus 50k 48k low, webm_dash
250 webm audio only 2 │ 1.37MiB 66k https │ audio only opus 66k 48k low, webm_dash
140 m4a audio only 2 │ 2.70MiB 130k https │ audio only mp4a.40.2 130k 44k medium, m4a_dash
251 webm audio only 2 │ 2.72MiB 130k https │ audio only opus 130k 48k medium, webm_dash
17 3gp 176x144 8 1 │ 989.32KiB 46k https │ mp4v.20.3 46k mp4a.40.2 0k 22k 144p
597 mp4 256x144 15 │ 636.23KiB 30k https │ avc1.4d400b 30k video only 144p, mp4_dash
598 webm 256x144 15 │ 380.11KiB 18k https │ vp9 18k video only 144p, webm_dash
394 mp4 256x144 30 │ 724.94KiB 34k https │ av01.0.00M.08 34k video only 144p, mp4_dash
160 mp4 256x144 30 │ 393.27KiB 18k https │ avc1.4d400c 18k video only 144p, mp4_dash
278 webm 256x144 30 │ 880.14KiB 41k https │ vp9 41k video only 144p, webm_dash
395 mp4 426x240 30 │ 1.18MiB 57k https │ av01.0.00M.08 57k video only 240p, mp4_dash
133 mp4 426x240 30 │ 594.25KiB 28k https │ avc1.4d4015 28k video only 240p, mp4_dash
242 webm 426x240 30 │ 1.15MiB 55k https │ vp9 55k video only 240p, webm_dash
396 mp4 640x360 30 │ 2.38MiB 114k https │ av01.0.01M.08 114k video only 360p, mp4_dash
134 mp4 640x360 30 │ 1.02MiB 49k https │ avc1.4d401e 49k video only 360p, mp4_dash
18 mp4 640x360 30 2 │ ~ 3.80MiB 178k https │ avc1.42001E 178k mp4a.40.2 0k 44k 360p
243 webm 640x360 30 │ 2.12MiB 102k https │ vp9 102k video only 360p, webm_dash
397 mp4 854x480 30 │ 4.52MiB 217k https │ av01.0.04M.08 217k video only 480p, mp4_dash
135 mp4 854x480 30 │ 1.62MiB 78k https │ avc1.4d401f 78k video only 480p, mp4_dash
244 webm 854x480 30 │ 3.62MiB 173k https │ vp9 173k video only 480p, webm_dash
22 mp4 1280x720 30 2 │ ~ 6.27MiB 293k https │ avc1.64001F 293k mp4a.40.2 0k 44k 720p
398 mp4 1280x720 30 │ 11.09MiB 532k https │ av01.0.05M.08 532k video only 720p, mp4_dash
136 mp4 1280x720 30 │ 3.43MiB 165k https │ avc1.4d401f 165k video only 720p, mp4_dash
247 webm 1280x720 30 │ 8.04MiB 385k https │ vp9 385k video only 720p, webm_dash
399 mp4 1920x1080 30 │ 21.78MiB 1045k https │ av01.0.08M.08 1045k video only 1080p, mp4_dash
137 mp4 1920x1080 30 │ 15.88MiB 761k https │ avc1.640028 761k video only 1080p, mp4_dash
248 webm 1920x1080 30 │ 21.13MiB 1013k https │ vp9 1013k video only 1080p, webm_dash
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We want to download 1080p video, so choose format 137, so run
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yt-dlp -f 137 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOj_A3aZxGs
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OK, just wait for the download. Wait! There seems to be a problem. Why is there no sound?
So we need ffmpeg to merge video and audio, run
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yt-dlp -f 137+251 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOj_A3aZxGs
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If you don’t set format, yt-dlp will download the best ability by default.
2.2.2 Download video playlist
You may say: OK, It’s easy, I know how to download videos, but what if I want to download all the videos in my collection, do I have to download them one by one?
Of course not, next we will introduce how to download videos that you liked in batches.
Download Functional Analysis - The Bright Side of Mathematics
playlist with the videos being 1080p and the best audio. Save into channel_id/playlist_id directory with the video added to an archive text file:
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yt-dlp -f bv*[height=1080]+ba --download-archive videos.txt https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBh2i93oe2qsGKDOsuVVw-OCAfprrnGfr -o '%(channel_id)s/%(playlist_id)s/%(id)s.%(ext)s'
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2.2.3 Cookie
For some websites, we need to log in to watch or download 1080 p videos, such as YouTube member or Bilibili
, so we need add cookie to download.
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yt-dlp -F xxxxx --cookies-from-browser <brower name>
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For example, find all format of 7日之都大圆舞曲
, using the cookie of chrome, run
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yt-dlp -F https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1Bi4y1V7Wf --cookies-from-browser chrome
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Then the following will be printed out
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yt-dlp -F https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1Bi4y1V7Wf --cookies-from-browser chrome
[Cookies] Extracting cookies from chrome
[Cookies] Extracted 1098 cookies from chrome
[BiliBili] Extracting URL: https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1Bi4y1V7Wf
[BiliBili] 1Bi4y1V7Wf: Downloading webpage
[BiliBili] BV1Bi4y1V7Wf: Extracting videos in anthology
[BiliBili] 542925024: Extracting chapters
[info] Available formats for BV1Bi4y1V7Wf:
ID EXT RESOLUTION FPS │ FILESIZE TBR PROTO │ VCODEC VBR ACODEC ABR
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
0 m4a audio only │ ~ 1.07MiB 65k https │ audio only mp4a.40.2 65k
1 m4a audio only │ ~ 2.20MiB 133k https │ audio only mp4a.40.2 133k
2 m4a audio only │ ~ 4.23MiB 255k https │ audio only mp4a.40.2 255k
3 mp4 640x360 25 │ ~ 5.03MiB 303k https │ avc1.64001E 303k video only
4 mp4 640x360 25 │ ~ 3.51MiB 212k https │ hev1.1.6.L120 212k video only
5 mp4 852x480 25 │ ~11.33MiB 684k https │ avc1.64001F 684k video only
6 mp4 852x480 25 │ ~ 7.88MiB 475k https │ hev1.1.6.L120 475k video only
7 mp4 1280x720 25 │ ~25.24MiB 1522k https │ avc1.640028 1522k video only
8 mp4 1280x720 25 │ ~17.51MiB 1056k https │ hev1.1.6.L120 1056k video only
9 mp4 1920x1080 25 │ ~37.90MiB 2286k https │ avc1.640032 2286k video only
10 mp4 1920x1080 25 │ ~26.25MiB 1584k https │ hev1.1.6.L120 1584k video only
11 mp4 1920x1080 25 │ ~77.16MiB 4655k https │ avc1.640032 4655k video only
12 mp4 1920x1080 25 │ ~46.57MiB 2809k https │ hev1.1.6.L120 2809k video only
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Select 2+12, merge to 1080 p video
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yt-dlp -f 2+12 https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1Bi4y1V7Wf --cookies-from-browser chrome
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2.2.4 External downloader
We can achieve multi-threaded download through external downloader.
Download Mili - String Theocracy / “Library of Ruina” theme song
via aria2, 8 threads, 2 M pre slice.
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yt-dlp --external-downloader aria2c --downloader-args aria2c:"-x 8 -k 2M" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOj_A3aZxGs
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2.2.4 Live
In YouTube, Live and video are the same, maybe we want download a private Live, for instance, recoder-man or mark it for future study.
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yt-dlp --live-from-start [url]
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But sometimes yt-dlp may fail to download, so I recommend using ytarchive
.
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ytarchive -w [url] best
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The best means the best ability for the live. ytarchive will download live form start by default.
2.3 GUI
If you really don’t want to use the command line, you can use this yt-dlp gui
, but it lacks a lot of features. For example, through aira2 multi-threaded download.
Here are some useful tools for download
I don’t recommend using youtube-dl to download YouTube videos, the speed is very slow, always no more than 70 k/s, and not updated for a long time.
Summary
This is how I download videos, if you master these, you can download 99% of videos.
I want to tell you that streaming media is a scam, only downloaded to your hard disk, it really belongs to you, completely under your control, no ads, no censorship…
