Saving Streaming Media Files
Have you ever tried streaming a media file, whether video or audio, and got frustrated when the whole thing freezes after you clicked on it to jump to the part you wanted to hear/see?
Well, that usually happens with streaming media. The viewing software in your computer will often stop the transmission and begin buffering. But there is a solution to this. That is, if you download the media file and play it locally in your computer, this eliminates the problem. Unfortunately, not many streaming media sites allow the saving of streaming media files, the reason being that they want to avoid any bandwidth issues.
So where does that leave you?
The good news is that there are many software programs that can be used in saving streaming media files. In addition to that, there are also manual techniques available to get around the restrictions in many streaming media websites.
Below are a few examples of software for saving streaming media files:
SDP Multimedia
(SDP.ppona.com)
The SDP Multimedia is a solution for saving streaming media files over various protocols: MMS, MMST, MMSU, and HTTP. To save, just enter the url of the streaming media in the space provided and choose a location on your disk where you want to save the file. Then click okay and the media should begin downloading.
Note that what this streaming media downloader actually does is to stream the media in its entirety and then re-recording it on your disk for viewing pleasure at a later time. So if you are saving streaming media files with durations of 60 mins., the download time should take about that long as well.
Firefox Extension, Download Embedded
(addson.mozilla.org/firefox/)
This is an extension exclusive to the Firefox browser that would allow saving streaming media files from almost any website. The application eliminates the need for you to copy the url into a separate window when saving streaming media files. Instead, all you have to do with the Firefox Extension is to right click on a webpage that contains any embedded media (flash animation, flash video, streaming audio, etc.) and click on “Download Embedded.”
This web application makes saving streaming media files very easy, anyone can use it. Note, however, that Firefox Extension does not download Google videos. For that, you need the dedicated Google Video Downloader.
FlashGet
(FlashGet.com)
Despite the plethora of software available for saving streaming media files, there are still files that are too stubborn to be downloaded using regular programs. One example of a file that is difficult to download is streaming windows media (.wmv). The Windows Media Player actually disables the save menu when you try to download streaming media from the internet. A solution to this FlashGet, a streaming media downloader that allows you place the mms url into the URL field of the software to start downloading.