Partial streams in FlashGot Media

[ptrk.mj]

FlashGot Media list becomes easily cluttered with partial streams when switching resolution in flash player. I doubt anyone finds those streams useful. Most of the time you want to download the whole clip.

YouTube videos are loaded in 360p by default. When I switch to HD I have to rewind with a seekbar. After that, there are 3 streams in FlashGot Media: 360p, incomplete-HD and complete-HD. In fact, I usually rewind once more to double check if I really did catch the beginning of the stream (just in case).

Apart from the size there isn't any clue in Media list to tell the streams apart. Making partial streams disappear would make things clearer. By the way, the filename (generated from page title?) is really not neccessary here, as every stream gets the same one. Information from tooltip (MIME type + URL) would be more useful.

In case of YouTube it should be fairly easy to modify the intercepted partial-stream URLs so that they point to complete stream. They differ only by the offset information, appended to the end of URL, which can be truncated on-the-fly. This probably applies to other sites as well.

What do you think?

[therube]

> I doubt anyone finds those streams useful

I do.

> Most of the time you want to download the whole clip

Not necessarily.
Quite often I'll download partial clips, additionally using the seekbar to get to a wanted #start position.

> YouTube videos are loaded in 360p by default. When I switch to HD I have to rewind with a seekbar. After that, there
> are 3 streams in FlashGot Media: 360p, incomplete-HD and complete-HD.

Not really familiar with (downloading from) Youtube, but if you set the stream to HD, then reload the page, does the "HD" stick? And if it does, there would only be the one stream listed at that point. (Rewinding to "0" does not seem reliable to me. Often I find it difficult to get back to zero.)

> I usually rewind once more to double check if I really did catch the beginning of the stream (just in case).

Which is just where the #start... comes in useful. If it displays as '0', you know you are at the start, so no guessing involved.

> Apart from the size there isn't any clue in Media list to tell the streams apart

True, but that is why the (start) size (position) is useful.

> the filename (generated from page title?) is really not neccessary here, as every stream gets the same one

Not necessarily.
If you downloaded with "browser built-in" you would get a "pretty" name. And some (though not all) download managers are also able to use the "pretty" name.

> (MIME type + URL) would be more useful.

Would think your download manager would log that anyhow. If you mean changing the name to that, you'll run into the same issue as above.

> In case of YouTube it should be fairly easy to modify the intercepted partial-stream URLs so that they point to complete stream.

Instead, perhaps if you could embolden the complete stream(s) URL, or otherwise make it stand out?

> They differ only by the offset information, appended to the end of URL, which can be truncated on-the-fly. This probably applies to other sites as well.

Most likely.
But far easier picking the #start from a list compared to manually entering it - once you've figured out where it should start from.


(There is also the FlashGot Media, 'Clear' menu item.)

[therube]

I hadn't even realized you could Playback Youtube Video Starting At Position until I was on a site that embedded a Youtube video & I noticed it didn't start at the beginning of the clip & I reloaded the page & still it didn't start at the beginning, & then I looked at the URL & said, ah!

[ptrk.mj]

> if you set the stream to HD, then reload the page, does the "HD" stick?

Nope.

> Rewinding to "0" does not seem reliable to me. Often I find it difficult to get back to zero.

Neither, to me. You never can tell. The only way to make sure is to inspect stream URL for presence of offset tags (in case of yt: begin=). And those often get ridiculously long. You can view them (in truncated form) by hovering over Media button. Good thing if the offset is the last parameter. Otherwise, you're out of luck.

> Would think your download manager would log that anyhow. If you mean changing the name to that,
> you'll run into the same issue as above.

All I mean is that URL would be more appropriate for identifying resources then filename (technically, passed as link description?) which is the same for every stream and completely of no use (at this point).

> Instead, perhaps if you could embolden the complete stream(s) URL, or otherwise make it stand out?

Fair enough, for me.

Lastly, what do you mean by "pretty" name?

[therube]

> what do you mean by "pretty" name?


URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=toHlMD50eYY

Pretty would be something like, Jethro Tull - Thick as a Brick - Madison Square Garden 1978.flv.

What I get from Youtube (with my download manager, Net Transport) is, "videoplayback" (sans extension).

[ptrk.mj]

> Pretty would be something like, Jethro Tull - Thick as a Brick - Madison Square Garden 1978.flv

Oh, yes. That is yet another issue. Mine are not that pretty.

The one I get with default browser manager is:
‪
Jethro_Tull___Thick_as_a_Brick___Madison_Square_Garden_1978‬‏.flv

Rather ugly. I wonder what is the purpose of escaping spaces and hyphens in local filenames.

The one which is send to DownThemAll in a form of link description:

‪Jethro_Tull_-_Thick_as_a_Brick_-_Madison_Square_Garden_1978‬‏ (video/x-flv)

Well, at least hyphens remain intact. But than again, this pesky MIME type at the end.