youtube-dl
youtube-dl is a Command-line program to download videos from YouTube.com and other video sites.
Here‘s is the list of all the supported sites, ordered alphabetically.
Today, I am going to talk about which codec I prefer to download from YouTube. But one thing I am still confusing: should I download video and audio then merge them into a container like mp4/mkv/webm or just leave them as is? at the moment, I would not to merge them if the resolution of the original video is above 720p.
First of all, what is codec?
To be clear, the defination of codec is compressor and decompressor.
once you type in the command line as following
youtube-dl --list-format https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=***********you will see the following
[youtube] ***********: Downloading webpage
[info] Available formats for ***********:
format code extension resolution note
249 webm audio only tiny 58k , opus @ 50k (48000Hz), 2.01MiB
250 webm audio only tiny 78k , opus @ 70k (48000Hz), 2.68MiB
140 m4a audio only tiny 130k , m4a_dash container, mp4a.40.2@128k (44100Hz), 5.21MiB
251 webm audio only tiny 150k , opus @160k (48000Hz), 5.29MiB
394 mp4 256x144 144p 83k , av01.0.00M.10.0.110.09.16.09.0, 30fps, video only, 2.77MiB
278 webm 256x144 144p 98k , webm container, vp9, 30fps, video only, 3.65MiB
160 mp4 256x144 144p 111k , avc1.4d400c, 30fps, video only, 2.67MiB
395 mp4 426x240 240p 191k , av01.0.00M.10.0.110.09.16.09.0, 30fps, video only, 5.68MiB
242 webm 426x240 240p 228k , vp9, 30fps, video only, 7.59MiB
133 mp4 426x240 240p 245k , avc1.4d4015, 30fps, video only, 5.69MiB
330 webm 256x144 144p60 HDR 245k , vp9.2, 60fps, video only, 8.72MiB
396 mp4 640x360 360p 347k , av01.0.01M.10.0.110.09.16.09.0, 30fps, video only, 10.59MiB
243 webm 640x360 360p 422k , vp9, 30fps, video only, 14.19MiB
331 webm 426x240 240p60 HDR 517k , vp9.2, 60fps, video only, 18.91MiB
134 mp4 640x360 360p 633k , avc1.4d401e, 30fps, video only, 17.17MiB
397 mp4 854x480 480p 651k , av01.0.04M.10.0.110.09.16.09.0, 30fps, video only, 20.00MiB
244 webm 854x480 480p 785k , vp9, 30fps, video only, 26.42MiB
332 webm 640x360 360p60 HDR 1064k , vp9.2, 60fps, video only, 40.80MiB
398 mp4 1280x720 720p60 1295k , av01.0.08M.10.0.110.09.16.09.0, 60fps, video only, 41.41MiB
135 mp4 854x480 480p 1351k , avc1.4d401f, 30fps, video only, 35.59MiB
247 webm 1280x720 720p 1588k , vp9, 30fps, video only, 53.74MiB
333 webm 854x480 480p60 HDR 1988k , vp9.2, 60fps, video only, 77.26MiB
399 mp4 1920x1080 1080p60 2237k , av01.0.09M.10.0.110.09.16.09.0, 60fps, video only, 74.32MiB
302 webm 1280x720 720p60 2667k , vp9, 60fps, video only, 89.04MiB
136 mp4 1280x720 720p 2698k , avc1.4d401f, 30fps, video only, 70.39MiB
248 webm 1920x1080 1080p 2772k , vp9, 30fps, video only, 94.90MiB
298 mp4 1280x720 720p60 4201k , avc1.4d4020, 60fps, video only, 115.83MiB
303 webm 1920x1080 1080p60 4486k , vp9, 60fps, video only, 154.48MiB
334 webm 1280x720 720p60 HDR 4529k , vp9.2, 60fps, video only, 176.99MiB
137 mp4 1920x1080 1080p 5065k , avc1.640028, 30fps, video only, 130.39MiB
335 webm 1920x1080 1080p60 HDR 6923k , vp9.2, 60fps, video only, 271.72MiB
299 mp4 1920x1080 1080p60 7007k , avc1.64002a, 60fps, video only, 204.42MiB
400 mp4 2560x1440 1440p60 7651k , av01.0.12M.10.0.110.09.16.09.0, 60fps, video only, 249.32MiB
271 webm 2560x1440 1440p 8977k , vp9, 30fps, video only, 297.43MiB
308 webm 2560x1440 1440p60 13368k , vp9, 60fps, video only, 448.85MiB
401 mp4 3840x2160 2160p60 15790k , av01.0.13M.10.0.110.09.16.09.0, 60fps, video only, 501.33MiB
336 webm 2560x1440 1440p60 HDR 16746k , vp9.2, 60fps, video only, 651.85MiB
313 webm 3840x2160 2160p 17965k , vp9, 30fps, video only, 644.01MiB
402 mp4 7680x4320 4320p60 23104k , av01.0.17M.10.0.110.09.16.09.0, 60fps, video only, 599.29MiB
315 webm 3840x2160 2160p60 26684k , vp9, 60fps, video only, 988.10MiB
337 webm 3840x2160 2160p60 HDR 30553k , vp9.2, 60fps, video only, 1.13GiB
272 webm 7680x4320 4320p60 31980k , vp9, 60fps, video only, 830.57MiB
571 mp4 7680x4320 4320p60 34531k , av01.0.17M.10.0.110.09.16.09.0, 60fps, video only, 918.43MiB
18 mp4 640x360 360p 667k , avc1.42001E, mp4a.40.2@ 96k (44100Hz), 26.87MiB
22 mp4 1280x720 720p 1877k , avc1.64001F, mp4a.40.2@192k (44100Hz) (best)the available audio codec including opus, m4a the available video codec including avc1, vp9, av01
you choose which one you prefer then type the code. I like mp4 container, I will choose to download the best quality with avc1+m4a codec.
# merge
youtube-dl -f 137+140 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=***********
# don't merge
youtube-dl -f 137/136/135,140 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=***********
# if it doesn't work, type
youtube-dl -f best http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=***********
# or
youtube-dl -f 22/18 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=***********If the video resolution is higher than 1080p, I have to choose vp9 codec due to youtube settings, I will type as following, because mkv doesn’t hurt.
youtube-dl –merge-output-format mkv https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=*******
# hate webm? then use
-f bestvideo[ext!=webm]+bestaudio[ext!=webm]/best[ext!=webm]merge or not, is a question still remains, at the moment, I don’t care at all. But one thing that crucial, I never download meaningless videos, I only download educational videos. If it’s a lecture, I would merge. If it’s a vlog, I don’t care the container but the content and resolution.
Honestly, if I had enough storege I would back up all of the channels that I subscribed. lectures and vlogs are two huge parts on youtube right now, it is also a trend on other video site.
more discussion on stackoverflow.com