I've added 3 sites below (also on the Project LIVE Pre-production page) for downloading web video (YouTube, Vimeo, etc.). They all give you a choice of formats—you want .mp4—and sizes.
If you intend this for a video project, get the highest quality/size available because at every step along the way another layer of compression is being applied and you want to see as little degradation as possible after you bring it into iMovie or FCP X, edit it, and then spit it back out again.
This does not change the copyright considerations. Just because you can download it, it doesn't mean you can use it. For our purposes, you have roughly 4 possibilities for being able to use it:
- It's Public Domain (like many things from NASA or other government agencies)
- It's covered by a Creative Commons license. if it is, it should be stated somewhere where you are seeing the video. Remember to give attribution in the credits.
- You have specific permission (preferably in writing). If the owner says somewhere that you are welcome to use it, great. If not, consider contacting the owner and asking for permission. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. But the permission should be positive, not implied.
- You have a purchased license. For example, we have a few DVDs of stock footage we purchased and you can use legally. The first 2 links under media are PDFs of the catalog. We also have license to freeplaymusic.com. You can legally download and use music from there to use in EUSD projects (not personal). You may want to consider FootageFirm.com; they "give away" stock HD footage. The quotes mean there is a shipping/handling charge of about $8.50. But if you get anything you ever use, it's a real bargain. Once you buy it, you can use it legally any way you wish. You can preview each collection to see if you like anything. http://www.footagefirm.com/free-footage
Here are the three sites:
- KeepVid—Download YouTube video. Copy/paste a YT URL and download the highest version of .mp4 offered. This assumes copyright allows it for the clip you want.
- KeepTube—Very much like KeepVid (above).
- SaveVideo.me—Like KeepVid or KeepTube, but works for Vimeo, Current.com, and others, too.
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