Dec 20 2006
Can I download Folkstreams?
I think J-Walk brought folkstreams.net to my attention. The site’s subtitle is: “A National Preserve of Documentary Films about American Roots Cultures.” It’s got some excellent documentaries on it. The only problem is that most of the documentaries are 30 to 60 minutes, if not longer, and I have no patience for watching anything on my computer screen for more than a few minutes. If I’m going to watch something for up to an hour, I want to sit on my couch. So I have a question for the technical-minded readers:
Is there any way I can get around the streaming function at folkstreams.net so I can download the documentaries instead of having to watch them on my PC monitor?
I can convert any video file to DVD where I can then watch it on the TV in my living room at my leisure. I would love to watch some of the documentaries from folkstreams.net, but I’ll never do it if have to watch them through my computer.
I wonder how difficult it would be to integrate my PC with my television.
UPDATE: Big thanks going out to Big Tom who answered my question with straightforward instructions that even a dummy like me can follow. I’m downloading a documentary at this moment and it seems to be working. (Note: I’m not trying to bootleg or copy or distribute the videos or do anything underhanded. This is just a more convenient way of actually watching the documentaries.) Thanks.
You can download the file relatively easily. If you “Open Link in New Tab” on the “MPEG4″ option (if you’re using Firefox ), this will open a new tab and in the address you should see the file location. I’ll use this example, “http://www.folkstreams.net/video/fannie_bell/fannie_bell_chapman.mov”. This will open the embedded file and play it. If you remove the “fannie_bell_chapman.mov” portion of the URL and then hit enter, it should take you to the folder containing the files, enabling you to pick up the .mov file and/or the Real Player version. Hope that makes sense and is of help.
Damn. I was able to download the files, but they use some kind of obscure version of MOV files that won’t play on QuickTime or any other player, nor will it convert. Shit.
I think it figured it out. The file will play (I hope convert) once I change the MOV extension to MP4.
So I download the files; change the extension from MOV to MP4; then convert to DVD. I’ll do it!
The files won’t convert. They can ONLY be played on my PC. That sucks. I guess that’s it. Too bad.