I guess this is 100% OT, but it's SORT OF graphics related.... 

Youtube constantly switches its format to make downloading its files more and more tricky.   I've got a variety of players and converters (GOM, VLC, Applian, Firefox download helper, etc), but Youtube manages to stay ahead of them.  Looks like the header is typically the problem, not the underlying bits.   Is there a FLV header-fixer that really works?  I've tried lots of them, and they almost never work. 

I'm using mig's DownloadHelper for a couple of years now.

http://www.downloadhelper.net/

So far it never stopped working longer as maybe a day at most.

I either download as .vfl or as .mp4.

Have you updated it to the latest version ?

It works on a ton of other streaming sites, too, and so far it never dissapointed me.

If everything else fails, you could use a screen recording software that catches the actual video stream.

I had a lot of problems finding a free mp4 player. Everything else seems to work ok. I use download helper in firefox and a downloader website that seems to get the ones that downloadhelper does not.

You could write a fix in python if you can identify what in the header is bad.

you tube downloader is my choice and VLC for all my A/V needs as it plays damn near everything

Yeah, I might just try a python fix. There's a PyMedia library that includes all the necessary mp3 header stuff. Hoping to avoid the labor...

Download Helper's been working for me for lo these many years. Must have those Poser and modeling tutes. LOL.

Laurie

Flashgot and PotPlayer. I don't tube but these work on every other site I've tried. You might see what AVIDemux thinks of the rogue .flv files.

I use best video downloader on firefox here. Its saves a numbe rof formats as well. I've bene using it now for at least 2 years, maybe up to 4.

http://www.dvdvideosoft.com/

This is what I've been using for a few years now. I don't download many videos tho, but this has a whole suite of tools and its updated every week to every couple days. It will separate audio from video into mp3. 

~Shane

Fast Video Download and Flash Video Downloader, both Firefox plugins, seem to keep up with whatever youtube might be doing.  I've never ended up with any problems with videos I've downloaded using them.  They do usually save to mp4 format, however.  At any rate, they've worked well enough that I wasn't even aware Youtube was pulling tricks with their formatting.  :unsure:

Thanks, Cage!  Fast Video Download did the trick.  I tried it on one clip that was unplayable from the old Download Helper, and the FVD output is playable!