Each add-on is tested if it can be used to download videos from the following sample video portals: Youtube, Dailymotion and Gametrailers. The main goal is to see if the add-ons can download Youtube videos, dailymotion videos and gametrailer videos including the way these downloads are offered. We will take a look at the video portals that are supported by the add-ons and possible usability issues.

The following Firefox add-ons have been selected for the test:

• Bbmao Video Downloader
• Flash Video Downloader
• Flash Video Resources Downloader
• NetVideoHunter Video Downloader
• Video DownloadHelper

All of these add-ons are highly rated and compatible with all versions of Firefox 3 even though some of them have to be forced to be compatible with the latest beta of Firefox 3.6.

Bbmao Video Downloader

This add-on was the only add-on in the test that was not compatible with Firefox 3.6. It was still possible to install and work with it after forcing compatibility with the Nightly Tester Tools.

The add-on places an icon in the Firefox toolbar at the top that will spin if a video has been discovered on a website. A click on that icon will open a popup window with links to all videos that have been discovered by the add-on. Links that are selected can be played right in the window or downloaded to the local computer system.

Bbmao Video Downloader worked well with both Youtube and Dailymotion but failed to recognize videos at Gametrailers. No information available on the amount of supported video websites.

Flash Video Downloader

Flash Video Downloader is the only experimental add-on in this test. It did install fine and display a download icon in the status bar. This download icon displays a license agreement after the first left-click which needs to be accepted. A left-click on the icon (which can also be placed in one of the toolbars of the web browser) will open a popup window with a download link and other information including add-on updates (somewhat confusing for users who are running the latest version) and an ad for a (free) video converter software.

Each new download will spawn its own popup window which can become somewhat messy for heavy downloaders. The add-on worked well with all tested video portals. The developers state that it is currently compatible with more than 200 different video sites and even some game hosting websites.

Flash Video Resources Downloader

The icon in the status bar that was supposed to be there after installation of the add-on did not appear. There was no option available to display the icon in another way or to use the add-on. Flash Video Resources Downloader is supposed to work with a few dozen websites including Youtube and Dailymotion but not Gametrailers. No rating for this add-on since it failed to install properly even though it was reported to be compatible with Firefox 3.6.

NetVideoHunter Video Downloader

Net Video Hunter is compatible with all versions of Firefox 3. It places an icon in the firefox status bar after installation that can be used to download videos from video hosting websites. The status bar icon will display a number that indicates the amount of videos that have been identified by the add-on.

Net Video Hunter makes use of a popup window to display all the videos that it has discovered in this browsing session. This is a very comfortable way of displaying those download links especially for users with enough screen estate to place both the web browser window and the Net Video Hunter video download window next to each other.

The add-on displays options to play or download each video that has been recognized. Another interesting detail is the display of the direct url to the video in the same interface.

The video download add-on was compatible with all three test video portals. The developers have not published a list of all compatible video websites but it is fair to assume that the add-on works with most “Youtube-like” video sites.

Video DownloadHelper

Video Download Helper supports all versions of Firefox 3 out of the box. It adds a single icon into the Firefox status bar which serves to purposes. It will for one indicate if videos have been detected on a website with options to download these. The other option is to display the list of supported sites which are opened in a small popup window. A right-click lastly will display a context menu with options to configure the add-on.

Youtube videos can be downloaded in various quality versions. This can be somewhat confusing to the user as it might not always be possible to identify the quality by looking at the download options of the Firefox add-on. It was also no problem to download videos from Dailymotion or Gametrailers using Video Download Helper.

Video Download Helper offers a very comfortable way of downloading videos from video portals. The amount of video portals supported goes even beyond the few hundreds that are listed in the add-on as it is able to detect videos on many (officially) unsupported websites. The download links are sometimes a bit confusing and the links in the supported list of video portals does not lead directly to those portals but to the homepage of the developer’s first.

The Verdict:

Out of the five add-ons that have been tested one failed completely, two were only compatible with two of the three test sites and two were compatible with all test sites. Video Download Helper and Net Video Hunter were the only add-ons that were able to download videos from these websites. Both add-ons have their uses. Net Video Hunter makes it easier to manage video downloads while Video Download Helper offers a list of supported websites which is interesting for exploration purposes.

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The program is a little bit less comfortable than Youtube downloaders that come with their own search or browser. Users can either copy and paste single urls into the interface of the program or import text files that contain multiple Youtube links. The import only works if the text document contains one Youtube link per line.

A click on the Go button will initiate the download right away. The videos will be downloaded one after the other until the end of the queue is reached. By default high quality defintion versions of the video are downloaded from Youtube. It is however possible to change the quality setting to high quality or low quality instead. This will speed up the downloads a lot but reduce the quality of the downloaded Youtube videos.

YouDown requires the Microsoft .net Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1 and a Windows operating system. It can be downloaded from the Codeplex [via Addictive Tips] website.

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NetVideoHunter (via Firefox Facts) is a Firefox add-on that works with multiple video portals including Youtube, Dailymotion and dozen others. The add-on is on the other hand not the typical video downloader that provides the download links either on the video portal itself or in one of the Firefox toolbars or status bar. It displays an icon in the status bar that displays a count of videos that have been found by the add-on.

This count stays even if the user leaves the website. A left-click on the number in the status bar opens a new window that displays all video names and urls plus two buttons to play or download the videos.

A click on Play will play the videos directly in the same window with the interesting option to change the size on the fly. There are also options to change the window to fullscreen mode and to smooth the video playback.

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TubeMaster (via Download online video using TubeMaster Plus) is one of those applications. The portable application supports more than 100 video portals including the ever popular Youtube and Dailymotion but also some unsuspected ones like Hulu, IGN or ESPN. Not all web video portals could be tested because some will only show the videos to users of specific countries. A test of downloading web video from Hulu would be greatly appreciated.

The application uses its own browser that can be used to display the video portal websites. Videos will be automatically downloaded when they are played on the portal. This is unfortunately the only way to download videos from the various websites.

It is still a comfortable way to download web video. Besides the option to load the websites directly users can also use the search engine included to search for various on single or all web video websites.

A maximum of 500 search results can be displayed. The videos cannot be downloaded directly from the search. A click displays additional information about the selected web video and an option to load the video on the video portal’s website from where it will be automatically downloaded when it starts playing.

Another option is the mp3 search which leaves the user in the dark from where the files are coming. Quicktime is needed to play and download the mp3.

Videos can be automatically decoded which is the default option in TubeMaster. The user can choose between various video codecs and stop the conversion.

Tubemaster supports adult web video sites as well but that option is locked for users who subscribe to the service. Downloading from the “normal” web video portals is completely free though.

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The first thing that I noticed about Mooflair was its excellent design and responsiveness. I had some troubles finding the video search option, it’s a bit hidden under the RSS menu. Mooflair does not offer a full video search yet which is rather unfortunate. It provides access to all video portal RSS feeds which means to several dozen videos in certain categories like Video Games, Music and HD.

Local videos can be played as well. The ability to download videos is a nice feature but more or less a default feature in every video player of that kind. Mooflair does offer enough videos so that it does not get boring to fast but it is kept back by the lack of a full site search.

Another excellent feature is the ability to add videos to the playlist which can be filled with videos from all supported video portals. Those playlists can be saved and played at a later time. It is even possible to mix local and online videos into one playlist. Mooflair has everything it takes to become an excellent Adobe Air application, the only missing piece is the full video search on all portals.

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