How To 'Download' ABS-CBN Content?

A pinoy friend has asked me the other day how he can download videos from ABS-CBN TFC.TV site. Knowing that this is a subscription site and there is no download button to press except play, I told him 'I can't'! Then he reminded me a post that says just that. He was referring to an old post that mentioned about downloading a content, although it was not the main topic, " how to reduce windows media player from buffering".

He was right. During the early days of ABS.CBN, the download button was still there. Now that it is  gone, and the URL of the streamed contents are hidden on Java Scripts or Active Scripts to prevent downloading a copy.

But an alternative is available if he really wants to own a copy of the videos or wants to play the same content offline. It is a bit complicated and needs patience. This is to record it on the fly, whilst the video is playing!

Note: This post is just to point out that there are still ways to copy videos in a creative way using free softwares. This is not meant to encourage readers to record without the copywrite owner's permission.

The Any Video Recorder.

This program basically records everything on your screen. You can also 'trim' the record window  to capture just the part of the screen you want to record. And the best part is, the output file is on MP4, so it can be played on virtually any device and any operating system.

Download the software from the link below and you need to install the bundled audio program to make it work.

http://any-video-recorder.com/


How to use it.

•  Download, install and run Any Video Recorder software to your PC.

• Under general settings(A) you can specify the directories(1,2) you want the videos to be saved in default by clicking browse or you can leave it as it is. For easier video search,  define the output video name(3).

• Under video settings(B) you can also customize the output video quality and performance (4,5)according to your preference or according to your hardware capability. The higher number of bitrate and framerate, the clearer and smoother the resulting recorded video. But this needs higher processing power as well. You can experiment with the default numbers(25 and 6000) to start with.
•  Click Record Now button to start recording videos

• Navigate to your TFC.TV stream. The software should automatically detect the stream and open the recording interface. You can then manually set the area(7) for video recording. You can limit the recording by specific time(10) or choose automatic stop(11) Press the red "REC"(9) button to begin recording.

•  You can pause(12) the video being recorded or stop the recording manually by pressing the button(13)

You can access the recorded video from the output directory that you have specified. Now you can easily play, copy  or transfer to view it from other devices.