How to Download Videos from JW Player

I bet that 99% of the videos you see played by the JW Player will annoy you. However, most of you want to download them. If you are some of those people then I am gonna show you the best way to download videos from JW Player.

JW Player is the engine behind a good portion of those annoying autoplay videos you get when you land on individual web pages. It is also the player behind those little popup windows you see on pages. When you scroll through telling you ‘you must see this video’ or some such. Most of the time these are incredibly annoying. But occasionally there is always one video that you want to watch over and over again.

JW Player is a company that specializes in implanting recordings and embedding videos into web pages using HTML5. I wouldn’t say their player is evil but the way it is used to annoy and disturb web users certainly is. However, I digress. Have a look at how to download videos from the JW player without getting frustrated.

Download Videos from JW Player:

JW Player delivers the videos in a couple of ways. They can be streamed directly from JW Player’s servers as MP4 files and are no trouble downloading. They can also be streamed using encrypted file streams called HLS Streaming and are much more difficult to download. It can be done but is a lot of hassle. I’ll discuss both but I don’t know any way to download HLS Streams.

You don’t necessarily know whether the video is MP4 or HLS Streaming. Until you try to download or inspect them. In fact, you don’t know a video is powered by JW Player until you right-click and it says ‘Powered by JW Player.

You should try this method first:

• Let the video play and right-click on a place on the page next to it.
• Select Inspect from the dialog menu.
• Then select the Network tab from the new right-hand pane.
• Select Media from the lower menu where you see JS, CSS and so on.
• Play the video and watch the right pane for the video to appear.
• Copy the Request URL from that right-hand pane.
• Paste that URL into a new browser tab.
• Right-click the video window and select Save As.

This will definitely work on certain videos that use the JW Player but not others. If you don’t see anything in the Media window when you begin playing. The stream can use HLS Streaming or other tricks to prevent the URL from the show.

Use Internet Download Manager To Download from JW Player:

Even though it is not explicitly intended for this, IDM, Internet Download Manager does a good job of downloading videos from JW Player. This software is free for 30 days and is then $11.95 but it could worth it if you download a lot from the internet.

Steps:

• Download and install the IDM free trial.
• Open the page with the video on it.
• Select the ‘Download This Video’ button that ought to show up.
• Spare it someplace in your drive.

Just like the URL method, IDM will work on some JW Player streams and not others. It really is a matter of trial and error I’m afraid. It truly involves experimentation.

Use a Browser Addon to Download JW Player Videos:

There are a couple of program extensions that can download some videos from JW Player too. YouTube-dl is one and Video Download Helper is another. YouTube dl is available from GitHub and Video Download Helper is available for Firefox and Chrome from their stories.

Install either or both and use them on the page where the video is hosted. You should see a download button appear. If none of the buttons appear. Then select the extension icon from your browser bar and select to download the video. Again, some videos work and some don’t.

Downloading HLS Streams From JW Player:

If none of these methods work, the video may use encrypted HLS Streaming (HTTP Live Streaming). This was apparently invented by Apple to help streamline conveyance over networks and break the video into chunks, encrypt it and sends it to the player. It is utilized by Netflix to help protect content through encryption and works well when done right.

HLS Streaming is great in that it has given the studios confidence in streaming technology and allows us to enjoy Netflix and others like it. It is bad in that it makes accessing the video and keeping it much more difficult. This page has fantastic clarification of HLS streaming and also how it works. This will surely help you if you have interest in going deep into its working.

If the video from JW Player uses HLS Streaming, the chances of you being able to download it are minimal at best. Sorry about that.

Also See: Kodi on Xbox One- How to install (Detailed Steps)