Freecorder 6 User Guide
Overview
Save YouTube Videos with the YouTube Video Downloader
Save More Videos with Freecorder Video Recorder
Record MP3 Audio with Freecorder Audio Recorder
Convert Video and Audio files with FreeConverter: Media
Make Screen Capture Videos with Freecorder Screen Recorder
Play Downloaded Videos with FLV Player
Overview
Freecorder 6 is the ultimate free collection of tools for capturing all kinds of web video, music and audio - right from inside your browser. Once installed, all the Freecorder tools appear as a button bar inside your Internet Explorer, Firefox or Chrome browser. One click opens each tool.
You can also hover over each button, and a description will appear to remind you what it does.
Here's a quick summary of each button::
- Opens the YouTube Video Downloader.
- Opens Freecorder Video Recorder, which lets you save recently watched videos or convert them to MP3s.
- Opens Freecorder Audio Recorder, which lets you record what you hear on your PC's speakers as an MP3 file.
- Opens Freecorder Screen Recorder, which lets you capture video from ANY web site as it plays on your screen.
- Opens Freecorder Converter, which converts your saved video and audio files into other popular formats.
- Opens the default video player (installed separately) for your recorded files.
- Opens Freecorder Help.
About Freecorder Ads
Freecorder development is supported by advertisements that may appear while browsing the web - labelled with "ads by Freecorder" whenever possible. You can disable these ads by choosing an option via the Help button.
Quickly Save YouTube Videos with the YouTube Video Downloader
Since YouTube is by far the most popular video site, Freecorder has a special button for saving YouTube videos, in all the different formats available. Here's how it works:
- Play a video from YouTube.com.
- Click the Download YouTube button: ..
- The YouTube Video Downloader appears:
- Click the format you want to use to save your video. The download starts in the Video Recorder tool.
Save More Videos with Freecorder Video Recorder
The Freecorder Video Recorder tool makes it easy to save web streamed videos. Unlike the YouTube Video Downloader, this tool works with any web site that delivers http video via Flash Player (which is most of them).
Here's how to save a video:
- Open Freecorder Video Recorder . It will appear like this:
- Play your video. You may not need to watch until the end, as the video is often downloaded and saved to your PC faster than playback speed.
To convert your video, you can use the drop arrow next to your video to display more options:
Click Convert to bring this file into the Converter application. Or to quickly make an MP3 audio file from a video, select Save to MP3.
Notes:
- You can Pause recording by clicking the On Switch
so that it goes to the Off position: 
. Restart recording by clicking the Off switch.
- You can change the folder where files are saved by clicking the wrench icon
to open settings.
- Freecorder Video must be open for videos to be captured.
Properties
Choose the Properties option from the drop menu to see and edit the name and metadata for the video.
The Internet tab configures how Freecorder Video Recorder monitors your web streams, and is able to intercept and capture them.
The Library tab lets you choose:
Media Folder: where videos are to be saved.
Library Folder: where thumbnails and other temporary files are saved.
Thumbnails per page: How many thumbnails are shown on screen at one time.
Clear Library on Exit: Tick this option if you'd like to clear and saved media when you close this app.
Delete to Recycle bin: Deleting files will go directly to the recycle bin if this is checked. Otherwise files are permanently deleted.
Record MP3 Audio with Freecorder Audio Recorder
Freecorder Audio Recorder lets you record audio from ANY source - if you can hear it playing on your PC you can record it. Recordings are saved as high quality MP3 files.
One cool feature of Freecorder Audio Recorder is automatic track splitting. Whenever there is a silent pause in the audio you hear, Freecorder Audio Recorder will begin another MP3 file. This is really handy for recording songs from internet radio for example.
Here's how easy it is to record:
- Click the Freecorder Audio Recorder button . The audio recorder appears:
- Click the Start slider
. - Play the audio you want to record. You'll see some movement in a new thumbnail as audio records.:
- After a period of silence, an MP3 file is saved to the storage folder. If audio continues to play, a new track is started.
- Click the Stop slider
to end recording all audio.
Recording Properties
Once you've recorded a file, click Properties on the drop down menu to change the file name or MP3 file metadata.
You can control how tracks are split. Click the Settings wrench , and choose the Audio tab:
Use the Min. Duration setting to eliminate any recorded tracks under the number of seconds specified. This is a great way to get rid of those annoying 10 second ads when recording.
Silence is the level (between 0 - 255) at which sound is determined to be silence. Silence time is the number of milliseconds that the received sound needs to be below the Silence level for the split to occur. Change these settings if tracks are not automatically splitting.
If you're unable to record, try using the Windows Audio Driver instead of the Applian Audio Driver (in Settings). (Windows Audio Driver is not available for Windows XP.)
To change where MP3 files are saved, use the Library tab, then pick a different Media Folder:
Media Folder: where videos are to be saved.
Library Folder: where thumbnails and other temporary files are saved.
Thumbnails per page: How many thumbnails are shown on screen at one time.
Clear Library on Exit: Tick this option if you'd like to clear and saved media when you close this app.
Delete to Recycle bin: Deleting files will go directly to the recycle bin if this is checked. Otherwise files are permanently deleted.
Convert Video and Audio files with Freecorder Converter
Once you've captured some awesome video or music from the web, you may find you need to convert it to another format. Some reasons to do this:
- Copy it to a portable device.
- Import it into an editor to make a mash-up.
- Add an audio track to a video.
Freecorder Converter makes converting video and audio files easy. Here's the basic process:
- Click the Convert button . Freecorder Converter opens like this:
- Click the Add Items button to add more files to the next conversion job.
- Click the Conversion setting line to pick a device or format to convert to:
- To convert, click the Start slider .
- You can see the progress of your conversions:
- Click the Stop slider if you wish to cancel conversions in progress.
Notes:
- Use the Import into iTunes conversion option to import your files into iTunes.
- Importing files from the other Freecorder apps is easy. There is a Convert option in the drop down menus of the Video Recorder, Audio Recorder and Screen Recorder.
Library Folder: where thumbnails and other temporary files are saved.
Thumbnails per page: How many thumbnails are shown on screen at one time.
Delete to Recycle bin: Deleting files will go directly to the recycle bin if this is checked. Otherwise files are permanently deleted.
Make Screen Capture Videos with Freecorder Screen Recorder
Did you know that not all videos can be captured using the Freecorder Video Recorder, or even more powerful tools like Replay Media Catcher? Some videos are encrypted, and can only be captured by recording directly from the screen - much like using a video camera to make a movie from a region of the screen.
Freecorder Screen Recorder lets you grab an area of the screen, from which you can make a video. Whatever audio is playing on your PC is included in the video.
Here are some of the ways you can use Freecorder Screen Recorder:
- Legally record encrypted videos.
- Record webinars.
- Record voice chat or video conferences.
- Make a demo video of a web site or a piece of software.
To use Freecorder Screen Recorder, you need to:
- Open Freecorder Screen Recorder with this button:
- Select an area of the screen to record.
- Click the Start button
- Play your video, web conference or whatever you are recording.
- Click the Stop button when finished.
To select the area to record, drag the cross hairs icon over a video playing in the browser, or use one of the options from the Select an Area drop menu:
- Choose Select Video in Browser - Freecorder Screen recorder will attempt to locate the active playback window.
- Choose Default Selection, then move the edges of the red recording rectangle over the area you want to record,
- Choose Select Full Screen, and the entire screen will be recorded. (This option is not recommended, as most computers don't have enough processing power to make good quality recordings from the entire screen. Usually recording a smaller window will produce better results, even if the recording is later viewed full screen.)
Troubleshooting:
In order for audio capture to work, you'll need to enable Stereo Mix. Howtogeek.com has a good tutorial on how to do this.
Media Folder: where videos are to be saved.
Library Folder: where thumbnails and other temporary files are saved.
Thumbnails per page: How many thumbnails are shown on screen at one time.
Clear Library on Exit: Tick this option if you'd like to clear and saved media when you close this app.
Delete to Recycle bin: Deleting files will go directly to the recycle bin if this is checked. Otherwise files are permanently deleted.
This screen helps you manage Audio and Video settings. If you aren't getting any sound in your recordings, try the available settings under Audio Input.
To change how videos are saved, you can adjust the Output Video Format settings, although the default should be fine.
Play Downloaded Videos with FLV Player
If you're downloading videos in FLV format, you'll need an FLV Player to watch them. You can also launch a video player using the button. We recommend our own Applian FLV Player, which you can download for free from http://flv-player.us.