adding ffmpeg.exe to video download helper

[lookedup]

I keep getting the error that an extension is needed to convert videos. The extension is ffmpeg.exe. A dialog box pops up prompting to download the file but when Video Download Helper is running internet access is blocked. I downloaded the file. How do I get VDH to recognize the extension?

Why is my internet access blocked while VDH is acitve?

[Wild Willy]

First we need to clean up your use of terminology. Video Download Helper is a browser extension.
This is also commonly called an add-on. So, there is nothing else that is an extension. VDH is
the extension. Once upon a time these were called plugins but they've evolved & that term has gone
out of use. Now they're called extensions.

In order to adapt to a sea change in the underlying architecture of how the browser (specifically
Firefox) interacts with extensions, VDH had to be split into two parts a couple of years ago. Now
there is the browser extension VDH which calls a separate program that does not run under direct
control of the browser. That is the Companion Application, which we affectionately call the CoApp
around here. I suspect that you are misquoting the error you are seeing when you say you are
"getting the error that an extension is needed to convert videos." No, you are getting an error
that says you need the CoApp to download certain formats of video.

But the CoApp is not ffmpeg. You can get the CoApp from the same place you got VDH. They are
simply parts of the solution provided by VDH. They come from the same developers. If you go to
the home page of this Google Group (click the Conversations button on the left side of any thread
in this group), you will find links at the top of the page to where you can get the VDH extension
itself as well as the CoApp. The VDH extension installs in the browser the same way as all other
extensions. The CoApp is a separate download & it has its own installation utility. The CoApp is
not a standalone application in the traditional sense. You cannot double click on it & run it.
Only VDH knows how to launch the CoApp. The CoApp does run as a separate task on your system but
it is entirely under the control of VDH. VDH starts the CoApp, VDH communicates with the CoApp, &
VDH closes the CoApp. You cannot run & manage the CoApp yourself. It's not built for you to be
able to do that.

Now here's where it gets a bit confusing. ffmpeg is open source software. If you're smart enough
to understand the source code, you can modify it & embed it within your own software. This is what
Michel (our esteemed MIG whose posts you'll read frequently in this Group) has done. There is a
modified version of ffmpeg inside VDH but you can't just use it like regular ffmpeg. If you want
to use ffmpeg directly, you have to go to ffmpeg.org & download a copy of it for yourself. There
are prebuilt executables available there for Windows, Mac, & Linux. Just visit their home page &
click the extremely obvious DOWNLOAD button there. And good luck figuring out how to use ffmpeg.
Their documentation assumes you don't really need to read their documentation. It is not a
run-of-the-mill end-user application. VDH & ffmpeg are two completely different software packages
that accomplish many of the same tasks, among them downloading videos. So in general you would use
either VDH or ffmpeg to download something, but not both at the same time to do the same download.

As for VDH blocking your Internet access while it is running, I have to say I'm skeptical of this
claim. That is not my experience with VDH. You will need to post screenshots of measurement tools
showing your Internet access is blocked when VDH is running. But I suspect rather that you have
not correctly installed VDH & the CoApp. You may need to start over from scratch when it comes to
that process. Once again, it would be helpful if you post screenshots of what you've done to
install VDH. Maybe somebody here can help you do it correctly if you show us what you have done.