Converthelper - Is there an instruction manual?

[Michael Rubin]

In the prior version of Downloadhelper and Converthelper the process was pretty self explanatory and easy to use.  The drop down boxes asked what you wanted to convert the video to and then it downloaded and then a dos box popped open and converted it to the desired video format.   For me this was wmv.  It was all checkboxes and buttons and once I set it to automatically do it, I never had to change it.

Now the convert requires all these selections (some of which I have no clue as to what to put....for example:  in "extension" is it just the extension? "*.extensioon"?  ".extension"?

Is there a user manual or tutorial video that can help a novice to configure the converthelper?
Also, I noticed in the output extension list that "wmv" is no longer an option.  Why was this taken away?
Thanks,

[mig]

Sorry the manual dedicated to conversion is not ready yet, just the general how to from http://www.downloadhelper.net/howto.php

The new version is supposed to be more intuitive but we certainly have improvements to do based on users feedback.

From your remarks, i understand that you want to Download & Convert and you may have not noticed that the big + sign at the right of each entry in the VDH panel opens the list of possible actions, which includes Download & Convert (note that you can easily make this your default action by checking the parameter at the bottom of the actions panel).

You talk about the "Extension" parameter, so i understand you are trying to configure the conversion rules (they allow to automatically convert after a Download or Quick Download). Since you are not the only one being confused about this, we'll move the "Configure conversion rules" to the "Advanced" section.

[Michael Rubin]

I hit "download and convert" and then I get a box that shows a dropdown selection (that is blank so there is nothing to select) and "configure output details".
When I click "configure output details" I get the box to program the conversion output with two tabs:   "General" and "Advanced".  Both of which have lots of things to check and select.   None of which I'm sure what I'm supposed to enter.   When I just click to download and convert, nothing happens

[mig]

Apparently your preset output configurations have been deleted.

But it's not a big deal.

After you clicked "configure output details" and entered the panel with many configuration parameters, just click "Reset all" at the top right. This will bring back all your presets.

[Michael Rubin]

Perfect!   Thank you very much.   It works great.
Another question:   I used to have it automatically "download and convert" when the icon was hit.   Is there any way to set it for that now?
Also, is there a way for me to stop the mp3 version of things from being an option to download?

Thank you again, you've been a tremendous help!

[mig]

If you hold the SHIFT key when clicking the icon, it will start a Quick Download on the first entry. So if you configured an automatic conversion rule by default, it will immediately perform a download then a conversion.

I'm not sure what you mean about mp3, do you mean in the output configurations ? You can easily remove these configurations from the presets.

Or maybe you are talking about mp3 detections you get from somewhere ? Can you share a link in this case ?

[Michael Rubin]

http://www.myvidster.com/video/19241558/Homemade_Soft_Pretzels_-_Recipe_by_Laura_Vitale_-_Laura_in_the_Kitchen_Episode_207

I click on the icon and the first choice is always to download it as an mp3 and then the mp4 selections.
I did what you said about automatically converting and that works fine but it goes with the first choice and that is an mp3.

how can I remove a configuration from the presets if I don't want it to offer a sound only download?

[mig]

Sorry i don't get the mp3 entries from this page. It's probably an ad you are getting.

Click the + sign at the right of the MP3 entry, then pick "Add to black list", you must check the domain serving the ad (it's generally pretty obvious) and confirm. Those entries won't appear anymore.

[Michael Rubin]

Brilliant!   Thank you again.

How about smart naming?   When I download and convert it used to allow me to name the files by opening up a save box that I could put my own name.
Now it uses whatever the site says or "media".   Is there a way to manual enter in the name you'd like to save the file as?

Thanks again!

[mig]

If you use the default Download action it will prompt you for the name you want to give to the file. Do not worry about the name "media-xxx" you see in the Firefox download manager, what counts is the name of the file at the end.

Smart Naming (to provide meaningful default file names) is still there (even if we plan to improve it in the next versions). There is a section about this in the http://www.downloadhelper.net/howto.php
 
If you like the new VDH, we would very much appreciate a nice review on https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/video-downloadhelper/

[Michael Rubin]

Download will allow me to type in a name.
Download and Convert bypasses that and goes right to the Conversion screen with the only two options is: Download & Download and Convert.
I don't see how I can name a file if I go thru "Download and Convert"

[mig]

Oh yes, you are right.

Basically what we are missing in the "Download & Convert" panel is a checkbox (with permanent state) to request or not renaming prior to the operation.

This feature is added to the list for next versions.

[Paul E]

I am struggling to download files from youtube and convert to a decent picture quality. I use the download and convert option but the conversion settings are confusing as i am not sure what to enter in most of the boxes. On the original version there was an option to keep the quality of the original file but this has vanished in the new version.

[mig]

Yes, the "keep same quality" parameter has been removed from the original base converter because it did not (and could not) work well.

Can't you use one of the preset configurations like "WMV" or "AVI" ? If you don't have presets, click the link "Reset all" in the Download & Convert details window.

[Paul E]

I have reset all and am selecting the avi option when i click download and
convert. This has made no improvement to the quality. I have attached a
screen shot to show you the quality of conversion i am getting. As you can
see it is not really good enough to watch clearly or comfortably. Any
suggestions?

[mig]

It looks like your screenshot did not attach.

In the next version, we will add more presets with better quality options. For now, when you are in the Download & Convert panel, click "Configure output format", in the details panel, set parameter "Bitrate" to "8000k", does it improve the quality ?

[Scott Migaldi]

Changing the bit rates does indeed help with the conversion quality. But the file sizes for the wmv conversions are now HUGE. How do we get these back to a more normal size? FWIW I am using 6000k bitrates and FLY that are 150M are converting and becoming 900M files! 

[mig]

5.1.0 will soon be out and contains various presets with several bit rates for the major output formats. If you cannot wait, I suggest you install a development version. Links are there: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/video-downloadhelper-5

[ScottFM]

I loaded that and like that a lot better!! Thanks! 

[mig]

The conversion manual for VDH 5.1.0 has just been released: http://www.downloadhelper.net/install-converter3.php

Let us know if you see some typos or unclear things.