Jo-Anne wrote:
> Is there a way to view videos and webcams in IE7 and IE8 without the ads?
> Some of my favorite webcam sites have started showing ads that are
> exceptionally obnoxious for both viewing and listening. (Not sure if it
> matters, but I use WinXP.)
So are we supposed to know how that video content is getting delivered
to you? My guess (based on a complete lack of an example) is that you
are viewing streamed video. In that case, and in most situations that
I've seen with interspersed ad content in them, their server-side
program delivering that content is scheduled to deliver alternate (ad)
content at specific breakpoints in the main stream. Those breakpoints
can be as specific times or triggered by the client-side scripted viewer
on an event, like you moving the progress bar to move forward or
backware in the playing of the streamed video. The main stream is
interrupted and a secondary stream is spewed out to you. The only way
that I know of getting just the main stream is to use a video capturing
utility. It will connect to ALL the streams from that source. One
stream will be the main one for the video. The other streams will be
the interrupting ad stream or other streams shown on that web page. You
then decide which captured stream to keep and which ones to delete
(since they are saved in files on your host).
I currently use Replay Media Catcher. It isn't free (but I got it free
by using their TrialPay scheme and then immediately terminating the
trial that I used to qualify getting RMC for free). Another is jaksta
(not free, either). Both of these will capture the streamed videos
proferred by the web site. The main video will be one stream and the ad
content is another stream. You'll probably get stuck having to download
all of them but you can delete the ad-streamed content after the
capture.
However, due to pseudo-legal pressure (threats of lawsuits, not actual
lawsuits) from stream providers regarding protected content, RMC dropped
its support for RTMPE (encrypted RTMP protocol). I believe jaksta used
to support RTMPE but perhaps no longer. Despite that this protocol is
merely used to encrypt the streamed content, many stream providers think
of RTMPE as a cheap means of DRM (digital rights management) to protect
their content and prevent users from stealing it. RTMPE is *not* a
copyright enforcement scheme but it is often used as such. SWF
certification is supposed to get used *with* RTMPE for copyright
protection, not just RTMPE along.
http://www.applian.com/replay-media-catcher/support/secure-rtmp-measures.php
http://www.jaksta.com/faq/What-is-SWF-Verification.htm
As a consequence, many video capture utilities either don't have support
for RTMPE or have dropped support for it. There was a "Hulu catcher"
free capture utility (StreamTransport, free, and supposedly works with
more stream sites than just Hulu) that still had RTMPE support but this
guy won't survive the first time a stream provider decides to task him
in court to prove he has the right to support that scheme to undo the
encryption employed in a stream. Webhosters don't like to get targeted
for supporting the proliferation of illegal content, and this guy
already had one webhoster deny his use of their service and he had to
move. If the stream provider is using RTMPE, it is likely that you only
get to view the video as the stream provider wants you to see it.
Discussion about StreamTransport:
http://groups.google.com/group/alt....46cf379493c/8c83cb5d081a8fb1#8c83cb5d081a8fb1
The good video capture programs cost money. Other than StreamTransport,
another free option is to install RealPlayer (free) and use its
"Download & Recording" BHO (browser helper object) to see if it can
capture a video. It doesn't always work but it will works for many
videos. Although I have RMC, I also have RealPlayer with with D&R
add-on configured to popup a balloon when my mouse cursor is hovering
over a video to download it. I don't capture videos to steal them (I
can just back to view them later) but playing a local file eliminates
all the jitter and pausing experienced when playing streamed videos.
It's infuriating to watch an online seminar while having to endure Max
Headroom-like jitters or intermittent pauses to download more of the
stream because the server is overly busy or the network is choked. I
might also find a video that I don't have time to view right now but
want to see later and perhaps while offline of Internet.