Downloading a video from YouTube can be tricky. Here is a simple App that will let you not just download, but choose the resolution that might be available for you.

FYI: You must not distribute or financially benefit from that content. It must also come with the express permission of the copyright owner.

This is a great way if you loose your copy to copy your own video from the web for example, or you can use this technique to let someone see your video and then give them permission to download it.

MacX YouTube is a free software that will let you download most YouTube videos.  This is great for those presentations when you may not have an internet connection or you don’t want to rely on one in case that fails.

When you open MacX YouTube you get this screen.  Just click on the link and copy and paste your URL for the YouTube video. It automatically detects the YouTube video opened in browse. You don’t need to copy and paste the URL manually if you have it open.

It is capable of downloading all YouTube videos in whatever format or resolution, including MP4, WebM, FLV, even YouTube HD video.

As you can see in the screen grabe you are given many ways to download the video. It will convert it to the video format you prefer. I prefer downloading, if available, @ 1080 H.264 MP4 since this is the standard for the internet and works just about everywhere for everyone’s computers.

Vimeo is better design for those who want to share videos across the web. You can upload the video package and then share a link and password protect the video. In addition you can make it downloadable.

So for those who choose to upload and distribute I would recommend Vimeo as a better choice.

With Vimeo they give you options for downloading the video if the person who uploaded it gave that permission. Here you just click on Download under the video and they give you a few choices.  As you can see the choices are much more limited than with the MacX YouTube downloader.

In case you need to convert a video I recommend Wondershare’s Video Converter. It can convert video to 158 formats. You can download a trial version and then buy it for $59.95.  It works on Windows and Mac platforms.

It will also download from YouTube.

Just drag your files to the screen and then pick the output you choose.

Now you know an easy way to download video from YouTube and Vimeo.