Data Firmware

Download videos from Naver TVcast and other Korean streaming video sites

--- UPDATE - MARCH 2016:
Another site that works is Tube Ripper. I just tried it; worked great, no issues. Thanks to reader +Roms Dungeon at Roms Dungeon for the recommendation.

--- UPDATE - NOV 2015:
Another site that works is http://www.videograbber.net I verified that I was able to download from both Naver TVcast and Naver V. They have both an online downloader tool and an actual program you can download/install on your own computer.

--- UPDATE - SEPT 2015:
Many readers have been asking about how to download videos from Naver V. Please see my newer post here.

--- UPDATE - JULY 2015:
Reader Xiao Long recommends another similar tool, ClipConverter.cc.
I tried it, and can verify that it works well. It may also be even even better than what I recommended below, as you can choose the framerate of the video you want to download. For those of you who demand 1080p, try that instead.

Original post follows below.

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Naver runs a sort of YouTube competitor called Naver tvcast (??? tv???), and if youve noticed that some of your favorite K-drama shows seem to have been disappearing from YouTube recently, this is likely why.

You also might have noticed that many of the usual video downloader extensions dont work on tvcast. There are some stand-alone apps that apparently can do so, including atresdownloader and Houlo Video Downloader, and the excellent youtube-dl (a nice illustrated guide to using youtube-dl to download Naver TVcast videos is here), but I bet you want something easier and something non-Windows-specific, and that will work on mobile.

Luckily, theres a simple online downloader that will do it for us. Its called "To Get FLV" and works for a variety of Korean streaming video websites. Heres a look at it in action:







Youll arrive at a simple link page like above. Just like it says, right-click on the second link to "Save as..." and youll download the MP4 file. I had to add the .mp4 extension manually when I tried this but otherwise it plays great.


And thats it. This convenient tool apparently works not only with tvcast, but can also download videos from a variety of other Korean sites:

• ??? TVCast (Naver tvcast)
• ??? ??? (Naver Sports)
• ?? ??? (Daum TVpot)
• ???? (Afreeca)
• ???? ??? (Afreeca Sports)
• ?? (mgoon)
• ??? TV (Pandora TV)
• ??? ? (Nate Pann)

I tried a few on the list here, all with success. Id suggest two things to remember:

• If the tool doesnt recognize the video page at first, try using the URL from the Share / Embed / Copy URL feature
• The file may download with a weird extension or no extension. Just manually add .mp4 or .flv where appropriate. 

Happy viewing!

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Download videos from Naver V app

--- UPDATE 3 - Dec 2015
Added a section about subtitles.

--- UPDATE 2 - Nov 2015
A reader points out that a Chrome extension called Internet Download Accelerator also works for downloading Naver V videos, so give that a try if the Soshistagram tool doesnt work.

--- UPDATE 1 - Nov 2015
Another site that works is http://www.videograbber.net
I verified that I was able to download from both Naver TVcast and Naver V. They have both an online downloader tool and an actual program you can download/install on your own computer.

Original post begins below.

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Naver V live TV, styled simply as V, is a popular new app among K-pop fans for watching live video-blogs from their favorite K-pop artists and idols. If youre ever used Twitters live-vlog app Periscope, then the idea and the interface will already be familiar to you. They broadcast from backstage or dressing rooms or just having random fun, you get an alert on your phone, and you and the other fans open up, watch the video live, and can type public questions in addition to sending them "hearts". It does bring a degree of intimacy and the "live" nature of the broadcast is fun, but once the broadcast is done, its saved and you can rewatch at any time.

Promo for V

Of course, one of the most popular questions to this blog lately has been "How can we download the videos from Naver V?" Well, dont worry K-pop fans. Reader Laila Nafisatun came through to help you out, by suggesting this online tool:

Video

With this online tool, you can download any "V" video you want, simply by copy/pasting the link. In fact, they already have some of the most popular videos already listed, ready for simple download. Best of all, you can download the videos in a variety of sizes/resolutions, so you crazy fans who need every K-pop video in 1080p eye-bleeding clarity, your day is here!




In the example above, I just pasted the URL (http://www.vlive.tv/video/1981) for a video of hot girl group 4minute on their way to a fan meeting. Just right-click and "Save as..." to download. If that doesnt work, just click them, and when the video loads in your browser, right-click the video and "Save as..." as Ive shown below:

Ta da. Super simple.

Subtitles

Note that this site also checks the video for subtitles, and lets you download the subtitle file directly and in any languages that are available. That 4minute video from above, as you can see, did not include any subs, but here is one that does:


You may run into a problem with the subtitles. Thats because Naver "V" videos use a special new HTML5 format for subs called WebVTT. So your subtitle file will be a .vtt file that, as far I can tell, is unsupported by most desktop video playing apps. To use the file, you will need to convert it to a more common format, such as .srt. You can do this manually with the find-replace function on any text editor, or try a subtitle converter application, such as this or this.

UPDATE : As you can see below, Soshistagram now includes an option to download subtitles in .SRT format. Seriously, show some love for Soshistagram.

Final thoughts

Overall, the Soshistagram tool works great. The V site prevents you from accessing the streams directly from desktop. I had tried a couple of user-agent-spoofing extensions with not much luck. This tool seems to get the links for the streams and provide them directly. Thats good, because trying to right-click and "Save as..." from the links only downloads the .m3u8 playlist file, but you need the access code in the URL to get the stream working, so the playlist file is useless itself.

For more on Naver V, check it out on Android here or iTunes here.

Thanks to Soshistagram (SOSHI + Instagram ... SOSHI = So-Nyeo-Shi-Dae = ???? = "Girls Generation") for providing this highly-desired feature. And if you know of any other similar tools, let me know in the comments.

Happy downloading.

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360° YouTube videos in Korea

If youve never watched a 360-degree movie on YouTube, you should give it a try. You can move your Android phone all around and it acts as a window onto the scene-- you see what youd see if you were looking in that direction. Some of the 360 videos Ive seen out there are amazing.

UPDATE 2015-08
Well the word is out. There is now a fairly large number of 360° videos available that are set in Korea, and it is growing every day. I wont bother updating anymore with every single new item I find. Just search for yourself. Some of these are very cool, and if you have a Cardboard viewer (I picked one up for less than $4 on G-Market), are pretty immersive. I like the map below your feet on this tour of Changgyeonggung palace:
? YouTube - Tour of Korea - Changgyeonggung Palace, Seoul [360 Video]

UPDATE 2015-07:
It seems even North Korea has gotten the 360° treatment!
? YouTube - North Korea 360 Video ( Young Pioneer Tours - 2015 June Tour )
Additionally, big-name boy group Infinite have gotten on the 360 bandwagon.
? YouTube - ????(INFINITE) "Bad" Official MV (360 VR)

UPDATE 2015-06:
YouTube user ????(Verest) 360 VR features several 360° videos of K-pop dance rehearsals (among other things), including videos from girl-group Bambino (???, images slightly NSFW). Boy, we are just a step or two away from, well, you know. Heres one of the Bambino videos:



Verest seems to be a new-media contents group, so we might expect more such 360 videos from them. Watch their YouTube page and Facebook page for more. Hat Tip to /u/icecreammachine for posting this.

And, here are some examples from YouTuber LittleKing. One was taken at Herb Island, the other while wake-boarding near what appears to be Cheongdam Bridge (?) in Seoul. The quality on these arent that great, but you can check them out here (links work best when opened on your Android phone):
? YouTube - 360 Degree Video Korea Herb Island
? YouTube - 360 Degree Video Korea Wakeboarding 

Another nice example here from inside the grounds of Changgyeonggung Palace:
? YouTube - Tour of Korea - Changgyeonggung Palace, Seoul [360 Video]

All of these were found by keeping an eye on this YouTube search for "korea" filtering for "360°". I set-up a Google Alert for it.

There are loads of sites in Korea (palaces, temples, festivals) just waiting to get the full-on 360 treatment. So K-bloggers, get your special cameras out there! Id love to be able to feature more such videos in the future, and if you do find any other 360° YouTube videos in Korea, let me know in the comments.

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