“Do you have any idea on downloading HLS videos? I need to download some music concert living streams but have no idea to do this. I have tried some so-called online video downloaders. But actually, none of these online video downloaders downloads live stream videos. What should I use? How can I download online video live streaming? Please help me with this.”
Online video streaming actually means HTTP Live Streaming (also known as HLS), an HTTP-based adaptive bitrate streaming communications protocol. HLS resembles MPEG-DASH in that it works by breaking the overall stream into a sequence of small HTTP-based file downloads, each downloading one short chunk of an overall potentially unbounded transport stream. A list of available streams, encoded at different bit rates, is sent to the client using an extended M3U playlist. You could get an M3U8 URL of each HLS video. Actually, to download online video streams is actually to download M3U8 video.
Well, in this guide, we would like to show you some effective solutions to help you download M3U8 videos with VLC media player and other tools. Of course, you could also get the best online video downloader option here.
Part 1: Total Solutions to Download, Covert and Edit M3U8 Videos - Leawo Prof. Media
Firstly, we would like to recommend you the total online video solution suite - Leawo Prof. Media, a professional and all-inclusive media converter suite that offers you total media solutions for Blu-ray, DVD, video, online video, audio, pictures and more. You could do quite a few things wit the help of Leawo Prof. Media.
As a total online video solution tool, Leawo Prof. Media could help you handle online videos in multiple ways:
- Download videos from YouTube and 1000+ other video sharing sites like Facebook, Veoh, VEVO, AOL, Metacafe, MegaVideo, Vimeo, Break, etc.
- Convert downloaded YouTube videos to MP4, WMV, AVI, MOV, MKV, FLV, etc. for nearly all media players, mobile devices, video editors, video streamers, etc.
- Convert and burn download online video files to Blu-ray/DVD content in disc, folder and/or ISO image file.
- Edit downloaded online videos in multiple ways: trimming, cropping, adding watermark, adjusting effect, rotating, merging, etc.
- Add 3D movie effect to downloaded YouTube videos. 6 different 3D movie effects are available.
As to Http Live Stream video download, if you have the video URL of the HLS video from an M3U8 list file, you could even try Leawo Prof. Media to download, convert and edit M3U8 videos. The thing you need to make sure is that the URL of the Http Live Stream video doesn’t refer to the video URL with .m3U8 extension, but a normal video playback URL, which could directly help you play and watch videos online.
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Of course, if you can’t get the normal video URL from M3U8 list file, you could choose to download M3U8 video with VLC media player or other online M3U8 video downloader tools. You could even use VLC media player to download M3U8 to MP4 video easily. Don’t know how to download M3U8 video with VLC media player? Check the below guide.
Part 2: How to Download M3U8 with VLC
VLC is a free and open source cross-platform multimedia player and framework that plays most multimedia files as well as DVDs, Audio CDs, VCDs, and various streaming protocols. Actually, besides the most well-known media playback feature, VLC media player also has multiple hidden features, like editing, converting, etc. Downloading M3U8 videos within VLC media player has been a wonderful feature.
VLC media player comes with an internal video downloader and converter that could download M3U8 videos and convert M3U8 videos to MP4 or other video file formats for you. How does VLC download M3U8 video? Just check the below guide:
- Download and install the latest version of VLC media player.
- Open VLC media player.
- Click on “MEDIA” option on the menu bar.
- Click on “Open Network Stream” option on the drop-down menu.
- On the "Open Media" interface, open the "Network" tab.
- Paste the M3U8 file address you get from the Http Live Stream page into the blank bar.
- Then, click the inverted triangle button next to the "Play" button at the bottom right corner.
- Choose the "Convert" option on the drop-down menu.
- On the newly pop-up "Convert" interface, in the "Settings" part, choose MP4 profile as output format in the "Profile" drop-down panel. If you need, you could click the wrench icon to adjust the video and audio parameters of output MP4 file.
- Then, click the "Browse" button in the "Destination file" section to set an download directoy.
- After setting output directory, click the "Start" button to download downloading M3U8 video and converting M3U8 video to MP4 files within VLC media player.
Then you will see the whole download process. When the downloading completes, you will get M3U8 videos downloaded and converted to MP4 file, saved in the folder you have set above.
Now, you have successfully downloaded M3U8 videos within VLC media player. Just play it back on your computer with your local computer media player software.
Part 3: Download M3U8 Online
Besides VLC media player, there are also other tools to help you download M3U8 videos. For example, you could choose to download M3U8 videos online with online M3U8 video downloader tools. AnyConv.com is an exactly such online M3U8 video downloader tool for you to download M3U8 videos online. What you need are only Internet connection and M3U8 file. It could even help you directly convert M3U8 file to MP4 online.
Want to download M3U8 online with this online M3U8 downloader? Check the below steps:
- Make sure you have generated a M3U8 file on your local drive.
- Open your browser and go to the website: https://anyconv.com/m3u8-to-mp4-converter/
- Click the “CHOOSE FILE” option to browse and upload M3U8 file from your local drive. M3U8 file size can be up to 50 Mb.
- After uploading, click "Convert" button to start downloading M3U8 video and converting M3U8 video to MP4 file.
- When the conversion process is complete, you can download the MP4 file.
In this way, you could easily download and convert M3U8 file to MP4 files. When the downloading and converting completes, you could then freely play back the downloaded M3U8 video files on your computer.
Part 4: Download M3U8 with Best VLC Alternative - Leawo Video Downloader
As mentioned above, if you have the live stream video URL, not the M3U8 video URL, you could use Leawo Prof. Media to download, convert and edit M3U8 video. This happens due to the internal video downloader program, Leawo Video Downloader, in Leawo Prof. Media. You could directly copy and paste the M3U8 link from the live video to Leawo Video Downloader and start downloading M3U8 video.
Leawo Video Downloader is the best VLC media player alternative in downloading online videos since it could download videos from nearly all online video sharing sites like YouTube, Facebook, Veoh, VEVO, etc. It even downloads live stream videos from various live stream sites in 2 different ways: directly through live stream video URL and M3U8 link. It lists multiple download options for you to choose from for downloading.
The below guide would show you how to download M3U8 video with Leawo Prof. Media in detail. Download and install Leawo Prof. Media on your computer first.
△Step 1: Set download directory
On Leawo Prof. Media, click the wheel icon on the top-right corner and then navigate to the “Download” tab to set download path in the “Save videos to” box.
△Step 2: Copy and paste M3U8 video link
Open the “Download” module, and directly copy and paste the M3U8 link into the address bar to get target M3U8 live stream videos for downloading. You then could get multiple download options on the right sidebar.
△Step 3: Choose video to download
On the right sidebar, you could see multiple download options in different formats, quality and resolutions. Choose the desired one and then click the download icon to start downloading M3U8 videos.
△Step 4: Manage downloaded videos
The whole downloading process could be viewable under the “Downloading” tab. You could click the pause button on the target video to stop downloading the live stream video. All downloaded tasks will be available under the “Downloaded” tab. As mentioned above, Leawo Prof. Media could convert and edit downloaded M3U8 files. You could right click the downloaded video under the “Downloaded” tab, and then choose “Add to Convert” option to do these.
Part 5: Download M3U8 with Best VLC Alternative - CleverGet Video Downloader
CleverGet Video Downloader is a go-to options when you are looking for VLC alternative to download M3U8 video. This M3U8 video downloader is famous for its perfect performance in downloading online video from a mass of online sites including YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, etc. At the same time, CleverGet is also a dab hand at downloading M3U8 files. Be it a YouTube live stream or lives from other sites, they are all be saved to local file with wonderful picture. Better yet, when you are going to download live streams, you don't even need to look for the M3U8 link troublesomely since it will grab them automatically.
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- Download Video & Music from 1000+ Sites
- Download Live Stream Videos from YouTube Live and Others
- Up to 8K UHD Video Downloading with 320 kbps Audio Quality
- Smarter Downloading Settings
- 1-Click to Play Downloaded Videos
- Provide Precise Video Info
◎Step 1: Set output directory
You can download the installation package of CleverGet for free by visiting the homepage of CleverGet directly. Install it on your computer and run it. CleverGet has a default output directory, but you probably don't want that. You can click the "..." icon in the upper right corner, and then reset the output directory under the "General" in the "Settings" window.
◎Step 2: Open target video page
Open the M3U8 file with Notepad to get the URL of the target video. Paste the URL directly into CleverGet's address bar, then tap "Enter" on the keyboard. CleverGet will directly access the page where the target video is located.
◎Step 3: Download the video
CleverGet will identify various information about the video available for download on the page, such as: video format, definition, etc. You can see this information in the popup window, select the video you want to download and click the "Download" button. CleverGet will download the video to the output directory you set.
Conclusion
It should be noted that M3U8 file is actually not a video, but a list file that contains the Http Live Stream videos’ M3U8 address. Currently, only a few tools like VLC media player, online M3U8 downloader, browser extensions, etc. could directly download and convert M3U8 files. As to Leawo Prof. Media, it’s an all-inclusive media converter suite that offers you ultimate solutions in multiple aspects. Besides online video solutions, it still helps you:
Features
- Play back media files like Blu-ray, DVD, video, audio, and even ISO image files just like a region-free media player.
- Decrypt, rip and convert Blu-ray/DVD to video/audio files in 200+ file formats for various uses, regardless of disc protection and region restrictions.
- Decrypt, copy and backup Blu-ray/DVD content to blank disc or computer hard drive, in full-movie or movie-only backup mode as you need.
- Convert and burn image files to Blu-ray/DVD photo slideshow easily.
- Turn photos into photo slideshow video for saving in various formats, and edit generated photo slideshow.
- Choose disc menu for DVD/Blu-ray burning, and even design disc menu with preferred items.
But it should be noted that currently, Leawo Prof. Media could not directly download M3U8 files, but the videos referred to in M3U8 files.
Sep. 21, 2020 by 
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