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-rw-r--r--README.md19
-rw-r--r--youtube_dl/options.py27
2 files changed, 10 insertions, 36 deletions
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index caa1478d9..68426b685 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ youtube-dl - download videos from youtube.com or other video platforms
- [OPTIONS](#options)
- [CONFIGURATION](#configuration)
- [OUTPUT TEMPLATE](#output-template)
+- [FORMAT SELECTION](#format-selection)
- [VIDEO SELECTION](#video-selection)
- [FAQ](#faq)
- [DEVELOPER INSTRUCTIONS](#developer-instructions)
@@ -184,16 +185,7 @@ which means you can modify it, redistribute it or use it however you like.
--sleep-interval SECONDS Number of seconds to sleep before each download.
## Video Format Options:
- -f, --format FORMAT Video format code, specify the order of preference using slashes, as in -f 22/17/18 . Instead of format codes, you can select by
- extension for the extensions aac, m4a, mp3, mp4, ogg, wav, webm. You can also use the special names "best", "bestvideo", "bestaudio",
- "worst". You can filter the video results by putting a condition in brackets, as in -f "best[height=720]" (or -f "[filesize>10M]").
- This works for filesize, height, width, tbr, abr, vbr, asr, and fps and the comparisons <, <=, >, >=, =, != and for ext, acodec,
- vcodec, container, and protocol and the comparisons =, != . Formats for which the value is not known are excluded unless you put a
- question mark (?) after the operator. You can combine format filters, so -f "[height <=? 720][tbr>500]" selects up to 720p videos
- (or videos where the height is not known) with a bitrate of at least 500 KBit/s. By default, youtube-dl will pick the best quality.
- Use commas to download multiple audio formats, such as -f 136/137/mp4/bestvideo,140/m4a/bestaudio. You can merge the video and audio
- of two formats into a single file using -f <video-format>+<audio-format> (requires ffmpeg or avconv), for example -f
- bestvideo+bestaudio.
+ -f, --format FORMAT Video format code, see the "FORMAT SELECTION" for all the info
--all-formats Download all available video formats
--prefer-free-formats Prefer free video formats unless a specific one is requested
--max-quality FORMAT Highest quality format to download
@@ -271,6 +263,13 @@ $ youtube-dl --get-filename -o "%(title)s.%(ext)s" BaW_jenozKc --restrict-filena
youtube-dl_test_video_.mp4 # A simple file name
```
+# FORMAT SELECTION
+
+By default youtube-dl tries to download the best quality, but sometimes you may want to download other format.
+The simplest case is requesting a specific format, for example `-f 22`. You can get the list of available formats using `--list-formats`, you can also use a file extension (currently it supports aac, m4a, mp3, mp4, ogg, wav, webm) or the special names `best`, `bestvideo`, `bestaudio` and `worst`.
+
+If you are want to download multiple videos and they don't have the same formats available, you can specify the order of preference using slashes, as in `-f 22/17/18`. You can also filter the video results by putting a condition in brackets, as in `-f "best[height=720]"` (or `-f "[filesize>10M]"`). This works for filesize, height, width, tbr, abr, vbr, asr, and fps and the comparisons <, <=, >, >=, =, != and for ext, acodec, vcodec, container, and protocol and the comparisons =, != . Formats for which the value is not known are excluded unless you put a question mark (?) after the operator. You can combine format filters, so `-f "[height <=? 720][tbr>500]"` selects up to 720p videos (or videos where the height is not known) with a bitrate of at least 500 KBit/s. Use commas to download multiple formats, such as `-f 136/137/mp4/bestvideo,140/m4a/bestaudio`. You can merge the video and audio of two formats into a single file using `-f <video-format>+<audio-format>` (requires ffmpeg or avconv), for example `-f bestvideo+bestaudio`.
+
# VIDEO SELECTION
Videos can be filtered by their upload date using the options `--date`, `--datebefore` or `--dateafter`, they accept dates in two formats:
diff --git a/youtube_dl/options.py b/youtube_dl/options.py
index 11603f60d..39c38c980 100644
--- a/youtube_dl/options.py
+++ b/youtube_dl/options.py
@@ -322,32 +322,7 @@ def parseOpts(overrideArguments=None):
video_format.add_option(
'-f', '--format',
action='store', dest='format', metavar='FORMAT', default=None,
- help=(
- 'Video format code, specify the order of preference using'
- ' slashes, as in -f 22/17/18 . '
- ' Instead of format codes, you can select by extension for the '
- 'extensions aac, m4a, mp3, mp4, ogg, wav, webm. '
- 'You can also use the special names "best",'
- ' "bestvideo", "bestaudio", "worst". '
- ' You can filter the video results by putting a condition in'
- ' brackets, as in -f "best[height=720]"'
- ' (or -f "[filesize>10M]"). '
- ' This works for filesize, height, width, tbr, abr, vbr, asr, and fps'
- ' and the comparisons <, <=, >, >=, =, !='
- ' and for ext, acodec, vcodec, container, and protocol'
- ' and the comparisons =, != .'
- ' Formats for which the value is not known are excluded unless you'
- ' put a question mark (?) after the operator.'
- ' You can combine format filters, so '
- '-f "[height <=? 720][tbr>500]" '
- 'selects up to 720p videos (or videos where the height is not '
- 'known) with a bitrate of at least 500 KBit/s.'
- ' By default, youtube-dl will pick the best quality.'
- ' Use commas to download multiple audio formats, such as'
- ' -f 136/137/mp4/bestvideo,140/m4a/bestaudio.'
- ' You can merge the video and audio of two formats into a single'
- ' file using -f <video-format>+<audio-format> (requires ffmpeg or'
- ' avconv), for example -f bestvideo+bestaudio.'))
+ help='Video format code, see the "FORMAT SELECTION" for all the info')
video_format.add_option(
'--all-formats',
action='store_const', dest='format', const='all',