Brightcove reports no mp4's but it looks like they exist #2161

New issue

Closed

opened 2026-02-21 00:15:35 -05:00 by deekerman · 1 comment

deekerman commented

2026-02-21 00:15:35 -05:00

Owner

Originally created by @jillh510 on GitHub (Apr 14, 2014).

Running youtube_dl like so:
python -m youtube_dl --skip-download --write-info-json -v http://www.ktvu.com/videos/news/raw-video-caltrain-releases-video-of-man-almost/vCTZdY/

yields the following .json file:
{"display_id": "3356691851001", "extractor": "Brightcove", "playlist": "RAW VIDEO: Caltrain releases video of man almost being hit by... | www.ktvu.com", "description": "Caltrain has released dramatic video it recently captured showing a man nearly getting hit by a train on the Pennisula.", "title": "RAW VIDEO: Caltrain releases video of man almost being hit by bullet train", "url": "http://cmgdigital.brightcove.com.edgesuite.net/374678397001/201403/2468/374678397001_3356826561001_Caltrain-NearMiss.mp4", "extractor_key": "Brightcove", "format": "5 - 1280x720", "fulltitle": "RAW VIDEO: Caltrain releases video of man almost being hit by bullet train", "playlist_index": 1, "thumbnail": "http://coxmedia.edgesuite.net/374678397001/2014/03/374678397001_3356831585001_vs-53285641e4b09db89c23deb6-767904724001.jpg?pubId=374678397001", "ext": "mp4", "width": 1280, "webpage_url": "http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/htmlFederated?playerID=836564367001&linkBaseURL=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ktvu.com%2Fvideos%2Fnews%2Fraw-video-caltrain-releases-video-of-man-almost%2FvCTZdY%2F&%40videoPlayer=3356691851001&playerKey=AQ%7E%7E%2CAAAAVzySoEk%7E%2C39KWv4t6IXBhr9fjdqt8jJhoVTxYZojR#__youtubedl_smuggle=%7B%22Referer%22%3A+%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ktvu.com%2Fvideos%2Fnews%2Fraw-video-caltrain-releases-video-of-man-almost%2FvCTZdY%2F%22%7D", "formats": [{"format": "0 - 400x224", "url": "http://cmgdigital.brightcove.com.edgesuite.net/374678397001/201403/540/374678397001_3356831602001_Caltrain-NearMiss.mp4", "height": 224, "width": 400, "ext": "mp4", "format_id": "0"}, {"format": "1 - 400x224", "url": "http://cmgdigital.brightcove.com.edgesuite.net/374678397001/201403/2468/374678397001_3356826541001_Caltrain-NearMiss.mp4", "height": 224, "width": 400, "ext": "mp4", "format_id": "1"}, {"format": "2 - 480x268", "url": "http://cmgdigital.brightcove.com.edgesuite.net/374678397001/201403/2540/374678397001_3356831584001_Caltrain-NearMiss.mp4", "height": 268, "width": 480, "ext": "mp4", "format_id": "2"}, {"format": "3 - 640x360", "url": "http://cmgdigital.brightcove.com.edgesuite.net/374678397001/201403/1468/374678397001_3356826554001_Caltrain-NearMiss.mp4", "height": 360, "width": 640, "ext": "mp4", "format_id": "3"}, {"format": "4 - 720x404", "url": "http://cmgdigital.brightcove.com.edgesuite.net/374678397001/201403/2276/374678397001_3356827026001_Caltrain-NearMiss.mp4", "height": 404, "width": 720, "ext": "mp4", "format_id": "4"}, {"format": "5 - 1280x720", "url": "http://cmgdigital.brightcove.com.edgesuite.net/374678397001/201403/2468/374678397001_3356826561001_Caltrain-NearMiss.mp4", "height": 720, "width": 1280, "ext": "mp4", "format_id": "5"}], "format_id": "5", "height": 720, "uploader": "COX - KTVU", "id": "3356691851001", "webpage_url_basename": "htmlFederated", "stitle": "RAW VIDEO: Caltrain releases video of man almost being hit by bullet train"}

(note that the videos appear to be MP4's)

But running with mp4 specified as the format like so:
python -m youtube_dl --skip-download --write-info-json -format mp4 -v http://www.ktvu.com/videos/news/raw-video-caltrain-releases-video-of-man-almost/vCTZdY/

yields this error:
[debug] System config: []
[debug] User config: []
[debug] Command-line args: ['--skip-download', '--write-info-json', '-format', 'mp4', '-v', 'http://www.ktvu.com/videos/news/raw-video-caltrain-releases-video-of-man-almost/vCTZdY/']
[debug] Encodings: locale UTF-8, fs utf-8, out UTF-8, pref UTF-8
[debug] youtube-dl version 2014.04.13
[debug] Python version 2.7.5 - Darwin-13.1.0-x86_64-i386-64bit
[debug] Proxy map: {}
WARNING: Falling back to youtube search for mp4 . Set --default-search to "auto" to suppress this warning.
[youtube:search] query "mp4": Downloading page 1
[download] Downloading playlist: mp4
[youtube:search] playlist mp4: Collected 1 video ids (downloading 1 of them)
[download] Downloading video #1 of 1
[youtube] Setting language
[youtube] L6LxZEvKDow: Downloading webpage
[youtube] L6LxZEvKDow: Downloading video info webpage
[youtube] L6LxZEvKDow: Extracting video information
ERROR: requested format not available
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/Users/jill/june/.virtualenv/lib/python2.7/site-packages/youtube_dl/YoutubeDL.py", line 525, in extract_info
return self.process_ie_result(ie_result, download, extra_info)
File "/Users/jill/june/.virtualenv/lib/python2.7/site-packages/youtube_dl/YoutubeDL.py", line 562, in process_ie_result
return self.process_video_result(ie_result, download=download)
File "/Users/jill/june/.virtualenv/lib/python2.7/site-packages/youtube_dl/YoutubeDL.py", line 809, in process_video_result
expected=True)
ExtractorError: requested format not available

Originally created by @jillh510 on GitHub (Apr 14, 2014). Running youtube_dl like so: python -m youtube_dl --skip-download --write-info-json -v http://www.ktvu.com/videos/news/raw-video-caltrain-releases-video-of-man-almost/vCTZdY/ yields the following .json file: {"display_id": "3356691851001", "extractor": "Brightcove", "playlist": "RAW VIDEO: Caltrain releases video of man almost being hit by... | www.ktvu.com", "description": "Caltrain has released dramatic video it recently captured showing a man nearly getting hit by a train on the Pennisula.", "title": "RAW VIDEO: Caltrain releases video of man almost being hit by bullet train", "url": "http://cmgdigital.brightcove.com.edgesuite.net/374678397001/201403/2468/374678397001_3356826561001_Caltrain-NearMiss.mp4", "extractor_key": "Brightcove", "format": "5 - 1280x720", "fulltitle": "RAW VIDEO: Caltrain releases video of man almost being hit by bullet train", "playlist_index": 1, "thumbnail": "http://coxmedia.edgesuite.net/374678397001/2014/03/374678397001_3356831585001_vs-53285641e4b09db89c23deb6-767904724001.jpg?pubId=374678397001", "ext": "mp4", "width": 1280, "webpage_url": "http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/htmlFederated?playerID=836564367001&linkBaseURL=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ktvu.com%2Fvideos%2Fnews%2Fraw-video-caltrain-releases-video-of-man-almost%2FvCTZdY%2F&%40videoPlayer=3356691851001&playerKey=AQ%7E%7E%2CAAAAVzySoEk%7E%2C39KWv4t6IXBhr9fjdqt8jJhoVTxYZojR#__youtubedl_smuggle=%7B%22Referer%22%3A+%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ktvu.com%2Fvideos%2Fnews%2Fraw-video-caltrain-releases-video-of-man-almost%2FvCTZdY%2F%22%7D", "formats": [{"format": "0 - 400x224", "url": "http://cmgdigital.brightcove.com.edgesuite.net/374678397001/201403/540/374678397001_3356831602001_Caltrain-NearMiss.mp4", "height": 224, "width": 400, "ext": "mp4", "format_id": "0"}, {"format": "1 - 400x224", "url": "http://cmgdigital.brightcove.com.edgesuite.net/374678397001/201403/2468/374678397001_3356826541001_Caltrain-NearMiss.mp4", "height": 224, "width": 400, "ext": "mp4", "format_id": "1"}, {"format": "2 - 480x268", "url": "http://cmgdigital.brightcove.com.edgesuite.net/374678397001/201403/2540/374678397001_3356831584001_Caltrain-NearMiss.mp4", "height": 268, "width": 480, "ext": "mp4", "format_id": "2"}, {"format": "3 - 640x360", "url": "http://cmgdigital.brightcove.com.edgesuite.net/374678397001/201403/1468/374678397001_3356826554001_Caltrain-NearMiss.mp4", "height": 360, "width": 640, "ext": "mp4", "format_id": "3"}, {"format": "4 - 720x404", "url": "http://cmgdigital.brightcove.com.edgesuite.net/374678397001/201403/2276/374678397001_3356827026001_Caltrain-NearMiss.mp4", "height": 404, "width": 720, "ext": "mp4", "format_id": "4"}, {"format": "5 - 1280x720", "url": "http://cmgdigital.brightcove.com.edgesuite.net/374678397001/201403/2468/374678397001_3356826561001_Caltrain-NearMiss.mp4", "height": 720, "width": 1280, "ext": "mp4", "format_id": "5"}], "format_id": "5", "height": 720, "uploader": "COX - KTVU", "id": "3356691851001", "webpage_url_basename": "htmlFederated", "stitle": "RAW VIDEO: Caltrain releases video of man almost being hit by bullet train"} (note that the videos appear to be MP4's) But running with mp4 specified as the format like so: python -m youtube_dl --skip-download --write-info-json -format mp4 -v http://www.ktvu.com/videos/news/raw-video-caltrain-releases-video-of-man-almost/vCTZdY/ yields this error: [debug] System config: [] [debug] User config: [] [debug] Command-line args: ['--skip-download', '--write-info-json', '-format', 'mp4', '-v', 'http://www.ktvu.com/videos/news/raw-video-caltrain-releases-video-of-man-almost/vCTZdY/'] [debug] Encodings: locale UTF-8, fs utf-8, out UTF-8, pref UTF-8 [debug] youtube-dl version 2014.04.13 [debug] Python version 2.7.5 - Darwin-13.1.0-x86_64-i386-64bit [debug] Proxy map: {} WARNING: Falling back to youtube search for mp4 . Set --default-search to "auto" to suppress this warning. [youtube:search] query "mp4": Downloading page 1 [download] Downloading playlist: mp4 [youtube:search] playlist mp4: Collected 1 video ids (downloading 1 of them) [download] Downloading video #1 of 1 [youtube] Setting language [youtube] L6LxZEvKDow: Downloading webpage [youtube] L6LxZEvKDow: Downloading video info webpage [youtube] L6LxZEvKDow: Extracting video information ERROR: requested format not available Traceback (most recent call last): File "/Users/jill/june/.virtualenv/lib/python2.7/site-packages/youtube_dl/YoutubeDL.py", line 525, in extract_info return self.process_ie_result(ie_result, download, extra_info) File "/Users/jill/june/.virtualenv/lib/python2.7/site-packages/youtube_dl/YoutubeDL.py", line 562, in process_ie_result return self.process_video_result(ie_result, download=download) File "/Users/jill/june/.virtualenv/lib/python2.7/site-packages/youtube_dl/YoutubeDL.py", line 809, in process_video_result expected=True) ExtractorError: requested format not available

deekerman closed this issue

2026-02-21 00:15:37 -05:00

deekerman commented

2026-02-21 00:15:38 -05:00

Author

Owner

@jillh510 commented on GitHub (Apr 14, 2014):

Never mind - should have been --format. Sorry about that.

@jillh510 commented on GitHub (Apr 14, 2014): Never mind - should have been --format. Sorry about that.

No milestone

No project

No assignees

1 participant

Notifications

Due date

The due date is invalid or out of range. Please use the format "yyyy-mm-dd".

No due date set.

Dependencies

No dependencies set.

Reference

starred/youtube-dl-ytdl-org#2161

No description provided.

Rows
Columns