Editing Downloading Video From Instagram

== Online video download services ==

* [https://savefrom.net savefrom.net] </br>Requires a VPN. Doesn't work in the US. But it does successfully download IG videos with audio elsewhere.

== Command line ==

=== Instaloader ===

[https://instaloader.github.io/ Instaloader] is a command line utility for downloading images and video. I don't think I have tried it for downloading video with audio.

It can be installed with 

<syntaxhighlight lang="bash">
$ pip3 install instaloader
</syntaxhighlight>

Which installs it wherever python is installed, i.e. not somewhere included in `PATH`. So either include the python bin directory in path, or run instaloader using its full path, e.g. `/Users/[me]/Library/Python/3.9/bin/instaloader`. 

To download all the image associated with an Instagram post:

<syntaxhighlight lang="bash">
$ instaloader -- -[POST_ID]
</syntaxhighlight>

This will create a folder in the current directory named "-[POST_ID]". The dash in the filename screws with using it as a command line argument. Using a relative path to access it works, e.g. `cd ./-[POST_ID]`

Instaloader downloads are limited to 1080 pixels when a user is not logged in. In order to download the largest possible images:

<syntaxhighlight lang="bash">
$ instaloader --login=[INSTAGRAM_USERNAME] -- -[POST_ID]
</syntaxhighlight>

== Download via browser ==

<div class="alert alert-warning">This wasn't working for me for at least one video in January 2024.</div>

* Load the video on its own page, not within a feed. 
* Right click on the video, then click '''Inspect''' to open Chrome Developer Tools.
* Select the '''Network''' tab.
* Search (Cmd + F) for "mp4" or "m3u8" to locate video sources on the page.
** Click on one of the results. 
** This should cause content to be loaded in the '''Preview''' subtab, still under '''Network'''.
** Click on the '''Headers''' subtab (same level as the '''Response''' tab.)
** This should display a '''Request URL''' under the '''General''' section.
** Copy the '''Request URL''' link.
* Paste that request URL into a new browser tab.
** Remove the `bytestart` and `byteend` parameters from the URL.
** Now hit enter to process that request without those two parameters in the URL.
** The video should be displayed but it won't have audio. Apparently Facebook delivers video and audio separately. 
** Right click on the video and select '''Download'''.

== TODO ==

Figure out how to download the audio file and stitch it back together with the video using either VLC or `ffmpeg`.

== Reference ==

* [[Saving Video Streamed Via Blob URLs]] - Wiki article
* [https://stackoverflow.com/questions/48843356/decoding-facebooks-blob-video-url/53481372#53481372 Decoding facebook's blob video url ] - StackOverflow
* [https://www.alphr.com/download-video-blob-url/ How To Download A Video With A Blob In The URL] - Alphr
* [https://github.com/ehmorris/High-Resolution-Downloader-For-Instagram/issues/64 Some Instagram videos are now blobs and can't download] - "High Resolution Downloader For Instagram" on GitHub