TED V3.0 : The TEDinator
Sometime back…..I gave you a sneak preview of the new version of TED Downloader (is, has and always shall be free :)) which i was working on. I am happy to say that i have completed my work on it and now i can introduce you to the finished product, that is “The TEDinator” (I can never get tired of that :)).
I went through a lot (and i mean a lot!!!) of your suggestions(listed below) and implemented those that i could. Here is the changelog :
Subtitle : Feature added : This is the major improvement in this version. It might be just a little checkbox on the screen but its working goes far deeper(I had to modify my code base for that). I have tried to make the entire list of languages available (as available on TED.com on 30th June 2012). Also, an imp Note about the subtitle module,I have verified it for English language and some of the other languages, but if any problems arise regarding sync or missing text do notify me and i will try to fix it ASAP.
UI Enhancement : Feature changed : There also has been a major change in the UI as can be seen below, this includes individual progress bar and a skip button for each file. This was necessitated by the need to make the program faster, UI more intuitive, all the necessary settings at one place, an efficient subtitle and video download management,and proper error free implementation.
Searchbox : Feature added : The most requested feature has been added finally. This will definitely make the whole download process easy.
Saving of Settings : Feature Added : Also, as per many requests regarding saving of settings, i have implemented the feature to save the user preferences in the registry and and while the program is still portable, the settings are not and need to be entered again if run on a new PC or if the registry entry has been tampered with.
Also, i have uploaded the file on virus total just to satisfy the skeptics, It shows a result of 0/42.
The foll. were the major requests, i received via feedback on TED V2.0 :
1. Ability to save download folder and last retrieved links – DONE saving in registry
2. Ability to maximize window to see more links. OR The window is a fixed size. I don’t like not being able to resize the window so I don’t have to scroll horizontally – nullified by the change in UI DONE
3. Fonts are messed up when text size is Medium – 125% – again nullified by the change in UI DONE
4. Sorting is too slow even after retrieving the links – implemented faster algorithm DONE
5. Overall the app is very slow even though its a small download – Made changes to the loading functionality…….hence faster loading time DONE
6. It would be great to be able to select a language and download subtitles too. – DONE
7. a search feature. – DONE
8. It would be nice to have a progress bar for each video being downloaded, not just the overall. The progress only changes as each file is completed. It would be nice to have a per file progress indicator as well – DONE
9. Remove from the list of links those already downloaded, so the user will not download a file more than once. Excepti maybe with some way to keep track of Low, Regular, and High sizes, should one want download all of the three sizes. I mean, one folder for each.Indicate which videos have already been downloaded, perhaps with an option to hide them from the list. – Files already downloaded will be avoided but keeping individual track will just make the app slower….so in a way DONE
10. Generate an html page. Populate it with links to all of the downloaded videos and descriptions. – DONE, along with an XML and Text file option too
11. A scheduler i.e. automatically check for and download new videos every x hours/days, excluding anything already in the list when the option is enabled OR command line option to launch minimized and start downloading new videos. Exit when finished. Could then be managed with task scheduler – wait for the next version for this
12. With that, a minimize to tray option…..Next version
The feedback from your end has really been very useful and i have tried my level best to come through. Do write to me to let me know what you think about this version, any additions and subtractions are welcome.
[ Download Link ]
IMP Update : see page for latest update : https://obinshah.wordpress.com/2013/04/07/updates-blog-tedinator100-video-limit-fix-etc/
Scenario-Solution 
Hi, I am getting an error “Length cannot be less than zero. Parameter name: length” when refreshing links with V3. However, v2.3.1.8 works fine.
I just tried it and there is no error as such….the program might have been corrupted….try downloading again….was this your first time running the app or has this occurred before ??
I actually just got this error as well.
What happened was:
Everything worked perfectly. I downloaded a couple videos.
Then I clicked “Refresh Links” and the “Ouch!!! We just had a Boo-Boo!! Length cannot be less than zero. Parameter name: length” error came up… AND keeps coming up every time it tries to get the video list. I’ve even tried deleting the registry branch for the app and it still doesn’t work. Keeps coming up with that error now… so now I can’t download any videos because it can’t get the list.
hey….just have verified the issue….there has been a change on the TED site which is causing the issue, i have modified the code and uploaded the updated application. Please download it from the same location….it should work fine now. Thanks for informing me…:)
I am getting an Avira virus alert as I download your app. Please advise.
I now have the detection: TR/Dropper.MSIL.Gen2 virus. What do you recommend?
if you downloaded it from my bitbucket location, then there should be no such issue….i have also gotten it scanned by virustotal (and i urge you to do the same, if you have any doubts)…..i will still check it out and let you know….just in case….
Tony….i just verified it on virustotal(here is the link), apparently only avira antivir is the only one which catches my tool….or more specifically the tool’s packer(the software i use to minimise the size of the app) as the dropper but rest assured the tool is designed to spread knowledge not virus :).
Its a false positive and i will write a letter to them regarding it.
Can you add a “Downloads Sorting Style” type of option, where we can pick an option to tell the program how it sorts the files it downloads?
For example:
“No Sort” – This options makes all the videos downloaded not go into any folders like it does right now.
“Sort by Year” – downloads the viddeos into “2011”, “2012” folders.
“Sort by Convention Name” (the current way the videos are downloaded)
“Sort by…”
etc.
sure….i will look into it and see if i can get the option included in the next version….
Yes please, this is much needed. (and/or maybe include a way for people to create their own patterns)
what do you mean….’create their own patterns’ ??
You could provide titleformating abilities that user could use to create their own pattern like:
%title% – %event%
or more complex stuff:
%year%\%releasedate%. %person% – %title% [%event%].%ext%
ok….good tip….i’ll see what i can do….
Thanks, Obin, for the TED Downloader – it’s a great application and as a programmer I really appreciate the hard work and skill you’ve put into it. Well done. I’ve had a problem, however, with the TEDinator – it crashes under Windows Vista (latest patches applied). This occurs when you run the executable.. No error message, just the usual “…has encountered an error and needs to close”. I’ve tried both the BitBucket download and the link in this thread – same result. Hope this is fixable. But anyway, thanks again for a great app.
It requires .NET Framework 4.0…..just check whether that version is there….and if nothing works, try running it under compatibility mode….tell me whether this helps or not…
Thanks Obin. I’m pretty sure I have .net 4.0, but of of course I will check. Cheers!
Hi Obin, thanks for the program. However, I got a warning: “If you are seeing this msg a lot often. Contact me and do let me know. I might be blissfully unaware of this issue.”. The tedinator cannot get any video links from TED. I use v.3.0 that you have uploaded on July 24th,
hey fathoni….i know this issue was there, it has been fixed and i have uploaded the updated version here : https://bitbucket.org/obinshah/ted-talks-downloader/downloads/TED%20Downloader%20V3.0%20-%20TEDinator.exe
kindly delete your old file and download the new one and try again…..the downloader is retreiving all the links as of now….31 july 2012
please inform me, if you still have issues….i will try to sort it out.
still have the same issues. I have deleted the exe file and replace with the new version. what i notice is that “total application runs” is still using the same old count as previous program + 1. I think that means the old program’s setting is saved somewhere, either config file or registry.
anyway, thanks for your prompt reply.
ya….the settings have nothing to do with the problem and i have configured the program so that it does not reset the settings….just wait some time, i will solve this problem for you……hold on….
Now the error comes again when I click the icon “refresh links “–“Ouch!!! We just had a Boo-Boo!!”,WHY?
nope, cant reproduce the error…..still working, i verified this with on various PC’s, are you sure you got the proper version ?? Just fyi, use this : https://bitbucket.org/obinshah/ted-talks-downloader/downloads/TED%20Downloader%20V3.0%20-%20TEDinator.exe….inform me if you still keep getting the error…
I am constantly receiving error whenever I run your application and click on download button.
I get a error from windows that the application has stopped working. I am on windows 7.
Please check!
win 7 32 bit or 64 bit ?? Also,It requires .NET Framework 4.0…..just check whether that version is there(It should mostly be there)….and if nothing works, try running it under compatibility mode….tell me whether this helps or not…
win 7 64 bit, i have .net framework 4 … The software works fine if i don’t click on download subtitles. If subtitles option is checked than the software hangs and closes.
hey gaurav, ya the problem cropped up when you downloaded the subtitles, fixed the problem and uploaded it….just download the new version from here : https://bitbucket.org/obinshah/ted-talks-downloader/downloads/TED%20Downloader%20V3.0%20-%20TEDinator.exe and that should do it.
Thanks for reporting the problem….:)
Tedinator v3.0 has worked for me previously, with subtitles. But today when I tried to download 2 videos WITH subtitles, it would crash every time. If I did NOT check the subtitle box then the downloads went fine.
This crash would happen if I had both videos checked with subtitles or if I had only one or the other video checked with subtitles. The videos are: Timothy Prestero and Jon Ronson.
I am running XP-SP3 with .NET 4.0
Also 2 suggestions dealing with subtitles:
1) Add a setting to always download subtitles.
2) Only show the Warning Message when checking the Subtitle box once – I don’t need to see and have to check ok every time. It’s not like I’m saying “Format C:”!
Thanks,
Marc
thanks marc for reporting this and FYI, the problem was with the entire subtitle module, actually, the problem is that TED.com is continually changing their API which fudges up some of the functionality….i have fixed the problem….download the new version and it should work properly. link : https://bitbucket.org/obinshah/ted-talks-downloader/downloads/TED%20Downloader%20V3.0%20-%20TEDinator.exe
and i will definitely consider your suggestions…thanks!!! 🙂
It is still showing the same error!
hey gaurav…..ya the change might take some time to propagate on bitbucket….it should show in some time…
the file i am downloading is not a exe file. how do i run it??
which file are you talking about ?? Pls give some details
Hi, I am getting some problem. When i open the app ,it can’t find anything links and give me an error”HAD a BOO BOO”. I don’t know what’s wrong ? BUt i can run TED Downloader V2.3.1.8.exe to download the vidio.
yes….i have been getting this complaint from some of the users, the problem i think lies in the way TED stores links acc. to geography, i am trying to write a new algo for it….but if 2.3.1.8 works, then i would suggest using it for the time being….:)
A lot of people are using TED to learn both subject and language. An option to download all subtibles or more than one would be amazing for this. For the moment, I have to go through http://tedtalksubtitledownload.appspot.com/ for the subtitles. Any way to download all subs with your software ? Hope this is possible. THank you so much!
hey leo…..the option to download subtitles is already available…..see the download link
Sorry to have not been clearer, I mean’t all subtitles for one given video. I have your last version, and unfortunately, I can only choose one language. I am proposing the option to have subtitles in all languages for every video..Am I missing something ? Thank you. Your program is a true saver.
I cant imagine why anyone would want to download all the subtitles of a single video…..but i will put it in my wish list and see what comes out…..cheers…
thank you ! It would be perfect for anyone using the TED conferences to learn a second and third language. More and more people are doing this online. Having them offline is even better. Cheers and thank you again for this great tool !!
Hi Obin! The TEDinator really rocks and makes my life following TED so much easier. I really appreciate the work you have put in on it.
Like the Eric in comment #34 above, I also had been getting the same error recently. I was using a July 2012 version of The TEDinator, internal version reporting 3.0.0.0
Just for grins and based on your comment reply, I went ahead and re-downloaded the latest version (3.0.0.0) again despite it being listed as the same version. It worked fine. I was surprised to see you still have it listed as 3.0.0.0 as the internal version.
I checked your site carefully and didn’t see any mention that you actually did update the binary. And the internal version and download page also indicate it is 3.0.0.0…same as the “broken” one.
I posted a writeup of my working through the troubleshooting process over on my blog.
Trouble with The TEDinator – http://grandstreamdreams.blogspot.com/2012/09/trouble-with-tedinator.html
You might want to add an update to this post explaining that there is a “new” version 3.0.0.0 release now available and it fixes that “Boo Boo” error. Or bump to an internal version of 3.0.0.1 to make it clear to folks looking into this issue on their own that there actually is a new V.3.0 binary of The TEDinator. I’m sure only a few geeks like me would bother to compare internal version numbers in their troubleshooting looking for an update availability first as they troubleshoot.
Anyway, great tool and you rock!
Cheers!
–Claus V.
hey Claus, so sorry for the trouble but i only update the internal version only when there is a change to the algo or the UI (one geek to another, just adding a small IF condition does not warrant a Version Upgrade) and as you said “only a few geeks like me would bother to compare internal version numbers”…and whoever reported to me that they were having issues….i personally notified them that the issue has been fixed….also i mention that in the commments but you are right about one thing i should update the main article….that would be my bad and i will be careful bout it….thank you for putting forth your thoughts….
regards,
Obin Shah
Hi Obin,
Thank you for the background as a developer on your versioning process. I can understand where you are coming from.
I appreciate you adding the update to the main program post above. I’m sure that will do the trick simply and communicate that a “micro” change has been implemented in the application for folks who drop in to see what is up if they encounter that issue.
Cheers!
–Claus V.
🙂
Good day Obin,
I’m having problems downloading some videos with Arabic subtitles. There are hundreds of videos on TED with arabic subs, yet the Tedinator misses many of them. Actually, it only finds 43 arabic subtitles out of the hundreds. I’ve tested finding other subs with which I have not encountered this problem. TedInator just just constantly says ” subtitles have not been created for this video”
hope this is a minor issue which can easily get fixed.
thank you for everything ! Leo
I’m sorry for the extra message. Finally, those 43 subs are in english, So it doesn’t seem to support Arabic subs anymore…
ok leo….i’ll look into this and let you know if this can be remedied….cheers…:)
Thanks for notifying me. The download source has been updated, the version remains the same 🙂
Hi, The TEDinator cannot work and occur an error that “we just had a boo-boo”
Please….download the exe again…the code has been updated….read the postscript above
Hey, great work! Maybe an option to filter available videos by tag/topic/speaker or just search term (if search includes video description) could be implemented. Would be super useful! Thanks))
hey bill, i will note this for the future version….thanks for the feedback 🙂
Hi,I used the 2012-09-20 version got the Boo-Boo mesage and it can’t work.
do I need setup anything for this application?
BTW,can you make it to download two different subtitle at the same time?
all subtitle timelines is worng.
downloaded subtitles first time code 00:00:00,000 but first talking 00:00:15,000
I do not understand what you are saying….as to it should be 00 or 15 ?? what is the name of the video ??
This seems to be a problem with all the talks. The subtitles do not allow the 16 seconds for the intro and start displaying immediately while the talk starts 16 seconds later. I have been using Easy Subtitles Synchronizer to repair each file individually.
Is it for all the videos or just certain videos ??
Use Easy Subtitles Synchronizer > move start > 16000 to add 16 second to allow for the intro
Hi. It seems that the subtitles downloaded have a built in offset of about 15 seconds. Is it possible to fix that? Other than that, great tool, thanks!
That offset is required….cos of the intro in the beginning…..why do you need otherwise ??
Would be awesome if you can download episode name & description into an nfo file compatible with http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=Import-export_library#TV_Shows
OK….will look into it….
Hi Obin.
I think I have a better suggestion. I downloaded a csv file from TED talks that contains pretty much all the video`s hosted. The csv could perhaps easily be incorporated into Tedinator.
The csv fields are:
URL, ID,URL,Speaker Name,Short Summary,Event,Duration,Publish date
It`s on the front page downloadable and links to http://on.ted.com/23
Thanks iNgeon….i do know about that and did in fact try to incorporate but it does not provide me with the download links (in multiple) which is actually the issue….thanks for the suggestion though…:)
kept seeing the Boo-Boo message ><
booboo….plz help…the remote name could not be resolved : http://www.ted.com
Hey wilfred, Check your network connections for it or use a proxy….this error means that you cannot access the site….it is being blocked perhaps by your or maybe a corporate firewall….
Fantastic applet, congratulations and thank you. It would be fun to be able to save and resume sessions. The goal is to continue downloading from where you previously aborted a download and exited the program.
Thanks for the idea….i will see if i can do something bout it…..:)
HI!! the program it’s great!! thanks so much!!
maybe for the next version you can fix the sincronyze of the subtitles?? I realize that always it’s 15,5 seg forward..
thanks from Argentina!!
request duly noted and will be included in next version….
I really appreciate using Tedinator 3, but recently ran into a problem. Tedinator will now only load 100 links and it looks like the 100 most recent talks. Is there a setting somewhere that got changed and that I can change back?
The only explanation I can think of is that I chose to download subtitles for several talks and the next time I fired it up, I could not search for older videos.
What do I need to do to get this going again?
Thanks
Hi, there has been a change on TED.com (again), I’m looking into it and will notify you soon…thanks for reporting this 🙂
HI!! I download the program but only shows the last 100 talks?? its a error?? how can I fix it??
Thamks
Hi, there has been a change on TED.com (again), I’m looking into it and will notify you soon…thanks for reporting this 🙂
Every time i try to search a video via the Searchbox the program goes “not responding” and i have to use the Task Manager to close it.
Also, please add a feature so we can download the subtitles of each video separately and without the video.
This link here used to work fine for this task but not anymore
http://tedtalksubtitledownload.appspot.com/
Great tool. Thankyou for taking the time to create it. Interested in hearing when you fix the 100 limit thing!
Hi, Thank you for this application. Very Useful.
This tool is great, but it has a major problem, which is this:
If My connection dies while it’s downloading a talk (ie the talk is not completely downloaded)… the app thinks that it is and then skips it. Is there a way for it to check to make sure that the talk is 100% complete? Perhaps have it download to a temp location (or tmp file name) and then copy it over when it’s complete?
duly noted…..and will see if i can implement it…..thanks for the feedback
First off, why don’t you make the source public? I’d want to help out. You’re already distributing it free, making it Open-Source will increase the contribution. That said, I have the following things in mind:
1. Option to Download a playlist
2. If you have previously tried to download a video and failed/canceled, there’s an incomplete file present in the filesystem at the location where the video was being saved. Now if you retry the download, it thinks that the video is already downloaded and skips. Maybe you could employ an MD5 check to verify the file is not corrupt.
3. Export the links to: This is a UI bug, e.g. you export to html then you can’t export again to html. You have to export to something else and then come back to html
4. Export in custom format. I’d like to use IDM(a download helper) to actually download the videos and still save them in the location that TEDinator was going to save them but I can’t because I’d have to give it the correct location of each video file. So as someone already mentioned(%title% etc.), a custom format would be nice.
5. Refresh Links: Add a confirmation. When I’m behind a slow network and I accidentally press it, it takes 5-10 minutes to finish. Not to mention timeouts that happen in 2G networks.
6. Search: Just a substring search? Come On!
hey rajat,
Thanks for the feedback….first of all, open source…not yet….sometime later maybe….Now for your points…
1. Playlists are a relatively new feature….will definitely consider your suggestion
2. This one i know and am working on to solve…however instead of md5, i am going for a more of a temporary directory approach
3. This i did not know of, but will look into it and will be fixed…see,that’s why you need a tester….:)
4. You could use the text file it generates to supply the links, in fact, the main reason for adding the “save link as” is for various Download Managers….also a custom format is in the works.
5. Adding a confirmation on a button which is going to be pressed multiple times is just bad UI design and my tool is not going to know whether the network is slow…so it is the individual’s lookout to take that factor into consideration…my app just makes do with whatever resources it has at hand….i already have enough complaints as it is regarding the pop up i show on checking ‘download subtitles’ option.
6. What is wrong with that ?? or rather what more are you expecting of this feature which cannot be solved by the sorting of the columns in the results grid…
Do know that i appreciate your feedback and if you have any more suggestions/ features which are not implemented yet….do let me know…a new, better, more intuitive version is in the works and i’m looking for exceptional features to add to the tool 🙂
It looks like something has changed… In June, I downloaded all talks… Now I am re-downloading all links and it seems that it’s downloading dupes
Amber Case – We are all cyborgs now.mp4 in TEDWomen 2010_Jan 2011
and also in TEDWomen_Jan 2011
For instance…
The answer is in your Example…..the videos are checked by their presence in the “Event Name” folder….as shown in “TEDWomen 2010_Jan 2011” in which the eventname is TEDWomen 2010, which got changed to TEDWomen….looks like ted restructured their folder structure…
Thanks for the quick reply! Is there a way for me to see the text structure of this, so that I can rename and move them over to the right places rather than re-download everything? Seems like TED moved or renamed 1/2 of their stuff.
Hey….you can use the Export to xml or HTML option to get a list of the Events name which would be useful to you….post back if you need any help….
Hi There,
I used your app a few times and it worked fine until today. I get the error message Ouch we just had a bo-bo, The remote server returned an error (422). Unprocessable entity.
I tried to uninstall and to my surprise couldn’t find the app anywhere on my computer. The desktop icon yet remains. I even tried to locate the app with an uninstaller, yet I couldn’t locate it. So I downloaded the same version again 3.7.1.3 but the same error message appears. Then I downloaded all the other (older) versions and they didn’t work either. I suspect that somewhere on my computer there must be the original files which I guess I have to remove first for a clean computer to re-install? But how can I find them if they don’t appear anywhere under programs and applications?
Hi Rolf,
the issue is not at your end, ted.com has updated…and the app needs to be updated for the same…i will have a look at it over the weekend and let you know….thanks for letting me know…
Also, this is a portable app and does not have an installer or uninstaller…This error would be with all versions
Regards,
Obin Shah
I AM GETTING REMOTE SERVER RETURNED AN ERROR 422 UNPROCESSED ENTITY,(ALSO SHOULD I ENTER PROXY ADREESS IN SETTINGS NECESSARILY,BCZ I DON THINK I HAV ONE).PLEASE REPLY
Getting the Remote server error as well. Thanks so much for building the app!!
Hey Kevin,
Are you sure you are using the latest version ?? You are, after all, commenting on a very old version page…the current version is 3.8.5.6