peekVCR Screen Layout / Controls
Video URL
- Type or paste the URL of the page with the video you want to download into the box
- Playlist URLs are also accepted, but if 'Download full playlist' is not selected (see below), only the first video in the playlist is downloaded
'Download' button
- Begins downloading the video if found
'Higher quality video' checkbox
- Downloads the highest quality video available (may take longer)
'Audio only' checkbox
- Downloads the chosen video and then extracts and saves the audio as an .mp3 file (160 kbps)
'Higher quality audio' checkbox
- Downloads the best available audio stream without converting it to .mp3
- The saved file may be .m4a, .webm or .opus depending on what is available
'Download full playlist' checkbox
- Allows full playlists to be downloaded based on the video URL entered, e.g. OST, user-generated playlists, etc.
- If this option is not selected, peekVCR will only download a single video even if there is a linked playlist
'Download subtitles' checkbox
- Downloads English subtitles if available; if standard subtitles are not available, auto-generated subtitles may be downloaded instead
- Subtitles are saved as .vtt files and will be automatically loaded by most media players if placed alongside the video
'Play after download' checkbox
- After download, peekVCR tries to automatically play the video or audio in the default media player
Download progress
- The download progress bar visualises the progress of the current download
'Cancel' button
- Cancels any downloads that are in progress
Video URL
- Type or paste the URL of the page with the video you want to download into the box
- Playlist URLs are also accepted, but if 'Download full playlist' is not selected (see below), only the first video in the playlist is downloaded
'Download' button
- Begins downloading the video if found
'Higher quality video' checkbox
- Downloads the highest quality video available (may take longer)
'Audio only' checkbox
- Downloads the chosen video and then extracts and saves the audio as an .mp3 file (160 kbps)
'Higher quality audio' checkbox
- Downloads the best available audio stream without converting it to .mp3
- The saved file may be .m4a, .webm or .opus depending on what is available
'Download full playlist' checkbox
- Allows full playlists to be downloaded based on the video URL entered, e.g. OST, user-generated playlists, etc.
- If this option is not selected, peekVCR will only download a single video even if there is a linked playlist
'Download subtitles' checkbox
- Downloads English subtitles if available; if standard subtitles are not available, auto-generated subtitles may be downloaded instead
- Subtitles are saved as .vtt files and will be automatically loaded by most media players if placed alongside the video
'Play after download' checkbox
- After download, peekVCR tries to automatically play the video or audio in the default media player
Download progress
- The download progress bar visualises the progress of the current download
'Cancel' button
- Cancels any downloads that are in progress
- Partial files may remain in the downloads folder
peekVCR Messages
- Displays messages including status, file locations, errors, downloads and so on; also displays the 'Help' file and 'About' message
'Update' button
- Updates the current version of yt-dlp.exe
- If a video website changes how it functions, some downloads may not work; updating may solve this problem
'Paths' button
- Sets the locations of yt-dlp.exe, ffmpeg.exe and the downloads folder; without these peekVCR will not operate correctly
'Downloads' button
- Opens the folder set in 'Paths' where videos or audio are downloaded to
'Help' button
- Opens this help file in the peekVCR message window
'About' button
- Displays peekVCR application information in the message window including version and build numbers
'Quit' button
- Closes peekVCR
'Keep peekVCR window on top of others' checkbox
- The peekVCR window always remains on top of any other windows that are open
'Visit peekVCR online' link
- Opens default browser and directs to the support website
Additional Files and Folders
peekVCR uses two external files.
yt-dlp.exe is used to verify and download video files. Without this file present, peekVCR will not operate. yt-dlp.exe should be included in the peekVCR download. If this file is missing or deleted by accident, download peekVCR again or download it directly from yt-dlp on GitHub:
https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases
ffmpeg.exe is used to extract audio only from video files. Without ffmpeg.exe, peekVCR will still work, but can only download video files. ffmpeg.exe should be included in the peekVCR download. If this file is missing or deleted by accident, download peekVCR again or download it directly from:
https://www.ffmpeg.org/download.html
peekVCR needs to know the locations of these files as well as the location of a folder to download files to. This can be set by clicking the 'Paths' button, which opens the file paths selection window.
In this window, choose paths for yt-dlp.exe, ffmpeg.exe and the downloads folder by clicking the [...] button for each box. Click the 'Save' button to update the configuration file with this information. See below.
peekVCR Messages
- Displays messages including status, file locations, errors, downloads and so on; also displays the 'Help' file and 'About' message
'Update' button
- Updates the current version of yt-dlp.exe
- If a video website changes how it functions, some downloads may not work; updating may solve this problem
'Paths' button
- Sets the locations of yt-dlp.exe, ffmpeg.exe and the downloads folder; without these peekVCR will not operate correctly
'Downloads' button
- Opens the folder set in 'Paths' where videos or audio are downloaded to
'Help' button
- Opens this help file in the peekVCR message window
'About' button
- Displays peekVCR application information in the message window including version and build numbers
'Quit' button
- Closes peekVCR
'Keep peekVCR window on top of others' checkbox
- The peekVCR window always remains on top of any other windows that are open
'Visit peekVCR online' link
- Opens default browser and directs to the support website
Additional Files and Folders
peekVCR uses two external files.
yt-dlp.exe is used to verify and download video files. Without this file present, peekVCR will not operate. yt-dlp.exe should be included in the peekVCR download. If this file is missing or deleted by accident, download peekVCR again or download it directly from yt-dlp on GitHub:
ffmpeg.exe is used to extract audio only from video files. Without ffmpeg.exe, peekVCR will still work, but can only download video files. ffmpeg.exe should be included in the peekVCR download. If this file is missing or deleted by accident, download peekVCR again or download it directly from:
peekVCR needs to know the locations of these files as well as the location of a folder to download files to. This can be set by clicking the 'Paths' button, which opens the file paths selection window.
In this window, choose paths for yt-dlp.exe, ffmpeg.exe and the downloads folder by clicking the [...] button for each box. Click the 'Save' button to update the configuration file with this information. See below.
Configuration File
peekVCR loads and saves a configuration file (peekvcr.cfg) which should be in the same folder as the main peekVCR program.
This file contains information about the locations of yt-dlp.exe, ffmpeg.exe and the chosen downloads folder.
If this file is missing or deleted, when starting peekVCR or when saving new file locations using the 'Paths' button, the configuration file will be recreated.
peekVCR loads and saves a configuration file (peekvcr.cfg) which should be in the same folder as the main peekVCR program.
This file contains information about the locations of yt-dlp.exe, ffmpeg.exe and the chosen downloads folder.
If this file is missing or deleted, when starting peekVCR or when saving new file locations using the 'Paths' button, the configuration file will be recreated.
