download specific time range

[Throughpond]

i have downloaded ffmpeg and ytdlp, how do i download only a few minutes of a hour long video? i can download normal videos perfectly

[database64128]

The GUI supports adding custom arguments to yt-dlp. You can read the documentation of yt-dlp and see if it has command-line options for your use case.

[database64128]

This feels like something you rarely need to do, and therefore probably does not deserve its own place in the GUI. Just specify --download-sections in your custom arguments. Feel free to upvote or comment if anyone thinks otherwise.

[iG8R]

@database64128
Am I doing something wrong?

2025-11-12T15:29:23.336+02:00 [I] [debug] Command-line config: ['-v', '--no-mtime', '--abort-on-unavailable-fragment', '--ffmpeg-location', 'C:\\Program Files\\ffmpeg\\bin\\ffmpeg.exe', '--cookies-from-browser', 'firefox', '-f', '399+251', '--merge-output-format', 'webm', '--no-playlist', '-o', '%(title)s.%(ext)s', '--download-sections "*08:20:10.0-"', 'https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xS3gotP0jrM']
2025-11-12T15:29:23.337+02:00 [I] 
2025-11-12T15:29:23.337+02:00 [I] Usage: yt-dlp.exe [OPTIONS] URL [URL...]
2025-11-12T15:29:23.337+02:00 [I] 
2025-11-12T15:29:23.337+02:00 [I] yt-dlp.exe: error: no such option: --download-sections "*08:20:10.0-"

[database64128]

@iG8R --download-sections and *08:20:10.0- are two separate command-line arguments. Double quotes are for your shell to interpret. Do not include them here.

[iG8R]

@database64128
Nothing's changed: 2025-11-12T15:57:25.762+02:00 [I] yt-dlp.exe: error: no such option: --download-sections *08:20:10.0-

[database64128]

@iG8R Add them separately:

1. Paste --download-sections
2. Click ➕ or press Enter
3. Paste *08:20:10.0-
4. Click ➕ or press Enter

[iG8R]

Oh... Is it possible to make this more intuitive or add a dedicated GUI control?
Moreover, the time required to load just an 11-minute video is somewhat concerning:
2025-11-12T16:22:48.398+02:00 [I] [download] 100% of 103.13MiB in 00:04:44 at 371.71KiB/s
Almost 5 minutes to download 11 minutes... Can it be made multithreaded?

Also, it is a bit problematic to scroll through the log while downloading:

youtube-dl-wpf-Log-scrolling-Video_2025-11-12_16-21-14.mp4

[database64128]

make this more intuitive

Well, the current design feels most intuitive to me, and is very straightforward to implement. It is very much not a goal of this project to abstract away the underlying command-line interface of yt-dlp. Perhaps you'll appreciate it more if you understand how argument passing works.

or add a dedicated GUI control?

This I can do. Taking off the wontfix label.

Moreover, the time required to load just an 11-minute video is somewhat concerning: 2025-11-12T16:22:48.398+02:00 [I] [download] 100% of 103.13MiB in 00:04:44 at 371.71KiB/s Almost 5 minutes to download 11 minutes... Can it be made multithreaded?

I think that can be achieved using an external downloader like aria2c. Read yt-dlp's documentation or ask questions there.

Also, it is a bit problematic to scroll through the log while downloading

Yeah, this does happen sometimes. Maybe I'll find a solution for it someday.

[iG8R]

Well, the current design feels most intuitive to me, and is very straightforward to implement. It is very much not a goal of this project to abstract away the underlying command-line interface of yt-dlp. Perhaps you'll appreciate it more if you understand how argument passing works.

Well, I always thought that adding a parameter along with its value is more intuitive than adding them separately.

This I can do. Taking off the wontfix label.

Thank you very much!

I think that can be achieved using an external downloader like aria2c. Read yt-dlp's documentation or ask questions there.

Idk about aria2c, but regarding yt-dlp I'm already there yt-dlp/yt-dlp#15036.

Yeah, this does happen sometimes. Maybe I'll find a solution for it someday.

Hope springs last :)