DASH videos stream <strong>video and audio tracks separately</strong> to achieve high quality. Merging them in the browser is not supported. TimeSave generates a ready-to-use <strong>ffmpeg command</strong> — a free, professional multimedia tool that cleanly merges video and audio without quality loss. Simply copy the command, paste it into your terminal, and download the video in seconds!
Using ffmpeg to Download DASH Videos
TimeSave generates a ready-to-run ffmpeg command for DASH streams. Here is how to install ffmpeg and use it.
What is ffmpeg?
ffmpeg is a free, open-source command-line tool that can decode, encode, transcode, mux, demux, stream, filter, and play almost any audio or video format. It is widely regarded as the most capable multimedia processing tool in existence and is used by professionals and hobbyists worldwide. TimeSave uses a WebAssembly version (ffmpeg.wasm) for in-browser HLS conversion, and generates native ffmpeg commands for DASH streams that you run in your terminal for maximum speed and compatibility.
Installing ffmpeg
The easiest way is via Winget (built into Windows 11):
Alternatively, download a pre-built binary from ffmpeg.org/download.html, extract it, and add the bin folder to your system PATH.
Requires Homebrew (brew.sh). Install Homebrew first if you do not have it.
Using the TimeSave-generated command
When TimeSave detects a DASH (.mpd) stream, the download page shows a Copy ffmpeg command button instead of an in-browser download. The generated command looks like this:
- Click the Copy ffmpeg command button in TimeSave.
- Open a terminal (Command Prompt or PowerShell on Windows, Terminal on Mac/Linux).
- Paste the command and press Enter. ffmpeg will download and mux the stream into output.mp4 in your current directory.
- To save to a specific location, change
output.mp4to a full path, e.g.,C:\Users\YourName\Videos\video.mp4.
Why ffmpeg for DASH instead of in-browser conversion?
DASH streams often separate the video and audio tracks into different streams and use fragmented MP4 containers. Merging these correctly inside a browser's sandboxed environment is complex and slow. Native ffmpeg on your computer handles this directly using optimised C code, making it significantly faster and more reliable for long or high-bitrate videos.