Getting Error while trying to download youtube video by using python

Question

Code

I'm working on a script that allows users to manually select and download separate video and audio streams from YouTube using yt-dlp. The script lists the available video and audio formats, lets the user choose their desired formats, and then merges them using FFmpeg.

Here’s the complete code:

import yt_dlp
import os
import subprocess

# Function to list and allow manual selection of video and audio formats
def download_and_merge_video_audio_with_selection(url, download_path):
    try:
        # Ensure the download path exists
        if not os.path.exists(download_path):
            os.makedirs(download_path)

        # Get available formats from yt-dlp
        ydl_opts = {'listformats': True}

        with yt_dlp.YoutubeDL(ydl_opts) as ydl:
            info_dict = ydl.extract_info(url, download=False)
            formats = info_dict.get('formats', [])

        # List available video formats (video only)
        print("\nAvailable video formats:")
        video_formats = [f for f in formats if f.get('vcodec') != 'none' and f.get('acodec') == 'none']
        for idx, f in enumerate(video_formats):
            resolution = f.get('height', 'unknown')
            filesize = f.get('filesize', 'unknown')
            print(f"{idx}: Format code: {f['format_id']}, Resolution: {resolution}p, Size: {filesize} bytes")

        # Let user select the desired video format
        video_idx = int(input("\nEnter the number corresponding to the video format you want to download: "))
        video_format_code = video_formats[video_idx]['format_id']

        # List available audio formats (audio only)
        print("\nAvailable audio formats:")
        audio_formats = [f for f in formats if f.get('acodec') != 'none' and f.get('vcodec') == 'none']
        for idx, f in enumerate(audio_formats):
            abr = f.get('abr', 'unknown')  # Audio bitrate
            filesize = f.get('filesize', 'unknown')
            print(f"{idx}: Format code: {f['format_id']}, Audio Bitrate: {abr} kbps, Size: {filesize} bytes")

        # Let user select the desired audio format
        audio_idx = int(input("\nEnter the number corresponding to the audio format you want to download: "))
        audio_format_code = audio_formats[audio_idx]['format_id']

        # Video download options (based on user choice)
        video_opts = {
            'format': video_format_code,  # Download user-selected video format
            'outtmpl': os.path.join(download_path, 'video.%(ext)s'),  # Save video as video.mp4
        }

        # Audio download options (based on user choice)
        audio_opts = {
            'format': audio_format_code,  # Download user-selected audio format
            'outtmpl': os.path.join(download_path, 'audio.%(ext)s'),  # Save audio as audio.m4a
        }

        # Download the selected video format
        print("\nDownloading selected video format...")
        with yt_dlp.YoutubeDL(video_opts) as ydl_video:
            ydl_video.download([url])

        # Download the selected audio format
        print("\nDownloading selected audio format...")
        with yt_dlp.YoutubeDL(audio_opts) as ydl_audio:
            ydl_audio.download([url])

        # Paths to the downloaded video and audio files
        video_file = os.path.join(download_path, 'video.webm')  # Assuming best video will be .mp4
        audio_file = os.path.join(download_path, 'audio.m4a')  # Assuming best audio will be .m4a
        output_file = os.path.join(download_path, 'final_output.mp4')  # Final merged file

        # FFmpeg command to merge audio and video
        ffmpeg_cmd = [
            'ffmpeg', '-i', video_file, '-i', audio_file, '-c', 'copy', output_file
        ]

        # Run FFmpeg to merge audio and video
        print("\nMerging video and audio...")
        subprocess.run(ffmpeg_cmd, check=True)

        print(f"\nDownload and merging complete! Output file: {output_file}")

    except Exception as e:
        print(f"An error occurred: {e}")

# Example usage
video_url = "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOwk8FhfEZY"  # Replace with your desired video URL
download_path = 'C:/Users/vinod/Downloads/VideoDownload'  # Replace with your desired download path
download_and_merge_video_audio_with_selection(video_url, download_path)

Explanation:

The script first lists all available video formats (video-only) and audio formats (audio-only) from a given YouTube URL.

It allows the user to manually select their preferred video and audio formats.

After downloading the selected formats, it merges the video and audio streams into a single file using FFmpeg.

Error

while trying to run above mentioned code , I am getting this error :

Merging video and audio...
An error occurred: [WinError 2] The system cannot find the file specified

Requirements:

yt-dlp: pip install yt-dlp

FFmpeg: Make sure you have FFmpeg installed and added to your system's PATH.

Answer 1

That error means your system can't find FFmpeg. Just install it and added it to your system's PATH.