Tartube Tips & Tricks: Save Playlists, Channels, and Subtitles

Tartube Tips & Tricks: Save Playlists, Channels, and SubtitlesTartube is a lightweight, user-friendly front end for yt-dlp and youtube-dl that simplifies downloading videos, playlists, and entire channels while preserving metadata and subtitles. This guide covers practical tips and advanced tricks to help you extract content efficiently, keep your downloads organized, and avoid common pitfalls.

What Tartube does well (quick overview)

• Bulk downloads: download single videos, whole playlists, or entire channels.
• Subtitles and captions: fetches available subtitle tracks and can convert them to SRT.
• Metadata and filenames: supports customizable output templates to keep files organized.
• Integration with yt-dlp: leverages yt-dlp’s extractor and post-processing options while offering a graphical interface.
• Resume and skip logic: can resume interrupted downloads and skip already-downloaded items.

Getting started: basic setup

1. Install Tartube from the official repository or package for your OS, and ensure yt-dlp (or youtube-dl) and FFmpeg are installed and accessible in PATH. FFmpeg is required for format conversions and merging audio/video.
2. Launch Tartube and set the download directory in Preferences → Storage.
3. Choose your preferred downloader backend (yt-dlp recommended) and set FFmpeg path if needed.
4. Configure basic output template, e.g.:
   • Example template: {uploader}/{playlist_title}/{upload_date} – {title} [{id}].%(ext)s This structure helps keep channels and playlists separated and files uniquely named.

Saving playlists and channels: efficient strategies

• Use the Add Feed or Add URL button and paste the playlist or channel URL. Tartube will parse items and add them to the queue.
• For channels, consider subscribing via Tartube’s feed feature (if available) to auto-detect new uploads and queue them automatically.
• To mirror a playlist or channel and keep it up-to-date:
  • Schedule recurring checks (if your OS or Tartube supports scheduled runs) that open Tartube or run the backend yt-dlp command to fetch new items.
  • Use the “Skip existing” option so Tartube won’t re-download files already present.
• When downloading large playlists or channels, do it in batches (e.g., 50–100 items) to reduce risk of network/timeouts and to preserve CPU/disk resources.

Filenames and metadata: staying organized

• Customize output template to include uploader, playlist, date, and id so that files are uniquely and clearly named.
  • Example: {uploader}/{playlist_title}/{playlist_index:03d} – {title} [{upload_date}].%(ext)s
• Save metadata: enable “Write metadata” or use yt-dlp’s –write-info-json and –write-metadata flags to keep JSON files alongside videos for future reference.
• Embed thumbnails: use –embed-thumbnail and enable FFmpeg so thumbnail images are stored in media containers where supported.
• For audio-only libraries, set an audio format (mp3, m4a, flac) and use a template like {uploader}/{album}/{title}.%(ext)s.

Subtitles and captions: capture and convert

• Enable subtitle download in Preferences or via command flags:
  • yt-dlp flags often used: –write-subs –write-auto-sub –sub-lang en,es –convert-subs srt
• Prioritize manual subtitles over auto-generated if you want higher accuracy:
  • Use –subs-lang or select languages in Tartube.
• Convert to SRT: set subtitle conversion to SRT (yt-dlp’s –convert-subs srt) so they’re widely compatible with media players.
• Embed subtitles into video files (hardcode) if your player doesn’t support external .srt files:
  • This requires FFmpeg and uses re-encoding; use only when necessary because it reduces flexibility and can affect quality.
• Keep subtitle files next to video files with matching names so players auto-load them.

Quality selection and format handling

• Prefer the best muxed format (video+audio) when you want a single file; otherwise download bestvideo + bestaudio and merge via FFmpeg for higher quality.
• Use format selection strings to set limits or preferences, e.g.:
  • bestvideo[height<=1080]+bestaudio/best[height<=1080]
• Beware of DASH streams and fragmented formats—FFmpeg merge is essential for these.
• Set maximum file size or bitrate thresholds if you have limited disk space.

Rate limits, proxying, and region-restricted content

• If you hit rate limits, use smaller concurrency, add delays between downloads, or enable retries.
• Use proxies or VPNs when dealing with region-restricted content. Configure your system or yt-dlp’s –proxy option but respect site terms of service and local laws.
• Use cookies to access private or age-restricted content: export cookies from your browser and supply them to Tartube/yt-dlp with –cookies /path/to/cookies.txt.

Automation and scripting

• Tartube can handle many tasks via its GUI, but you can also use yt-dlp scripts for automation:
  • Example cron job (Linux) to update a channel every night:

    
    yt-dlp -o '/path/to/downloads/{uploader}/{upload_date} - {title}.%(ext)s' --download-archive /path/to/archive.txt -f best --write-subs --convert-subs srt https://www.youtube.com/channel/CHANNEL_ID 

  • Use –download-archive to avoid redownloading previously saved items.
• Combine with rsync or cloud sync utilities to back up your library after downloads.

Troubleshooting common errors

• “FFmpeg not found” — ensure FFmpeg is installed and PATH includes its binary.
• “Video unavailable” — check region restrictions, removals, or private status; try cookies or a different network.
• Partial or corrupted files — enable resume support and increase retry count; download in smaller batches.
• Subtitles not downloading — confirm language code, and try –write-auto-sub if no manual subs exist.

Privacy, legality, and best practices

• Only download content you have rights to or content that the uploader permits to download. Respect copyright and platform terms of service.
• Use cookies and account credentials carefully; avoid storing sensitive credentials in plain text or shared machines.
• Keep downloads organized and maintain an archive file (download-archive) to prevent accidental redownloads.

Example preset configurations

• Quick single-video:
  • Format: best
  • Subtitles: none
  • Output: {uploader}/{title} [{id}].%(ext)s
• Playlist archiver:
  • Format: bestvideo+bestaudio merged
  • Subtitles: write subs & convert to srt (en, original)
  • Output: {uploader}/{playlist_title}/{playlist_index:03d} – {title} [{upload_date}].%(ext)s
  • Use –download-archive to track downloaded items

Final tips

• Test your settings on a small playlist first before committing large downloads.
• Keep yt-dlp updated — extractors are frequently updated to handle site changes.
• Use descriptive templates and metadata exports to future-proof your archive.

If you want, I can: provide ready-to-run yt-dlp commands matching your exact OS, craft Tartube GUI presets, or write a cron/Task Scheduler script to automate channel updates.