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Introduction of Pafy Module

In this tutorial, we will learn about the Pafy module. Pafy is a Python module used to download YouTube content and retrieve metadata. We will see how we perform the various operations using the Pafy module. It provides an easy way to access YouTube content and metadata from within a Python program, such as video and audio streams, captions, and video information. It uses the YouTube Data API to retrieve this information.

Feature of Pafy Module

It provides simple interface and powerful features make it a useful tool for developers who want to automate tasks related to YouTube content, such as downloading videos or analyzing metadata.

Below are a few features of the pafy module.

Retrieve video information: The pafy can be used to retrieve metadata about a YouTube video, including its title, author, duration, and available streams.

Access video streams: It allows you to access the available streams for a YouTube video, including the video and audio streams of different resolutions and formats.

Download videos: It provides a simple interface for downloading videos from YouTube. You can choose the video resolution and format before downloading.

Extract audio tracks: It allows you to extract the audio track from a YouTube video and save it as an MP3 file.

Handle exceptions: It provides an exception handling for errors that can occur during the retrieval or download of YouTube content. This makes it easier to write robust code that can handle errors gracefully.

Search for videos: It can be used to search for YouTube videos based on keywords or other criteria. It returns a list of videos that match the search criteria, along with their metadata and available streams.

Work with playlists: It can be used to retrieve information about a YouTube playlist, including its title, author, and videos. It can also download all the videos in a playlist or extract their audio tracks.

Installation of Pafy Module

We can install it using the pip command. Open the terminal and type the following command.

While pafy is not strictly dependent on youtube-dl, it can use youtube-dl as a fallback if the YouTube Data API is unavailable or fails to provide a necessary piece of information. Therefore, installing youtube-dl alongside pafy can provide a more stable and robust experience. Here's the command to install youtube-dl:

With both pafy and youtube-dl installed, pafy will automatically use youtube-dl as a fallback if it encounters any issues with the YouTube Data API. This can help ensure that your Python code can continue to work even if the YouTube API is experiencing issues.

Create Pafy Object

Pafy object contains all the information related to given video. It fetches the information of available video on YouTube. Let's understand the following example.

Example -

Output:

Title: Competitive questions on Structures
Author: javatpoint
ID: vG2PNhjsu9
Duration: 00:04:57
Rating: 4.6821
Views: 14789
Thumbnail: http://i.ytimg.com/vi/vG2PNdI8axo/default.jpg

Getting the Category of the Video

In this section, we will see how we can get the category of the given youtube video in pafy. The category of a YouTube video refers to its content classification, and the most commonly watched content categories on YouTube include comedy, music, entertainment/pop culture, and "how to" videos. To retrieve information about a YouTube video using the pafy module in Python, you can use the new() method to create a pafy object for the video. Below is an example to get the category of a given video:

Example -

Output:

Video Category: Education

Getting a Description of the Video

The description of a YouTube video refers to the text that appears below the video, and it serves as an important way for viewers to find and evaluate the content of the video. The description provides context for the video and helps viewers determine whether it is relevant and worth watching.

Let's understand the following example.

Example -

Output:

C output based questions on Structures in Hindi

Getting Dislikes of the Video

Every YouTube video has a "like" and "dislike" count meter to allow viewers to express their opinions about the video. However, the owner of the video has the option to disable this function at any time.

To obtain information about a specific YouTube video using Python and the pafy module, we can use the new() method to create a pafy object for the video. You'll need to provide the URL of the YouTube video as a parameter to the new() method. Once we have a pafy object for the video, we can access its properties, such as the number of likes and dislikes. However, if the owner of the video has disabled the like/dislike function, these properties may not be available.

Example -

Output:

35

Getting Views Count of the Video

The view count of a YouTube video indicates the number of times the video has been watched. It provides an estimate of the size of the audience for the video, and is often used as a measure of the video's popularity or impact.

Let's understand the following example.

Example -

Output:

14567

Conclusion

This tutorial included an introduction to the pafy module and how we can fetch video data using the pafy's functions.







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