Latest news with #MP4
Time Business News
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Time Business News
Best Free YTMP4 YouTube to MP4 Converters You Can Try
Watching videos on YouTube is great when you have a stable internet connection. But what if you want to watch your favorite content offline—without interruptions or data usage? That's where YouTube to MP4 converters come in. These tools allow you to save YouTube videos as MP4 files, a widely supported video format that can be played on most devices. One popular option among these tools is YTMP4. In this article, we'll explore YTMP4 and other free YouTube to MP4 converters that are safe, easy to use, and effective. YTMP4 is a free online tool that helps users download YouTube videos in MP4 format. It's simple to use—just copy the URL of the YouTube video, paste it into the YTMP4 converter, choose the video quality, and download the file. The biggest advantage of YTMP4 is its speed and user-friendly interface. There's no need to install any software, and it works directly from your web browser. YouTube doesn't allow direct downloads of most videos. That means if you're going somewhere with no internet access or want to save data, you might find it difficult to enjoy your favorite videos. YouTube to MP4 converters solve this problem by allowing you to download and save videos for offline viewing. MP4 is a universal video format, compatible with Windows, Mac, Android, iOS, and most media players. Let's take a closer look at some of the best free converters, including YTMP4 and other top choices: As mentioned earlier, YTMP4 is a top pick for users looking for a fast and easy YouTube MP4 conversion. It's a Free and fast YouTube to MP4 converter. Here's why people love it: No sign-up needed Supports multiple video resolutions (360p, 720p, 1080p) Quick downloads and smooth interface Works on desktop and mobile browsers One thing to note is that, like many free tools, YTMP4 is ad-supported. Just be cautious of clicking any misleading ads or pop-ups. Y2Mate is another highly trusted name in the YouTube to MP4 converter world. It offers both MP4 and MP3 conversions and is known for being reliable. Free and no registration required Offers HD video downloads Fast conversion speed Compatible with various browsers Y2Mate also lets you choose from different file sizes and video quality levels depending on your storage capacity or internet speed. SaveFrom is one of the oldest and most well-known YouTube MP4 converters. While it has recently limited some features, it still allows basic MP4 downloads. Simple drag-and-drop interface Supports several platforms (YouTube, Vimeo, Facebook, etc.) Has a browser extension for even faster access This tool is ideal for people who frequently download from multiple video platforms. ClipConverter is more than just a YouTube to MP4 converter—it allows conversion to several other formats like AVI, MOV, and MKV as well. Wide format support High-quality video options available Advanced settings for tech-savvy users Supports long videos (over an hour) If you need more control over the quality and format of your videos, ClipConverter is a great choice. OnlineVideoConverter is another easy-to-use platform that helps users convert YouTube to MP4 quickly. It has a modern interface and supports many file types. No installation needed Works on any device Supports HD video quality Ad-free experience (mostly) It's also known for being one of the more secure platforms, with fewer ads compared to others. While these tools are free and useful, there are a few important things to remember: Respect Copyright Laws: Always ensure you're downloading videos for personal use and not violating copyright terms. Always ensure you're downloading videos for personal use and not violating copyright terms. Avoid Clicking Ads: Some sites may show pop-up ads. Avoid clicking anything that looks suspicious. Some sites may show pop-up ads. Avoid clicking anything that looks suspicious. No Need for Software: Most YouTube to MP4 converters work in your browser—no need to download extra software. Downloading YouTube videos in MP4 format is easier than ever thanks to tools like YTMP4 and others. Whether you're trying to save educational content, music videos, or tutorials for offline use, these converters can help. Just pick a reliable tool, follow safe browsing practices, and enjoy your videos anytime, anywhere. With so many free options available, including YTMP4, finding the right YouTube to MP4 converter is all about personal preference. Try a few, see which one you like best, and start building your offline video library today. TIME BUSINESS NEWS
Malaysian Reserve
14-07-2025
- Business
- Malaysian Reserve
Google's Gemini AI app can now turn photos into short video clips
ALPHABET Inc.'s Google is adding the ability for paid users of its Gemini artificial intelligence assistant to turn their photos into short video clips, expanding access to a tool the tech giant launched earlier this year to a more limited audience. People who subscribe to Google AI Ultra and Pro plans in select regions will be able to use the feature through the web version of Gemini starting Thursday, the company said in a statement. The tool will be rolled out on the Gemini mobile app throughout the week. The new feature lets users create 8-second clips with sound based on a photo, as well as any text description of the scene they include in the prompt field. The videos will be created as an MP4 file at 720p resolution in a 16:9 landscape format, the company said. The update makes the powerful feature accessible via Gemini's chat interface, helping Google keep pace with US rivals like OpenAI and Runway AI Inc., a startup specializing in AI-generated video. It faces fierce global competition in this space, too: China's Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., AI startup Manus and Kuaishou Technology have all released new or updated video tools over the past few months. Google's photo-to-video feature is powered by Veo 3, the company's latest video generation model announced in May at its annual developer conference. Veo 3 has been available to users through a standalone paid filmmaking tool called Flow. Google says it has taken 'significant steps behind the scenes to make sure video generation is an appropriate experience.' For example, it doesn't allow video creation with images of publicly identifiable figures, such as celebrities, presidents or even some well-known CEOs. Its policy also prohibits outputs that encourage dangerous activities or incite violence or bullying against individuals or groups. But it has its drawbacks. When Bloomberg News tested the feature on the web version of Gemini, uploading personal photos and asking the tool to generate a video of a person talking, the output changed the facial features, and sometimes even the race, of the subject in multiple instances. While it was able to successfully respond to prompts to create videos of plants moving in the wind or a talking cat based on still images, it wasn't able to follow more complicated prompts, such as making a person in a photo breakdance. It instead created a video of the person waving to the camera. There is no instruction in the AI model to change a person's appearance, a Google spokesman said in response to Bloomberg's test results. The photo-to-video generation and face animation features are still a new technology and may build upon a single image in ways that aren't representative of the original image, he added. The model is better at bringing other scenes to life, such as animating everyday objects, drawings and paintings, and adding movement to nature photos, he said. The company will continue improving the model, including face animation, in future updates. –BLOOMBERG
Otago Daily Times
27-06-2025
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
‘Kremlin' councils need to go: Jones
Resource Minister Shane Jones has called the Otago Regional Council "the Kremlin of the South Island" after an application to expand the Macraes gold mine ran into trouble. Mr Jones, who is also the regional development minister, said the council was full of "KGB green zealots" and the episode showed why regional councils needed to be scrapped. The Otago council's assessment of environmental effects — which recommended Oceana-Gold's application to expand its mine be declined in full — was "ideological scribbling". Any other investor or miner in New Zealand would now quickly conclude they had to join the fast-track application process, "which will enable these economic saboteurs to be marginalised", he said. Council chairwoman Cr Gretchen Robertson said "name-calling" was unhelpful and the council's views were evidence-based, not ideological. OceanaGold has been granted more time to prepare for a hearing for its proposed expansion at Macraes after the regional council said its application should be declined and the Waitaki district and Dunedin city councils also raised concerns. The regional council's view of the company's Macraes Phase 4 (MP4) Project was troubling, Mr Jones said. "It confirms the worst of my prejudices, that the regional council in the South Island, that the Otago Regional Council is the Kremlin of the South Island," he said. "These are the reasons why people should be backing me to disestablish regional councils in New Zealand. "Their role is as catchment boards and looking at the discharge and the allocation of water, water take. "I am astounded at a time where the economy is still recovering from the Covid experience, a record number of New Zealanders are moving to Australia, and we have these Politburo apparatchiks destroying hundreds of jobs, undermining scores of millions of dollars in the local economy. The ''nationally vulnerable'' moth Orocrambus sophistes, which lives in short tussock grasslands, was found at Golden Bar, one of three open pits about 55km north of Dunedin that OceanaGold has applied to expand. The regional council's recommending report highlighted the moth alongside the proposed expansion's actual and potential effects on surface water quality, aquatic ecology, natural inland and ephemeral wetlands, and lizard habitat. The effects would be ''significantly adverse'' and could not be avoided, minimised, remedied, offset or compensated for. It would also have significant adverse cumulative effects on cultural values, ''and it is not yet known if these can be managed by conditions'', the report said. Cr Robertson said the report was prepared by qualified professionals under the Resource Management Act. ''It is a technical, evidence-based assessment — not a political statement. ''Our staff are simply doing their jobs within the only under-and we have these Politburo apparatchiks destroying hundreds of jobs, undermining scores of millions of dollars in the local economy. ''For a dead moth. It's an ideological attempt to defeat mining. It truly is unbelievable. This is a part of New Zealand where no-one goes." ''There are some easy mitigative steps that can be taken, but the Kremlin and its KGB green zealots completely and utterly show me why regional councils need to be disestablished.'' law as it stands. ''Name-calling mines confidence in both central and local government.'' Regional councils across New Zealand welcomed ''meaningful dialogue'' on how to best deliver the services they were intended to — flood protection, biosecurity, civil defence, environmental management and public transport, she said. ''Here in Otago, we remain focused on our responsibility to protect the environment while supporting sustainable economic development. ''That balance is not ideological — it reflects the law, and we believe it reflects the values of our region: caring for both our environment and our livelihoods.'' A minute issued by independent commissioner Rob van Voorthuysen this week said the hearing for OceanaGold's proposed expansion had been postponed from next month to December at the mining company's request. The company's lawyers advised more time was required to consider the recommendations from the councils, he said. OceanaGold senior vice-president Alison Paul said adjourning the MP4 hearing, originally scheduled for next month, would give the company more time to prepare its evidence, including addressing all three councils' reports and recommendations.
Otago Daily Times
26-06-2025
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
‘Kremlin' councils need to go
Shaun Jones. PHOTO: ODT FILES Resource Minister Shane Jones has called the Otago Regional Council "the Kremlin of the South Island" after an application to expand the Macraes gold mine ran into trouble. Mr Jones, who is also the regional development minister, said the council was full of "KGB green zealots" and the episode showed why regional councils needed to be scrapped. The Otago council's assessment of environmental effects — which recommended Oceana-Gold's application to expand its mine be declined in full — was "ideological scribbling". Any other investor or miner in New Zealand would now quickly conclude they had to join the fast-track application process, "which will enable these economic saboteurs to be marginalised", he said. Council chairwoman Cr Gretchen Robertson said "name-calling" was unhelpful and the council's views were evidence-based, not ideological. OceanaGold has been granted more time to prepare for a hearing for its proposed expansion at Macraes after the regional council said its application should be declined and the Waitaki district and Dunedin city councils also raised concerns. The regional council's view of the company's Macraes Phase 4 (MP4) Project was troubling, Mr Jones said. "It confirms the worst of my prejudices, that the regional council in the South Island, that the Otago Regional Council is the Kremlin of the South Island," he said. "These are the reasons why people should be backing me to disestablish regional councils in New Zealand. "Their role is as catchment boards and looking at the discharge and the allocation of water, water take. "I am astounded at a time where the economy is still recovering from the Covid experience, a record number of New Zealanders are moving to Australia, and we have these Politburo apparatchiks destroying hundreds of jobs, undermining scores of millions of dollars in the local economy. "For a dead moth. "It's an ideological attempt to defeat mining. "It truly is unbelievable. "This is a part of New Zealand where no-one goes. "There are some easy mitigative steps that can be taken, but the Kremlin and its KGB green zealots completely and utterly show me why regional councils need to be disestablished." The "nationally vulnerable" moth Orocrambus sophistes, which lives in short tussock grasslands, was found at Golden Bar, one of three open pits about 55km north of Dunedin that OceanaGold has applied to expand. The regional council's recommending report highlighted the moth alongside the proposed expansion's actual and potential effects on surface water quality, aquatic ecology, natural inland and ephemeral wetlands, and lizard habitat. The effects would be "significantly adverse" and could not be avoided, minimised, remedied, offset or compensated for. It would also have significant adverse cumulative effects on cultural values, "and it is not yet known if these can be managed by conditions", the report said. Cr Robertson said the report was prepared by qualified professionals under the Resource Management Act. "It is a technical, evidence-based assessment — not a political statement. "Our staff are simply doing their jobs within the law as it stands. "Name-calling only undermines confidence in both central and local government." Regional councils across New Zealand welcomed "meaningful dialogue" on how to best deliver the services they were intended to — flood protection, biosecurity, civil defence, environmental management and public transport, she said. "Here in Otago, we remain focused on our responsibility to protect the environment while supporting sustainable economic development. "That balance is not ideological — it reflects the law, and we believe it reflects the values of our region: caring for both our environment and our livelihoods." A minute issued by independent commissioner Rob van Voorthuysen this week said the hearing for OceanaGold's proposed expansion had been postponed from next month to December at the mining company's request. The company's lawyers advised more time was required to consider the recommendations from the councils, he said. OceanaGold senior vice-president Alison Paul said adjourning the MP4 hearing, originally scheduled for next month, would give the company more time to prepare its evidence, including addressing all three councils' reports and recommendations.
Otago Daily Times
10-06-2025
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
ORC opposes mine expansion
The planned expansion to an East Otago gold mine should be "declined in full", the Otago Regional Council says. After visiting OceanaGold's Macraes gold mine, north of Dunedin, 10 times, Otago Regional Council (ORC) senior consents planner Shay McDonald recommended the consent application for its proposed expansion be rejected. The expansion — referred to as the Macraes Phase 4 (MP4) Project — would result in actual and potential effects on surface water quality, aquatic ecology, natural inland and ephemeral wetlands, lizard habitat, and a threatened invertebrate species of moth, Ms McDonald said. These effects would be "significantly adverse" and could not be avoided, minimised, remedied, offset or compensated for. "The proposal will also have significant adverse cumulative effects on cultural values, and it is not yet known if these can be managed by conditions." Section 42A reports on the application were published this week by the ORC, Dunedin City Council (DCC) and Waitaki District Council (WDC). While Ms McDonald recommended the application be "declined in full", the DCC said it could only be granted with conditions that could not yet be finalised. The WDC recommended only two elements of the application could be granted. OceanaGold legal and public affairs senior vice-president Alison Paul said the company was aware of the three councils' recommendations. "OceanaGold remains committed to engaging constructively with all stakeholders both in the leadup to and during the hearing before the independent commissioners to provide further confidence in our plans, particularly when it comes to the management of water and biodiversity." Macraes supported over 700 direct jobs as well as hundreds of contractors and was a leading contributor to the economy, Ms Paul said. "We are committed to our staff, our communities, and the environment in which we operate." The application involved a total of 34 new resource consents and variations to another 20. In her 84-page recommending report, Ms McDonald said the staged implementation of the Macraes mine had to date impacted over 2000ha of land, an unknown portion of which previously supported indigenous vegetation and habitat for lizards, birds and invertebrates. Much of MP4 was located within Threatened Land Environments of New Zealand, which were areas with less than 20% indigenous cover remaining. "I consider that the cumulative terrestrial ecology effects do not appear to be well understood or accounted for in the current proposal," Ms McDonald said. Activities in four main project areas of MP4, including extensions to the mine's Coronation and Golden Bar open pits, "must be avoided" due to the effects on rock tors (lizard habitat) and ephemeral wetlands, she said. A technical expert who audited OceanaGold's application said the company's proposal to create new lizard habitats to compensate for the loss of 12 rock tors as a result of the expansion was considered "experimental and unsupported by any evidence". Natural rock tors provided important habitats for lizards, particularly the at-risk korero gecko, and the effectiveness of creating rock tors remained unknown. The loss of the rock tors was "likely to be irreversible" and could not be compensated for, Ms McDonald said. A waste rock stack extension at Golden Bar would also affect the lizard habitats as well as the threatened species of Orocrambus sophistes moth. "Only a single specimen" of the species had been found at the proposed site to date, as part of a single survey conducted in 2022, she said. In order for an area of tussock grassland to be cleared, the company had to be able to minimise or remedy the effect on the moth and its habitat such that any residual adverse effects were no more than minor, Ms McDonald said. For this to be achievable, more surveys needed to be undertaken "until there is sufficient data for a qualified person to say with the required degree of certainty that the moth is or isn't there". The proposed extension to the mine's Innes Mills site would affect natural inland wetlands. Attached to the report were seven recommended consent conditions, but Ms McDonald said she did not consider them as being able to "adequately manage" all of the effects of the proposal. In his report, DCC consents planner Phil Petersen recommended the application be granted but only subject to appropriate conditions which could not be finalised for recommendation until further evidence was available. In her report, WDC resource management consultant Marian Weaver recommended only two elements of the proposed application could be granted — the creation of a tailings dam in Frasers Pit, from material only to come from existing waste rock, and the buttressing of the Golden Point open pit using material from the Northern Gully waste rock stack.
