How to Install B-ROLL and Download Your First Video

Installer or portable: which B-ROLL download should you pick?#

Pick the installer, BROLL-Setup.exe, for a normal setup. The portable BROLL-portable.exe skips installation, but it still keeps its tools and settings on the PC, so it is not a self-contained USB-stick app.

The table compares the two B-ROLL downloads on the points that matter for a first install.

An all-users B-ROLL install lands in C:\Program Files (x86)\BROLL\. An “only for me” install goes to your per-user Programs folder, %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\BROLL, by the Inno Setup constants rule for per-user installs; that path has not been checked on a real install.

B-ROLL itself is a 64-bit app for Windows 10 and 11; macOS and Linux versions are planned. The release history starts with the first public release of B-ROLL, July 2026. B-ROLL is not code-signed, so Windows may warn you before the first run; Is B-ROLL safe? SmartScreen, signing and checksums shows how to check the file and continue.

What happens the first time B-ROLL opens?#

On first launch B-ROLL downloads yt-dlp, ffmpeg and Deno into %LOCALAPPDATA%\Broll in the background, then you can paste links. B-ROLL needs an internet connection for that setup. The main window opens right away, the sidebar’s Advanced panel shows the TOOLS status, and the log ends with All components ready.

The table lists each first-launch step, what B-ROLL fetches and where it goes. Sizes were measured on Ema Zamboni’s Windows 11 PC in September 2026 and change a little as the tools update.

The whole folder measured 473.7 MB on the same PC. The yt-dlp README calls ffmpeg required for merging separate video and audio files. As of September 2026, the yt-dlp EJS wiki page says yt-dlp needs an external JavaScript runtime to solve YouTube’s JavaScript challenges, with Deno enabled by default.

The helper runs as a local service on your own PC at 127.0.0.1 port 4416. B-ROLL updates yt-dlp to the latest nightly at every launch, and Force update yt-dlp does it on demand. ffmpeg and Deno stay as installed until you press Reinstall tools.

One exception changes the table. If an ffmpeg is already on the Windows PATH at first launch, B-ROLL uses it and skips both its own ffmpeg and the Deno download. The TOOLS panel then reads JS runtime: missing, and Reinstall tools fetches what was skipped.

How do you download your first YouTube video in B-ROLL?#

Paste a YouTube link into the box at the top of the B-ROLL window and press Enter. B-ROLL queues it with the Type, Quality and Format currently set, and a card appears in the list.

The paste box reads “Paste a link, playlist or channel, or search”. Ctrl + V pastes, Shift + Enter adds a line for more links, and duplicate links are dropped. With an empty box, the Paste & Download button reads the clipboard directly.

B-ROLL recognizes youtube.com/watch, youtu.be/, youtube.com/shorts/, youtube.com/playlist and channel pages such as youtube.com/@name. It rejects m.youtube.com, music.youtube.com, /live/ and /embed/ links, and links typed without https://. When a video link belongs to a playlist, a dialog asks Just this video or Whole playlist, unless Download playlists in Advanced options is set to Yes or No.

Each download card shows its state, a progress bar, the live speed and a “Real bitrate” line with the resolution. B-ROLL downloads one file at a time. When you need only a section of a video, the YouTube clip downloader with preview and in and out points covers ranges, parts and cut modes.

Where does B-ROLL save the file?#

B-ROLL saves to your Windows Downloads folder, %USERPROFILE%\Downloads, until you choose another folder in the SAVE TO row. Change picks a folder, the ▾ menu offers the real Downloads folder (OneDrive included) and up to 6 recent folders, and Open folder opens the current one in Explorer.

A full video is saved under its YouTube title, for example Title.mp4, and a clip as Title [mm-ss to mm-ss].mp4. Each file gets the download date as its modified date, not the upload date.

B-ROLL’s credits files are on by default. After each finished download, B-ROLL writes Title.credits.txt next to the file and appends the same block to a running credits.txt in that folder, with title, creator, channel, source URL, upload date and license. The lookup is best effort: when it fails, no credits file is written. The License line repeats what yt-dlp reports and falls back to “Standard YouTube License”, so check the license on the video page too. The format and options are in automatic credit files for every YouTube download.

Audio can go elsewhere: Save audio to a different folder adds a second SAVE TO row just for Audio downloads.

What do the Video, Audio, Quality and Format menus do?#

The Video and Audio switch sets the download type, Quality caps the resolution or audio bitrate, and Format picks the container or edit-ready codec. B-ROLL remembers Quality and Format separately for each mode, and the Subtitles menu beside Format adds SRT, ASS, VTT or embedded subtitles.

The table lists every option in the two B-ROLL modes, defaults first.

MP4, MKV and WEBM are containers. With yt-dlp’s default ranking, the video inside is often AV1 or VP9 with Opus audio, which some editors play slowly. On Ema Zamboni’s own DaVinci Resolve timeline, 4K60 AV1 footage from YouTube was heavy to play back, and AV1 or VP9 downloads crashed Resolve at times. That problem is why B-ROLL converts to ProRes and DNxHR.

ProRes and DNx carry a “slow” hint in the Format menu. B-ROLL downloads an MKV master, then ffmpeg converts it to a .mov of the same name with the source resolution and frame rate, picking the lightest tier that preserves the source. The conversion uses every CPU core and makes large files; the next download starts while it runs. Tiers and file sizes are in download YouTube videos in ProRes or DNxHR.

What should you set up next in B-ROLL?#

Open Advanced options (the ⋯ button next to Subtitles) and Settings (the ⚙ button) after your first download: together they decide clips, playlists, channels and sign-in.

• Part of a video (Advanced options): Only a part: ask me which each time opens the preview and trim player for a single link, which needs VLC media player.
• Exact frame cut (slower, re-encodes) (Advanced options): off by default, so clips cut on keyframes.
• Download channels (Advanced options): off by default; set it to Ask or Yes before pasting a channel link.
• Save credits (attribution) for each download (Advanced options): on by default.
• Open files with (Settings): the media player that Open file uses.
• Cookies file (Settings): needed only when YouTube asks you to sign in.

Every option, default and saved key is in B-ROLL settings and advanced options explained. For the jobs that follow, from clips for DaVinci Resolve to a tidy footage library, start from Guides: YouTube Footage from Download to Timeline.

What if B-ROLL’s first download does not work?#

A failed first B-ROLL download usually has one of four causes.

• Windows protected your PC: click More info, then Run anyway, after checking the file.
• Tools missing: the TOOLS panel shows ffmpeg: missing or JS runtime: missing, or a card says “yt-dlp not found”. Press Reinstall tools. A card frozen at the start or the end is covered in YouTube download stuck at 0% or 99%.
• Sign-in required: as of September 2026, YouTube sometimes answers “Sign in to confirm you’re not a bot”. With no cookies.txt set, B-ROLL tries your browser logins, then opens the Sign-in needed wizard. The fix that worked for Ema Zamboni: export a fresh cookies.txt from a browser signed in to your own YouTube account and load it under Cookies file in Settings. Cookies expire, so export again when the message returns.
• Not a valid YouTube link: paste the regular watch link, starting with https://.