Export video clips with Alta Video Download Manager

Last modified: Wednesday July 30, 2025.

For exporting longer periods of video, you can use the Alta Video Download Manager desktop app. Exporting using the Download Manageris useful for downloading large amounts of video, or for using less reliable internet connections as you can pause and resume without loss of progress.

Considerations when using Alta Video Download Manager

To manage the network bandwidth used by Download Manager, and to have files that you can view sooner, consider the following:

  • When downloading multiple days of video data, break the downloads into separate tasks of one day, for example, 30 x 1-day downloads.
  • To manage the bandwidth used by Download Manager, configure No. of simultaneous downloads to 1. This enables Download Manager to queue all download tasks and to process them sequentially.
  • When downloading footage from multiple cameras, limit the number of cameras per task to 30 or fewer.
  • Consider the use for the downloaded clips, for example, are you creating an archive, or are you downloading video as evidence to be passed to law enforcement officers?
    • When downloading to create an archive, configure Maximum video length in minutes for a file to be a longer clip length. (The maximum length per video clip is 120 minutes).
    • When creating evidence files, select a clip length that provides sufficient context for the intended purpose. (The minimum length per video clip is 10 minutes).
  • Do you want all the downloads video to be compressed into a single zip file (potentially creating very large files), or do you want each video clip in its own zip file (potentially creating large numbers of individual zip files)?

For information on exporting shorter video clips, see Export video clips from Alta Video.

Video playback can be prioritized from either the device itself, or from the backup information in the cloud. When local internet bandwidth is low, prioritize cloud storage for the best playback experience.

Download the Alta Video Download Manager

Click the relevant link to download the Alta Video Download Manager executable file:

The correct executable file is automatically downloaded when you first export video of more than 10 minutes duration.

Task - Export video with Alta Video Download Manager

  1. Select a clip of 10 minutes or longer to export. For information on how to select a clip, see Export video clips from Alta Video.
  2. Click Export.
    • If the Alta Video Download Manager isn't already installed on your device, you are prompted to download and install the Download Manager desktop app.
    • After the Download Manager desktop app is installed, log into your Alta Video deployment to continue.

You can track, pause, and resume the download process from the Alta Video Download Manager.

Alta Video Download Manager options

You can configure the following options by clicking File > Settings in the Alta Video Download Manager desktop application.

  • Download location — choose where you want the exported files to be stored.
  • No. of simultaneous downloads — by default, this is set to infinite. If set to zero, it will remain infinite.
  • No. retries for each failed download — you can choose to automatically retry a failed download between 0 and 10 times. The default is 5.
  • Zip files — choose whether to compress all downloads into one file, or keep them separate.
  • Maximum video length in minutes for a file — if the request is longer than this length, it will be split into multiple video files. This value must be between 10 and 120 minutes.
  • Language preference — Specify your preferred language for the Download Manager user interface.

To automatically use the Alta Video Download Manager for all exports, or to increase the 10 minute minimum video length threshold, access the Profile > Preferences tab in the Alta Video desktop app.