Web video hosting sites

Graeme Webb · Post by **Graeme Webb** » Mon Jun 30, 2008 8:50 pm

Hi All,

With all these video hosting sites popping up like mushrooms on a daily basis like Youtube, Revver, vimeo et al. Have any forum members got any preferences for who they use and how they choose a site to host their films ?

Then what do you do with it ? Link it to your website if you have one, or something else ?

There is also a growth in 'Internet TV' organisations who will take your film and give you a 'share of their profits' everytime a punter looks at it (like .5 of a cent

.

Personally Bob Vine and myself have declined 'offers' from such organisations, as they seem more trouble than they are worth, what do you think about these services ?

There is no doubt if you want a large audience for your film there is a possibility that Youtube could provide that for you if your film is right for the youtube audience.

Just Curious

G

stingman · Post by **stingman** » Tue Jul 01, 2008 9:49 am

I think YouTube is possibly the best. Everyone looks there. I use it. But it may not be the best place to have your films if you want the Big Bods to notice you.

Be good....

Stingman

peteb · Post by **peteb** » Thu Jul 10, 2008 12:12 pm

Youtube is certainly the leader when it comes to number of eyeballs but you will still need to think about how people actually find your movie on there in the first place.

Make sure you add likely keywords, phrases into your description and embed you site address into the movie in a way that's not distracting or too easy for someone to remove.

Hope that helps.

fraught · Post by **fraught** » Sun Jul 13, 2008 9:48 am

Youtube is best for being seen by the widest audience, but http://www.vimeo.com is best for streaming HD video

stingman · Post by **stingman** » Mon Jul 14, 2008 9:45 am

fraught wrote:Youtube is best for being seen by the widest audience, but http://www.vimeo.com is best for streaming HD video

Cheers Fraught! My computer is slow enougth as it is. I don`t need HD stuff on it untill I get my new system sometime!

Be good..........

Stingman

fraught · Post by **fraught** » Tue Sep 16, 2008 10:26 pm

Just going back to Vimeo. If you do decide to join and share your work using this site, I have setup a group on there called IAC

http://vimeo.com/groups/IAC

Please join and showcase your work.

billyfromConsett · Post by **billyfromConsett** » Thu Sep 18, 2008 7:50 pm

Thanks Graeme for this thread. It's a great idea and something I've wondered about for some time.

I use Youtube but have spent many man hours trying to get my movies to look the best they can with all kinds of encoding. They've improved lately mind.

I'll look at Vimeo too Fraught.

cheers

Graeme Webb · Post by **Graeme Webb** » Fri Sep 19, 2008 7:07 pm

I started to use Revver.com a few months ago on the recommendation of someone who I know 'knows his onions' I then came across Vimeo.com via the shoot35 forum:

http://www.sgpro.co.uk/

and the Stopmotion animation forum:

http://www.stopmotionanimation.com/dc/dcboard.php

I have had films up on youtube for about a year but am tending to move away from them. Having a 'blog' style website I can insert links to vimeo and Revver (off course I can do this with Youtube as well). It appears to me that quite a lot of indie non commercial film makers are using these 2 sites (most indie websites I have come across recently are linking to vimeo) they are both worth checking out, Vimeo takes HD as Fraught mentioned earlier .

G

Post by **Dave Watterson** » Sat Sep 27, 2008 10:31 pm

[Note: this was posted to another thread - not by me but by Pete Stedman. It fitted so perfectly here that I moved it - Dave.]

The Chippenham Movie & Video Club have updated and re-launched their web site (well I did it to be honest) and it has a new name so here it ishttp://www.starvideo.me.uk I’ve learnt a lot doing these things using a new programme to make a site and it always seems obvious that more Video Club web sites could show - well – video. I know that some do of course. I thought I would try this by the easiest way I could think of – and my knowledge is severely limited - and that is to put a link to a couple of films on You Tube. If you look at the site you can follow a link from a small moving TV set icon direct to You Tube and there is a page called Video and there you will see two different size screens with the same videos. However, as you will know, the quality of You Tube is not great at all.

I have seen a site, nothing to do with videos, and the site owner tells me that he uploads his videos to this particular company to host and pays – say £20 – up front and every time visitors view a video on his site his account is charged about 1p. The thing is that the quality is really good and much better than You Tube.

My question to get you all to discuss is “What do systems do members of the IAC use to put their videos on to their web sites. Are they free or do you have to pay and how much”.

Having written this I then saw a mention of VIMEO. I will now study this site and I now ask if any one uses VIMEO to put their films on line and on their web sites. If so have you any comments on it?

Answers to all this will certainly interest me and others I'm sure.
Pete

Post by **Dave Watterson** » Sat Sep 27, 2008 10:32 pm

“What do systems do members of the IAC use to put their videos on to their web sites. Are they free or do you have to pay and how much”.

This could be very interesting, Pete.

Few clubs host videos on their own websites because the files are large and use a lot of their web-space allowance - but especially because most contracts with website providers have a bandwidth limit. Bandwidth means how much information is being sent out from your website. If several people watch a video that uses a lot of bandwidth and you may quickly reach your contract limit. After that your ISP may simply cut off your website for a while or may charge you heavy extra fees.

It makes sense, therefore, to place the video on another website and have a link to that on your website. That is what happens when you use the "embed" code on the Youtube web site, for example. The video looks as if it is running in your web page, but actually it is running on Youtube. Phew! Your bandwidth is safe.

Among the sites which offer such a "share/embed" service free are:
http://uk.youtube.com
http://video.google.com
http://www.vimeo.com
http://www.vidilife.com
http://fileave.com
http://www.hotlinkfiles.com
http://imagehost.org
http://eyespot.com
http://www.veoh.com
http://www.jumpcut.com
http://blip.tv
http://www.viddler.com
http://revver.com/revver

There are many more. If you have experience of any of them please let us all know ... but remember this is a public forum so if you have had a bad experience, describe it tactfully or just say "I don't recommend it." (We do not want anyone to be sued.)

On other threads various regular correspondents have reported their experiences.

Always check the conditions on any service you use - they may require uploads in a specific format, limit the size of files and so on.

By the way I note in passing that:
"For high quality vidoes, YouTube recommends uploading videos in the MPEG4 (Divx, Xvid) format resized to 320x240 resolution with MP3 audio."

Dave

Peter Stedman · Post by **Peter Stedman** » Sun Sep 28, 2008 7:37 am

Thanks for that helpful reply Dave. You say "It makes sense, therefore, to place the video on another website and have a link to that on your website. That is what happens when you use the "embed" code on the Youtube web site, for example. The video looks as if it is running in your web page, but actually it is running on Youtube. Phew! Your bandwidth is safe."

I'm sure I understand what you mean but just to clarify in my mind. Having a link to (say) You Tube is the same as 'embeding' the code which is what I have done on our site. Neither take up your bandwidth.

I don't know why I ask really, as what you say is quite clear really. Sorry - It's very early this Sunday morning after all. Pete.

Post by **Dave Watterson** » Sun Sep 28, 2008 10:25 am

Having a link to (say) You Tube is the same as 'embeding' the code which is what I have done on our site.

A simple link to Youtube which behind the scenes goes:
"http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=..." where the part after the = is a long jumble of letters and digits, takes your viewers over to the YouTube website. They have left your website and to return to it must click the "back" button on their browser.

An embedded video has a different type of code (the code you copy and paste from the Youtube website.) Behind the scenes this might look like:
<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/VSjL0Vb1oJk&hl ... 1"></param> ... and on and on for a line or two of goobledigook.

This version means people are looking at most of your webpage on your website, but that a window in the middle is actually showing them the Youtube website with your film in it.

BOTH mean viewers are actually watching the film on Youtube and your bandwidth is safe!

Dave

stingman · Post by **stingman** » Sun Sep 28, 2008 3:03 pm

I find the whole thing about converting our films into different foremats, a pain in the **** and it gives me a headacke!

I have loads of programmes that I forget how to use and loads of different versions of my films on my computer, taking up valuable harddrive space.

I hate it.........

Be good....

Stingman

Peter Stedman · Post by **Peter Stedman** » Thu Oct 02, 2008 8:37 am

I see on the BBC TV text service this morning that a Christian group are launching a competition for the Christian story to be told in 30 seconds or less. The entries can be either radio or video on You Tube. Now there’s a challenge for individuals and video clubs.

That raises another point. Now that I’ve started to put a couple of video on You Tube – and this service has already been discussed at length – why isn’t there perhaps some interclub competitions done with entries on You Tube or other similar services.
Comments please. Pete.
If you think I'm stirring it - perhaps you are right.

leif · Post by **leif** » Mon Nov 24, 2008 10:02 pm

I recenly found a new site tor uploading of video: openfilm-com.

Although it seems to me, that their videos are of pretty high quality, they do no not set many limits.

Max.filsize for uploads 2 GB, larger files must be sent to them on DVD or tape.
framesize from 640x480 to 1440x720 pix.
etc.

I think this site is worth visiting for the excelent movies - and also worth considering for own uploads.

Give it a try.

(Sorry: the system wouldn't let me give the correct url for the link.)
---------------
Sorry Leif, you have to put several postings on before the system "trusts" you enough to put up a URL. For those who don't know Leif is one of the powerhouses behind NordFilm.net.
The URL you wanted to post is http://openfilm.com

-Dave