What I Know About Web Video

Last Updated 7/27/08^*

Making Money Off Your Web Videos
Scott Kirsner has a very thorough list of websites that pay for your content.

Here's my short list of sites that do ad revenue splits:

• Atom Films (and sister site Addicting Clips)
• Adotube
• Blip.tv (compatible with Miro)
• Brightcove
• Caatchi
• Jaman
• LiveRail
• Metacafe
• Revver - careful: may go out of business soon
• Start Your Tube (startyourtube.com)
• Taboola
• Vuze
• YouTube (you have to apply and be approved)

Here is a short list of places that don't pay you money, but will host your content free: Babelgum, Current.tv, Dailymotion, Funnyordie.com, Guba.com, iKlipz, Kaltura, Porkolt.com, Vimeo

Staying Legal

If you're making money off web video, you should be getting the necessary clearances, and following these Guidelines for Fair Use in Online Video.

Optimizing for Auto-Compression

Sites like YouTube will squish down what you give them. I have heard it recommended that you compress to their specs. (YouTube has two formats, the initial Flash .flv with Sorenson Spark H.263 encoding and mono mp3 audio; and the H.264, Stereo AAC version they added for AppleTV and iPhone use.) Here's a good recommendation for tricking YouTube's audio compression to be less severe. As for the resolutions, the minimum on YouTube is 320x240 pixels; the max is 480x260. Sites like Vimeo and Blip.tv have gained in popularity because they offer higher resolutions.

What are the best resolutions for web video (if you have to choose)?

Alex Lindsay of the Pixel Corps stated on TWiM86 that the web seems to be consolidating around two resolutions: 640 x 360 which is the maximum for iPhone and iPod video and 960 x 540 which is reasonable for HD on a tv. Footage of almost any kind can get converted into single frame 960 x 540 just by dropping it into iMovie '08.

Of course, you can't go wrong mastering in SD (640 x 480) or DV (720 x 486) or even 720pHD (1280 x 720). The 1080iHD or 1080pHD formats still seem like overkill for web.

Video File Conversion Software
A cheap program that can go between many formats is great; but a true web video mastermind needs a professional compression suite to output in the many competing web formats.

Media Cleaner, Sorenson Squeeze, and Compressor are the big three. With a little bit of training, you can do automated compression for web videos. Apple's ubiquitous Quicktime has a Pro version that's pretty versatile when it comes to format conversions.

Although I haven't used it personally, I'll pass on Mark Frauenfelder's recommendation for VisualHub:

From the maker of the free iSquint (an application I use all the time to convert videos to iPod format) comes VisualHub, a $23.32 application that does everything iSquint does and more, including fitting "up to 18 hours of video on one DVD" that you can play on "any standalone DVD player."

File Formats and Free Players

Quicktime and Windows Media players come in free versions that support a variety of formats (and codecs). DivX encoding seems to be too complicated for most web users, requiring a separate codec to be installed in their player.

Google Video originally wanted everyone to use the open source VLC player which pretty much plays everything and will continue to play everything, since it is open source. Speaking of open-ness, a strong newcomer is Miro, a more 'open' web tv player than the buzzed about but handcuffed Joost. (See this biased but illuminating comparison of Miro and Joost.)

"Online" Editing
Cinematech on online video editing. Cellsea, Crackle a.k.a. Grouper, Eyespot, Kaltura, etc.

Getting Web Video on Your TV

I've had a strong recommendation for software like TVersity which allows you to stream videos and music from your PC to a PS3 or XBox. Of course Apple is pushing AppleTV which streams your iTunes collection and can play podcasts, and rented or purchased media from the iTunes store. If you want to go in reverse, streaming TV content to a computer, I recommend Slingbox.

MORE:
Rocketboom recommended web video tools
Ten Things a Marketer Should Know About Online Video
Notes on Online Video Distribution from LAFCPUG Oct 07
LonelyGirl15 Creators get $5M and Brightcove ends Pay Media Service

* I'm no expert in this arena -- I have trouble distinguishing between forms of compression and encoding formats. I'm going to make this post like the popular HD Camera Comparison and continue to update what I know about web video as I learn it.