Tue - June 19, 2007
Low Cost Audio, Podcast and Video Hosting - IMS #125
Question: I'm preparing my video for
the web, but my hosting company allows only 50 GIG of bandwidth per month.
That's not nearly enough. Would you recommend YouTube for hosting my video? Or
who would you use?
Answer: Well... yes and no. I would certainly post
my videos there, as they have a huge audience. I would also post my videos to
Yahoo and other popular sites. But I would not rely on them as my main hosting
company. 
The trouble with these services, is that once you upload your content, you have no control over how it is displayed. They can lower the quality, throw ads on it, overlay clickable buttons, and all sorts of other distractions, that take customers away from your site.
The hosting company I recommend for podcasting and video, is Liberated Syndication or LibSyn for short. I wrote about them 18 months ago. They've been around a while and handle some of the most popular podcasts.
What makes them different than any other hosting company, is that they do not charge for bandwidth, only storage. Let me spell that out loud and clear... no bandwidth charges!
Even their "Supreme" account, which offers 800 MB of storage a month (yes per month) is only 30 dollars a month. That's enough to store a 45 minute daily podcast. Compare that to the industry standard, offering 50 GB of bandwidth for 30 dollars a month, and it's no contest.
They also have detailed stats, so you know how often your video gets watched. It shows the impressions, views and distribution. They also have a template, for submitting your work to the iTunes directory, which is the biggest music store on the planet.
Join LibSyn for Unlimited Bandwidth ==> http://www.libsyn.com
You don't have to use all the features, if you don't want to. You can simply store your media files on Libsyn, and link to them with your blogs and web pages. That way, you'll never pay for bandwidth, or worry about third party ads, or other distractions appearing over top of your videos.
But all this - talk about video hosting - assumes that you have the technical ability to produce everything yourself. It means that you already know how to shoot and edit video, embed the linking code, make the controller appear, and get clickable links into the video, while it's playing.
If you're looking for slick production tools in addition to hosting, try the Web Video Zone instead. They offer all sorts of tools, tips and techniques to create profitable videos. Membership includes a web video player, a Flash converter, video web hosting, a video affiliate system, in-depth tutorials, and a private, moderated discussion forum.
So if you just want basic hosting, get LibSyn. But if you want to create video the fast, fun and easy way... and get affordable hosting as part of the deal, choose Web Video Zone instead.
Want to Create Web Video? ==> http://www.cdzn.com/wvz
The trouble with these services, is that once you upload your content, you have no control over how it is displayed. They can lower the quality, throw ads on it, overlay clickable buttons, and all sorts of other distractions, that take customers away from your site.
The hosting company I recommend for podcasting and video, is Liberated Syndication or LibSyn for short. I wrote about them 18 months ago. They've been around a while and handle some of the most popular podcasts.
What makes them different than any other hosting company, is that they do not charge for bandwidth, only storage. Let me spell that out loud and clear... no bandwidth charges!
Even their "Supreme" account, which offers 800 MB of storage a month (yes per month) is only 30 dollars a month. That's enough to store a 45 minute daily podcast. Compare that to the industry standard, offering 50 GB of bandwidth for 30 dollars a month, and it's no contest.
They also have detailed stats, so you know how often your video gets watched. It shows the impressions, views and distribution. They also have a template, for submitting your work to the iTunes directory, which is the biggest music store on the planet.
Join LibSyn for Unlimited Bandwidth ==> http://www.libsyn.com
You don't have to use all the features, if you don't want to. You can simply store your media files on Libsyn, and link to them with your blogs and web pages. That way, you'll never pay for bandwidth, or worry about third party ads, or other distractions appearing over top of your videos.
But all this - talk about video hosting - assumes that you have the technical ability to produce everything yourself. It means that you already know how to shoot and edit video, embed the linking code, make the controller appear, and get clickable links into the video, while it's playing.
If you're looking for slick production tools in addition to hosting, try the Web Video Zone instead. They offer all sorts of tools, tips and techniques to create profitable videos. Membership includes a web video player, a Flash converter, video web hosting, a video affiliate system, in-depth tutorials, and a private, moderated discussion forum.
So if you just want basic hosting, get LibSyn. But if you want to create video the fast, fun and easy way... and get affordable hosting as part of the deal, choose Web Video Zone instead.
Want to Create Web Video? ==> http://www.cdzn.com/wvz
Posted at 01:32 PM
Mon - December 18, 2006
Unlimited Calling in North America
Thanks to Skype, many of us have been
enjoying free unlimited long distance calls within North America. On December 31
2006, all that is about to change.
The Skype out service which was free, is now going
to cost about 30 dollars per year. But the good news is, if you buy it before
the end of the year, it's 50% off and gives you unlimited calling in North
America for only 15 dollars, until December 31
2007.
I'd easily spend over 30 dollars a month in long distance, so 30 dollars for a whole year is a great bargain. Especially since they've added video chat and give you international credits with your purchase as well.
And just so you know, this is not for computer to computer calls, that will remain free. The Skype Out service lets you call regular phone lines anywhere in the world. All you need is a computer, a headset and something to say.
Get Skype Out ==> http://www.skype.com
I'd easily spend over 30 dollars a month in long distance, so 30 dollars for a whole year is a great bargain. Especially since they've added video chat and give you international credits with your purchase as well.
And just so you know, this is not for computer to computer calls, that will remain free. The Skype Out service lets you call regular phone lines anywhere in the world. All you need is a computer, a headset and something to say.
Get Skype Out ==> http://www.skype.com
Posted at 05:03 PM
Sat - November 18, 2006
Putting Ads in YouTube & Google Movies
Hi Michael. Using Quicktime Pro to
make simple movies, and upload them to YouTube, as advertisements for our
websites, is a brilliant idea. We did produce a couple test videos which play
fine locally using Quicktime, but after they are uploaded to YouTube and Google
Video servers, there is no 5-second advertising frame played at the
end.
It plays fine from my server, but I'm
leaving it as a Quicktime (MOV) video file. Do you know what we're doing wrong?
My guess is that YouTube and Google Video, must be converting them to some other video format, that does not retain the instructions to hold the final frame for 5 seconds, but I don't know. How did you get past the problem? ~ Brad
Hello Brad. I heard that YouTube is attempting to review all videos before making them available to the public. They only started doing this about a week ago.
I'm sure Google's manpower is busy. Not sure they'd be trying to edit all 14,000 uploads per day though. ;-) They're just trying to keep out unwanted copyrighted materials from being uploaded.
Sounds like all you need to do is make the movie "Self Contained." There is a little button that you click on when saving the movie. You can choose save as a QuickTime file or save as a self contained movie.
I'm thinking that since you are leaving it a .mov file, that any graphics you paste into the movie are never truly embedded in the file. The movie is simply calling the graphic from where it is stored. So when you upload the .mov file to YouTube, it doesn't know where to find the graphic.
If you were to "Export" the movie as an MP4 file (YouTube.com's preferred format) you'd be flattening the .mov file. That would embed all external objects, that were pasted into the movie, as a single .mp4 file.
Once have an MPEG4 file, everything the movie needs, is on one "Self Contained" place. Give it a try, see how it goes, and let me know what happens.
Thanks for the quick response Michael. I was already making it a "Self Contained" movie, but I did not know to export it as a MP4. Once I did that, it worked! We now have movies advertising our sites on YouTube and Google. Thanks again!
My guess is that YouTube and Google Video, must be converting them to some other video format, that does not retain the instructions to hold the final frame for 5 seconds, but I don't know. How did you get past the problem? ~ Brad
Hello Brad. I heard that YouTube is attempting to review all videos before making them available to the public. They only started doing this about a week ago.
I'm sure Google's manpower is busy. Not sure they'd be trying to edit all 14,000 uploads per day though. ;-) They're just trying to keep out unwanted copyrighted materials from being uploaded.
Sounds like all you need to do is make the movie "Self Contained." There is a little button that you click on when saving the movie. You can choose save as a QuickTime file or save as a self contained movie.
I'm thinking that since you are leaving it a .mov file, that any graphics you paste into the movie are never truly embedded in the file. The movie is simply calling the graphic from where it is stored. So when you upload the .mov file to YouTube, it doesn't know where to find the graphic.
If you were to "Export" the movie as an MP4 file (YouTube.com's preferred format) you'd be flattening the .mov file. That would embed all external objects, that were pasted into the movie, as a single .mp4 file.
Once have an MPEG4 file, everything the movie needs, is on one "Self Contained" place. Give it a try, see how it goes, and let me know what happens.
Thanks for the quick response Michael. I was already making it a "Self Contained" movie, but I did not know to export it as a MP4. Once I did that, it worked! We now have movies advertising our sites on YouTube and Google. Thanks again!
Posted at 06:08 PM
Fri - November 3, 2006
Video Formats for Use on YouTube.com
Question: I'm trying to convert a file
and upload it to YouTube.com. I upgraded to QuickTime Pro, but I'm not
successful in trying to convert WMV to a format that's acceptable to YouTube. Do
I need to convert the WMV file first? ~ Rolf
Answer: Hello Rolf. WMV from what I remember is a
proprietary Windows format. YouTube wants something a little more
universally compatible.
I have utility on my Mac called Flip4mac, that allows me to view and convert WMV into Quicktime, MP4 or whatever. But I'm not sure if you're on Windows because I don't have a PC around me at the moment.
Maybe record into a different format? Or if it's an old file that's already recorded, you might be able to use Windows media player, or some other freeware utility to convert the files, into something that Quicktime Pro and YouTube.com can understand. Check download.com for all sorts of software utilities, or try searching your favorite engine for, "convert WMV to MP4."
Wait a sec... just checked the YouTube site and got this gem from their Help Center => Troubleshooting => Uploads. I hope it helps.
""YouTube does not currently accept videos in Flash (.flv) or RealAudio (.rm) format.
You may need to try using software other than the software that came with your camera, such as Windows MovieMaker (included with every Windows installation), or Apple iMovie. Using these programs, you can easily edit your videos, add soundtracks, and change the file type, etc.
Saving your video file as .avi, .mpg or .mov should enable you to upload your video with no problems. We recommend MP3 audio for best results.""
All that said though, after a little testing, here's the best format to upload: MPEG4 at 320 X 240 pixels with MP3 audio, at 30 frames per second. Resizing your video before uploading will help your clips look their best.
I have utility on my Mac called Flip4mac, that allows me to view and convert WMV into Quicktime, MP4 or whatever. But I'm not sure if you're on Windows because I don't have a PC around me at the moment.
Maybe record into a different format? Or if it's an old file that's already recorded, you might be able to use Windows media player, or some other freeware utility to convert the files, into something that Quicktime Pro and YouTube.com can understand. Check download.com for all sorts of software utilities, or try searching your favorite engine for, "convert WMV to MP4."
Wait a sec... just checked the YouTube site and got this gem from their Help Center => Troubleshooting => Uploads. I hope it helps.
""YouTube does not currently accept videos in Flash (.flv) or RealAudio (.rm) format.
You may need to try using software other than the software that came with your camera, such as Windows MovieMaker (included with every Windows installation), or Apple iMovie. Using these programs, you can easily edit your videos, add soundtracks, and change the file type, etc.
Saving your video file as .avi, .mpg or .mov should enable you to upload your video with no problems. We recommend MP3 audio for best results.""
All that said though, after a little testing, here's the best format to upload: MPEG4 at 320 X 240 pixels with MP3 audio, at 30 frames per second. Resizing your video before uploading will help your clips look their best.
Posted at 05:31 PM
Quick Links
Calendar
| Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat |
Categories
Archives
XML/RSS Feed
Sponsors
Statistics
Total entries in this blog:
Total entries in this category:
Published On: Jun 22, 2007 12:02 PM
Total entries in this category:
Published On: Jun 22, 2007 12:02 PM