What's the use of creating video if it can't be seen? And with mobile phones, still cameras (and, yes, even camcorders) capturing video all over the world, sharing video has never been so popular.
As with anything technology related, pioneers of video sharing went to great lengths to get their videos shown to the world: you needed your own website, oodles of space, bandwidth and a knowledge of scripting. If you're confused by bandwidth or freaked out setting up your own site, help is at hand from numerous video upload sites popping up all over the internet. These video sharing sites offer hassle free uploading and automated sharing of your video. They provide you with your own site which is entirely self contained, and if you're lucky your video may well feature as a top download and be seen by more than just your mates.
I've taken a look at the most popular sites out there. Most are free and some offer a premium service, which is typically bigger file sizes.
Putfile.com is an entirely free service offering video and image hosting. Although there's a 25MB limit on video file sizes, this is more than enough size for a ten minute video at a reasonable quality. Putfile offer an unlimited number of uploads, so if you can't fit your video into 25MB, split it into multiple files! Putfile's registration system is quick and easy, requiring email validation which came through within seconds.
Once logged in, you're presented with a video upload page and you can start sharing your video immediately. You'll also be presented with the URL of your website which in my case is http://www.putfile.com/videoforums. Simply browse to the video file located on your harddrive, select video, add a title and category then click upload. Unfortunately for the impatient amongst us there isn't an upload progress bar, so you'll have to trust that 'something' is happening whilst your video uploads.
Your video will be publicly visible via putfile's directory system, so you can be assured of a public viewing of your masterpiece. If you'd like your files to remain private, you have the option of opting your files out of the directory systme. Putfile have a tight policy on adult material and videos not meeting their terms and conditions can and will be removed rapidly.
Video downloads are lightening quick, and Putfile comes highly recommened for anyone looking for free video hosting and sharing. There's a real sense of community as users are able to leave comments and rate videos you've uploaded.
Streamload.com
Steamload offer a free account of 10GB of space, which for you and me means as much video as you could ever upload. There are limites however on the amount of video you can download, which is set to just 100MB for the free version. Streamload offer 4 paid packages, which all have unlimited amounts of uploads but varying degrees of restriction on the amount of downloads (ranging from $4.95/month for 1GB to $39.95/month for 60GB). It's interesting that the enhanced account costs more than most online video rental stores such as blockbuster.
Once you've filled in your details and chosen the plan you want, you'll be taken directly to your account. The account page has various options for you chose from, and the first option you'll chose is the upload button. Click this to bring up the upload page where you can simultaneously upload multiple files to your account. Clicking on upload brings up a progress bar with an estimate of how much time is remaining and the speed of transfer. Alternatively you can download the streamload software to upload your videos, or point streamload to your own server to grab files from there. The streamload software is a 2MB download, and is an ideal way of uploading your video files as you have the opportunity to pause and resume. The software gives an indication of the speed of your transfer, a progress bar and the estimated time remaining until upload completion.
Once uploaded to Streamload, you're ready to start sharing your videos which can be done in one of two ways: email or hosting. And this is where the cost of downloads comes in to play! If you email the file to someone, they they must be registered to download your video and downloading is accredited to their account. If you want to host the video for other to download, then you will be accredited for the download. If the downloads add up to more than 100MB, you'll have to start paying. Unfortunately you can't host files for others to download unless you're on one of streamloads paid accounts.
If you're looking for a way to host files rather than share your videos around the world, streamload is for you. It's not really much use for sharing videos if you opt for the free package.
Zippyvideos offers two free ways of uploading and sharing video: the first is an anonymous upload, the second a user account limited to 100MB. Sign up for the free account tales seconds and requires an email validation to start uploading videos, which came within seconds.
Zippyvideos offers two free ways of uploading and sharing video: the first is an anonymous upload, the second a user account limited to 100MB. Sign up for the free account tales seconds and requires an email validation to start uploading videos, which came within seconds.
Uploading video is straightforward and you have the option of restricting views to the public or allowing friends only to view your videos. There's also the option of tagging your videos files to help people search for your videos. Once the files uploading there's a progress bar indicator to stop you from growing impatient. You video is then uploaded to your videos, where all your uploaded videos are displayed with an automatic thumbnail created for ease of reference. Each video also has information about size, length etc and clicking on the "link" button under the thumbnail brings up a whole host of options to link to your video. You can see the sample video I uploaded to the site here: http://www.zippyvideos.com/3365240153835456/photo/*videoforums.
Users may rate your videos and there's also an option to leave comments. Overall zippyvideos is a great choice for sharing your video, but unfortunately limited to 100MB accounts.
It seems Google has it's fingers in every internet pie these days, and video sharing seems to be at the top of its agenda. Google video is currently in Beta testing and can be accessed by using your existing google account (if you have gmail, then you already have an account!). Videos must be uploaded using the Google Video Uploader, so you have to be at your own PC to upload video to Google. The software is a small download, and uploading videos is as easy as browsing to videos and checking a box to confirm you own the copyright and hitting upload now. The upload client includes a progress bar, but no indication of speed or how long the video will take to upload.
Once uploaded, your video is displayed in your video uploads page within your online account where you can add information about your video ready to share. You can also add a transcript of your video to make sure people can search and find your video! Unfortunately each video you upload must be verified before being available for viewing, which google suggest may take up to 7 days.
Google make a point of noting that Google Video is not for sharing your videos with specific individuals. This programme is distinct from Putfile and Zippyvideos in that it's specifically designed for promoting video content to the general public - people find your videos through searching rather than you linking to your video.
Final Thoughts
I've taken you through four of the most popular video upload sites, and it's clear that two of these are suited for the majority of Digital Director readers: Putfile and Zippyvideos. Both of these sites are squarely aimed at video sharing rather than promotion and distribution, and in my opinion Putfile has the edge over Zippyvideos in this regard. With its popular forums and ease of use Putfile is perfect for sharing video. If they sorted out an upload progress bar, they'd be unbeatable!
