Click "Upload Video" and point to the movie file on your computer.
3
As uploading starts edit Youtube's title and description of the film.
Wait possibly for a couple of hours while it uploads ... but you only have
to do that once!
4
When it is ready, click "Edit", choose the Youtube options about who can
see the video, whether to allow voting and comments or not and select the
thumbnail image you want.
Note the URL and tell your friends to watch online!
For most of us that is all we need to do.
There are more detailed notes on Youtube uploading
here. If your video is more than 2Gb
in file size you will need to shrink it a bit - see our notes
here.
It really is that simple. Just be careful about
copyright.
You should make sure the copyright on all the contents of your video
is cleared before uploading. For soundtracks that means in practical
terms using royalty-free music from a supplier whose licence specifically
allows it. For images it means obtaining permission from any third-party
concerned. If it is all material you shot yourself that is fine.
This sounds ridiculous when YouTube has mountains of material that is clearly
taken from television or professional material and echoes with songs from
the music industry. Some artists, especially those whose main appeal is to
younger audiences, turn a blind eye to it. Others have insisted that their
work is removed. Automated systems process every uploaded video on Youtube
and report any possible use of copyright music. Play safe.
On the other hand you should accept that once your work is out there, it
is almost impossible to control what happens to it. People may download it
- even in extreme cases re-edit it and put it online themselves. Our advice
is to smile happily and take any such acts as a tribute to your movie.
Share your vision
Put your films online for the world to discover and get them embedded
in webpages - your own, the club's or even here on the AMPS website.
A film which catches the public eye can be seen by an immense audience
around the globe. How else would your work be enjoyed in Japan, Honolulu,
Australia, Canada, Timbuktu, Ukraine and Iceland?
For dedicated film enthusiasts the biggest benefit is that your films
can be showcased easily on websites like this one, without demanding new
skills from the webmaster or costing a fortune in "bandwidth" surcharges.
This one is a 2004 AIFVF student award winner by Chase Holtman.
How is embedding done?
When your video has been uploaded to Youtube or another video host you can
usually find under the "share" options some code for "embedding". Copy that
and paste it into a web page. Voila ! It works like an oblong hole in the
page, through which people see the video ... though it is actually running
on the video host. Social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace have
built-in linking systems for such videos.
Video Hosts
There are scores of websites which will host your video, most of them free.
Some have optional subcription deals which let you upload more or get better
quality. Those most commonly used by non-commercial film makers are:
Most video hosts accept a variety of file types. Internet connections
bring files to you (downloading) much faster than sending
them out from you (uploading). It can take several hours
to send a movie up to a video host. Exact times depend on how fast your internet
connection is and how busy the web happens to be.
Each video host lists its preferred file formats and those change frequently
as their behind-the-scenes processing changes. Many sites - including YouTube
- accept HD but may require special settings to be used. Check their upload
instructions and FAQs. (Frequently Asked Questions).
The 2Gb file size limit for YouTube and DailyMotion
means you probably do not need to convert your films into another format
- for up to 9 minutes of Standard Definition video just upload the AVI or
MOV file.
(Many sites also accept VOB files from a DVD ... even if they do not say
so.) The upload time may be several hours so you might like to stop your
anti-virus program updating itself while you are uploading in case that
interrupts the load.
For films over 8m 59s on YouTube and DailyMotion; and for most films on other
video hosts you may have to use a converter to reduce the picture size, the
quality of sound and picture in order to get your film into the file size
they accept.
Converting Videos for the Web
All web hosts process all movies - shrinking them and making them into small
files. Send them the best quality you can as close as you can to their
maximum file size - which often means doing some conversion work.
For example DailyMotion says that for standard definition movies
its preferences are:
Video
Codecs (in descending order of preference):
H.264, DivX, WMV9, progressive MPEG-2
Aspect: 640x480 (4:3) or 720x480 (16:9)
Bitrate: 1.2 to 3 Mbps (depends on the codec and the resolution)
Framerate: 25 fps (preferred)
2-pass encoding, progressive (not interlaced, this is very important)
Square pixels
Audio
Codecs (in descending order of preference):
AAC, MP3, WMA9, MPEG Layer 2
Bitrate: 256 Kbps AAC or 320 Kbps stereo MP3 (ideal)
Don't worry about the technical jargon, but for the
curious ...
A codec is a computer program which compresses a file before sending
it across the web. It is important that the same codec is applied
at the other end of the connection to decompress it.
Bitrate describes how many "bits" of computer data are allocated to
carry the information about each second of video or audio. The higher the
number the better the quality ... but also the larger the file.
2-pass encoding means the converter reads the video file once to note
which parts have a lot of image changes (e.g. car chase) and which are relatively
unchanging (e.g. talking head). It then reads the video a second time and
allots a higher bitrate to the action-filled scenes and a lower one
to the "static" scenes. This makes most efficient use of the file size and
gives better quality results.
interlaced refers to pictures like those on a traditional television
set where first all the odd-numbered lines (1, 3, 5 ...) are shown in a 50th
of a second, then all the even-numbered lines (2, 4, 6 ...) in the next 50th
of a second. In the early days of television broadcasting this system created
less visible flickering than showing a complete picture every 25th of a second.
Dailymotion prefers whole pictures each time.
square pixel - a pixel (picture cell) is the basic building block
of an image on a computer or tv screen. They may be square or oblong. Generally
computer systems prefer square ones for easier handling.
Container refers to the file format in which the data is carried.
How do you actually convert a movie?
A: Use Your Editing Package
Many computer editing programs have output options which do this for you.
It is possible to use Windows Movie Maker and Apple iMovie which are free
and may already be on your computer for this purpose.
Note:
Be careful about standard output settings marked "web". Standards
change rapidly. What was appropriate when your editor was written a few years
ago is probably out-of-date now. Until recently "web" settings were intended
to create tiny, poor quality movies whose only advantage was they were small
enough to watch on a dial-up internet connection. Look at the more
advanced/custom/"cable" options offered.
