DVC on Youtube.com ?
 

This is Philip's idea from a different thread, but I think it has some potential, so let's bat it around a little.

What do you guys see as the pros and cons of hosting on Youtube.com? I always find it runs a bit slow, but it does have a lot of extra exposure.

Can youtube look good with the right compression? most of what i've seen looks like doo doo.

I like the idea. Make a DVi or DVi Challenge #6 Channel. It's free, you can control who posts what (used to be you couldn't) and you can have a link to a higher res version using your own bandwidth if viewers want to see that. So strike that, I LOVE the idea.

I ended up putting my dvc5 entry onto Google after we were officially done just so my family could all see it without eating up my bandwidth. The compression is awful, but if we can include a link to a high res option as Dennis says then I think it's a great idea. Levels the playing field a bit for people who don't have easy access to server space.

Whether it be Google video or YouTube.... the quality will be sub-par.

I say NO GO. I'd suggest offering a dollar price to say allow the DV chalenge website to offer hosting of a short film under the size/length requirements.

The quality on YouTube just wouldn't look good, IMHO.

I like the idea. A separate channel on YouTube! Dude! Sweet!

I'm with the others who believe that the quality of YouTube isn't as good as you can get by doing it yourself. I'd say that anyone who wants to put their stuff up on YouTube for the competition should go for it, but that it should be an option and not a requirement.

Just my 2 cents,
Bill

Bill's logic makes the most sense so far.

does anyone know offhand what youtube's rights as far as youtube's use of our videos might be?

i never post anything online that i don't mind in the public domain, but people who are posting for the first time might not think that way. i'm feeling especially sensitive about people who use their kids in their videos (self included), i'm not so sure the youtube audience would be my first choice.

i like the idea of centrally locating the videos and making the delivery aspect a bit easier and more uniform, although i think part of the benefit of how DVC is structured is that part of the challenge is figuring this whole piece out. my first DVC challenge, this is exactly why i signed up, to force myself to learn a bit about web delivery, which i had been side-stepping, up to that point. it was a valuable lesson, and it opened up a whole new set of options for my actual business.....

There's definitely pros and cons to both sides.

On privacy concerns -- DVInfo.net is not private as far as I know. I think anyone can look at posts here without having an account. The atmosphere is obviously a little different here than it is on youtube.com, but I think anyone out there, member or not, can come and watch the videos on DVInfo.net just as easily as on youtube.com.

I think that the quality on youtube depends on the length -- they recommend keeping it under 5 minutes, which would work for this contest. It may not be the absolute best quality, but it would make the delivery process more uniform (and a little less frustrating for people trying to download/watch the videos).

while that's true, the videomaker has the option of complete control over putting the video up or taking it down after the contest runs. i'm not sure this is the case with youtube....i wouldn't write off this concern so quickly.

I had a colleague posting things to youtube as a test and he was able to take things off as well. It took a little time for his clips to no longer be listed, (over night when the database refreshes maybe?) but the links were immediately dead.

I've got my own server space so I don't mean to lobby one way or the other as it doesn't really matter to me. But not everyone has the same access, and also the most information with which to make a decision.

I'm in agreeance that if the picture quality is asstacular, I'd rather look for another option. What else is there?

Hosting on your own personal server.

Or you could consider charging a certain amount via paypal to host our videos on the dvc website.

Hey Dylan, shoot me an email. We have the DV Info Net media server available for you, it can probably fulfill your hosting requirements. Let's talk about it offline.