Rant On!
 

Rant on:

Ok, this has been brought up before, but maybe one more time. If you are going to post your movie for us all to see, try to use a format that almost anyone can view. I downloaded two different new video players in attempting to watch all of the films, and still could not see a couple. I'm sure others had the same problem but just don't want to admit it. Well, I admit it, I guess I'm just too stupid to figure some of them out. If you are trying and or using that latest-greatest version of whatever, be prepared to lose some votes from those who just can’t see your film. Remember that we are Mac and PC users, and there are probably a half dozen or more browsers being used. If you can post your movie in a simple format such as QT or Windows, almost anyone will be able to watch it. I think one movie was listed in 6 different formats or ways, and personally I don’t think that is necessary. There are 30 people here who “have” to see your movie in order to vote on it. If you wish to post it for your friends and the entire world in the latest-greatest format, fine! But, for us the simplest is the best.

We are all spending a lot of money on our equipment, how about spending about $65.00 a year for your own web space? No advertisements, no pop-ups, no losing the rights to your own movie, no searching through numerous pages for your film, and then maybe not even finding it. Web hosting has gotten pretty cheap, and you don’t have to build any site or anything. Just upload to your public HTML folder and post the link! Believe me, if I can do it, anyone can!

How about some of us, one of us, or one of the sponsors who help us out donate and or run a single website where we can post our movies? I know there are people here who would know how to do it. Each entrant could get his or her own private link code or something for upload, that would be terminated or expire after our movie is posted? As I said, we don’t even need a real site, just a place to post!

And lastly, and tying in with the two points above, post your movie in a format that allows us to save it to our computers for viewing multiple times. As I was downloading multiple movies, some took nearly half and hour. Believe me, I won’t download them twice.

None of this is directed at anyone specific, I would just like to see us all simplify and organize this much better.

JMHO

OK, rant off:


Now, I must congratulate all who entered a film in DVC#6. There are simply too many to post individual feedbacks anymore. So consider this as praise to all. The quality of the movies is getting sooooo much better each time. It is getting tougher to try and even compete with you all. We are obviously learning a lot from each others efforts and applying them to our own movies, and that is exactly what we should be doing. We are learning and having fun! Videography, lighting, sound, stories, they are all getting better! DVC#7 should be a blast. I look forward to it already!!!!!!

Mike

I've always said, "it is your responsibility to make sure I can watch your movie" and if I have to install the latest cutting edge whatever... I'm simply not going to bother.

Fortunatly, I was able to watch every DVC this time.

I was happy with the Youtube and Yahoo video submissions, they loaded faster than anyone elses, which makes me happy! ANything I have to click multiple links for, wait for advertising delays, or get pop-ups from, makes me unhappy.

Just a question...
 

How about MySpace? (Film Section)
Does that work for you guys? I'm just asking because I plan on entering the next challenge.

I have a link in my signature if you need to have a look.
I believe they allow for up to 100MB per clip.
(And it's free!)

You and 40 million others to look at, and don't you give up rights to your film? Not for me! You want to post your family pictures there for all to see? I also see many news items about things on MySpace that I personally do not want any part of.

JMHO

Mike

I had a whole thing written out here, but I like you guys, and I want to remain friends with the people in this community, so I'll just say this: I agree that webspace is cheap, and I also prefer files I can download.

Drives me crazy when I'm forced to watch a film on someone's website (can't always pause, can't watch it fullscreen, can't watch it when I want), and I think it's bad for filmmakers, as well. If I decide to watch your film again, I have to go back to the site, and waste your bandwidth a second time. Maybe the film's in my cache, but maybe not; seems like a big chance to take. Not to mention the simple fact that if you ever remove the film from your site, I can no longer watch it. A downloaded copy stays around as long as I want it to, and your film can be enjoyed for generations to come.

WOW! First off, there is a film section, no family photo's for me. Secondly, how is it ANY different than Youtube? You upload your film for ALL to see.

Lastly, you can make a clip PRIVATE and ONLY the people you send a link to can see it, and it's FREE.

EDIT: They also stream instantly.

I'm new here but you're coming off a little harsh.

Mike

I'm not trying to be harsh, but did I say I liked Youtube? Speaking of FREE, you get what you pay for!!!!!!! :)

Mike

Well, your cable probider may offer free benefits you may not even know about. For example, my website is off the eastlink server, which gave the space for me to use for free. No commercial use, no domain name, but it's a great place to upload large files when you need to. Check and see if your cable provider offers free space.

Yup, free private web space if you choose it to be. ;)
I have 10 clips stored on a second account, some are private, and they can be up to 100MB each. Not too bad for nothing.

BTW, I never said you liked You tube, I was going by this as being accepted...
It is virtually the same.

Take care,

Mike

Mine does, unfortunately they limit every upload to 20MB, with a cap at 100MB stored.

Still, it's better than nothing. Especially if you create short films.

Hi Fellas,
Like Dylan, I was really impressed with the quick response on some of these movies, plus the fact that I could go back time and again and not have a problem, or have to wait. So, I asked Sean how it was done. Seems like a perfect compromise to me:

I think I'll try it next time, yet also provide a download link for any old schoolers like myself who like to save them for later viewing.

You might just be missing the point, it does not cost much to have your own site----cheap!

Nice that we are talking about this.

Mike

Agreed.

I agree, but you might be missing the point that what some of us are using is free. The clips load instantly, and they can be linked to another site as Lorinda explained. Easily viewed, over and over again, instantly.

Cheap is nice, but you can't beat free.

I agree that MySpace is generally for young people to hang out and hook up with friends, but the Film section is quite useful.

Mike

Obviously you ARE missing my point. You can beat free! And, it doesn't cost much!

Mike

Mike,

Before I forget, welcome to the forum. We are glad to have you here. One question, did you download all 30 of the films in the DV Challenge? I hope so, as there are some very good ones here.

Again----Welcome to DVinfo

Mike

LOL! :)
I get what you are saying, really I do. I understand that you do get what you pay for.

But just tell me this, why pass up 1 GB of storage for free? I don't need to pay a dime for anything else because I have all the storage space I need and it didn't cost me a dime. If I need more, I'll just open up another free account.

Now do you get what I am saying?


Mike

Thanks, I've watched about 8 of them (including yours). I didn't realize there was 30, WOW!
I also made some comments in the feedback forum earlier today.

Thanks,

Mike

Sure, for the next Challenge borrow all of your equipment for free from whom ever you can find, and put up with the restictions that apply and turn in your movie. That will be free!!!!!!!!! :)

Good luck on the other 22 movies. Perhaps after you do try to download the other 22 you will understand what I am talking about. 8 vs 30, big difference! We have to see them all to vote, not to just enjoy a few!

Thanks---Mike

Hmmm... not a fair comparison at all. How about this, you keep paying for your webspace and I'll have mine for nothing, thanks.

I'll just agree to disagree at this point.

Actually, I do understand. The funny thing is, the streaming movies (google, youtube) load the fastest. ;)

Take care,

Mike

It's a free country, well both of them I think? Do as you please, but my comments are still valid. Let's let others speak. This is not a debate between you and me.

Mike

I agree completely. There really is no reason why I wouldn't use what I'm using at the moment. If I want something a little more professional, I'll expect to pay for it.

Thanks, no hard feelings over here.

Mike

Let's look on the positive end of this.

First, It's free advertising and exposure. (I personally would not post something I'd be embarrassed to show to the world).

Second, Youtube and other's do state that the rights are only in effect as long as the movie is posted. They need those rights because it keeps the lawyers happy and prevents you and me from suing them in case something happens. If youtube includes yours in a compilation, it's a compliment.

Finally, the poor video quality doesn't merit any worth in stealing. It's simply a quick means to view the content. If it leads to opportunity, than you can always provide something in higher quality.

Time to drink some more lemonade...

Everybody breathe a second.

Feel the cleansing breath when you breathe in through the mouth slowly. Feel the earth beneath your feet and find your center. Feet spaced hip width apart, the knees bent slightly and "soft". Place the tip of the tongue lightly on your upper palate. Your arms float upward with the inward breath and sink down beginning with the elbows on the exhale. Repeat as necessary. This is how we begin our Tai Chi lessons.

OK, now that you are all relaxed (or bored), I too have said repeatedly that there are problems with various formats. The largest problem for me being that one of my systems has an older version of Avid on it. I cannot update QT as the new codecs will crash the Avid system. If you want me to see these pieces while I am relaxed at home on my main machine you should consider NOT using the latest QT HD formats. Frankly it's a little absurd to use an HD format on a picture size of 320x240. Granted it will scale up better but I can't watch it so which would you rather have for judging, really clean small videos or videos some of us can't see?

I had troubles with only one this DVChallenge but I used my laptop for a large portion of them this round and luckily, it has the latest of every codec loaded. Not so for everyone here however. My compromise is to use Google as it transcodes to Flash 8. Flash loads without intervention on the most common browsers and can load a film very quickly. Furthermore, I don't have to store my video someplace, it looks decent and plays well with embed codes so I can add it to my web site easily for my web viewers (all 6 of them)

Google also has minor statistics available as well. I can tell you how many times each of the 5 videos I have there played last week or last month. Cat Fight at OK and Corral has played a total of 3469 times since Aug 7th. (not bad.)

If you want to host your own, I'm cool with that. I have also made sure I make windows media (not HD MWV9) files available for download at least for Dylan and the other initial judging folks.

I have no real answers but I think I have a decent compromise. Google doesn't seem to want exclusive rights to my first born son and all that so I think they are cool.

I'll go with anything deemed "official" so wherever this ends up, I'm good.

Sean

I'm confused as to why some of you had problems downloading files. If say a movie like mine is set in a browser window, all you have to do is click on the little arrow on the right of the play bar and save as source or save as quicktime. Bang it's saved. I think I only had a problem with 1 short and that was finding the link to download it. I think it took me 3 attempts to find it.

Another thing wrong with myspace is you have to register to watch a video. Anytime I come across a video that I have to register to watch, I skip it.

Putfile is really good, but 25 meg limit. But it doesn't recompress your video like google or youtube.

Still. I'm paying $3 a month for unlimited storage, unlimited email accounts, Unlimited file size , webhosting, shopping carts and a bandwidth of 60 gigs a month blah blah blah. that's one freakin cup of coffee at starbucks. Or you can look at it as 1 minidv tape.

Michael, that's only possible if the embedded film is a Quicktime file, and then only if you have QT Pro (I think. Maybe it's changed, but I remember not being able to click those menu options the last time I had a standard Quicktime installation). Not a problem for me, as I've got a copy, but not everyone has. And Windows Media files have no such menu.

Robert,
hmmm, you may be right. I've had quicktime pro for about 10 years, well maybe not 10, so I can't remember that far back. I also have flip for mac that runs all of the WMV videos in quicktime so it has the save options too. Basically for $29 for quicktime pro, it'll solve almost everyone's video problems. Ahh, and I just bought a new WMV component for quicktime that allows me to export WMV videos too.

Funny about the first part!

Second part, as it has been noted before, QT 7 or whatever the latest version is, does not play well with Premiere Pro either. I, and others, have had to uninstall it because of problems, so why use it. One vote can mean a win.

This should not be, and was not intended to be a vote or criticizim of any system or codec, it is about seeing your movie, and some ways are better or easier than others.

It's your choice, easy or hard? Some things are better hard, but most are better easy!

Mike

but I still have all of these options in quicktime 6. 7 allows for H264. But I don't use it mainly because of problems like you guys have mentioned. This has nothing to do with saving a file though.

I'm just jumping in here cause I really want to find the best and most compatible way to deliver a video for viewing as well as keeping it as simple as possible. I actually enjoy it when a video is set in a web browser. It starts playing fairly immediately so I don't have to wait for it to download. maybe that's not how everyone else likes it though.

I prefer to right click on the links and save target as (when the links Dylan provides are direct to the movie). I download all of the ones I can so that I can unplug and move to the couch so I can watch with my feet up. So personally non-downloadable options like youtube are not my favorite because I don't have a comfy desk chair. I say it not to dissuade people from using youtube but to point out that I think we're going to find 30 different preferences for viewing our 30 movies and we're never going to make everyone completely happy.

Smile,
Kris

This is not true. Click the link in my Sig if you don't believe me. You can upload a maximum of 4 movies to your main page so that anyone who has an internet connection can see them. No registration needed. If you want to store more clips in another area, feel free. But unless you upload them to the main page, you will need an account to see them.

Anyone who clicks my link can see the movies I have on my main page, and they load instantly.

The way I see it, when you click the link provided and there are no major wait times and the quality is good, there shouldn't be a problem.

Just my opinion.

Kris has a point I actually sort of unintentionally ignored this round. Sorry folks, wasn't trying to make lives harder but going Google does mean that you would need to download their Google player to be able to save the videos out to a local drive. I actually could have done the Flash 8 conversion myself as well and embeded it directly in the page but then I am reduced to hosting it again. Flash is small so that's not so much an issue but for those that like to do what Kris does, and I do to sometimes, using Google may actually be an issue for those not blessed with full time wireless internet.

I will try in the future to make sure I use a downloadable Windows Media file for the masses that would like that option as well as going Google for the rest. It's still pretty impressive to have it just show up like it does in my own web page without having to host it.

Thanks for reminding me of that Kris.

Sean

ahh, ok. so i'm going to modify my link next time to link to the movie and not to a webpage. Or maybe i'll provide both. I personally don't mind either way as long as it's not youtube. Man do I hate what they do to videos. Some of those free sites where they make you wait for a minute while you are bombarded with ads are crazy.

The myspace movie thing seems to work pretty good. not my cup of tea but can work. If you put your video on the front page and at the top, then it's ok. if you put it in your videos thingamabob, then you need to register.

Putfile so far is my favorite freebie. easy, simple, free, no ads, no fuss.

some things I don't want to just put out there so I prefer my own hosting. I can afford to go without a cup of starbucks once a month.

Michael,
back when I was young and had time to give away, last year I think it was, I built my own Linux file server, gave it a spot on the router/gateway and had my own unlimited storage space. Naturally, the ISPs don't like people doing that as some aren't as thoughtful about antivirus protection and such and can actually make the whole system slow to a crawl when not run correctly.

I however had been doing it for years with no complaints and didn't abuse the bandwidth exccept for watching Turner Classic Movies on my Dell PocketPC at Panera from my home cable once in a while, and that wasn't all that often.

I may have to hook that up again. That was kind of fun and impressive to people.

Sean

There's a bit more work involved, but some of you may want to check out Video Downloader for getting some of these non-downloadable files. Google, Myspace, Youtube and a few others are handled from the site. A few more steps to go through, and I'm still in the "just give us a link to a file" camp, but if a movie you want is only available on one of these hosting services, this is a useful tool.

Yeah, I was running a ftp server from my mac at home. Works great until your ip changes (mines dynamic). kind of pain to remember to relink everything when it needs rebooting. The price difference to get a static ip was more than just getting a seperate host. so I went that route.