How to charge for uploading 8 hours of video to YouTube at DVinfo.net

Peter Dunphy · February 28th, 2012, 11:06 AM

Hi Guys

Any thoughts about how to charge a client for creating a YouTube channel for them and uploading 8 hours (!) of ProRes 422 video at a decent quality to YouTube?

My Upload Speed is 0.942 Mb/s so I'm thinking it could take some time to upload!

Warm regards

Peter

Peter Dunphy · February 29th, 2012, 09:06 AM

Seems like it would be difficult to estimate any kind of price for this!

Jim Michael · February 29th, 2012, 11:02 AM

The first thing I would determine is whether the operation is scriptable, e.g. can I write a script that would handle the process including verification of file integrity. A quick google on 'youtube api' and a couple of clicks turns up this Developer's Guide: Data API Protocol – Direct Uploading - YouTube APIs and Tools - Google Code

Chris Davis · February 29th, 2012, 11:55 AM

I've kind of become sort of a "go-to guy" for business video in our area, so I do get odd hard-to-price projects like this. I generally charge by the hour for actual work. If a batch of videos takes a few hours to upload, I don't change the client for every one of those hours. They probably get charged for a few minutes of prep time, then as the videos are uploading I'm working on another project. Remember, YouTube supports batch uploading.

The number of videos would probably affect the price more than the total amount of video, but let's assume there are 50 separate videos. Assuming I can upload each with about 10 minutes of attention, that would total a bit more than 8 hours. At my rate of $75 per hour, we're talking about $600.

I'm not telling you to charge $600, nor am I suggesting there are 50 videos and each will take 10 minutes. I'm telling you how I determine pricing on oddball projects.

Now if the client balks at the price, suggest that they find some hungry college kid, since this really isn't a difficult project.

Peter Dunphy · February 29th, 2012, 12:52 PM

Great advice Jim and Chris, thanks very much :o)

Mike Watson · March 2nd, 2012, 06:06 PM

Compress it to h.264 in streamclip, it'll upload about a hundred times faster with basically no end loss in quality (at least on YouTube). I'm not sure YouTube will even accept ProRes, and I would certainly check before uploading 8 hours of it.

I generally don't charge extra for compressing and uploading of videos I shoot and edit. If somebody came to me with 8 hours of footage they had shot/edited elsewhere, I think the aforementioned $600 figure is at least in the neighborhood of what I'd dream up, based on a thousand variables that aren't mentioned here - starting with how many individual videos there are.

Incidentally, I don't ever name, tag, or describe videos - I have the clients do it.

Jonathan Levin · March 3rd, 2012, 04:15 PM

Peter,

Also be aware that YouTube has a 15 minute limit per video, unless they changed that recently. I would send your proves stuff through Compressor using their stock YouTube compression and then upload that compressed file to YT. Like Mike said, I'm not sure if YT accepts PR.

Jonathan

Craig Seeman · March 4th, 2012, 06:17 AM

They've been lifting the 15 minute limit on some accounts but not telling the account holder.
If you go to this page on your account you may (or may not) see a message saying something liken "congratulations your account is now enabled for uploads longer than 15 minutes"
http://www.youtube.com/my_videos_upload
Also not stated at all is that such accounts can upload up to 20GB per file (using Firefox for example).
Since YouTube now supports video up to 4K (!!!!) they're probably expecting large files from some creatives.
There's also no mention how they determine get the unlimited duration 20GB file capability.

Ervin Farkas · March 6th, 2012, 11:26 PM

I just went to my YouTube account and checked the upload page - under the "videos can be" heading there was the standard text "15 minutes long"... but right under it in blue "lift your 15 minutes limit" [words may not have been the exact same I'm using here - can't go back to check].

I had to enter my cell phone number, Google sent me a text message with an unlock code that I had to enter back into the page and voila, no more 15 minutes limit.

Thanks for this info, Craig!

Paul R Johnson · March 7th, 2012, 05:31 AM

Interesting, I don't use youtube very much at all, preferring Vimeo, but I used the link and I'm enabled for long ones!

Handy though!

Craig Seeman · March 7th, 2012, 09:58 AM

YouTube's little secret. Interesting that they're not telling anyone.
Vimeo has had a much cleaner interface and never had a duration limit but it has its downside. Free accounts have a 500MB one HD file a week limit. HD is limited to 720. YouTube, if you have the 15 minute limit lifted. Can now handle 20GB files. Allows 1080 and even 4K frame sizes.

I don't doubt YouTube is, in some "small" way, reacting to Vimeo. I've seen market research that YouTube found that with very short videos, people were leaving the site after the short play. That's not good for advertisers who want you to see their ads as you watch videos. I believe this encouraged YouTube to start lifting duration limits for many accounts. Given the file and frame sizes allowed, YouTube had the potential for much better video quality than Vimeo now. Of course Vimeo monitizes differently with paid accounts and now, professional business accounts.

Chris Davis · March 7th, 2012, 11:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ervin Farkas

I just went to my YouTube account and checked the upload page - under the "videos can be" heading there was the standard text "15 minutes long"... but right under it in blue "lift your 15 minutes limit" [words may not have been the exact same I'm using here - can't go back to check].

Interesting, on my upload page it says "increased limit not available for this account". I wonder why?

EDIT: I see why, five years ago I uploaded a scene from "24" that was de-listed due to copyright. I just deleted that video and now I have the option to increase my limit.

Craig Seeman · March 7th, 2012, 07:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris Davis

Interesting, on my upload page it says "increased limit not available for this account". I wonder why?

EDIT: I see why, five years ago I uploaded a scene from "24" that was de-listed due to copyright. I just deleted that video and now I have the option to increase my limit.

Santa YouTube knows whether you've been naughty or nice ;)
You've done penance and the coal has been removed from your stocking ;)

Tom Miller · April 14th, 2012, 09:12 AM

All you have to do to get over 15minutes is put an email in and phone number. also do they expect you to fill in the Info box and TAG lines?

February 28th, 2012, 11:06 AM	#1
Peter Dunphy Major Player Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Belfast Northern Ireland Posts: 261	How to charge for uploading 8 hours of video to YouTube Hi Guys Any thoughts about how to charge a client for creating a YouTube channel for them and uploading 8 hours (!) of ProRes 422 video at a decent quality to YouTube? My Upload Speed is 0.942 Mb/s so I'm thinking it could take some time to upload! Warm regards Peter __________________ https://twitter.com/#!/brunospaws

February 29th, 2012, 09:06 AM	#2
Peter Dunphy Major Player Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Belfast Northern Ireland Posts: 261	Re: How to charge for uploading 8 hours of video to YouTube Seems like it would be difficult to estimate any kind of price for this! __________________ https://twitter.com/#!/brunospaws

February 29th, 2012, 11:02 AM	#3
Jim Michael Major Player Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 895	Re: How to charge for uploading 8 hours of video to YouTube The first thing I would determine is whether the operation is scriptable, e.g. can I write a script that would handle the process including verification of file integrity. A quick google on 'youtube api' and a couple of clicks turns up this Developer's Guide: Data API Protocol – Direct Uploading - YouTube APIs and Tools - Google Code

February 29th, 2012, 11:55 AM	#4
Chris Davis Trustee Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Willmar, MN Posts: 1,400	Re: How to charge for uploading 8 hours of video to YouTube I've kind of become sort of a "go-to guy" for business video in our area, so I do get odd hard-to-price projects like this. I generally charge by the hour for actual work. If a batch of videos takes a few hours to upload, I don't change the client for every one of those hours. They probably get charged for a few minutes of prep time, then as the videos are uploading I'm working on another project. Remember, YouTube supports batch uploading. The number of videos would probably affect the price more than the total amount of video, but let's assume there are 50 separate videos. Assuming I can upload each with about 10 minutes of attention, that would total a bit more than 8 hours. At my rate of $75 per hour, we're talking about $600. I'm not telling you to charge $600, nor am I suggesting there are 50 videos and each will take 10 minutes. I'm telling you how I determine pricing on oddball projects. Now if the client balks at the price, suggest that they find some hungry college kid, since this really isn't a difficult project.

February 29th, 2012, 12:52 PM	#5
Peter Dunphy Major Player Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Belfast Northern Ireland Posts: 261	Re: How to charge for uploading 8 hours of video to YouTube Great advice Jim and Chris, thanks very much :o) __________________ https://twitter.com/#!/brunospaws

March 2nd, 2012, 06:06 PM	#6
Mike Watson Trustee Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: San Diego, CA Posts: 1,082	Re: How to charge for uploading 8 hours of video to YouTube Compress it to h.264 in streamclip, it'll upload about a hundred times faster with basically no end loss in quality (at least on YouTube). I'm not sure YouTube will even accept ProRes, and I would certainly check before uploading 8 hours of it. I generally don't charge extra for compressing and uploading of videos I shoot and edit. If somebody came to me with 8 hours of footage they had shot/edited elsewhere, I think the aforementioned $600 figure is at least in the neighborhood of what I'd dream up, based on a thousand variables that aren't mentioned here - starting with how many individual videos there are. Incidentally, I don't ever name, tag, or describe videos - I have the clients do it.

March 3rd, 2012, 04:15 PM	#7
Jonathan Levin Major Player Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Chicago, Illinois USA Posts: 692	Re: How to charge for uploading 8 hours of video to YouTube Peter, Also be aware that YouTube has a 15 minute limit per video, unless they changed that recently. I would send your proves stuff through Compressor using their stock YouTube compression and then upload that compressed file to YT. Like Mike said, I'm not sure if YT accepts PR. Jonathan __________________ "Fearless Fernando Hernandez: A Fighter's Journey"" Jonathan Levin Photography & Video

March 4th, 2012, 06:17 AM	#8
Craig Seeman Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Brooklyn, NY, USA Posts: 3,841	Re: How to charge for uploading 8 hours of video to YouTube They've been lifting the 15 minute limit on some accounts but not telling the account holder. If you go to this page on your account you may (or may not) see a message saying something liken "congratulations your account is now enabled for uploads longer than 15 minutes" http://www.youtube.com/my_videos_upload Also not stated at all is that such accounts can upload up to 20GB per file (using Firefox for example). Since YouTube now supports video up to 4K (!!!!) they're probably expecting large files from some creatives. There's also no mention how they determine get the unlimited duration 20GB file capability.

March 6th, 2012, 11:26 PM	#9
Ervin Farkas Inner Circle Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Atlanta/USA Posts: 2,515	Re: How to charge for uploading 8 hours of video to YouTube I just went to my YouTube account and checked the upload page - under the "videos can be" heading there was the standard text "15 minutes long"... but right under it in blue "lift your 15 minutes limit" [words may not have been the exact same I'm using here - can't go back to check]. I had to enter my cell phone number, Google sent me a text message with an unlock code that I had to enter back into the page and voila, no more 15 minutes limit. Thanks for this info, Craig! __________________ Ervin Farkas www.AtlantaLegalVideo.com

March 7th, 2012, 05:31 AM	#10
Paul R Johnson Inner Circle Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Lowestoft - UK Posts: 4,016	Re: How to charge for uploading 8 hours of video to YouTube Interesting, I don't use youtube very much at all, preferring Vimeo, but I used the link and I'm enabled for long ones! Handy though!

March 7th, 2012, 09:58 AM	#11
Craig Seeman Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Brooklyn, NY, USA Posts: 3,841	Re: How to charge for uploading 8 hours of video to YouTube YouTube's little secret. Interesting that they're not telling anyone. Vimeo has had a much cleaner interface and never had a duration limit but it has its downside. Free accounts have a 500MB one HD file a week limit. HD is limited to 720. YouTube, if you have the 15 minute limit lifted. Can now handle 20GB files. Allows 1080 and even 4K frame sizes. I don't doubt YouTube is, in some "small" way, reacting to Vimeo. I've seen market research that YouTube found that with very short videos, people were leaving the site after the short play. That's not good for advertisers who want you to see their ads as you watch videos. I believe this encouraged YouTube to start lifting duration limits for many accounts. Given the file and frame sizes allowed, YouTube had the potential for much better video quality than Vimeo now. Of course Vimeo monitizes differently with paid accounts and now, professional business accounts.

April 14th, 2012, 09:12 AM	#14
Tom Miller Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: PA, USA Posts: 112	Re: How to charge for uploading 8 hours of video to YouTube All you have to do to get over 15minutes is put an email in and phone number. also do they expect you to fill in the Info box and TAG lines?