I spent a good part of the wee small hours last night trying to develop and embed a YouTube show player -- that is, a standalone player for a whole channel on Youtube that can be embedded in this blog.
The 'gadgets' that are supposed to work , don't -- and the default player is so crude -- small screen size, limited number of video episodes accessible -- that it's hardly an import/export exercise worthy of the effort .
While YouTube now offers easy customisation of embed code -- it's only in single player mode.
So here's a tip -- don't use YouTube.
That may seem a strange and petulant assertion given that YouTube is one of the busiest sites on the web. But I'm being serious -- do not upload your video files directly to YouTube. Upload them somewhere else and cross post.
I reckon this is online video's best kept secret. Platforms now a'days, by dint of company to company partnerships, are now allowing cross posting. That means that while you may upload your video file to service A, when you come to enter your uploading preferences you can specify that the same video -- in effect the code -- be posted to other sites as well. You can choose to post your video to any number of blogs, other video aggregators, Facebook and MySpace even though you only upload the file just the once.
Isn't that cool?
While there are many platforms that offer this cross posting service for free (another is TubeMoghul) you would be hard pressed to find one to match the attributes on offer from BlipTV.
So I urge all you video makers out there of a greenish left persuasion to reconsider any compulsion you may have to upload your product to YouTube directly and only to Youtube. That doesn't mean that you don't open and run an account on YouTube and have your very own YouTube channel. You gotta be part of the monster. Just don't upload videos directly there.
If you do as I urge, and sign on with BlipTV as well -- and use that as your upload platform -- you then avail yourself of all the extremely useful services that Blip offers -- including show players, selective cross posting, offering direct download of each video files, show customisation, and all the rest.
Have show will travel.
To give you an idea of what that means long term: I was trying to put together a selection of TV channels to showcase online left and green video content and the tools speak for themselves. Compare my own show player embedded here with an example of what's on offer from YouTube .
There is simply no competition.
It was the case , but it is less so now, that BlipTV offered much better picture quality than YouTube.
If you think it's just me who is asserting this, consider that key well known, respected and professional, alt-media video programs like Deomocracy Now! and Melbourne's The Union Show prefer to showcase their content on BlipTV (rather than YouTube). They know that they can distribute or syndicate their shows much better that way.
If you are thinking I'm being brand specific you can also consider using Vimeo with fewer bells and whistles on offer but with much better image quality especially for high definition (HD) content. Vimeo is preferred by film school students and professional video photographers for these reasons, I gather, as the videos are sure to look more 'beautiful' with more pixels on show.
But take in what I am trying to say:
If you use BlipTV you may like to consider also creating a videoblog for yourself -- just so that your videos are all in one web space with any number of links and poltical references decorated around your video content. You can set up a blog in 5 minures and as well as having your presence on YouTube with your another channel on BlipTV -- you can also , simply by ticking one box during your upload process, post all your content to your own videoblog -- as well as any number of other online sites.
I simply hate it when political people send viewers to YouTube to view their (or anyone else's) latest video. Better to send them to a political web site (rather than an all in emporium)that carries or shares your own perspectives. You wouldn't stand on a street corner with Green Left Weeklies in your hand tearing out single pages and handing them to passers by would you? In politics you want to promote the whole package. Not segments.
That doesn't mean that people cannot watch your videos on YouTube or can't subscribe to your YouTube channel or find your videos by doing an online search. It means that you are considerate of how you package your content with a mind to sharing it across the web.
There is also self interest at stake here.If lefties who shoot and publish online video were more considerate of their packaging options, bods like me could do much more with their content and create any number of video hubs by harnessing their embed code to showcase their digital work.
Note:BlipTV show players usually default to playing the latest episode. rather tan offering side panel choices as well. That also is a great advantage as visitors to the site where the video.is enbedded can watch fresh content as soon as they arrive. Here, with Democracy Now! -- a daily show -- is an example of that attribute in a show player.
The 'gadgets' that are supposed to work , don't -- and the default player is so crude -- small screen size, limited number of video episodes accessible -- that it's hardly an import/export exercise worthy of the effort .
While YouTube now offers easy customisation of embed code -- it's only in single player mode.
So here's a tip -- don't use YouTube.
That may seem a strange and petulant assertion given that YouTube is one of the busiest sites on the web. But I'm being serious -- do not upload your video files directly to YouTube. Upload them somewhere else and cross post.
I reckon this is online video's best kept secret. Platforms now a'days, by dint of company to company partnerships, are now allowing cross posting. That means that while you may upload your video file to service A, when you come to enter your uploading preferences you can specify that the same video -- in effect the code -- be posted to other sites as well. You can choose to post your video to any number of blogs, other video aggregators, Facebook and MySpace even though you only upload the file just the once.
Isn't that cool?
While there are many platforms that offer this cross posting service for free (another is TubeMoghul) you would be hard pressed to find one to match the attributes on offer from BlipTV.
So I urge all you video makers out there of a greenish left persuasion to reconsider any compulsion you may have to upload your product to YouTube directly and only to Youtube. That doesn't mean that you don't open and run an account on YouTube and have your very own YouTube channel. You gotta be part of the monster. Just don't upload videos directly there.
If you do as I urge, and sign on with BlipTV as well -- and use that as your upload platform -- you then avail yourself of all the extremely useful services that Blip offers -- including show players, selective cross posting, offering direct download of each video files, show customisation, and all the rest.
Have show will travel.
To give you an idea of what that means long term: I was trying to put together a selection of TV channels to showcase online left and green video content and the tools speak for themselves. Compare my own show player embedded here with an example of what's on offer from YouTube .
There is simply no competition.
It was the case , but it is less so now, that BlipTV offered much better picture quality than YouTube.
If you think it's just me who is asserting this, consider that key well known, respected and professional, alt-media video programs like Deomocracy Now! and Melbourne's The Union Show prefer to showcase their content on BlipTV (rather than YouTube). They know that they can distribute or syndicate their shows much better that way.
If you are thinking I'm being brand specific you can also consider using Vimeo with fewer bells and whistles on offer but with much better image quality especially for high definition (HD) content. Vimeo is preferred by film school students and professional video photographers for these reasons, I gather, as the videos are sure to look more 'beautiful' with more pixels on show.
But take in what I am trying to say:
- Run your channel on YouTube
- But upload your video files to BlipTV
- Cross post to YouTube and other platforms (such as blogs )
- Avail yourself and others of the excellent embed options (single episode or the whole channel) offered at BlipTV (and customize your own players.)
If you use BlipTV you may like to consider also creating a videoblog for yourself -- just so that your videos are all in one web space with any number of links and poltical references decorated around your video content. You can set up a blog in 5 minures and as well as having your presence on YouTube with your another channel on BlipTV -- you can also , simply by ticking one box during your upload process, post all your content to your own videoblog -- as well as any number of other online sites.
I simply hate it when political people send viewers to YouTube to view their (or anyone else's) latest video. Better to send them to a political web site (rather than an all in emporium)that carries or shares your own perspectives. You wouldn't stand on a street corner with Green Left Weeklies in your hand tearing out single pages and handing them to passers by would you? In politics you want to promote the whole package. Not segments.
That doesn't mean that people cannot watch your videos on YouTube or can't subscribe to your YouTube channel or find your videos by doing an online search. It means that you are considerate of how you package your content with a mind to sharing it across the web.
There is also self interest at stake here.If lefties who shoot and publish online video were more considerate of their packaging options, bods like me could do much more with their content and create any number of video hubs by harnessing their embed code to showcase their digital work.
Note:BlipTV show players usually default to playing the latest episode. rather tan offering side panel choices as well. That also is a great advantage as visitors to the site where the video.is enbedded can watch fresh content as soon as they arrive. Here, with Democracy Now! -- a daily show -- is an example of that attribute in a show player.
