Internet | Reports

Navigating the World of Streaming

1 Jan , 2001  

Written by Peter Bohush | Posted by:

Want to share your video with the world? Whether its a documentary, narrative, or even some footage of a family reunion, here's the places to get it streamed on the web...

Jorge Diaz, a 26-year-old New Yorker, had just bought a DV cam to take on his honeymoon and wanted to start using it. But unlike the famous semi-trash couple Pamela and Tommy Lee, Diaz had a more family-friendly idea, and pitched it to a streaming video site, DSCOOP.COM.

"I submitted my video to DSCOOP after emailing them and letting them know the idea I had to do a doc on the artsy fake cows that were being put all over the streets of New York," Diaz said. "They were totally into it. They said to go for it."

His idea became "Phat Cows," a short documentary that can be viewed on DSCOOP.COM, one of a number of sites that host web videos. Some sites, such as DSCOOP.COM, pick and choose which videos they’ll host. Others will allow anyone to post their movies.

There are sites that post online videos for a fee, but which cater primarily to corporate clientele. There are also sites for professionals and aspiring professionals to distribute their work online such as ATOMFILMS.COM, IFILM.COM, MEDIATRIP.COM, EVEO.COM, and ROBOFILMS.COM.

The sites listed here are some of the many free services that help you edit, convert, upload and promote your digital movies. All provide similar functionality and performance (with a slight edge to Apple, Earthnoise and Dazzle for ease of use.) If you’re new to online video, check out ICANSTREAM.COM, a wonderful educational site sponsored by Canon, Digital Origin, and others. You’ll find actual video clips that will guide you through the shooting, editing, compression and publishing processes.

ANTEYE.COM — Accepts any clip, uncensored, and claims to offer creators of the most popular videos a Hollywood "development deal." Once your video is uploaded, viewers vote on it like a Survivor episode. Winners are given preferential placement on the site’s home page. The site has an unorthodox layout that requires visitors to scroll left to right, rather than the usual top to bottom.

APPLE.COM — Offers Mac users 20Mb of free space to post web and video files. One of the easiest to use, simply drag and drop files online right from the desktop using Apple’s free iTools application. Files can be made public or password-protected. The one drawback to this site is that it doesn’t offer a showcase page like some others, this is strictly a file storage site.

DAZZLE.COM — Maker of low-cost video editing and publishing products, including the $99 DV-Editor. Also plays host to videos, stills and sound files, up to 10Mb free or up to 200Mb for $20/month. Accepts only Real and Windows media files, plus gif and jpg images. It has a very simple and easy upload process, but the site hosted very few files at time of review.

** Search for "Drop Kick," perhaps the funniest online video ever (well, funny and sick — but I’m sure no one was hurt in the production of this 30 second movie)!

DIGITALFRIDGE.COM — Billed as the cool place to hang your photos and videos. Owned by Kensington Technology Group (yes, the people who make your trackball). Personal and public fridges can be created and, like many sites, you can email friends to come and look at your media files. Simple to use — lots of movies to watch.

DSCOOP.COM — Reviews submissions of videos less than three-minutes long. Showcases those accepted. Provides links and information on getting started in digital video.

EARTHNOISE.COM — Caters to both home movies and aspiring professionals. Files can be either Real video or ASF (Windows). You can also mail them your videotapes and they’ll convert and post them for you. Videos not appropriate for children are clearly marked. Offers free Windows and Mac EarthCast software to compress and load files. I tried the Mac version, and although it had an ugly Windows-like interface, it performed flawlessly, compressing an 800Mb QuickTime movie down to a 9Mb Real video file.

ICANSTREAM.COM — While not a hosting service, this learning site is one of the best. Watch short videos to teach how to shoot, edit, compress and publish videos for the web.

LYCOS.COM — 10Mb free space. VideoProducer software (Windows only) captures video from VCR, camcorder, webcam or other source, edits with transitions, compresses and uploads to your site on Lycos.

POPCAST.COM — 10Mb free storage, nice tutorial and free compression tool. Accepts only Microsoft ASF formatted files.

TERRAN.COM — Makers of Cleaner 5, the leading compression software (lite versions available for free.) Also provides good tutorials, links to sister sites such as CODECCENTRAL.COM, and a comprehensive glossary of DV terms.

One last tip: if you want to catch Hollywood’s eye, poke it with a satirical stick. Top titles include "George Lucas in Love" and "Saving Ryan’s Privates." Remember to keep it short. The attention span of a Hollywood viewer is directly proportional to their estimated job tenure, which is often shorter than it takes the valet at the Polo Lounge to go get their car.