YouTube isn’t just for kids with light-sabers and teens with webcams any more. As the popularity of YouTube increases, at student newspapers, we wonder about the advantages and shortfalls of third-party hosting versus hosting your video locally.
First off, why would any media outlet want to host their video elsewhere? Simple—unless you have a large budget, you can’t afford the bandwidth and storage space. Third-party hosting enables newspaper sites to have virtually unlimited space and bandwidth.
Unfortunately, you have less content control. Youtube and most other sites (like Daily Motion, Vimeo, or Google Video) have a size limit for each video. YouTube only allows you to upload videos that is 10 minutes or less.
Several people have asked in the past about transcriptions/closed-captioning for video. It’s a pain in the butt, but YouTube has just rolled out a promising new time-saving feature called auto-captioning.
Like any machine-generated transcription, some words get garbled. But if you have a video that has good audio from an interview (external mics!), and there’s not a lot of background noise, it’s useful. You can also use it on videos that have already been uploaded to the service. In your account, under “Captions and Subtitles” download the
English machine transcription file (it will be named “captions.sbv”) and you can edit the transcript in a text editor like TextWrangler, then upload the file back up to YouTube.
You can see the results in this video:
I spent 10 minutes total figuring out how it worked, tweaking the .sbv file, and reuploading.
I came across this story from the Boston Globe about an MIT student whos inventing a new type of wheelchair that is more usable in less wheelchair-accessible areas. The story itself is inspiring, the interactive graphic is interesting, but the video really tells the story of how it works, and illustrates some of the advantages of Internet-based video.
Students working with online video, note:
It’s short (1:44 minus title slide)
It’s told entirely by the subject of the story
It presents a single topic
There is a lot of b-roll footage (many close-ups)
The video matches the sound
It has a beginning, middle and end (i.e., explain the problem, how the solution was arrived at, demonstrate the solution)
There are lots of potential stories on your campus that could benefit from just this type of “how it works” video.
Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve gotten a couple of e-mails asking for recommendations for video cameras. This post is for those who might be in the market for a new video camera for your media outlet. I’ll give my experience, but I’d appreciate input from others out there who have experience with other cameras.
Last year, Eastern’s journalism department was equipping new mojo packs, and Jerry Mennenga of the Sioux City Journal recommended the Canon Vixia HF100. It cost around $550 at the time, included mic input and headphone input, shot in hi-def, and recorded to SD cards instead of tape.
I’ve used the camera for two semesters in classes, and dennews.com uses one to shoot videos for the web site, and they are really good cameras.
Here’s a fun piece the students shot with the sports editor:
The disk-based recording saves time ingesting video onto the computer, which is an added bonus. The downsides were that we had to use “log and capture” in Final Cut Express to convert the video files from .mts format to .mov for use on Macs. That has been fixed in iMovie ’09, which also handles the native Canon file format. And if you mess up the file structure on the SD card, the software won’t recognize the files, in which case, you will want to invest in a third-party conversion software (do a Google on “.mts to .mov conversion Mac” for some of the software out there, usually about $30-40 price range).
Since then, the HF100 has been upgraded to the HF200, which is basically the same camera at a similar price point with a few added features. The HF20 is the same camera with a built-in flash drive.
Canon also now has the Vixia HF-R10, which is a little less expensive and still comes with the mic in/headphone out. I have not tried out this camera.
Previously, we purchased the Canon ZR800, which was about $200 with a mic input and headphone output, and they work well for the most part, but don’t shoot in HD.
I know I sound like a Canon fanboi, but I shoot Nikon still cameras, and I’ve used Sony in the past. These are recommendations based only on my experience.
Any other suggestions for price-conscious shoppers who want a camera with a mic input and headphone out?
Or other types of cameras? I know a lot of people like the Flip. Drop a comment and let me know.
Tuesday night I live streamed my first large-scale event using free, browser-based software from Mogulus. A few things I learned:
Do as much advanced preparation as possible. If you’re covering an event (concert, debate, forum, meeting), contact audio technicians at the venue and find out what kind of audio setup they have. Find out if it’s possible to plug into the PA system and find out if there are any extra cables/cords you’ll need to rent or buy before arriving. Try to avoid using the microphone on your camera. Audio is the most important part of your stream and the camera will likely give you echoey feedback. Set up a time to actually visit the venue and ask yourself:
Do you get a good wireless connection? (If not, is there any way to access ethernet?)
What are the acoustics like?
Where will you plug into the audio?
Where is the best spot to set up your camera(s)?
Where are the electrical outlets?
How long of a cord do you need (extension cables?)
Who are the technicians? Meet them.
Bring a backup for everything. I had two cameras and two laptops because I planned to have one camera pointed at the stage and the other at the audience so I could switch back and forth without awkward panning. One camera and laptop stopped working though. Were it not for my backup, I would not have been able to continue streaming. Take extra batteries for your equipment and make sure your laptop is fully charged.
Show up early. Even after doing advanced preparation, show up an hour early (at least the first time you live stream) the day of your event to make sure everything is working properly. Just because your computer recognizes your camera once doesn’t mean it will happen again. Technology is unpredictable sometimes. Get the stream set up and test it out to make sure the audio is working
Work in teams. When things fail (which they will your first time, if you’re anything like me), it’s a lot easier to endure with more than one brain working on the problem. Teams are great for using multiple cameras (which Mogulus allows you to do) and for having a few moderators focusing solely on the chat. We had 2-3 chat moderators, a live-Twitterer, a reporter taking notes, a photographer, and someone managing the video (we were covering a town-hall style meeting with students and administrators regarding fee increases). Effective multimedia is not a one-man game.
Why Mogulus? For our situation, it was the best option (the other major live stream option is Ustream). If we hadn’t encountered technical difficulties, we would have ideally been switching between the two separate cameras– a feature unique to Mogulus. MasterNewMedia.org has a great, in-depth guide that can help you decide if Mogulus or Ustream is best. Both have ridiculously simple back ends that make streaming easy.
I used Mogulus for the following features that Ustream doesn’t have:
Ability to use multiple cameras
Ability to que up pre-recorded video (which was very useful during the first half hour of technical difficulties failure)
Professional-looking overlay options for lower thirds and a rolling ticker
Train everyone. After the first team figures out all the kinks of live streaming, let them bring back their experience to the newsroom. Teach as much of your staff as possible how to do it. The more the merrier. Good luck!
Image via WikipediaVia Will Sullivan, I find out that ESPN has finally launched their new web site and – wonder of wonders – I load the page and there is no auto-play video (see my previous rant). Thank you ESPN. I can now visit your web site again!
Traveling, I’ve had the opportunity to listen to a lot of podcasts that I haven’t been able to get to. Here’s one that tore my heart out. Regardless of your politics, we have an obligation to the men and women we’ve sent to war. Listen to these harrowing accounts and realize that we are all impacted by the decisions that have been made over the years of this war.
This morning, driving through the barren wasteland that is central Kansas, I heard Liane Hansen interview Jane Goldberg, the “Tap Goddess of the Lower East Side”. After the report, Hansen mentioned that Weekend edition now has a YouTube Channel.
The question is: Why don’t you?
Here’s Liane Hansen tapping away in the multimedia universe while your site frets about giving away content:
First off, why would any media outlet want to host their video elsewhere? Simple—unless you have a large budget, you can’t afford the bandwidth and storage space. Third-party hosting enables newspaper sites to have virtually unlimited space and bandwidth.
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