Catshanghai

I have just heard about this service from the Twit podcast when it was reviewing Business 2.0′s list of 25 websites to watch. Blip.tv does the same thing as Youtube inasmuch as users can upload videos that can be viewed or embedded into blogs.

Youtube caps the length of videos at 10 minutes, but Blip.tv lets you upload longer movies. Youtube does not let you put up videos that are over 100 MB. Blip.tv recommends videos that are less than 100 MB, although it does not reject bigger files. Blip.tv sets up your account as a blog so that viewers can find your videos if they know your blip.tv web address, but you can also search for videos based on tags just like with Youtube. You can find all my Blip.tv videos at http://catshanghai.blip.tv. I have uploaded just one! The Youtube upload method is very simple. It accepts multiple formats and transcodes all of them into Flash movies that are supported on 97 percent of web browsers with the plugin. Blip.tv and Youtube both let you copy and paste the html to embed your video into your website or blog. Blip.tv goes further by letting you host your video in multiple formats including MPEG-2, MP4, XVID and even MovieMaker files. It has a form interface to upload videos, but it will also accept videos posted using FTP, from mobile phones and Blip.tv’s own Windows upload software.

You can also crosspost your video directly into blogs including Blogger, Myspace and WordPress. Better still, Blip.tv creates the RSS feed that you need for others to be able to download your movies to be able to watch on their Ipods or portable media devices. Youtube is easy to use, popular and meets nearly all of the needs for most netheads. Blip.tv’s service is more flexible and extensive, but that means there is also a little bit more to learn. You need to be familiar with file formats and rss feeds in order to make full use of the service that Blip.tv is offering.

Both sites offer a free basic video uploading service. Blip.tv’s business model is to generate revenue by embedding advertising into the video and splitting half the revenue with the user. In effect, they are behaving as an online advertising agency. This is fair enough. Google’s service is free, but they serve paid for links relating to your search terms. If your video is popular, it could generate good advertising revenue so you and Blip.tv both prosper. At the moment, millions of people are happy to upload their videos to Youtube without any prospect of being paid. Youtube film makers like to express themsleves and they enjoy the opportunity of being able to achieve fame or notoreity within a global community. Even though Blip.tv offers advertising revenue, most of their video partners are not going to earn enough to quit their day jobs. Both services will continue to have a long tail of amateur exhibitionists in pursuit of the next viral video.

Youtube is getting a lot of bad press at the moment as media companies try to pull down their copyrighted content. This is mean, because the videos are usually low resolution and give a great deal of free publicity. Youtube gave Saturday Night Live a real shot in the arm. There are workarounds that make it easy to pirate videos from Youtube, but who wants to watch a pixellated compressed video on a big screen? Youtube is a wonderful resource for watching old music videos and news clips. I use it a lot with my classes when I am looking for video examples to show new technologies such as One Laptop Per Child. Before, these video clips were impossible to obtain, especially in China. I like Blip.tv more than Youtube, because it is more powerful for video bloggers to share their content in many different formats. I expect Blip.tv to have more niche film makers who are catering to interests such as politics, photography, web design, music technology and woodworking.

Youtube is now owned by Google so they have the biggest Internet company to support them as they work out their business model. Blip.tv already has a plan to earn revenue by offering the most popular content creators a chance to make a living from advertising. Both services are giving a voice to many people and there is room for both of them to coexist and thrive.

Video may have killed the radio star, but the Internet is giving every medium a new lease of life!

Links:
youtube.com,
twit.tv,
blip.tv,
catshanghai.blip.tv