Rich media and content-sharing platforms
Photo sharing is the publishing or transfer of a user’s digital photos online, thus enabling the user to share them with others (whether publicly or privately). This functionality is provided through both websites and applications that facilitate the upload and display of images. The term can also be loosely applied to the use of online photo galleries that are setup and managed by individual users, including photoblogs. (from Wikipedia).
Streaming media is multimedia that is constantly received by, and normally presented to, an end-user while it is being delivered by a streaming provider (the term ‘presented’ is used in this article in a general sense that includes audio or video playback). The name refers to the delivery method of the medium rather than to the medium itself. The distinction is usually applied to media that are distributed over telecommunications networks, as most other delivery systems are either inherently streaming or inherently non-streaming. (from Wikipedia).
A video hosting service allows individuals to upload video clips to an internet website. The video host will then store the video on its server, and show the individual different types of code to allow others to view this video. The website, mainly used as the video hosting website, is usually called the video sharing website. (from Wikipedia).
Definitions: Podcasting in Plain English and Online Photo Sharing in Plain English by Common Craft.
Communities: WeAreMedia on Podcasting; WeAreMedia on Photo Sharing; WeAreMedia on Video Sharing; NTEN’s Video Blogging Affinity Group (free); NTEN’s Flickr for Non-profits Affinity Group (free).
Networks: Non-profit Organizations YouTube Channel.
Consultants: Aquifer Media’s 12 Tips for Running Your Own User-Generated Video Contest; See3 Communications’Guide to Online Video; Beth Kanter’s Flickr and Non-profits Primer.
Organisations: YouTube’s Non-profit Program; Flickr for Good with TechSoup.
Blogs: ReadWriteWeb’s Store, Tag and Print: 10 Great Photo Sharing Services post; Agent Change’s Non-profits: Using YouTube to Raise Money blog post on NetSquared; Beth Kanter’s Ten Cool Examples of Non-profits Using Flickr! blog post on BlogHer; Beth Kanter’s How Non-profits Can Get the Most out of Flickr blog post on TechSoup; Wild Apricot’s Five Ways Non-profits Can Use Flickr to Reach New Audiences blog post; John Haydon’s The Six Sees of Video for Non-profits post; Emergence Media’s Social Media Not To Go Mainstream in Business in 2009 post & ebook.
Tools: Blip.tv; Flickr; YouTube; DoGooderTV; UStream; Qik; Vimeo.
Data sources: Mashable’s Video Toolbox: 150+ Online Video Tools and Resources.
Publications: How to Use Flickr: The Digital Photography Revolution by Richard Giles;Flickr Hacks: Tips & Tools for Sharing Photos Online by Paul Bausch and Jim Bumgardner; YouTube for Dummies by Doug Sahlin and Chris Botello.
How to make and publish quick videos for the web
by Andy
Shooting and uploading video on the web has never been easier. You can shoot quick headshot interviews and stick them on YouTube or other video-sharing sites (see above), or produce more sophisticated offerings, all from the comfort of your computer.
- If you don't have access to a video camera, by a Flip camera. They shoot web-ready videos very easily and they're incredibly cheap too. Any DV camera works fine though.
- Pick a simple idea. A film that can be shot in one take will save you hours of editing, whilst something that needs particular location or lighting conditions will absorb hours of shooting time.
- Shoot the footage. Try not to make the shots too busy or full, and focus on people’s faces to keep it interesting for the viewer. (People like to watch other people.) Don’t worry about quality too much, but shoot in as much light as possible and avoid background noise wherever you can.
- Download the footage to your PC or Mac from the camera. Name the clips clearly so you can find them quickly and tell them apart.
- Edit your movie together using either free software like Mac’s iMovie or Windows MovieMaker, or a cheap commercial tool like Adobe Premiere Elements. Make it as short as possible, and definitely under 10 minutes. A good rule of thumb is to edit it to your ideal length - and then cut it by half.
- If you’re worried about quality, you can get a lot of improvement from taking the soundtrack out and cleaning it up in a wave editing package like Audacity. Sound matters when pictures are small.
- Export your finished file as .mov, .avi or .mpg format (all are fine), in 340x240 resolution. There’s a 100MB size limit on YouTube so check the file size to make sure – the smaller the better.
- Sign up for a YouTube account. Click on ‘Upload Videos’ in the top right of the home page.
- Upload the video and give it a title, description, tags, category, and language. Choose tags and categories that will help people find it, and a description that will make people want to watch it.
Once you’ve got your video on YouTube, or on other video services, you can link to it and embed it on your blog, website or Facebook page, and e-mail the link to your friends and contacts. Good luck!
