Web-Based Delivery of Audio and Video Materials

The web-based delivery of Audio-Video recordings consists in the ability to publish, share and redistribute to other internet-connected users audio or video clips.

Photo credit: (c) Padplayer

Thanks to major cost decreases for mass storage technology and thanks to the increased amounts of data bandwidth available to Internet providers and end users since 2005 it has become feasible for anyone to publish, share and easily repurpose audio and video materials on the Internet at zero costs.

The services that allow for this to be possible act either as large public repositories of non-copyrighted, freely accessible materials or as commercial video clearinghouses which build their sustainability around contextual advertising and sponsorship models.

This situation, which may evolve further in the near future provides true miracolous benefits to anyone wanting to record, edit, or publish an audio and video clip without having to buy any commercial software. In fact users of Windows, Mac and Linux type of computers have today at their disposal a number of free or very low-cost services which allow them to publish and distribute their preferred audio and video material in a simple and effective way.

The requirements to start benefiting from these new services and opportunities include:

• some familiarity with the basic audio and video file formats existing out there.


• some understanding of what encodign is and what codecs are


• understanding of screen size and resolution issues


• basic familiarity with Windows Movie Maker (Windows) or iMovie (Mac)


• both softwares come bundled free with every computer - nothing to buy

Photo credit: (c) Hipcast

The Internet delivery of audio and video materials involves lots of different and diverse aspects depending on the specific type of use one needs to make of it. The key features offered by the audio/video publishing services providing audio and video publishing support may include:

• Free uploading and hosting
  This is the ability to store/archive files on Internet servers made available by specific services. It allows for others to access the videos from any Internet connected computer and for anyone to avoid having to rent or own a physical web server and paying the cost for the bandwidth consumed by all those that will be watching the audio/video material.
• Max file size/duration
  The maximum file size for audio/video files that can be stored/archived on the service. This is a limitation that can be imposed by certain services to avoid excessive hosting costs of too large files.
• Max Bandwidth allowance
  Some services impose specific limitations in the amount of bandwidth consumed by those that will view your audio/video recorded material. This may be expressed in number of views or in actual gigabytes.
• File formats supported
  These are the types of audio and video file formats supported by each service. These include mp3, Windows Media Video (.wmv), Quicktime (.mov), Real (.ram) and Flash video (.flv) among others.
• Max number of files/space usable
  Some services may also impose restrictions on the total number of files and/or the total space occupied on their servers.
• Automatic encoding
  To have an audio or video clip to be immediately playable when published on a web page (streaming) it needs to be encoded into a special format. Some services provide this automatic encoding service taking away a lot fo the technicalities that non-technical people may prefer to avoid. Typically audio and video files are encoded in the increasingly popular Flash audio/video format. Encoding determines the final characteristics of an audio and video clip including its quality, size and optimization for users on different Internet connection speeds (dial-up, ISDN, ADSL, Cable, T1)
• Private/Public access
  This is the ability to publish audio and video materials either in a "private" space, accessible only to the people you invite to it, or in a "public" one whereby a public URL/web page exists for it and anyone can access it directly.
• Integration of a license
  Professional audio and video publishing services increasingly integrate a facility to specify the copyright ownership and the type of licensing that you want to "apply" to the audio/video clip you are making available. New licensing approaches like the Creative Commons provide the opportunity for others to re-use your work for non-commercial uses, while crediting you and minimizing the paperwork.
• Ability to index / integrate notes to specific points
  This is an advanced feature which allows you to index and annotate specific points in your audio/video clip, making it much easier to access specific sections/points while providing greater insight into the contents of the video without requiring one to view it all. Presently only Flashmeeting, Motionbox.com, Click.tv and Veotag.com offer free services of this kind.
• Direct recording (of audio or video from your computer)
  Direct recording is the ability to log into a web service and directly record an audio or video clip using a microphone or webcam directly connected to your computer. The recording is immediately saved to the web service and immediately made available for public distribution. Videoegg, Hellodeo, Hipcast are among the web services offering this option today.
• Editing facilities
  Editing facilities provide you with the ability to cut, splice, remove, duplicate and insert basic effects like fades and dissolves into an audio or video clip.
• Titling - captions
  Titling facilities allow for the addition of titles, captions and graphics to recorded video materials.
• Sharing - Redistribution
  A key functionality emerging among audio/video publication services is one of allowing other sites to syndicate/re-publish your audio/video material by embedding it directly into their selected web pages. YouTube, Google Video, Blip.tv, Hipcast are among the many web services offering these options today.
• Syndication via RSS
  RSS is a new distribution technology which allows individuals to "subscribe" without sharing their private information or email to your specific postings or audio/video clips. Web-based audio-video publishing services generally integrate an automatically created RSS feed channel to carry all of the audio and video materials you publish for subscribers to be immediately updated whenever you publish a new one.
• Download feature
  A sometimes vital feature is the one allowing for full and unrestricted download of the audio/video material being published. Only some services provide this facility.
• Tags and categories
  This is the ability to associate specific identification tags and classification categories to any audio/video clip published online.
• Post/embed to blog
  This is the feature that allows other sites to syndicate/republish your audio/video clip by embedding them directly into their web pages.
• Group/community creation
  This is the ability to create community groups around specific audio/video content faciloitating the creation of small collaborative communities in which the material posted follows a specific theme.
• P2P BitTorrent distribution support
  P2P Bittorrent distribution allows for an unmediated peer-to-peer distribution approach leveraging the redistribution power of other Internet users. This method guarantees the ability to support very large audiences when and if your audio and video materials need to be accessed by very large numbers of users. By sharing the distribution load among many users instead than on a server, it is possible to achieve wide distribution of audio/video clips to very broad audiences.
• Streaming
  Services providing streaming abilities make it possible for your users to immediately view or listen your audio/video materials published online. If they are on a high-speed Internet connection the clips start playing automatically on their screen as soon as the playback is pressed. Without streaming the user needs to effectively download all of a clip contents to her computer before being able to see/listen to it in full.
• Encryption/DRM integration
  Digital rights management is the technological ability to embed control mechanisms that limit the use, redistribution and access abilities of end users for commercial, copyrighted content. Via DRM facilities it is possible for an individual publisher to set limits and controls on the specific use that can be made of a specific clip, depending in certain cases on the payment of a specific amount to be made by the end user.
• Requires software to install
  Optional software required to publish audio and video clips, sometimes providing additional, advanced capabilities. (Maybe an option to facilitate batch or very large file uploading)

Video Publishing and Sharing Tools

Here some of the most popular online video publishing and sharing tools for learning and collaboration.

N.B.: the following list does not pretend to be all-inclusive - please utilize the comments facility at the bottom of this mini-guide to signal other wortwhile resources that you feel should be listed here

YouTube

YouTube allows you to publish your video clips online without having to pay for storage space or download bandwidth. YouTube uses folksonomy-enabled tags to let users classify the available contents. A public tag cloud allows anyone to easily find most popular topics. YouTube includes a search engine to search for clips, titles, descriptions, authors and tags included with any clip. YouTube fully supports RSS and generates feed for any tag created on his system. It is possible to upload any kind of personal video with a maximum file size of 100MB. Video file formats from most video, digital cameras and cell phones are supported. These include: .AVI, .MOV, and .MPG file formats. The YouTube service requires a simple registration and it is completely free to use.
http://www.youtube.com/

• Free uploading and hosting: YES
• Audio: NO
• Video: YES
• Max file size:100 MB or 10 minutes
• Ability to add / integrate notes to specific points: NO
• Formats supported: Mpeg, Mov, Avi, Wmv
• Streaming: YES
• Download feature: NO
• Direct recording: NO
• Tags and categories: YES
• Editing facilities: NO
• Titling - captions: YES
• Redistribution - share video: YES
• Post/embed to blog: YES
• Group/community creation: YES
• Price: Free
• Site: http://www.youtube.com/

Our review:

Free Video Clip Publishing Online: YouTube
June 23, 2005

Ourmedia

Ourmedia is a public archive for everyone to upload and share their personal content, be it text, audio, music or video, is about to become reality. Its goal is the one to enable producers of grassroots media to store and share their work with the world. Without needing to pay for bandwidth, hosting or anything else. Ourmedia site consists of video (digital stories, music videos, video blogs, home-made documentaries, underground films, grassroots political ads, animation, machinima), audio (interviews with authors, oral family histories, readings of properly licensed book chapters), original music, photographs, ebooks, games and more. Free to use.
http://www.ourmedia.org/

• Free uploading and hosting: YES
• Audio: YES
• Video: YES
• Max file size: No limit - Our media publisher above 20 MB
• Ability to add / integrate notes to specific points: NO
• Formats supported:
Mov, Flash, Wmv, Wma, Mpeg, Wav, Mp3
• Streaming: NO
• Download feature: YES
• Direct recording: NO
• Tags and categories: YES
• Editing facilities: NO
• Titling - captions: YES
• Redistribution - share video: YES
• Post/embed to blog: YES
• Group/community creation: YES
• Price: Free
• Site: http://www.ourmedia.org/

Our reviews:

Global Grassroots Content Clearinghouse: Ourmedia
November 17, 2004

Video Publishing: Howard Rheingold Supports Ourmedia
February 14, 2006

GoogleVideo

Google Video is one of the most comprehensive video archives in which any users can upload and stream their videos. Google Video features a search engine to search for clips, titles, descriptions, authors and tags included with any clip. It is possible to upload any kind of personal video with a maximum file size of 100MB. Video file formats from most video, digital cameras and cell phones are supported. These include: .AVI, .MPEG, .MOV, Real, and Windows Media file formats. Google Video also offers a downloadable video uploader to start sharing your videos from your desktop. Free to use.
http://video.google.com/

• Free uploading and hosting: YES
• Audio: NO
• Video: YES
• Max file size: No limit - Google Video Uploader above 100 MB
• Ability to add / integrate notes to specific points: NO
• Formats supported: Avi, Asf, Mov, Wm, Mpg, Ra, Ram
• Streaming: YES
• Download feature: YES
• Direct recording: NO
• Tags and categories: YES
• Editing facilities: NO
• Titling - captions: YES
• Redistribution - share video: YES
• Post/embed to blog: YES
• Group/community creation: NO
• Price: Free
• Site: http://video.google.com/

Our reviews:

Google Video Is Here: Upload, Search And Deliver
June 27, 2005

What Video On The Web Should Be: Is Google Video A Model To Follow?
January 26, 2006

Eyespot

Eyespot is a service that lets you upload, edit and stream your personal videos. The site provides basic editing functionalities and enables you to remix videos with good quality results. You can upload 7 videos at a time each with a limit of 50 MB.
http://www.eyespot.com/

• Free uploading and hosting: YES
• Audio: YES
• Video: YES
• Max file size: 50 MB
• Ability to add / integrate notes to specific points: NO
• Formats supported: Avi, Mov, Wmv, 3gp, Mp3, Wma, Wav
• Streaming: YES
• Download feature: YES
• Direct recording: NO
• Tags and categories: YES
• Editing facilities: YES
• Titling - captions: YES
• Redistribution - share video: NO
• Post/embed to blog: YES
• Group/community creation: YES
• Price: Free
• Site: http://www.eyespot.com/

Our review:

Video Editing, Publishing And Remixing Online Is Here
April 6, 2006

Jumpcut

Jumpcut is a video editing service that allows you to remix your videos online and also publish them on any webpage. Jumpcut provides an intuitive interface which allows you to make changes to your videos and add special effect to them. Uploaded file must be max 100 MB and they can be in the most popular video, audio and image formats.
http://www.jumpcut.com/

• Free uploading and hosting: YES
• Audio: NO
• Video: YES
• Max file size: 50 MB
• Ability to add / integrate notes to specific points: NO
• Formats supported: Mpeg, Mov, Wmv, Avi
• Streaming: YES
• Download feature: NO
• Direct recording: NO
• Tags and categories: YES
• Editing facilities: YES
• Titling - captions: YES
• Redistribution - share video: YES
• Post/embed to blog: YES
• Group/community creation: YES
• Price: Free
• Site: http://www.jumpcut.com/

Dropshots

DropShots is a service that promotes photo and video sharing and supports MPG, AVI, MOV, WMV, and 3GP from all major digital cameras. You just drag and drop the video to our application and we resize, transcode, upload, and host your video. We support MPG, AVI, MOV, WMV, and 3GP from all major digital cameras. The free version is limited to 500 photos and 10 videos. Photos can be any file size and any dimension. Videos can be any file size and up to 2 minutes in length.
http://www.dropshots.com/

• Free uploading and hosting: YES
• Audio: NO
• Video: YES
• Max file size: 2 minutes
• Ability to add / integrate notes to specific points: NO
• Formats supported: Avi, Mpg, Mov, Wmv, 3gp
• Streaming: NO
• Download feature: NO
• Direct recording: NO
• Tags and categories: NO
• Editing facilities: NO
• Titling - captions: NO
• Redistribution - share video: YES
• Post/embed to blog: YES
• Group/community creation: YES
• Price: Free
• Site: http://www.dropshots.com/

Veoh

Veoh currently supports uploads in WMV, Quicktime and DIVX formats, supporting most standard video and audio encoding. To help people find and choose your video Veoh provides an area for you to enter a title, a description, as well as the ability to supply an unlimited number of tags (keywords) for users to search. If you are publishing videos that are longer than 100MB you should use the Veoh client software to publish, the Veoh web upload process should only be used for shorter, smaller video files. The Veoh client requires a broadband Internet connection to upload or download video files. Actual bandwidth requirements depend on your usage.
http://www.veoh.com/

• Free uploading and hosting: YES
• Audio: NO
• Video: YES
• Max file size: No limit - Veoh client software above 100 MB
• Ability to add / integrate notes to specific points: NO
• Formats supported: Wmv, Mov, Mpeg
• Streaming: YES
• Download feature: YES
• Direct recording: NO
• Tags and categories: YES
• Editing facilities: NO
• Titling - captions: YES
• Redistribution - share video: YES
• Post/embed to blog: NO
• Group/community creation: NO
• Price: Free
• Site: http://www.veoh.com/

Our review:

Video Publishing And Distribution: Veoh (beta) Review
August 26, 2005

Vimeo

Vimeo is another online free video hosting and delivery service dedicated to short high-quality clips. On Vimeo you can upload just about any video format though not everyone can view all of them (not all computers and operating systems can read and playback the different kinds of video formats available out there). Videos can also be downloaded, instant messaged (if you use AOL IM) or freely commented. Vimeo employs a tag-based folksonomy. An RSS feed for each Vimeo video publishing author is also automatically activated. Free to use.
http://www.vimeo.com/

• Free uploading and hosting: YES
• Audio: NO
• Video: YES
• Max file size: 30 MB per week
• Ability to add / integrate notes to specific points: NO
• Formats supported: Any
• Streaming: YES
• Download feature: YES
• Direct recording: NO
• Tags and categories: YES
• Editing facilities: NO
• Titling - captions: YES
• Redistribution - share video: YES
• Post/embed to blog: NO
• Group/community creation: NO
• Price: Free
• Site: http://www.vimeo.com/

Our review:

Online Video Clips Hosting And Web Delivery With Vimeo
June 28, 2005

Blip.tv

Blip is a videoblogging, podcasting and video sharing service. When you register with Blip you get your own blog, whose web address will look like "yourusername.blip.tv". Once you upload your videos, you can easily publish them on other web sites. Blip works better with a modern browser like Firefox, Safari or Internet Explorer 6. Recommended operative systems are Windows XP or Mac OS X 10.3. Free to use.
http://www.blip.tv/

• Free uploading and hosting: YES
• Audio: NO
• Video: YES
• Max file size: No limits
• Ability to add / integrate notes to specific points: NO
• Formats supported: Mov, Wmv
• Streaming: YES
• Download feature: NO
• Direct recording: NO
• Tags and categories: YES
• Editing facilities: NO
• Titling - captions: YES
• Redistribution - share video: NO
• Post/embed to blog: YES
• Group/community creation: YES
• Price: Free
• Site: http://www.blip.tv/

Brightcove

With Brightcove you can create and start using an Internet broadband video distribution channel, literally in a matter of minutes. And your channel maybe a collection of hundreds of videos in different thematic categories, or just one short clip. Brightcove provides almost all of the tools needed to get your video from your tape to your potential online audience. You simply upload your video content to Brightcove servers and then package it and enrich it with relevant data and interface components for online distribution. Videos can be published on any webpage. Free to use
http://www.brightcove.com/

• Free uploading and hosting: YES
• Audio: NO
• Video: YES
• Max file size: No limits
• Ability to add / integrate notes to specific points: NO
• Formats supported: Flash, Wmv
• Streaming: YES
• Download feature: NO
• Direct recording: NO
• Tags and categories: YES
• Editing facilities: NO
• Titling - captions: YES
• Redistribution - share video: NO
• Post/embed to blog:YES
• Group/community creation: NO
• Price: Free
• Site:http://www.brightcove.com/

Our reviews:

Internet Broadcasting: Brightcove Makes Professional Online Video Publishing And Distribution A Reality
June 7, 2006

Internet Television: Brightcove Launches First 360 Degrees Internet TV Business Platform
October 31, 2006

Click.tv

Click.TV's web-based video player allows online video publishers, reporters, bloggers and subject matter experts to contribute content, links, annotations and personal comments to any published video, while being able to synch such contributions to specific video segments. Such contributions can then be used as navigational "bookmarks" or "chapter markings" making video access and navigation enter a whole new era. One of Click.TV powerful unique features is its ability to allow both editors and readers (if desired) to not only add specific comments, references, annotations, transcripts to any video clip, but to be able to bind such additions to specific video segments. Videos must be in .flv format. Free to use.
http://www.click.tv/

• Free uploading and hosting: NO
• Audio: NO
• Video: YES
• Max file size: No limits
• Ability to add / integrate notes to specific points: YES
• Formats supported: Flash
• Streaming: YES
• Download feature: NO
• Direct recording: NO
• Tags and categories: NO
• Editing facilities: NO
• Titling - captions: YES
• Redistribution - share video: YES
• Post/embed to blog: YES
• Group/community creation: NO
• Price: Free
• Site:
http://www.click.tv/

Our review:

Online Video Publishing Gets Into The Conversation: Click.TV
April 18, 2006

Abazab

Abazab is an Internet service keen on helping people share their lives whenever and wherever it happens. Abazab makes it easy to publish video clips, photos, audio and text straight from your camera phone or webcam right to an Abazab Playbox on your MySpace profile, Xanga page, blog or other web page. Your friends can even respond back to you in your Abazab Playbox when they visit your site or profile. You can also record videos straight from your webcam. Uploaded file must be max 100 MB. Free to use.
http://www.abazab.com/

• Free uploading and hosting: YES
• Audio: YES
• Video: YES
• Max file size: 100 MB
• Ability to add / integrate notes to specific points: NO
• Formats supported: Any
• Streaming: YES
• Download feature: NO
• Direct recording: YES
• Tags and categories: YES
• Editing facilities: NO
• Titling - captions: NO
• Redistribution - share video: YES
• Post/embed to blog: YES
• Group/community creation:
• Price: Free
• Site:http://www.abazab.com/

Hellodeo

Hellodeo allows you to record straight from your webcam, camcorder or from any other video signal you have incoming into your personal computer and it makes it then very easy for you to publish your video on your web site. Hellodeo requires no software installation, is completely web-based, it utilizes the Flash plugin and it is completely free to use. To start recording, you simply click the "record" button, and from there on, you are "on air", recording everything you showcase and say. Once you get the code of your recording you can publish it anywhere in the web. Free to use.
http://www.hellodeo.com/

• Free uploading and hosting: NO
• Audio: NO
• Video: YES
• Max file size: No limits
• Ability to add / integrate notes to specific points: NO
• Formats supported: NO
• Streaming: YES
• Download feature: NO
• Direct recording: YES
• Tags and categories: NO
• Editing facilities: NO
• Titling - captions: NO
• Redistribution - share video: NO
• Post/embed to blog: YES
• Group/community creation: NO
• Price: Free
• Site:http://www.hellodeo.com/
  

Our review:

Record And Publish Your Video Announcements Online: Hellodeo
July 18, 2006

Hipcast

Hipcast is a service that allows you to record audio and video files and encode them online. Once you record your audio and video files you can easily publish them on any webpage. You can create unlimited podcasts with Hipcast, complete with iTunes compatibility. Hipcast supports most major weblog software and services, including MovableType, Blogware, Typepad, WordPress, Blogger, pMachine, LiveJournal, and many others. Free 7-days trial is available.
http://www.hipcast.com/

• Free uploading and hosting: YES
• Audio: YES
• Video: YES
• Max file size: 256 MB
• Ability to add / integrate notes to specific points: NO
• Formats supported: Major file formats
• Streaming: YES
• Download feature: YES
• Direct recording: YES
• Tags and categories: NO
• Editing facilities: NO
• Titling - captions: YES
• Redistribution - share video: NO
• Post/embed to blog: YES
• Group/community creation: NO
• Price: $4.95/mo(Unlimited storage)-$9.95(Unlimited bandwidth) or $49.97/yr
• Site: http://www.hipcast.com/

VideoEgg

Video Egg Publisher, is a new web-based service (Windows-only for now - Mac support coming next) that provides an ultra-smooth user experience to any would-be online video publisher. VideoEgg Publisher also captures video directly from mobile phones (via email) and it can be used by non-technical people as it provides a well designed interface, an extremely limited set of options and a fully-enabled drag and drop interface. The Video Egg Publisher also integrates some very simple, though very effective, editing tools, allowing the videomaker to easily cut, shorten or trim video clips in a matter of seconds. Maximum clip length is 30". Free to use.
http://www.videoegg.com/

• Free uploading and hosting: YES
• Audio: NO
• Video: YES
• Max file size: 5 minutes
• Ability to add / integrate notes to specific points: NO
• Formats supported: Avi, Mpg, Wmv, Asf, Mov, 3gp
• Streaming: YES
• Download feature: NO
• Direct recording: YES
• Tags and categories: NO
• Editing facilities: NO
• Titling - captions: YES
• Redistribution - share video: YES
• Post/embed to blog: YES
• Group/community creation: NO
• Price: Free
• Site: http://www.videoegg.com/

Our review:

Publish Video Online In One-Click: The Egg Video Publisher
September 24, 2005

Flashmeeting

Flashmeeting allows a dispersed group of people to meet from anywhere in the world with an internet connection. Typically a meeting is pre-booked by a registered user and a url, containing a unique password for the meeting, is returned by the FlashMeeting server. The 'booker' passes this on to the people they wish to participate, who simply click on the link to enter into the meeting at the arranged time.
http://www.flashmeeting.com/

• Free uploading and hosting: NO
• Audio: NO
• Video: YES
• Max file size: No limits
• Ability to add / integrate notes to specific points: YES
• Formats supported: Any
• Streaming: YES
• Download feature: NO
• Direct recording: YES
• Tags and categories: NO
• Editing facilities: NO
• Titling - captions: NO
• Redistribution - share video: YES
• Post/embed to blog: NO
• Group/community creation: NO
• Price: Free
• Site: http://www.flashmeeting.com/

Online video publishing and sharing tools for learning and collaboration: comparison chart

Resources on Audio / Video Clips Publishing

• Basic audio and video file formats existing out there. Lists with descriptions and characteristics
• Codecs and Encoding
• Windows Movie Maker (Windows) mini-guides, tutorials and manuals.
• iMovie (Mac) mini-guides, tutorials and manuals.
• Creative Commons licenses.

Online video publishing and sharing for learning and collaboration newsradar

This information has been researched and collected by Robin Good in conjunction and support of the LANCELOT Language Research Project funded by the European Commission under the LEONARDO DA VINCI, Language Competence II programme.