YouTube UK Blog
Adopt a Feature v2: Who Will Be the New Champ?
Monday, 27 July 2009
Recently,
we announced
that a new set of features was in need of your loving care. Over 50 of you heeded Round One champion thecomputernerd01's
call to help
-- that is, to make a video explaining to the YouTube community how annotations, tags, Quicklist, mobile uploads and/or the customised homepage work. Almost 50% of the group chose to "adopt" Annotations, and Tags and Quicklist also received a decent amount of attention. You even made videos about a few features not on the list, like captions, the new channel design and widescreen viewing. So far, the videos submitted for this round have been viewed over 34K times and already there are some choice tutorials out there, such as...
...
MikeandToneRP
's explanation of tags, starring Megan Fox (um, not):
...
LaughingLeaf
's video on Quicklist, complete with a blooper reel:
...
AJCShow
's fast n' easy overview of sending a video from your phone to YouTube:
We'll be showcasing some of the best submissions on the homepage on Thursday, July 30, so it's not too late for your moment in the sun. Simply make a video about any or all of the features listed at the start of this blog post, and include the name of the feature and "adoptafeature" in the tags. Share your video far and wide -- our
autoshare
feature will help a lot with that -- and try to build views for it. It's one of the factors we'll use to decide who makes it to the homepage and who takes the crown for this edition of the programme.
Anyway, go forth and adopt (a feature)!
Posted by Hunter Walk, Director, Product Management
YouTube -- Now in 3D! Join The Experiment With Us!
Wednesday, 22 July 2009
First there was 1953's 3D thriller "House of Wax," then there was the Michael Jackson adventure "Captain EO," and this summer there are at least three major motion pictures in 3D. The format is exploding in popularity, and already there are countless
3D videos
on YouTube. We wanted to make it easier for you to watch and enjoy them in a variety of formats, since having a 3D experience usually requires special glasses or viewing techniques. Here's a brief
overview video
.
This is a new feature and many of the kinks are still being worked out (for instance, 3D videos cannot be embedded). But as with most things on YouTube, we need your help. We are looking for you to show us the real potential of this feature by making a fascinating, funky 3D video of your own. Tag it with "yt3d:enable=true," and leave the link in a comment on this blog. We'll feature a small selection on the homepage in an upcoming 3D-themed spotlight.
Some basics around shooting 3D videos (this isn't easy, so patience is key):
* Use two cameras arranged like a pair of eyes.
* Start both cameras recording simultaneously.
* In your video editing program, place the footage for the left and right eyes together in the frame side by side, with the right eye on the left and the left eye on the right.
* Upload your video! Edit your videos tags and add yt3d:enable=true. If video is widescreen, add yt3d:aspect=16:9 too.
For user discussions around 3D video, visit the
YouTube forum
.
Have fun!
Peter Bradshaw, Software Engineer
789 Gathering: In Video & Pictures
Friday, 17 July 2009
Those of you with long memories may remember user gatherings stretching as far back as February '07, with the "As One" meet-up in San Francisco. Last weekend, in New York City, the latest generation of vloggers, viewers and playlisters got together for 789, a get-together that took place over several days in the Big Apple. While regulars like Nalts and Zipster were on hand to capture scenes of people getting acquainted, the event seemed like it belonged to first-time gatherers like
BeanerLaRue
, who reels off an impressive list of in-the-flesh meetings:
Also hard to miss were rising stars like Mitchell Davis (a.k.a. LiveLavaLive, seen below in the Apple store with a posse of female vloggers) and the always energetic
Supermac18
:
Photographers StylistBrighton and Bucknik captured some impressive still shots which they've posted
here
and
here
.
A few users, including
Urgo6667
, mattlaw25 and vclamp, joined YouTube's George Strompolos for burgers and a weekend tour of Google's New York office. The group talked about the partner program and, perhaps more importantly, played lots of
Pong
.
Congratulations to MyAnnoyances, PaulThaAsian and DJTLaC who were the driving forces behind the 789 gathering. Watch
MyAnnoyances
express his thanks to you for making it a success:
If you attended the event, tell us what you thought in the comments, and let us know about any upcoming gatherings you're organizing and we'll list them in the sidebar of this blog. We're also aggregating videos showcasing your great organizing efforts on the
user gathering channel
; we've got a good list from 789 there already, and we imagine there will only be more to come.
Posted by Mia Quagliarello, Community Manager
When Coronation Street met Google Maps on YouTube
Thursday, 16 July 2009
YouTube, Coronation Street and Google Maps: how could they possibly come together? The answer lies with the fabled Google Street View Car, which today rolled over the most famous cobbles in Manchester with a view to incorporating shots of the soap's set into the service.
It will take a few months for the images to be processed and carefully stitched together before being incorporated into Street View on Google Maps, but for anyone who can't wait until then the Corrie team filmed the four-wheeled photographer in action:
OK, so this is essentially a video of car driving along a road... but hey: what a road! For more Coronation Street news online, head
here
.
Have fun,
Jamie
Become a Citizen Journalist with Pocket TV
Wednesday, 15 July 2009
Have you ever been sat watching the presenters of a TV show and thought: I could do that? If so,
The Pocket TV Show
wants to hear from you.
As part of its launch on YouTube,
Pocket TV
is asking UK users of YouTube to pitch them feature pieces to be built into their weekly shows, presented by Matt Edmondson and Jameela Jamil. To date they have covered everything from under-18s raves to clothes-swapping nights out, but we believe that you can take this to the next level:
So what are you waiting for? Head over to the channel and get suggesting!
Have fun,
Jamie, YouTube UK
YouTube Partner Programme: Join Us!
Friday, 3 July 2009
You are producing your own content on YouTube. You have built up a decent audience. What next? Well, how about following in the footsteps of
Hot For Words
and
Panacea81
and signing up for the YouTube Partner Programme?
Since January 2008, YouTube users in the UK have been able to apply for partner status, which – once awarded – qualifies them for a share in the revenues generated by advertising laid against their videos. As you have probably noticed, we have developed a number of new advertising formats in the year-and-a-half since the programme was launched and partners can pick and choose which they would like to see appear against their content.
If you are still not sure about applying, maybe these bullet points from the YouTube Partnership Team will change your mind:
• As the No.1 video site on the Internet and the No.2 search engine in the world, YouTube will break new boundaries for your video content and open new frontiers for your brand, whatever that may be. With millions of unique viewers each month, this represents potentially enormous exposure for you and your work.
• You will have the opportunity of generating revenue from your videos through different types of ads, such as InVideo ads and banner ads.
• You will have unique tools available only to partners like the "Partner Interactive Banner" which will make your channel unique as well as access to various tools that YouTube offers to protect copyright holders.
• Through our unique Analytics tool you will be able to create content that will enhance the targeting of viewers and advertisers, by analysing general demographics of your audience, your competitors and much more.
• Finally, YouTube tries to offer the best viewing experience to its viewers and users, and you can now upload your videos in HD quality, using a 16:9 aspect ratio.
Remember: In order to qualify for the YouTube Partner Programme, you must meet some minimum criteria, chief among which are owning the copyright and distribution rights for all audio and video content that you upload. That said, head
here
to apply. If this has inspired you to create an account on YouTube and lay the groundwork for your new show, head
here
. And if you’re still not sold on the idea of joining the programme, you can browse the list of individuals, organisations and businesses that have already taken the plunge
here
.
We look forward to welcoming you onboard. Have fun,
Jamie and The YouTube UK Partnerships Team
Upload Size Doubles + HD Tips
Thursday, 2 July 2009
Many of you have been asking for an increase in the size limit of your uploads. We're happy to announce that the size of standard uploads has doubled from 1GB to 2GB. The increase means you can upload longer videos at a higher resolution as well as large HD files directly from your camera.
In addition, the team has implemented some new features to make it easier for you to show these videos off to the world. The changes allow you to share links directly to the HD version of your video, as well as embed the HD version on your blog or website. Here's how:
* To share a link to the HD version of your video, simply append &hd=1 to the end of the URL. This means the video will start playing in HD as soon as someone follows the link. Cool, huh?
* To embed the HD version of a video on a website or blog, click the 'customise' button to the right of the embed box on the video page. Some options will appear; simply check 'play in HD'. The embed code that's generated will cause the video to start playing in HD as soon as a viewer clicks play. We recommend embedding HD videos at the largest size (853x505) for maximum enjoyment.
If you haven't yet started uploading your content in HD, see our
Help Centre article
for more information on how to do so. You can also browse some popular HD videos
here
.
Enjoy!
Ryan Junee
Product Manager
The YouTube Team
Adopt a Feature v2
Wednesday, 1 July 2009
You may remember the
inaugural edition of Adopt a Feature
, for which you made videos about
AudioSwap
,
Country Pulldown
,
Insight
,
Playlists
,
Quick Capture
, and
Subscriptions
. These videos generated 818,698 views (they're all collected
here
) and a number of them even got featured on our homepage. At the end of the two month run,
thecomputernerd01
was crowned the Adopt a Feature king, thanks to his
zany explanation
of how the country/language pulldown menus work -- a video that accounted for a third of all of the programme's views. He also got this
awesome T-shirt
.
Josh took a break from
ribbing his grandpa
to tell you why you should get involved with Adopt a Feature v2.
In case you're still buzzing from Josh's high-energy onslaught, here's what you need to know: Make a video about any or all of the features on the list below (click on the name of the feature to get more information about it). Include the name of the feature and "adoptafeature" in the tags -- this is important; it's how we'll locate your video for inclusion on our channel and possibly on the YouTube homepage.
*
Annotations
*
Customise Your Homepage
*
Tags
*
Quicklist
*
Mobile Upload
(By the way, for folks waiting to hear more about the roll-out of new channels, we should have an update in a few days.)
Best,
Hunter Walk
Director, Product Management
The YouTube Team
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