Reevaluation of Online Services: Part 3

(This is a continuation of this post on reevaluation of my online services. You can also read Part 1 and Part 2.)

Okay, so here’s the big reevaluation that I’ve done in the past several weeks, and it’s the one that some of you may have been curious about since I started this series… it’s time to look at video. (Note: Live video options will be reviewed separately.)

Video is something that I’ve really been thinking about for a while, and it’s a complicated area of online media. Video can be complicated and time consuming regardless of which service you choose, so choosing the video service that gives you what you want and gives it to you in the simplest way possible is an absolute must in my book.

Here’s a very quick look at each of the services I’m currently using from my perspective:

TubeMogul

Ease of use - Dead simple. You upload one video, and TubeMogul sends it to any other video site you’d like to have that video on. It’s awesome.

Stability and support - Never had any issues.

Community - N/A, TubeMogul is for distributing video, not really community interaction.

Features - It offers uploading, distribution to any site I’d want to use, and amazing stats. TubeMogul is epic is in this category.

Integration - As I’ve mentioned above, it offers distribution to every hosting site I want to use right now.

Quality - TubeMogul doesn’t alter the video in any way, simply sends it along to other hosting sites for mass distribution. Quality remains in tact, zero degradation.

CONCLUSION - I plan on using TubeMogul for mass distribution of my videos, so that people can watch them on several of the different sites that they may prefer. Below you’ll find the ones that I do and don’t plan on using via TubeMogul.
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YouTube

Ease of use - YouTube is pretty darn easy to use, good FAQ.

Stability and support - I’ve never gone to YouTube and seen the site down… ever.

Community - The community is huge, which can be a good thing for exposure, but a bad thing for meaningful interaction on a 1 on 1 level, because the community is gigantic.

Features - YouTube now has HD support, ability to add links and notes in to the video, replies, playlists, a lot of good features. Big minus on this front is the time limit to the videos, but I’m not sure that’s still in place. Also huge is the ability to watch YouTube videos on the iPhone, which is one major reason I continue to use it.

Integration - YouTube is one of the most integrated video sites, so uploading from Flip video is simple, a lot of video programs support “send to YouTube” right from their program… VERY integrated with sites and software.

Quality - The quality is sub par. If the video were higher quality, I might not look anywhere else for pre-edited, uploaded video.

CONCLUSION - I plan to use YouTube through TubeMogul for mass distribution, but don’t plan to embed this version of my videos on my site due to poor video quality… for now.
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Vimeo

Ease of use - I mostly use Vimeo through TubeMogul, so I can’t really speak to the uploading process on the site, but I’ve never had it fail via TubeMogul and the site itself is clean and straightforward.

Stability and support - Never had an issue thus far. Sometimes the video seem to take long to buffer/load than other sites, but I haven’t noticed a huge difference.

Community - I’m fairly new to Vimeo, so I haven’t really seen much of the community aspect. There are a lot of groups and channels, so there seems to be a lot of good potential.

Features - The features are limited. Restrictions are made on the amount of weekly uploads, etc., but thus far, those restrictions haven’t effected me due to my cut back on recorded and edited video of this nature.

Integration - Vimeo has nice integration with Facebook and works with TubeMogul, which are two things I like. No iTunes feeds that I’ve seen, which is a minus on any video hosting site.

Quality - Quality is good and I really like the player. It’s simple and very clean, just like the site itself, and I really, really like that.

CONCLUSION - I’ve been using Vimeo a lot more lately, and I plan to continue using it via TubeMogul. I use Vimeo for sharing my produced (non-live, etc.) videos on Facebook, and I occasionally use it for embedding on my blog as well.
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Blip.tv

Ease of use - Blip has an uploader app, uploading is simple, distribution is simple, iTunes feed setup and management is cake, EASY to use.

Stability and support - Never, ever have had an issue.

Community - No real community. This isn’t Blip’s strong suit, but given everything else they offer, it isn’t much of a minus factor.

Features - Holy CRAP. Blip just literally KILLS every competitor in this category. iTunes feeds, several distribution options (between TubeMogul and Blip, mass distribution is insanely easy), and the Pro account will convert your videos into separate iPod-friendly and audio feeds. There IS NO COMPETITION in this category… Blip wins to the point of smacking the rest of the sites in the face, and they’ve been doing it for longer than any other site has even been considering these features.

Integration - AWESOME. See previous comments on features.

Quality - Quality is great, Pro account video conversions turn out beautifully, the site is straightforward and offers a lot, the player is okay (not my favorite), overall really good.

CONCLUSION - If you’re not using Blip.tv, you’re an absolute butthead. They make so many things easy by doing so much of the extra work for you, and it’s just insane not to be using TubeMogul to throw a copy of your video their way for extra exposure via iTunes, Miro, etc. etc. Blip ROCKS.
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Viddler

(Disclaimer: I once worked for Viddler, so maybe some of this is colored by those months of being behind the scenes, but these are my honest impressions. It’s important for me to be honest in spite of any past involvement, especially given that I have concerns.)

Ease of use - Not so much. The flash uploader rarely works the way it’s supposed to, sorting through videos in any area of the site is difficult due to the nature of the paging setup… just not good in a lot of ways. The FAQ is not good, and clear support in how to make your video look as good as possible on the site is constantly lacking.

Stability and support - The site is frequently unstable and support, based on my recent issues with uploading and what I’ve seen over the past year or so, is not good. I recently mentioned that I couldn’t upload at ALL and was asked whether my flash is up to date (with no follow up when I said that it was) and it was suggested that I restart my computer (twice). Technical support interaction is not good, and that is stating it graciously.

Community - Viddler kills it when it comes to community and always has. The community became tightly knit in the early months and has maintained more closeness and interaction than any other video site I’ve seen.

Features - Timed tagging, timed video comments, and customizable players… all things that other sites don’t offer, or at least don’t offer in the same way. However, I’ve noticed that I’ve grown away from using the timed features and the customizable player can irritating in the same way MySpace pages are, in that it gives the user the ability to make their player unbelievably ugly. Also, the features that Viddler is missing or the features that don’t work correctly sometimes overshadow what is unique about Viddler.

Integration - Integration with other sites, services, and programs is poor, and I haven’t seen a lot of enthusiasm for building better integration, other than a really great Facebook app built by Viddler’s intern, Kyle. It’s Viddler’s responsibility to step up in this category.

Quality - It should NOT be as hard as it is on Viddler to make your video look its best, and if it’s going to be as hard as it is to make your video look right, the steps to doing show should be so clearly outlined (for any video editing software, camera, or file type) that there is never a question about how to do it.

CONCLUSION - I’ve exclusively used Viddler’s player for quite a long time, at times even when it resulted in release of a video being delayed. My policy lately has been to use TubeMogul to distribute to Blip, Vimeo and Viddler, and whichever is ready to roll with my video the fastest is the one that gets embedded at that time. I think at this point I only continue to use Viddler due to the community aspect, and I honestly wonder how much longer that advantage will continue to carry them when the site support and quality assurance are dragging the site under.
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*ahem*

Okay, so there you have it. These are the video hosting/distributing services that I currently use and how I’ll plan on using them henceforth. I currently upload to TubeMogul, distribute to YouTube (for mass exposure, easy viewing on iPhone), Vimeo (clean, attractive player, good quality embedding), Blip (iTunes feed, further distribution), and Viddler (keep updated with community, use my custom player).

I think video is one area where quality, ease of use, and getting the features you need are paramount, and loyalty to a service that doesn’t keep up in the technology race is detrimental to one’s time and energy. Video is tough if you don’t have the type of services that take away some of the stress, so my advice is to switch around and find the player and the service that makes sharing your online video easiest and makes your video the most accessible. If that isn’t the service you’re currently using, maybe it’s time to look at why you’re still using it.