Top 10 Reasons to Create Streaming Videos

1. Videos are fun to create. Expressing your creativity gives you a sense of accomplishment. When you create something, your mind is focused away from your daily stressors. Call it an escape from reality if you will. It is good for you.

2. Videos are easy to create. You don’t need any fancy equipment. They can be as simple as a slideshow of photos with narration or clips from your cell phone or digital camera that you already own. Import your clips or photos into Microsoft’s free Windows Movie Maker and compile them into a video.

3. Create Memories. Photos are great, but videos are more personalized with narration and containing a series of photos opposed to single pictures in one file. You can upload them to video sharing web sites or email them to your friends and family. Sharing videos is a great way to stay in touch and share your life with your loved ones from afar.

4. Get paid for your videos. Submit them to Associated Content for upfront payment, and collect residual payment every time someone views your videos.

5. Online article writers can get paid even more. Based on my own experience, videos often generate higher offers for your content at AC and you can link your articles to your videos for increased page views. Creating videos also gives you a break from writing to have some fun and refresh your creativity.

6. Create a vlog, a blog with videos instead of articles. Set up a blogger account and add a video to each page. You can then place Ad Sense ads around your videos. Your visitors will watch your videos then hopefully click on your Ad Sense ads when they are finished watching, creating an income stream for you.

7. Generate traffic. If you have a web site, blog or Squidoo lens that could use some traffic, videos are the way to go. You can SEO your video title just like you would for your articles and submit them to social bookmarking sites. Increased traffic coming from two different directions gives your site greater exposure.

8. Use your videos as a teaching tool. People love to learn new things. One of the greatest ways to get people to watch your videos is to share something new with them. Teach them how to do something. Give them the pleasure of learning a new way to do something and they will come back for more.

9. Market your business. Do you have your own or an affiliate product to market? Do it in video. Consumers more readily purchase something they can see opposed to just reading about it. Give them a demo of what it does and how it will benefit them. Show your potential buyers examples of how your product can improve their lives and you’ve got a sale.

10. Don’t get left behind. Videos are infiltrating the web at an alarming rate. Our culture demands high-speed information. We are accustomed to visual media. Our younger generations especially, prefer to watch rather than read or skim an article. Bandwidth is becoming less of an issue with increased usage of high-speed internet access. Video is predicted to become the status quo of internet content in the days ahead as the internet continues to evolve. Do yourself a favor and learn how to create videos today.

Video In A Flash

A recent look at Yahoo!, shows a home page with video links front and center. One of the emerging technologies allowing low cost streaming is Flash FLV. It is a format that is designed for web playback, offering high rates of compression. Flash Player, the embedded plugin that is in 98% of all internet browsers, allows playback of Flash FLV using SWF files. It is a preferred method because there is no need for a 3rd party download. FLV is a "Flash Live Video" file.

Not many people know it, but Macromedia (Adobe) has developed a sophisticated media delivery platform, that is emerging as a sleeping giant.

Flash is the world's most pervasive software platform, used by over 1 million programming professionals and reaching 98% of Internet-enabled desktops worldwide as well as a wide range of devices.. You might be shocked to hear that using Flash for your Video Media Delivery can save you a bundle of cash!

The Flash Player browser plugin can play an FLV, but that FLV, must be either embedded in or linked to a SWF. That is, you can't just put the actual FLV on an HTML page. You can however reference the FLV file using action script and SWF (the player controls), which now opens up the door to brand your player, add colors and logos, skins, and links to further information. Customization is now only limited to your imagination and Flash Skills. 4 hour movies can be streamed instantly with no buffer wait or download lag time.

Highlights of the Flash Communications Server include the ability to provide your end users with the best possible experience via a seamlessly integrated client that lets you brand your broadcast the way you want to, with any devices containing the Flash Player being capable of delivering movies when connected to the MX Communications server.

A Fantastic File Format

The file format used in this process is Flash FLV or Flash Live Video, and it plays in a Flash Player. While traditional methods of media delivery include some kind of download to the user's computer, either in a pre-loader or through temporary Internet files, Flash MX Communications server and a Flash FLV Player connect in a completely different manner. Simply put, it's a new connection to the file each time the user uses the controls in the player. This means that in the background it's a "start here" � "stop here" � "start again here" style of play, with no downloads or caching.

Here's The Top Ten Reasons to Stream Video Using Flash

1. FLV format file sizes after conversion are up to 60% smaller, saving server storage costs.
2. FLV's start - stop connection style saves on bandwidth perhaps as much as 60% less per month.
3. FLV format has no local player in operating systems, so file sharing is nullified.
4. FLV format plays directly in more browsers than Windows Media, Real Player or QuickTime.
5. FLV server can authenticate clients, and control users as you wish.
6. FLV players can be completely customized for logos, branding and embedded links.
7. FLV players can play files from a programmable database, and simple administration area.
8. FLV players can be programmed to integrate with databases for free previews, time, users.
9. FLV encoding can include user information for content tracking, misuse, or DRM.
10. Flash Communications servers are easier to maintain than others, and less prone to security hacks.

Who is using Flash Communication Servers? Google, MTV, Yahoo, IBM, Sony, Universal Studios, the list is growing.

Flash is suitable for various applications, including live, on-demand, audio and video streaming, 24 x 7 live radio broadcasting, pay-per-view, with digital rights management, delivery to mobile devices, including phones, product demonstrations, commercials and movie trailers, employee and partner training, corporate communications � the list goes on and on...

New Face Of Internet - Online Video Streaming

One of the biggest changes in the online space is the prevalence of online video.

It was only a few years ago that just the thought of streaming videos on the Internet seemed a distant reality.

Fast forward to December 2006 and online video is in full swing… Google bought YouTube for US$1.6 billion, and companies like Metacafe pay publishers based on the number of people who watch their video.

Video streaming has become a bit like an on demand micro video channel. Thousands of videos are now on demand online with more and more television content available. You can download video streams of the latest movie trailers and find both entertaining video streams along with knowledge-based electronic seminars.

The clarity of online video may be significantly less than a television set, but what it lacks in clarity it makes up for in availability. Video streams are sent by email, included in blogs and are a key part of most social network sites.

The mythical world of video production has been relegated to Internet hobbyists and the result is a whole new world where on demand consumers are finding video gems worth sharing online.

The use of video streaming is a growing phenomenon with so many different positive applications. Video streaming provides opportunities for individuals to share footage of their families with other family members. Music and entertainment video streams can be shared. Television shows can be downloaded and best all, business can be done effectively through the use of video streaming technology.

Another benefit of video streaming is the strong potential for increased backlinks that can increase the number visitors to your video stream. In turn, those visitors may stick around to check out what you have to offer in your online business.

After USA and UK Online Video sites are also being very much popular like India, Middle East, Singapore Etc...

India is growing in terms of internet traffic and Online Video streaming site is being much popular now a days in India also.

Is Video Streaming the Future for Corporate Video?

Things have changed quite a bit from when I started in the film & video business in 1988. Back then, many corporate programmes were still shot and edited on film. Video shooting was on "plain Jane", non-SP, analogue Betacam. Video editing was on Low Band U-Matic - a process that required copious notes to be taken and a day or two of writing all the timecode numbers down for the (linear) on-line edit. Mastering was on bulky one-inch reel to reel video, that was so sensitive to magnetic fields, it couldn't be taken on a London tube train. Distribution was either on Low Band U-Matic, Betamax (remember that?), or VHS.

Today, seventeen years later, the much heralded digital age is upon us. You can shoot on DV, edit on Avid, and burn the result onto DVD without a moment's thought or any loss of quality. The only stage of the process that has remained more or less the same is the final one: delivery of the programme to the viewer. Be it by post, Fed-Ex, or motorcycle courier, someone has to take a copy of your finished programme, transport it to where your viewer is going to see it, and then play it on specialised equipment. If your programme has to cross borders into another country, chances are you'll have to have special copies made to conform to that country's TV standard, and the customer will have to pay a hefty customs charge as well.

The Internet provides a solution to this problem and is, in my view, the perfect medium for the distribution of corporate videos, for companies large and small. Broadband/ ADSL Internet access is rapidly becoming the norm. Around 80% of the UK now has the capability to access Broadband (source: The Guardian) and the figure is higher for some other countries. Here are a few examples of ways this technology can be utilised:

Let's say you run a small or medium sized company and have made a promotional video to show to potential clients. You can easily stream this from your website. If you don't want your competition to see your video (and you cannot guarantee a DVD won't fall into the "wrong" hands), you can password protect that part of the website and make access by invitation only. You could also stream a commercial from your website for the whole world to see - not just people in your local TV area. You could even tie it in to your print advertising, so people would want to visit your site and see your commercial. That certainly beats them getting up to go to the bathroom when your commercial is showing on TV, or fast forwarding it if they've videoed the programme its being shown in! There's so much video content of this nature being shown on the web now, Yahoo! has devoted a large area of their search engine to it. Visit Yahoo!, click on the "video" tab and type in "commercial" to see what I mean.

If you run a large company or have staff in more than one place, then video streaming becomes a real boon. In addition to the options available to small businesses, you can use it for corporate communications. You can show the same video to employees in different locations, cities, time zones, or even countries. Apart from converting your video into the correct format (more on that subject later), and having your webmaster upload it to your webspace, the actual costs are practically nothing - and there's definitely nothing for the tax man to get his teeth into! Your video can cross boarders without having to incur customs charges, and standards conversion becomes a thing of the past.

Getting your training message across also becomes much easier. Employees can watch the video from their computer screens. Add some "interactivity" to the mix, and you can build a training session tailored for each employee. If you're on a network, you can do this via your company intranet as well as over the web.

With live streaming, one trainer can train several people at the same time, even if they are in different parts of the world. This is particularly useful for medical training. A surgeon can demonstrate a particular technique from a sterile environment, without the operating theatre having to be filled with students. The entire process can also be recorded on video for viewing later.

There are many formats available for digital video, and careful research is necessary to select the most appropriate one. The most popular formats are:

Macromedia Flash (swf)
Microsoft Video (avi)
Motion Picture Experts Group (mpeg)
Quick Time (mov)
Real Media (rm)
Windows Media (wmv)

Streaming video does not quite compare to what viewers are used to seeing on broadcast TV or DVD. The most obvious difference being the optimum screen size is much smaller. Under ideal conditions, streaming video can be clear and continuous, but the latest technology must be used to create, send and receive the video or the results can be unsatisfactory; however, that said, the sort of picture one would see when seated directly in front of the computer monitor is not dissimilar from that seen on a 14" portable TV viewed from 10 feet or so away.
Because of the smaller screen size, it's best to avoid any complicated graphics or DVE moves in a streamed video, although still frame graphics can always be shown on the website alongside the video.

There are a lot of myths and misconceptions about streaming video. Some of the most common questions I get asked are:

"Don't I need a special website for streaming video?" No, you don't. Because the files are large, most free sites won't host them, but ordinary sites will. I have over five hours of streaming video on my LearnPhotoshopFast website, and it's just an ordinary one. Some web hosting companies do charge you extra if you have live streaming video on a continuous basis, but this is usually to cover the extra bandwidth.

"Ah, bandwidth. I'll bet it uses a lot. Won't that cost a fortune?" This is sort of true. Video files are large, but they are just binary files. Downloading large files - be they video or software - does use up a lot of bandwidth. However, video streaming formats are especially designed to keep file sizes as small as possible. Bandwidth isn't all that expensive these days anyway, and many web hosting packages come with a monthly allocation of 50 - 100 gigabytes, which is more than adequate for most applications.

"Some people who want to see my videos have Windows PCs, while others have Macs. Won't that be a problem?" No. Most streaming formats are compatible with multiple operating systems, and even specific manufacturer's formats like Microsoft's Windows Media, and Apple's Quick Time, have versions that can be used by "the competition".

"Is streaming video any good on a dial-up connection?" It's true that streaming video works best via Broadband. The best option is to offer the alternative of downloading the video file as well as streaming it; that way, someone on a dial-up can download the file and watch it from his/her hard drive.

Video streaming can add a whole new dimension to your corporate video, be it for training, communications, or marketing. It's just like having your own cable-TV channel - only considerably cheaper.