Screencasts, YouTube and Metacafe - The Problems Exposed Part 1
StevenH
Welcome to the first in a series of articles based upon the problems associated with uploading screencast presentations to free video hosting services such as YouTube and Metacafe.
During the past 12 months, the tendancy for web designers to include video content in their sites has increased dramatically. The lure of allowing people to watch and listen to content rather than having to read it, means sites which include video are becoming more popular than purely text-based sites.
The popularity of video does however come with its problems. Video content produces notoriously large filesizes, leading to massive requirements for server storage, and an explosion in bandwidth usage.
So what is the main reason for the upsurge in video content on the internet?
The main reason for the upward trend in video content on the internet, has been because of services such as YouTube and Metacafe, that allow users to upload video content free of charge, and then embed the videos in their own websites.
The obvious benefit of services such as YouTube and Metacafe, is that in effect, they allow web designers to include video content on their site while using someone elses bandwidth.
The success and popularity of such services becomes evident if you take a look at the situation of YouTube. Despite having never made a profit, on 9th October 2006, co-founders of YouTube Chad Hurley and Steven Chen, sold to Google in a deal worth $1.65 Billion - for a company that was less than a year old.
So can the same success and popularity be applied to Screencast presentations
Despite the success of hosting services in terms of standard videos, when it comes to Screencast presentations, there are problems. While there is no problem uploaded Screencasts to YouTube and Metacafe, when it comes to viewing them, the flaws immediately become apparent.
Below is an example Screencast presentation that we at ScreencastCentral uploaded to YouTube:
As you can see from the video, the overall quality is very poor, and in most cases it would be impossible to make out exactly what was happening on the screen.
Compare this to the clarity of the same presentation How to install FileZilla hosted by screencastcentral.
Given the purpose of Screencasting is to highlight or demonstrate areas of the screen in detail, the fact that the viewer is unable to make out any of the detail on the screen, makes uploading Screencasts to these services wholly inadequate.
In subsequent articles, we will explore many of the reasons why Screencast presentations uploaded to free hosting services such as YouTube and Metacafe, generally end up looking blurred and poor quality, as well as looking at some possible solution
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