YouTube Captions Underwhelms August 28, 2008
Posted by Nalts in : YouTube , add a commentIn one of its most underwhelming functionality changes in the past decade, YouTube now offers captions.
You’ll need to look for it by clicking the arrow button and selecting “captions” but it probably won’t exist in your language. That’s because the creator has to use special software and can only translate one language per video. I suppose a summer intern had a little too much free time.
Let’s vote on some additional unecessary YouTube functionality improvements that can join this and the “thumb-up-a-comment” tool:
- B&W converter: The ability to turn a video black and white by altering the URL slightly.
- Auto inverse technology: flip your video horizontally and make KevJumba say Abmujvek.
- Fred shuttle: make your video play 25% faster so everyone sounds like Fred.
- Jiggle the JPEG: for those partner banners that don’t rotate as an annoying GIF file, this tool can take an ordinary flat banner and make it wiggle.
- Auto off: The video will automatically stop playing when it reaches the creator’s average viewed duration point. All MrSafety videos will stop after 11 seconds.
- Unrelated videos: selects videos that are not related to the one you’re viewing.
- What’s your vote?
My Fake Writers Staff August 28, 2008
Posted by Nalts in : Online Video , 6commentsLast night I was discussing with Cory (mrsafety) the concept of doing a video for the audience or yourself. We agreed that an enduring motive was making videos that pleased ourselves. But it’s worth noting that many of my favorite Nalts videos never went far — like this video below with about 12,000 views after a year.
I’m not sure if I ever revealed the true backstory of these videos (there were 8 in this playlist, and some were a bit long but packed with quirky moments). A year ago I was working with NYC WLNY’s Flix55 as the producer and host of “Quick Flix,” a television show that would feature the best viral videos and be syndicated nationally. The station’s owners contacted me when they saw this video where I pitched the idea of a TV show packed with online-video favorites. The show and the website never materialized, but in the process I made several trips to the television station to cast a co-host, script the concept, videotape pilots and on-board a group of college kids that would be campus liaisons to promote the site and recruit talent.
Even though the show never saw light of day, the interns at Flix55 — who played my fake writers — were a blast. We kept having to kill cast members because they’d go back to school or leave. The 8 videos were never scripted, and usually based on a spontanious idea and improvization. Here’s my favorite because it’s funny and tragic.
Parody Video of Spider on Drugs August 27, 2008
Posted by Nalts in : Online Video , 9commentsThis is a parody of a video that shows the effect LSD has on a spider’s web. Here we see what happens when a spider is given caffeine, marijuana, crack and alcohol.
Google Helped Me Find Myself August 27, 2008
Posted by Nalts in : Online Video , 14commentsThere I was. Frustrated this morning after forgetting how I converted some of my old Windows Movie files (from the 1990s) into to something I could edit in Mac iMovie and post to YouTube. I’m running through various options, experimenting with various free software, and running into brick walls. Hours pass.
Then I had this crazy last-resort idea (it’s too early to call CharlesTrippy).
I’d Google search “how to demux .mov on mac.” There on the first page was a nice post from a blog. The author had figured it out, and explained it patiently to me.
Turns out, though, t was my friggin’ post. On my blog. From last December.
Who needs a memory when you blog, and use Google?
I can just see me in about 20 years… Googling “when is my wife’s birthday? Or “who are these 25-year-old kids that keep asking me for money? Why am I locked in a room with a bunch of other YouTubers wearing a tight white sweater with the sleeves tied around my back? Where did I put my medicine? Where are my glasses”
Behind the Scenes of a YouTube Collaboration: YouTube in 1985 August 26, 2008
Posted by Nalts in : Online Video , 22commentsBelow is ”YouTube in 1985,” a video collaboration Matt Kobal. I had never heard of Matt before he asked if I’d play the role of a YouTube billing agent. The video depicts an imaginary 1985-version of YouTube. For the record, I had that much hair and more but spent my time drinking at the New Orleans World Fair, not working in billing.
Since I advocate that people pursue YouTube collaboration videos to boost their views, I thought I’d point out a few of Matt’s techniques that worked well. I haven’t been doing many collaborations lately, and it feels selfish to pursue popular YouTubers for collaborations while ignoring those with smaller numbers… but generally collaboration videos help the individual with fewer subscribers most.
The exception is that if two popular YouTubers collaborate, both of their audiences tend to grow. So while I’ll probably pick up a fair number of new subscribers on Friday’s “Retarded Policeman” appearance, Mediocre Films also benefits.
Let’s look at what Matt did well:
- Matt communicated with me via Jill Hanner (xgobobeanx). So he seemed more credible. If I was more organized I might have looked at his videos to see if he’s talented. But that usually turns me off of a collab as opposed to getting me excited.
- He sent a script- he knew where he was going and had an idea. You wouldn’t believe how many “would you like to do a collab” requests I get even after writing a free eBook urging people not to do that.
- His idea was actually funny to me. And fairly simple.
- He was persistent but patient. It took me a while to get it done, but I never felt badgered. He also didn’t give up, and I’m glad he didn’t. He started e-mailing in July, and sent his logo (which I failed to use) August 1. So this is not an overnight project.
Some additional tips:
- Try to close the deal quickly since the intrigue of being in a collaboration fades quickly. If I don’t do it immediately, I often lose energy. In this case, I was relieved that he worked around my lousy timing (back pains) and Jill’s timing (she lost her dog in the middle of it).
- Don’t forget to tell people your username if you ask them to be in a collab. People usually forget to do that. And send them a video that shows you can edit and produce well. It credentializes you. I remember being weary about doing a collaboration with Alan (fallofautumndistro) and later laughing at that hesitation.
- If I were to try to get a cewebrity like LisaNova in my video, I’d try all of these techniques and might mention a lesser known video of hers to give her a sense of what I was after. People rarely mention your videos beyond the obvious ones.
Sometimes you groan when you see the results, but I like this one. It’s well produced, and Matt showed a lot of discipline in editing out parts that I had given him, but would have dragged the concept out. He apologized for that, but I respect it. It turns out he’s actually a good actor/director, so I’m glad I wasn’t looking at his YouTube subscriber number to effect my decision (it’s lower than it will be in due time).
Hopefully it travels. It’s sort of a one-joke concept, but it’s pulled through fairly cleverly. And some of the people, with me as an exception, can actually act (I was in back pain, okay?).
P.S. Don’t try these on me because I’m too lazy to do my own videos right now- much less collaborations.
Getting Your Videos Seen With Search August 26, 2008
Posted by Nalts in : Online Video , 4commentsLast week I wrote one of my more seminal posts on the convergence of paid search and video. Those who comment on my blog, of course, are rather indifferent about these vital topics and would just prefer me to stick with such topics as farts and YouTube drama.
Alas, I finally know how our summer Spanish teacher felt when our class (a motley crew of rejects that simply needed a passing grade to graduate) insisted that she play Spanish soap operas and stop trying to teach us vocabulary. For the most part, we’d just put “o” at the end of the word and it would sound sufficiently translated.
That said, I must persist and I have a ruler in my hand. You see, the percentage of video views attributed to search engines is growing rapidly. And I had forgotten sweet ReelSEO which had fallen accidentally on my iGoogle when I took it for a strict SEM blog. It has some great articles on video too. Here’s a recent piece by Michael Bunnell that has some summaries of the “Video Search Engine Optimization” session that took place in San Jose at the SES (search engine strategies) conference.
Check out the comments by Greg Markel, founder of Infuse Creative, LLC. He’s got some nice wisdom, including a remidner to have your killer link in the top of your description as the rest gets truncated. It might help that paultry view-to-click ratio (although I’d expect 1-4 percent tops anyway).
In related news, Mike Abundo (pictured here in a sassy photo and see his blog here) writes about how marketers and creators may be able to buy YouTube text links on search results to support the SEO techniques Markel suggests.
YouTube “AutoFill” on Homepage: Suggests Graduates from Google Labs August 26, 2008
Posted by Nalts in : Online Video , 3comments
Google knows what you’re going to search for even before you turn on your computer.
Google Suggests (see definition) – which is a real-time ‘auto-fill’ of your search words based on typical searches – is now part of a typical Google homepage search.
The tool “graduated” from Google Labs according to a recent post on the official Google blog. YouTube’s search engine has been facilitating this “suggest” functionality for some time, which helped me discover that searches for my name often accompany the word “fart” or “charlie.”
Oh- here’s the wikipedia listing for YouTube celebrities that appears in the screen grab.
Messin With Sasquatch August 26, 2008
Posted by Nalts in : advertising , 7comments
The other day I got an alert from MySpace that Sasquatch had an update. I was reminded of a post I wrote 2 years ago about a “Messing With Sasquatch” campaign for Jack Links Beef Jerky. Unfortunately, the original 2006 videos are missing and the 2007/2008 videos are a bit over produced and make Sasquatch a little more vindictive than the first year of the campaign.
In the campaign’s infancy, the joke was based on people stumbling into Sasquatch — rather than being terribly surprised — deciding to play a harmless prank on him. In the end, he got the last laugh but it was subtle. In recent years, he chases people, smashes car windows, tosses people into trees, and knocks over golf carts. And the pranksters are less opportunistic and more mean spirited. There are hysterical moments like when he summons birds or chases bunnies. But I want to care about him not see him thrash mean prankster.
Brilliant campaign, but if it continues in 2009 I’d love to see a more human side of Sasquatch. We need to care about him, not root for his vengeance on dick pranksters. Maybe he needs a girlfriend.
Fancy Sitting Chair August 25, 2008
Posted by Nalts in : Online Video , 14commentsWhy? Just because.
I give you “Fancy Sitting Chair” by PickThisCar (who was once featured on YouTube for the Compliments video).
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Topless Rights August 25, 2008
Posted by Nalts in : Online Video , 14commentsGnooze reports that people demonstrated this weekend to support a woman’s right to show their breasts in public. And there wasn’t a YouTube gathering there, why???
Warning- nudity and a shot of Marquisdejolie commenting about reading the constitution. She’s also really, really loud.