The best online host for your film? Some tests here...

Karel Bata · December 11, 2008

I've made a page comparing the embedding capabilities available from various video hosts:

I hope some of you find it useful. :D

I've not included HD because most people are unable (yet) to view HD in real time, these services are in their infancy, and till it settles down most video creatives will expect to deliver content in SD. Or maybe you guys will disagree?

I think the big questions for film creatives who post stuff on the net are who their target audience really is, how to reach them, and how to maintain an appropriate level of quality. This may well provide several different answers, and most professional filmakers would thus want to use several approaches: post in communities like Vimeo; other more commercial sites; on YouTube; and also create a dedicated site - which is where embedding comes in.

I'm still improving it, so any suggestions gratefully received.

Cheers! :D

Karel Bata · December 12, 2008

.

There's been a change in the url to

http://kareltests.co.uk

from where users are automatically forwarded.

This is in case Virb ever goes down, or doesn't like the page - I can put it up elsewhere and the url will still work. If anyone's planning to recommend the site, this is the url to use.

;)

Tim O'Connor · December 13, 2008

That's great that you've done this. I'm going to wait till I have proper time to view because you have many sites on there but I

think that many people will appreciate your research and sharing it.

Aaron Moorhead · December 13, 2008

This looks great. Thanks a ton. I think you might be able to improve it, though, by going ahead and drawing an opinion for those who don't want to go through a long time investment to find out "the best." I know I can take the investment, but it might be nice to have an editorial at the end that describes who you think is the winner.

Karel Bata · December 13, 2008

Agreed. But first I'll wait till I get a few more opinions in. It's only been up a few days. A lot of hits though!

One experiment I did that was very interesting was when I'd downloaded a regular video off YouTube I'd worked on long ago and then tidied it up and put it on Vimeo. There was a huge increase in quality! Here's the original

and here's is the same video on Vimeo http://vimeo.com/2361290 NOTE: make sure to switch HD to off (click the 'HD is on' icon). Yup, the same Flash file, and even downgraded a bit by Vimeo. Notice how much better the sound is too. Why can't YouTube play it back with the same quality? Edited December 13, 2008 by Karel Bata