Hidden Features On YouTube

Everyone has heard of YouTube and there are few of us who have never visited the site, or a least heard about it. The site gets a lot of bad press over violent and indecent videos that manage to slip through the net and get uploaded for all to see. There has also been controversy over copyright infringements on the site.

However, this is a truly amazing and entertaining site. It’s a great way to wile away a few hours, or to do a little research. You can watch movie clips, live music videos, cartoons, and a whole host of other things uploaded by users.

That’s not all, though. There are some advanced features and ways to use YouTube that many of us are missing out on.

The Warp Player is a kind of virtual browser that will show you related clips on mouse over and if you click on one it will be played in the middle of your screen. This is a fast way of finding something you want to watch. It’s like a preview facility.

Test Tube has four different features available in one program. You can add notes to video clips, show other people what you are currently watching and add music to video clips. (The music you add should be licensed, or copyright free, or even stuff you have written and played yourself). There is also a facility that can stream chat between users who are watching the same videos. The chat facility is excellent for those who are social animals and enjoy sharing with their friends.

YouTube feeds are RSS feeds that let you know as soon as your favourite contributor has uploaded a new video. This is quite easy to set up using the link provided on the YouTube site. Subscribe to as many feeds as you like.

You can also compile play lists of all your favourite YouTube video clips. Just follow the link below to YouTube play lists and create your list. You can even choose whether to make it shared, or private. It’s really easy to add a video to the list by clicking the tab under the video choose where you want to list it and save it. The list will be there next time you want it. It’s that easy.

The play list function is great for making a collection of music videos featuring your favourite tracks and performers. It is also good for collecting informational videos that you want to view later. The music lessons and language lessons on You Tube often come in parts so it is really useful to gather these up and save them in a play list so that you don’t have to go looking for them when ever you want to look something up.

The internet has changed how we do almost everything and now it’s about to put the nail in the coffin for the DVD.

Until recently Netflix was just another company like Blockbuster or any other movie rental company. The difference was they did it by mail rather than you actually going into the store (heaven forbid.)

Now Netflix is going for a content license which will allow them to distribute movies online. There will no longer be a need for disks and customer can simply login, select which movie they would like to watch, pay for it and stream it right to their screen.

Since this technology is becoming increasingly common in Television sets and computer game consoles, not mentioning internet piracy, soon we’ll have no need for DVDs at all. In fact studies are showing that the DVD is already in decline and BLU-ray is not the one taking its place… but internet streaming.

For as little as $8.99 a month you can watch unlimited movies and TV shows right to your television or computer. Another advantage is the absence of late fees. That alone is enough for me.

Heck, with prices and convenience that good it won’t be long before the guys selling bootleg DVDs are the only ones using DVDs at all.

Netflix has become the world’s most successful online movie rental company. With this content license the competition will really have to step up if they are to survive.
So… where do I sign up?

Equals Three is a youtube show hosted by Ray William Johnson. The show revolves around videos which go viral during the week. Ray chooses three videos and comments on each of them in turn, always with a sense of humour and sarcasm. Each episode ends with a “Comment Question of the Day”, where a single video response to the previous cideo is chosen to ask a question to the viewers. The show closes with the answers to the previous week’s question. A hilarious show which updates weekly. Definitely worth the watching.

The Philip DeFranco Show

sXephil (Philip DeFranco) has one of the most popular and successful Youtube shows of all time. Taking news and entertainment pieces and then delivering in an incredibly sarcastic manner, PhillyD runs his own website as well at PhillyD.tv. The only downside is that the show will end on November 3rd 2009, but until then it updates every day Monday to Thursday. It won’t be totally over, as Phil has said he will continue on with something different, as well as already running a personal Vlog.

KassemG

KassemG is the mastermind behind the “California On” series of interviews. Taking a certain topic to the streets, KassemG asks random strangers about the topic and records the response. Extremely funny and witty, KassemG also makes cameos in the Philip DeFranco show as does Phil in KassemG’s videos. Truly amazing stuff.

“The Hard Gravel”

Director:  Matt Moore

THE LINK TO THE FULL VIDEO:  The Hard Gravel

THE LINK TO THE MUSIC VIDEOS:  Hard Gravel Music Videos

The Hard Gravel from matt moore on Vimeo.

Loads of people worked on this film, and helped make it into the comedy that it is.  It’s like an updated, but retro version of Spinal Tap focusing on the world of early 90’s pop country music.  It also has awkward comedic elements similar to The Office and Arrested Development that flow with the interviews.  The pacing is chopped to shreds(in a good way) at points with some Tim & Eric style elements and Visual Effects usage. 

The film is structured as a TV show, The Coyote McCoy show.  Coyote McCoy is played by Joshua Jones, who also did a lot of the cinematography, but he carries the role of being crazy as hell and loving country very well.  He catalogs the story of the band The Hard Gravel as they attempt to become big in the competetive country music world, and run into their arch-enemy Chet Chestnut.  The Hard Gravel singer, Bobby Alexander used to be in a group with Chet, called Nut & Bobby.  The duo broke up after Chet became addicted to Coke and alcohol, while Bobby chose to remain drug free.  The record executive says that he’ll give Bobby a chance if he can bring the label a band. 

Bobby finds a group of strangers that form The Hard Gravel:

Bobby Alexander: Lead singer of The Hard Gravel and former member of Nut & Bobby (Sam Eidson)

James McMillan: a sexually confused druggie that drums (Matt Moore)

Gerald Lee:  The coke doing guitarist of the band that also apparently is Mexican (Sam McHugh & Mexican Guy)

Ronnie Brooks: The bassist, and proud father.  He is also a wanted bank robber (David Andrews)

The cut that is linked above is the one for school purposes, it’s 15 minutes long, which is the school limit for a finished product, but there is talk of it possibly becoming a half hour film, containing the bands music videos throughout.  I’ll keep you up to date on the newest Hard Gravel info as it comes to me.

Neil’s first video of the Potter Puppet Pals was a flash animation called “Bothering Snape” but later on he moved on to actually making the puppets. His successes of the Potter Puppet Pals even include live shows at Harvard University. And that’s not all! Probably Neil’s most successful video is “The Mysterious Ticking Noise” that is a silly song (and insanely addictive) created by each of the characters of the Potter Puppet Pals that sing their own name. This video was just so popular that it won a YouTube award in the Comedy category in 2008 where it was nominated by 61.6% of the voters. With 66 million views as of August 2009, it is one of YouTube’s most viewed videos.

The Mysterious Ticking Noise – Probably the best Potter Puppet Pals video EVER!

So who are the Potter Puppet Pals? Well, Neil and his team created a bunch of puppets which are popular characters of the Harry Potter series. These include Harry, Ron, Hermione and right up to the Harry Potter series’ villains, Snape and Lord Voldemort. The other characters included are Dumbledore, Hagrid and Neville (who is portrayed by a butternut squash, by the way). The best thing about this is, Neil has tried to project each character as weirdly funny in every single way possible. It can’t be termed as a parody but nearly everything, right from the characters’ puppets, to their actions and to what they say are extremely comical. His videos last only a few minutes but are chock-a-block with silly hilarity. The videos are posted on YouTube every now and then and the episodes seem to get funnier every time they are posted. Suitable for every age, Neil’s videos are making him one of the most popular internet celebrities there can be, which is pretty commendable.

So now you know about Neil Cicierega and the Potter Puppet Pals, log on to the Potter Puppet Pals site and watch those videos that have taken the world by storm. If you already know about the Potter Puppet Pals, or are more interested about Neil Cicierega and his other videos, here is his YouTube channel that you can check out. But I’m sure no matter what, the Potter Puppet Pals will worm a chuckle out of you!

Amazing One-Man-Band Street Performer in Croatia

This is a video that I was amazed by. This man not only knows how to play all those instruments, but can play them all simultaneously. What’s more, the song he plays (and perhaps even wrote) is extremely catchy and enjoyable. I’m not surprised that people are willing to give him money for what he is doing.

Why Women Can’t Drive

This video is absolutely hilarious. I got the link from a friend by email, and must have watched the video at least ten times in a row. It is gut-bustingly funny. The best part must be when a woman takes forever trying to park her car, fails and a man does it for her in under 10 seconds.

German Coast Guard Trainee

This video, like the previous one in the list, is hilarious too. It really highlights the importance of learning to speak a language properly. It is an absolutely brilliant advertisement.

Funniest Penalty Ever

This video is brilliant. It’s short, the whole point of it is shown with 4 seconds, and yet it can be rewatched repeatedly. The best part has to be the penalty taker’s reaction to the events that unfold in front of him. All he can do is collapse in fits of laughter.

Fat Kid On RollerCoaster

This video is absolutely hysterical. While I’ve witnessed my fair share of people being scared on a rollercoaster, this kid has to take the cake. The screams and pleading are just so funny. Perhaps the best part of the video though is the mother, who can’t stop laughing at the kid’s pleas for safety.

Pocket Monkey!

This is a video created by my friends dad, Its about this little monkey he found at a sale and thought oh wow its like a little pocket monkey, and that’s how the pocket monkey was born. They’ve been together for a while but the pocket monkey really took off when he went to Soul-Fest ‘09, there he met many many people and some bands like Fireflight and The Remedy and they all took pictures with him, when they got back my friends dad decided to make a song about Pocket Monkey and so he wrote and sang and played the song and recorded it for all to play, afterwords he took all of those amazing pictures from Soul-Fest and put them into a slide show along with the song he wrote, that’s what this video is. Its a very cute and funny and just plain awesome video, and personally I loved it the first time I saw it, and I hope you do too, so go check it out at the link above and comment or rate if you like, but be sure to show all your friends!

What if you’re a person with something the world should know about?  What if you have what it takes to be a top YouTube master?

Well I have a few tips on how to get noticed and get out of the dump you’re in now.

1. Make good videos.

Yes, it’s nothing profound, nor is it brand new news, but it is number one on this list for a great reason.  People don’t want to watch bad videos.  They also don’t want to watch long videos.  Or videos where you should be speaking, but use a computer to put your text in.  These are all things I move on from, or watch the whole video in hopes of it turning better with no satisfaction.

2. Make the title of your video be what the video is about.

Once again, very simple things.  No one, and I mean no one, likes it when they are mislead.  Think of it as selling something.  Let’s say you wanted to sell oranges, but the person who wants them can’t see them unless they buy it (makes me think of eBay) and you told them these oranges were as yellow as bananas.  Now, this person is intrigued.  He wants to have some yellow oranges.  But, when he buys these oranges he comes to find that, really, these oranges are of normal color.  That person will never buy oranges from you again, nor anything else for that matter.  Therefore, don’t say your video is about counter-terrorism and then put in a My Little Ponies video.  I wouldn’t watch a video by you ever again.

3. Tags, tags, tags.

When you add tags to your videos, it’s like you’re saying, “Hey, this video has what this person is asking for” to the YouTube search engine.  So, add lots of tags with what your video contains, down to the very last small detail.  It can definitely increase traffic.

4. Reply to others’s videos with your own.

Go out there and find videos that relate to the video you are about to post.  If your video is about a movie review, find a video related to that movie that is doing well and reply to it with yours.  A movie trailer would do well.  However, some videos owners won’t let you do this, or, the video is plagued with so many responses, your video would have a slim chance of getting too noticed.  Persevere, and you will eventually get that perfect place to respond with your video.

5. Be interested.

Making videos just for the money or fame?  You will never see a penny.  You have to be interested in what your filming or documenting, etc.  Sure, it’s a healthy human wish to be famous and have more for a better life.  But that has to be in addition to your interest.  It can definitely help, and easily, just like making good videos and titles.

So, these are all very simple and free ways to boost your popularity on the internet.  A few of these can also apply to other things such as writing, photographing, etc.  Of course, there are other ways to boost popularity with advertising and such, but those aren’t free.  What’s the good in paying for your viewers?  Unless, you’re just in it for the cash.  Then, I suggest you stop trying and find a new money-making scheme elsewhere.  We don’t want you on our YouTube.

This pioneering video and media production team is just a bunch of high tech nerds that locked them themselves in a room to provide you with the ability to produce professional promos for your blogs and websites. Not only that, you can actively promote your work here at Triond, making a short promo video about yourself as a writer and what you’re all about.

I stumbled upon this company several days ago when I was blog hopping, and I happened to see a trailer for a travel company. I was so incredibly impressed, and never did I even imagine it would be so easy to create the same affect. Of course, that’s impossible with Animoto considering every movie is mixed completely different each and every time.

“Animoto videos have the visual energy of a music video and the emotional impact of a movie trailer.” They use a software they developed called Cinematic Artificial Intelligence technology that takes all of your media and pictures and  edits them, just like a director.The results are a high quality, professionally produced video that rivals commercials and many TV shows.

With their experience it’s no surprise that Animoto is a driving force in the video production industry. In 2009, they won the Webby Award for Best Services and Applications Website, along with the best Website of the Year by NBC Technow and BBC’s Click Top Picks in 2008. See the rest of their awards

Animoto is based in New York City with an office also in San Francisco. “The founders of Animoto include veterans of the entertainment industry and have produced shows for MTV, Comedy Central, & ABC, studied music in London, and played in indie rock bands in Seattle”.

The Animoto Experience-Test Run

Webphemera

Chris Stonecipher and Friends

Keep in mind this is all free to use for 30 second promos. However, if your interested in making longer videos, I would suggest investing in their $30.00 a year deal. The best part about this is that the logo that appears in the 30 second promos will not be there, you get unlimited videos, 300 commercially licensed  songs, link-in video player, support around the clock, and all of the videos are licensed for commercial use.

The Ancient Digger

Tutorial

First you need to sign up. It takes about 5 minutes and your on your way.

Click on Create a video and choose the 30 minute promo option for free users or full length extended version for paid users.

Upload your pictures, retrieve then from sites like Picaso, Flickr, Photobucket, or use Animoto’s own library.

At this point, you can shift around your images and add text and titles.

Sift through their library title for your soundtrack or upload your own.

After you have chosen and saved your music selection, pick the length and speed of your video. Click continue to enter information including a title, a description, and the producer, that’s you.

That’s it and that’s all. I was even thinking of doing a promo for Triond, however someone might beat me to it.

If you have the time, and right now before school starts I am making the most of mine, check this site out.

Screenshots by Author

Then came 2008. The abrupt and I do mean abrupt spin out of control for YouTube. 2008 marked a time in YouTube that lives on in infamy as “The Copyright Crackdown” during this period videos were getting deleted left and right, up and down, over and under. I don’t entirely blame google I blame Viacom. They started the lawsuit claiming that YouTube wasn’t doing enough to stop copyrighted material. Nobody and I mean NOBODY! Goes on YouTube just to see user created videos! So Viacom and other organizations started deleting videos themselves. Taking the law into their own hand. and believe me **** got deleted.

That’s not all though! Do you know that your privacy is being invaded?! In July 2008, Viacom won a court ruling requiring YouTube to hand over data detailing the viewing habits of every user who has watched videos on the site. Even though there was absolutely no evidence that  YouTube treated videos infringing copyright differently. This led to the concern that Viacom could obtain your IP address through your viewing habits. Which I heard is possible. Overall they obtained 12 terabytes of data from the users on YouTube. Since then YouTube has introduced a system called Video ID, which checks uploaded videos against a database of copyrighted content with the aim of reducing violations.

Last I want to talk about something that will never be changed about YouTube and cannot be changed. That is the YouTube community as a whole. People who watch, comment, rate, and subscribe on YouTube. This is one of the main reasons I HATE YouTube. The YouTube community as a whole is the greatest bunch of jerks I and you will encounter. I decided to buy a real expensive camera and just, for the hell of it, make videos on YouTube. But if there is one thing I know now it is that the YouTube community HATES HATES HATES and I mean HATES anybody under the age of at least 18. If you are under 18 I do not recommend making videos. You’ll just end up taking them all off, out of frustration. However they are not all mean just most of them. I used to make videos and still do but  a preteen at the hardest time of their life does not need to hear hate coming from people who want to make themselves feel better. If you are under 18 feel free to make a video but expect hate. I was attacked so many ways it was unbearable! People made full fledged videos depicting how ugly I was. Taking apart every single piece of my face. My nose, mouth, eyes, ears, face structure, skin, fitness. Those were the choreographed assaults. Then there was the lamer assaults the “You Suck” “You’re a Fag” “Go Die” “You’re Ugly”. Blah BLAH blah BLADDADDY Blah.

You-Tube is going downhill. With the copyright, the privacy invasion, and the hateful community. It is just not Worth it. All the hardships you have to deal with just for 10 minutes.