This morning I was pleasantly surprised to find a new advertiser had signed on to my blog. The guys at Automattic have placed an ad for VideoPress, and I had to admit that I had briefly looked at the service but hadn't done anything with it yet. I guess this was a good time to change that, and to be honest, I'm impressed.
I've made a short video, which covers how to get your VideoPress account on WordPress.com, how to install the VideoPress plugin and how to then insert a video into your post (make sure to click on HD in the upper right if your bandwidth allows for it):
[videopress D3XelS9G w=565 h=318]
As you can see this video is 1280x720, aka HD, and you get unlimited plays, all the bandwidth is "on" Automattic. You also get pretty detailed stats about your video, even with the total number of minutes played, and a whole lot more. The complete feature list is best gotten on the VideoPress support page.
As you can see these video's come with default embed codes, just hover over the video and click on embed in the upper left:
So thanks, Automattic, for supporting yoast.com and for making such a cool service available.
Note: even though the link above has a tracking code, I didn't get paid for this post in any other way than that Automattic advertises with a 125x125 button here. I bought my own VideoPress upgrade when I was shooting this video.
Joost-
Thanks for taking the time to do this, great video of what appears to be a great, and valuable service!
-Travis
Anyone know what the terms of use are for VideoPress as far as commercial use goes?
Can commercial sites make use of this to embed videos in their blog, screencasts, etc.?
Hi Carl,
Yes, you can make commercial use of the videos. There are no restrictions on how and where you display the videos. (The only restrictions are around uploading ultra violent content or porn.)
Very cool! I will definitely have to look into putting this to use then.
Hi Yoast, excellent blog & video.
I was wondering, is this a good plugin to use if you want to optimize videoes for universal search?
Thanks for being open and honest about the advertisement. Hopefully the new agreement will still allow you to press Matt to reply to your post below and encourage him to create a separate premium plugins directory similar to the premium themes directory that already exists:
http://yoast.com/on-the-gpl-themes-plugins-free
Can you run ads against the video?
@Eric -- we have a VideoPress VIP tier which support player UI customizations, and we are exploring various ad-integrations. If you'd like to learn more, just click on the VIP "contact us" link near the bottom of http://videopress.com/
Seems like a very cool service. Is the unlimited bandwidth the only advantage? how is it compared to the competition in quality, ease of use and exposure?
To me the commercial uses are very handy. This would make managing things like Screencasts for a product site much easier.
Although must people don't realize it, but commercial use is actually against the Terms of Use policies for most of the video sharing sites such as Vimeo.com so you aren't really supposed to use them for doing things like screencasts for products you sell, etc.
From what I have seen the quality is very good, although I haven't actually tried it yet.
Looks interesting, I might start using this one, thanks.
I would like to see Automattic offer a version of VideoPress that allowed our users to leave video comments via their webcams in a similar way to the Seesmic, Riffly and Viddler video commenting WordPress plugins, but as a paid service without ads.
Video commenting will never be a replacement for text comments but there are specific uses in which it is a good accompaniment to text, such as when you want to show how to do something visually. Nothing close to HD would be required, in fact faster low bandwidth would better suit the casual nature of video comments.
Such a service would definitely be worth $60 per year, even for sites that made fairly infrequent use of it. It would just be a nice thing to offer our users and another way to promote discussion.
That "terms of use" issue is a big deal as I have read about people's accounts getting wiped out for violations. VideoPress looks like a good option that is worth exploring... why? because it is designed for WordPress and I prefer using plugins. Thanks!
Also good to support Automattic.
Nice Post ! very helpful..
Thanks for the great tutorial. But what about the flexibility to change the WordPress logo for instance. Is that possible with VideoPress? It doesn't look like it from within the plugin.
Nope, but that's not possible with for instance Vimeo either. Have to say I'd love to change it too though ;)
Maybe there's a way for Automattic to make a little more money here :-)
Actually, you can completely eliminate the Vimeo branding in preferences. But they kicked me off for commercial use, so this is no idle threat.
We have a VIP tier for VideoPress which allows for player customization including the logo. You can see an example here with Office Depot: http://socialpress.officedepot.com/office-depot-offers-smart-values-on-back-to-school-supplies-to-help-students-and-teachers-prepare-on-a-budget/
That sounds nice. Do you have a link for the VIP tier? I can find the VIP hosting on WordPress, but not on VideoPress.
A dedicated page for VideoPress VIP will be up soon, for now just click "Contact Us" from http://videopress.com (near the bottom ) and I can send you all the info.
Done, looking forward to hearing from you. And thanks for the snappy reply :-)
I was just thinking about video this weekend and the way to go. Your newsletter was timely, informative, and nicely done. Very impressed with the HD quality.
Why you sound so low in that tutorial videos.
-Shanker Bakshi
Dunnow, works fine here, initial version had low sound, current version is fine afaik. Please refrain from spammy anchor texts on your comments btw.
I agree with Bakshi, the volume is extremely low on this video. I can barely hear it with all volume controls on 100% on my laptop. Other videos are fine. Just FYI. Thanks for the great video.
hi,
Tried to watch above video but "sorry the video currently not available" error showing???
Hmm it seems to work right now?
Excellent post, Joost.
I was wondering (slightly off-topic): What are you using to automatically fill in your PayPal password?
1Password :)
Joost,
What is it compatible with? Can iphones view these videos?
No, just Youtube on iPhones, unfortunately... Would be cool if we could have a viewer for iPhones but I don't see it happening just yet :)
There's no reason why VideoPress couldn't do exactly what YouTube does, serve up an MP4 version to iPhones. There are certainly enough iPhones and iPod Touches out there, it would be an attractive feature for content providers.
Youtube uses the embedded player on the iPhone, but it's true: VideoPress could just deliver an MP4.
We are actively looking at adding iPhone playback support. Stay tuned :)
Are your videos nofollowed like You-Tube or do they pass link equity? Also, what is the difference between You-Tube and Video Press in terms of functionality/pros/cons?
Does anyone know if it can do private videos, for membership sites (like you can do with Amazon
S3 EzS3)?
Yeah I don't see why not. The videos are only shown when you embed them somewhere :)
Hi can you please share whether the video player is http psuedo straming? Many players on
the market continually buffer throughout video playing.
Thanks,
Tony
Thanks For the post and information. You have a great website and resource here, thank you for providing it!
I didn't know there was something like this in WordPress. Now it is easier to share videos, when it is integrated on my blog.
Hi, I emailed WordPress on Monday for details on the VIP publisher version of VideoPress, but have not heard back. I notice the group seems to be responding here, so thought I'd post a comment for help. Would love to get the details on the customized player and advertising options that come with the service.
If so, is there someone I can contact directly?
-james
Hi James --
I don't think i saw your inquiry. Feel free to contact me directly: http://raanan.com/contact-me/