Show your creations on youtube to get a greater audience

[centreofengland]

I have seen several posts in the past by people asking how to convert pte shows into a flash movies or formats suitable for the web. So I thought I would let people know about my experience of www.youtube.com

I have been using www.youtube.com for three months so far and its a great way to get your P2E creations out there for the world to see. Also because they are in flash format they also work on Apple Mac too.

youtube has a very large audience not limited to just the people who visit the P2E forum etc.

Basically youtube is a free movie hosting service, you upload your movie in just about any video format and it converts it to a standard flash format, this gets around any problems of people using special video codecs that don't work for everyone. The only limit is the video file must be <10mins long and <100Mb in size, there is no limit on how many you can upload. Obviously this may not be enough for everyone but you can get a free unlimited director account if you really want to.

You can assign tag words and descriptions to your movies to help people find them.

Personally I see yourtube as a ideal way to get a wider audience to see your creations, Yes I know its not got the wow factor of a high quality fullscreen P2E show but thats not what its about.

All you need to do is use the Video button on P2E to make an avi file. I set the format to 320x240 15fps DivX 6 codec. You may like to experiment with settings to see what works best for you. I have found the results are acceptable on most videos, You can always provide a direct link to your own website where you let people download the .Exe file if they want to.

Some of my videos are a combination of P2E and video editing software (Windows Movie maker that is built into XP). On the Leawood pumping station video I have combined P2E pan and zoom with real video sequences. I have used P2E to make the Timelapse sequences.

Some examples I have posted on youtube for you to watch: (You NEED broadband to watch them:)

n.b.) If you have a low-end broadband connection which causes the playback to keep stopping then you will have to press the pause button and wait for the "red preloader bar" to progress a little futher or to the very end before hitting play again.

See what you think of my shows

These are just a selection of my videos.

Cheers

Andy

www.derbyphotos.co.uk

[JPD]

Hello comedyhunter ,

That's a good idea for those who want to get a wider audience, but the quality seems very very low and it's especially done for video, not sure that a slideshow with static pictures would have a great success on this hosting service. Nevertheless, thank you for the information which can be useful for some people.

[centreofengland]

the quality seems very very low and it's especially done for video, not sure that a slideshow with static pictures would have a great success on this hosting service.

Hi, Like I said Its not about fullscreen high quality shows, its simply a great/free way to get people to see what you have made. You can then supply a link to your fullscreen show. Yes I agree the quality is not crystal clear. My show

does not contain any video, its just P2E but looks good.

By the way you can embed the video onto a webpage using the Embed code they supply on the page so its very easy if you wanted to show your slide show on your website, also you don't need to worry about having the hosting bandwidth to cope with such things, as youtube host it.

Andy

[mhwarner]

Hi Andy,

What a marvelous idea. This will be great for promotions. I realize the quality isn't what you'd see on an original executable P2E slideshow, but it seems like a great idea to get photos out there without the likelihood that they will be stolen. I know one of the other members, Lee Evans, has been experimenting with flash slideshows on his website. And since this is free, seems like there would be nothing to lose and maybe a few customers to gain.

Thanks for sharing.

[backpack45scb]

Andy, I just started looking into YouTube, and just tried a couple of your creations. On the derby nightlife, it was fine at the initial size, but when I clicked the full screen button, I just got a black screen with the music playing. Do you know what that is about? I tried it with the slug video and it worked at full screen, though quality wasn't great. I think they limit you to 320x240, so don't know how you create a high quality image at full screen.

Anyway, just my comments,

Ralph

[centreofengland]

On the derby nightlife, it was fine at the initial size, but when I clicked the full screen button, I just got a black screen with the music playing. Do you know what that is about? I think they limit you to 320x240, so don't know how you create a high quality image at full screen.

Ralph

Hi Ralph, The limit of the source movie is 320x240 pixels, clicking fullscreen simply makes the flash movie spread over a larger screen area so the quality will be no where near as good. With regard to your particular problem its most likley an issue with your browser.

Assuming you have a PC and are using IE6 on XP SP2...

Right click on the movie and see what it says at the bottom of the popup menu. For me it says About Adobe Flash Player 9. If you have an older version such as 7 then try upgrading it HERE. Remember to remove the tick from the Also install Yahoo toolbar option before doing so.

Other than that it may have been a glitch. I have not seen a problem with any movies on yourtube myself, but then again I do not use the fullscreen option often.

[Ronniebootwest]

Personally I see yourtube as a ideal way to get a wider audience to see your creations, Yes I know its not got the wow factor of a high quality fullscreen P2E show but thats not what its about.

All you need to do is use the Video button on P2E to make an avi file. I set the format to 320x240 15fps DivX 6 codec. You may like to experiment with settings to see what works best for you. I have found the results are acceptable on most videos, You can always provide a direct link to your own website where you let people download the .Exe file if they want to.

Cheers

Andy

www.derbyphotos.co.uk

This is a great idea and I have already tried your suggestion and opened a 'You Tube' account.

I have used the PTE Codec because the one you have suggested is not on my list. Can you tell me where to download the 'DivX 6' codec and how I should add it to the codec list in PTE please?

Ron

[jfa]

Andy

I like your shows and this is a great suggestion, very simple and works well. Youtube is something I haven't spent a lot of time on because of the quality drop, however it is a good preview and if the viewer wants a better quality/full screen show it is possible to let them download a file of this. I will be using youtube more now. In fact I have just setup an account and will put some of my shows up shortly.

Thanks for bringing a great idea to our attention.

[Ronniebootwest]

Andy

I like your shows and this is a great suggestion, very simple and works well. Youtube is something I haven't spent a lot of time on because of the quality drop, however it is a good preview and if the viewer wants a better quality/full screen show it is possible to let them download a file of this. I will be using youtube more now. In fact I have just setup an account and will put some of my shows up shortly.

Thanks for bringing a great idea to our attention.

I agree! In fact I have put 4 of my shows up on Youtube already beacause I like the idea of reaching a larger audience. The quality drop is enormous, compared to the original PTE.exe file but I would provide a link to where the full resolution slide show could be downloaded by anyone interested. Problem is, Youtube does not seem to provide the means of doing this.

Ron

[jfa]

snip..........I would provide a link to where the full resolution slide show could be downloaded by anyone interested. Problem is, Youtube does not seem to provide the means of doing this.

Ron, I put the link to where I have posted the .EXE file of my show in the Description field and the viewer can click it, cut and paste it to their browser, etc.

[Nathan]

This is a great idea and I have already tried your suggestion and opened a 'You Tube' account.

I have used the PTE Codec because the one you have suggested is not on my list. Can you tell me where to download the 'DivX 6' codec and how I should add it to the codec list in PTE please?

Ron

If it's of any help , I found YouTube clips sometimes took a while to load causing buffering problems. Then I came across a very helpful free tool, Speedbit Video Accelerator from: http://www.speedbit.com/ and my problems were solved.

Also, you can convert YouTube's FLV files to AVI then download to your desktop for later viewing by using the web based FLV Converter Vixi at

http://vixy.net/

Nathan.

[kpnutt]

I have seen several posts in the past by people asking how to convert pte shows into a flash movies or formats suitable for the web. So I thought I would let people know about my experience of www.youtube.com

I have been using www.youtube.com for three months so far and its a great way to get your P2E creations out there for the world to see. Also because they are in flash format they also work on Apple Mac too.

youtube has a very large audience not limited to just the people who visit the P2E forum etc.

Basically youtube is a free movie hosting service, you upload your movie in just about any video format and it converts it to a standard flash format, this gets around any problems of people using special video codecs that don't work for everyone. The only limit is the video file must be <10mins long and <100Mb in size, there is no limit on how many you can upload. Obviously this may not be enough for everyone but you can get a free unlimited director account if you really want to.

You can assign tag words and descriptions to your movies to help people find them.

Personally I see yourtube as a ideal way to get a wider audience to see your creations, Yes I know its not got the wow factor of a high quality fullscreen P2E show but thats not what its about.

All you need to do is use the Video button on P2E to make an avi file. I set the format to 320x240 15fps DivX 6 codec. You may like to experiment with settings to see what works best for you. I have found the results are acceptable on most videos, You can always provide a direct link to your own website where you let people download the .Exe file if they want to.

Some of my videos are a combination of P2E and video editing software (Windows Movie maker that is built into XP). On the Leawood pumping station video I have combined P2E pan and zoom with real video sequences. I have used P2E to make the Timelapse sequences.

Some examples I have posted on youtube for you to watch: (You NEED broadband to watch them:)

n.b.) If you have a low-end broadband connection which causes the playback to keep stopping then you will have to press the pause button and wait for the "red preloader bar" to progress a little futher or to the very end before hitting play again.

See what you think of my shows

These are just a selection of my videos.

Cheers

Andy

www.derbyphotos.co.uk

[kpnutt]

Hi, great idea, and i want to try it, but when i click create an avi file, it appears to make one and i save it, but then i cant find it where i put it as its not listed... what am i doin wrong?

Dave

[alrobin]

kpnutt,

Welcome to the Forum!

The program asks where you want to create the avi file. But, if you are using the PicturesToExe codec, you will create only a temporary file which must be followed up with a third-party video program such as Nero or Pinnacle. This avi file will disappear when you close PTE.

However, if you choose a different codec, such as MS MPEG-4, the avi file will be saved permanently in the folder of your choice. See screenshots below.

[kpnutt]

kpnutt,

Welcome to the Forum!

The program asks where you want to create the avi file. But, if you are using the PicturesToExe codec, you will create only a temporary file which must be followed up with a third-party video program such as Nero or Pinnacle. This avi file will disappear when you close PTE.

However, if you choose a different codec, such as MS MPEG-4, the avi file will be saved permanently in the folder of your choice. See screenshots below.

[kpnutt]

Hi al, many thanks for that i will give it a go later !

Cheers

Dave

[kpnutt]

Hi al, many thanks for that i will give it a go later !

Cheers

Dave

my slide show is now live on you tube its the first one i have made in PTE 5, any comments would be most welcome.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=VmGzUdqRRy4

[alrobin]

my slide show is now live on you tube its the first one i have made in PTE 5, any comments would be most welcome.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=VmGzUdqRRy4

Dave,

Congratulations - that worked quite well!

You have an interesting variety of transportation over there!

[centreofengland]

my slide show is now live on you tube its the first one i have made in PTE 5, any comments would be most welcome.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=VmGzUdqRRy4

Nice first vid, Dave.

I think the quality is better if you don't use Interlaced video, That seemed to cause horizontal lines when the subject matter was moving.

Also I have found you get best results if you encode the file from P2E as a large low compressed file (using Indeo Video v5.10) quality 100% then import the file into video editing software so you can create better matched format for youtube.

Even though it says use Mpeg4 on youtube, this is not the best.

I import the video into Sony Vegas 7 and export the AVI as per the instructions on one of many tutorials such as HERE.

This format is better matched to what youtube needs, so less information is lost when its converted to flash on there server.

To give you an idea, This is a video I re-encoded using this method, as you can see the quality is pretty clear...

Time-lapse clouds.

You can even play it in fullscreen mode and its still pretty good.

Glad to see that people are finding it of use.

Cheers

Andy

[kpnutt]

Nice first vid, Dave.

I think the quality is better if you don't use Interlaced video, That seemed to cause horizontal lines when the subject matter was moving.

Also I have found you get best results if you encode the file from P2E as a large low compressed file (using Indeo Video v5.10) quality 100% then import the file into video editing software so you can create better matched format for youtube.

Even though it says use Mpeg4 on youtube, this is not the best.

I import the video into Sony Vegas 7 and export the AVI as per the instructions on one of many tutorials such as HERE.

This format is better matched to what youtube needs, so less information is lost when its converted to flash on there server.

To give you an idea, This is a video I re-encoded using this method, as you can see the quality is pretty clear...

Time-lapse clouds.

You can even play it in fullscreen mode and its still pretty good.

Glad to see that people are finding it of use.

Cheers

Andy

[kpnutt]

Hi andy,

Thanks for that info, i'll have a play about with it and see whats what.. i have been using PTE for a while now but its the first time i have put anything on you tube so this part is all new to me:) i have seen your shows and they are good, i liked the one on the cromford canal.. of the pumping station.. its one of my favourite places... yes i come from belper, so i guess im not too far from you..

Dave