A Simpler Way of Converting and Uploading Videos from Canon to YouTube

I recently uploaded a video of the kids using our Canon Powershot SX210 as the video camera. Since Canon uses the Quicktime format, I had to do several steps to downsize it from its huge HD format into something that will load easily to YouTube using Microsoft Expressions. This involved several steps as described in my previous blog post.

Then I came across a free software that pretty much does the whole works at much fewer steps. Check out the Freemake Video Converter. It allows you to convert between video formats, while changing resolution at the same time. It even comes with a button that will let you directly upload the video to YouTube at a click of a button (no need to open your browser and go to YouTube).

Freemake even allows you to edit your video (ex. cut out un-needed portions) prior to conversion or upload. Very versatile. And to top it all off, its completely free software. Below is a video from Ethan's birthday using the same camera and Freemake to convert and upload it to YouTube.

The Latest YouTube Sensations!

Cols recently bought a point-and-click Canon Powershot SX210IS digital camera. Among its many DSLR-like features, it has the ability to record high-definition (HD) video @ 720 lines. Its not really Full HD (1080), but 720 is pretty high already.

I shot Caitlin and Ethan singing Justin Bieber's song, Baby. Its a 3-minute-plus video. But at HD recording rate, that translates to more than a whopping 600MB+ in file size! To upload it to YouTube, I have to reduce the file significantly. I normally use the freely downloadable Microsoft Windows Media Encoder. There is just one problem in this case -- Canon records in Quicktime .MOV format and Windows Media Encoder does not support that format.

Media Encoder is actually a very old software. The latest equivalent software is the Microsoft Expression Encoder 4.0. Its also available from Microsoft as a free download. It requires .NET Framework 4.0 and Windows XP SP3 or better.

Expression Encoder is not as simple to use as Media Encoder. With Media Encoder, you use a wizard which leads you through a series of dialog windows to accomplish your task. With Expression Encoder, the plethora of options available on screen is daunting. It took me quite some time to figure out what I needed to do.

But I was able to finally reduce my video into 10mb -- by using only 12 frames-per-sec, reduced frame size, mono audio and much lower sampling rate. The result can be seen below. Go kids!

User-generated Video Content

There's probably no one alive who has not heard of YouTube, that giant Internet-based video sharing site which was purchased by Google for a billion dollars or two. Sure it has its share of lawsuits from the movie and tv companies because some users upload copyrighted materials, but there is no denying that it has the largest video collection of almost any topic that you can think of. It recently launched a mobile version of the site for people who wants to view it using their mobile phones. Smart claims their 3G network supports it. But when I tried using my Nokia 6680 on Smart's network, the built-in RealPlayer gave me some error (I forgot what it was).

To reach the largest number of users and to make it easy for people to view its content, YouTube uses the Adobe/Macromedia Flash format. Since Flash is already installed in most modern-day browsers, viewers do not need to download a separate plug-in unlike the other video sharing service. The downside of this approach is the format that YouTube uses is still the old Flash format (Flash 7). Its quality leaves much to be desired. If you compare it with its newer rivals, the poor video quality becomes apparent.

The top 2 video sharing sites that PC World recently reviewed and rated based on quality and performance are Blip.tv and Stage6 (note: YouTube ranked only No. 7 in the list). What these two lack in content, they make up for superb video streaming that will hopefully bring more people in to use their service. Both are free and follow the same YouTube business model of placing ads.

One of the shows that I saw at Blip.tv is the Midwest Teen Sex Show. Its a really funny skit show ran by several teens (although Nikol looks kinda old to me). But it is worthwhile to note the size and resolution of their show versus the ones you would normally see in YouTube.

Stage6 requires you to download the DivX plug-in and install it onto your browser. This is because their video is saved in DivX format. This is not surprising because Stage6 is operated by the same people who developed the DivX codec/format! Downloading and installing the plug-in was quite trivial. What I found really annoying was the plug-in installer also automatically installed along the Yahoo Toolbar onto my browser without asking for my permission. I had to manually uninstall it from my Windows Control Panel. Just for that -- I really wouldn't recommend this site. :P

Metacafe was not included in the PC World roundup. I don't know if it was because its quality was not worthy to be included in the Top 10 list? Personally, I think the quality is comparable to YouTube. One of their top draw is a guy named Kip Kay who comes up with these really amazing do-it-yourself gadgets and tricks like making infrared goggles and increasing your car's mileage by using low-cost, everyday materials.

But for most people, I guess YouTube will still be the main destination. And with Google's resources behind it, they will most likely upgrade their video quality pretty soon. So in the meantime, enjoy one of my favorite YouTube channels -- HotForWords with the linguist/philologist, Marina.