nealdt
11-11-2005, 05:58 PM
This is a very brief overview of websites where you can host your SSBM videos (and often other files as well).
Bad
Google Video (http://video.google.com)
File restrictions: must be a video file. Preferred format is MPEG4 NTSC 750kbps with MP3 vbr 128kbps audio. Other formats will take longer to verify and publish. All submitted files go through a lengthy review process wherein Google verifies that your video content is suitable and that you own the proper copyrights to publish the video.
Download restrictions: cannot download. Video plays in an embedded Flash player.
Interface: a spinoff of Google's generally attractive interface. As noted, videos play as Flash media in the user's browser and can't be downloaded easily. Quality is suspect, and often below the original file's; not only does the conversion from video to Flash cause quality to suffer, but the embedded player stretches to match the size of the user's browser, often doubling or tripling the video's intended size and causing large amounts of pixelation; this can be fixed by making the browser window smaller.
Overall: 2/5. Upload and verification process is overly complicated and unnecessary for Smash videos. Inability to download is a terrible restriction. Your video *will* always be available once you get it up, but there are many other solutions for hosting Smash videos that aren't nearly as complicated.
Putfile (http://www.putfile.com)
File restrictions: must be an image, video, audio, or Flash file. Maximum file size is 10MB for anonymous uploads, or 25MB if you sign up for a user account.
Download restrictions: must be viewed through their website. No way for users to download the video file to their hard drive (unless you use Firefox, in which case you can right-click the video, select Properties, then copy the URL from the property window). No restrictions on bandwidth usage, and file does not expire.
Interface: cluttered, but video is centered and very obvious. Can't customize which media player is used.
Overall: 2/5. Unlimited viewing, but users can't download themselves, so the file won't propogate through DC++. Small file size restriction limits videos to short 1v1s only.
Satisfactory
Rapid Share (http://www.rapidshare.de)
File restrictions: file size must be < 100 MB.
Download restrictions: individual users can only download one file from Rapid Share per hour, though there are fancy tricks around this.
Interface: poor. Lots of text to read through, especially on download pages. Newbies may be confused on how to actually download a file when confronted with dozens of links and bolded text. They'll eventually figure it out and probably won't be confused in the future.
Overall: 2.5/5. Terrible interface and limitation of one download per hour hurt this site's usefulness. However, once you get a file up you won't have to worry about it expiring.
YouSendIt (http://www.yousendit.com)
File restrictions: file size must be < 1GB.
Download restrictions: file expires after 25 downloads or 7 days. You can re-upload the file after this time, but the name must be different. Be sure to specify your own email address when uploading the file, and then post the link given in the email you receive.
Interface: clean and attractive. Links are very obvious, and the site informs you clearly when a file has expired.
Overall: 3/5. Nice if you don't mind re-uploading often. Don't use it if you're lazy, though -- you'll be doing a disservice to the community by putting up a file that only 25 people can download.
Ideal
Badongo (http://www.badongo.com/)
File restrictions: the website FAQ states files must be < 10MB, but I had no problems uploading a 20MB video. Only accepts image (jpg/gif/png) and video (wmv/avi/mpg/mov/asf/asx) files.
Download restrictions: movie initially plays within your web browser, like PutFile, but there is a link to download it to your computer.
Interface: clean and simple. Uploading is very easy, though the link to download a file is small and somewhat inconspicuous.
Overall: 4.5/5. Essentially a PutFile clone with the ability to download movies. The ability to manage and organize your files like FileFront would make this the ultimate hosting site.
DC++ (http://www.smashboards.com/showthread.php?t=56223)
File restrictions: none.
Download restrictions: you may be the only person hosting your file for some time. Must be in Active Mode for most other users to download from you.
Interface: can be a little confusing, but just follow the instructions in the link above.
Overall: 4/5. Ok, so it's not a hosting site. Despite that, everyone should use DC++, but not everyone can thanks to router/DNS issues, particularly at universities. And even if you can use DC++, it may be a good idea to offer an Internet link to your file to help get it distributed.
Easy Sharing (http://www.easy-sharing.com)
File restrictions: must be < 75MB.
[u]Download restrictions[u]: none.
Interface: minimal text makes it easy to find upload and download links. Site sometimes puts inappropriate ads on your download page, though. For example, my Ice Climbers video guide has the following notice: "We have found that the file is related to the following subjects: Dating service, online dating." I know that Popo is a pimp and all, but I have no idea what my video has to do with online dating :confused:.
Overall: 4.5/5. Identical to Badongo for all intents and purposes.
FileFront (http://www.filefront.com) (EDITOR'S CHOICE)
File restrictions: file must be < 1GB, and the upload cannot take more than 1 hour to complete. Must create an account to upload files (but this is a good thing -- see below).
Download restrictions: availability sometimes depends on server capacity. Users will occasionally have to wait in line for a few minutes to an hour, depending on the time of day.
Interface: brilliant. You can organize your uploads into different folders, give extended descriptions, and show visitors the files you've downloaded recently. By following one link to a video of yours, visitors can find all your other files by browsing your directory -- very handy! For an example, see http://nealdt.filefront.com (yes, you can get a URL like "yourname.filefront.com").
Overall: 4.5/5. The best overall hosting solution out there.
So in summary, use one of the Ideal sites to get your video initially distributed, then hop on DC++ to make sure everyone is getting it. Hope this helps someone.
Bad
Google Video (http://video.google.com)
File restrictions: must be a video file. Preferred format is MPEG4 NTSC 750kbps with MP3 vbr 128kbps audio. Other formats will take longer to verify and publish. All submitted files go through a lengthy review process wherein Google verifies that your video content is suitable and that you own the proper copyrights to publish the video.
Download restrictions: cannot download. Video plays in an embedded Flash player.
Interface: a spinoff of Google's generally attractive interface. As noted, videos play as Flash media in the user's browser and can't be downloaded easily. Quality is suspect, and often below the original file's; not only does the conversion from video to Flash cause quality to suffer, but the embedded player stretches to match the size of the user's browser, often doubling or tripling the video's intended size and causing large amounts of pixelation; this can be fixed by making the browser window smaller.
Overall: 2/5. Upload and verification process is overly complicated and unnecessary for Smash videos. Inability to download is a terrible restriction. Your video *will* always be available once you get it up, but there are many other solutions for hosting Smash videos that aren't nearly as complicated.
Putfile (http://www.putfile.com)
File restrictions: must be an image, video, audio, or Flash file. Maximum file size is 10MB for anonymous uploads, or 25MB if you sign up for a user account.
Download restrictions: must be viewed through their website. No way for users to download the video file to their hard drive (unless you use Firefox, in which case you can right-click the video, select Properties, then copy the URL from the property window). No restrictions on bandwidth usage, and file does not expire.
Interface: cluttered, but video is centered and very obvious. Can't customize which media player is used.
Overall: 2/5. Unlimited viewing, but users can't download themselves, so the file won't propogate through DC++. Small file size restriction limits videos to short 1v1s only.
Satisfactory
Rapid Share (http://www.rapidshare.de)
File restrictions: file size must be < 100 MB.
Download restrictions: individual users can only download one file from Rapid Share per hour, though there are fancy tricks around this.
Interface: poor. Lots of text to read through, especially on download pages. Newbies may be confused on how to actually download a file when confronted with dozens of links and bolded text. They'll eventually figure it out and probably won't be confused in the future.
Overall: 2.5/5. Terrible interface and limitation of one download per hour hurt this site's usefulness. However, once you get a file up you won't have to worry about it expiring.
YouSendIt (http://www.yousendit.com)
File restrictions: file size must be < 1GB.
Download restrictions: file expires after 25 downloads or 7 days. You can re-upload the file after this time, but the name must be different. Be sure to specify your own email address when uploading the file, and then post the link given in the email you receive.
Interface: clean and attractive. Links are very obvious, and the site informs you clearly when a file has expired.
Overall: 3/5. Nice if you don't mind re-uploading often. Don't use it if you're lazy, though -- you'll be doing a disservice to the community by putting up a file that only 25 people can download.
Ideal
Badongo (http://www.badongo.com/)
File restrictions: the website FAQ states files must be < 10MB, but I had no problems uploading a 20MB video. Only accepts image (jpg/gif/png) and video (wmv/avi/mpg/mov/asf/asx) files.
Download restrictions: movie initially plays within your web browser, like PutFile, but there is a link to download it to your computer.
Interface: clean and simple. Uploading is very easy, though the link to download a file is small and somewhat inconspicuous.
Overall: 4.5/5. Essentially a PutFile clone with the ability to download movies. The ability to manage and organize your files like FileFront would make this the ultimate hosting site.
DC++ (http://www.smashboards.com/showthread.php?t=56223)
File restrictions: none.
Download restrictions: you may be the only person hosting your file for some time. Must be in Active Mode for most other users to download from you.
Interface: can be a little confusing, but just follow the instructions in the link above.
Overall: 4/5. Ok, so it's not a hosting site. Despite that, everyone should use DC++, but not everyone can thanks to router/DNS issues, particularly at universities. And even if you can use DC++, it may be a good idea to offer an Internet link to your file to help get it distributed.
Easy Sharing (http://www.easy-sharing.com)
File restrictions: must be < 75MB.
[u]Download restrictions[u]: none.
Interface: minimal text makes it easy to find upload and download links. Site sometimes puts inappropriate ads on your download page, though. For example, my Ice Climbers video guide has the following notice: "We have found that the file is related to the following subjects: Dating service, online dating." I know that Popo is a pimp and all, but I have no idea what my video has to do with online dating :confused:.
Overall: 4.5/5. Identical to Badongo for all intents and purposes.
FileFront (http://www.filefront.com) (EDITOR'S CHOICE)
File restrictions: file must be < 1GB, and the upload cannot take more than 1 hour to complete. Must create an account to upload files (but this is a good thing -- see below).
Download restrictions: availability sometimes depends on server capacity. Users will occasionally have to wait in line for a few minutes to an hour, depending on the time of day.
Interface: brilliant. You can organize your uploads into different folders, give extended descriptions, and show visitors the files you've downloaded recently. By following one link to a video of yours, visitors can find all your other files by browsing your directory -- very handy! For an example, see http://nealdt.filefront.com (yes, you can get a URL like "yourname.filefront.com").
Overall: 4.5/5. The best overall hosting solution out there.
So in summary, use one of the Ideal sites to get your video initially distributed, then hop on DC++ to make sure everyone is getting it. Hope this helps someone.