Today I'm finally getting around to releasing the code for the Drupal base video collaboration system, now creatively named "Videocollab." Videocollab is an online based video collaboration system aimed at solving the problem of sharing videos with clients and getting them approved faster. Its actually much better than using email believe it or not (actually email really blows!). If you watch the preview videos for the project then you probably already know a bunch of the features, but just in case you forgot here they are.

Features:

• Organize client projects into their own private "groups"
• Create user accounts for clients
• Keep track of all comments and updates via email notifications
• Easily upload video files without the need for embedding
• Give clients ability to "one click approval"
• Dynamically switch between video and script view
• Tracking of video revisions

Requirements

PHP and MYSQL (and probably a apache/linux webserver)

Project Download

Videocollab 0.1 - zip file

This tutorial is similar to a previous tutorial about creating a video portfoio in Dupal, but in instead of using the complicated Drupal cms, we will be using the popular easy to use Wordpress blogging platform. Wordpress draws a lots of attention because of its simplicity, easy to install, easy to use, and availability of great themes.

Fliggo is a new online service that allows users to create their own video sharing sites. The service is currently free (but about to launch premium accounts) and looks to be very promising for anyone wanting to create their own online video community website. The UI for the website is super slick and allows users have the ability to choose from many different themes. High definition video will be soon available, but there is no current information if HD will be available for the basic or free user account.

Fliggo also allows users to create a "private" or an invite only site, which could serve as a useful purpose for sharing videos privately with clients. There is also a video importer that allows users to import their videos from other popular video sites very quickly. The site is packed with a bunch of more features and is definitely worth checking out.

This is a project update video to the new collaboration cms in the works to make it easier to manage videos with clients.

New features added:

• Dynamically switch between video and script view
• Tracking of video revisions
• Improve commenting

Screen Cast:

Over the years there has been hundreds of different recommended settings for exporting videos for the web. These recommendations often included video in WMV, Xvid, AVI, Mov, FLV and many more formats. Not to mention all the variations of different codecs, bitrates, and frame sizes. As the presence of HD video began slipping into the scene of online videos, almost all major online video services have conformed their recommendations to one specific format. The codec h.264 (mpeg-4) has won the battle of online video formats, with its ability to encode high quality and relatively small files size video.

Check out the recommended export settings of popular online video services to see how they compare.

Due to popular demand, here is a video tutorial on how to quickly setup video on your website using the JW Flash Player Wizard. Visit the originall tutorial at: JW Flash Player Wizard

This project has been in the works for awhile now, but finally I've found time to get it going.

What's the idea?
Create an online project collaboration tool for getting videos approved by clients more quickly.

Goal
To make it easier for clients to comment on videos, track comments, implement video revisions, and get clients to approve videos faster.

How?
Drupal: An open source content management framework

Current Features

• Organize client projects into their own private "groups"
• Create user accounts for clients
• Keep track of all comments and updates via email notifications
• Easily upload video files without the need for embedding
• Give clients ability to "one click approval"

The project is still in its very early stages and needs to be further tested.

Today Vimeo updates its its channels functionality with Channels 2.0. The new update actually takes away many of the old features of channels such as forms, which now reside in Vimeo Groups, but brings in three new content layout settings and ten different themes to choose from.

Channels 2.0 Video Preview

Channels 2.0 New Layouts

Gallery Layout

If you are going to host and embed videos onto a website, than an attractive and functional flash video player is a must. Here is a list of some of the best open source flash video players available.

Open Source Player

The Open Source Player is a simple and clean flash video player. The player has simple features such as volume slider, time slider, time code counter fullscreen mode and color customization. Although this player lacks many extensible features, it offers a clean and simple design with an easy to use interface.

FPlayer: Open Source AS3 FLV Player

Webware at Cnet has done an in-depth review of the different online HD video options available. The review goes over some of the more popular video hosting sites such as: YouTube, Blip.tv, Vimeo, Facebook, SmugMug and Daily Motion. In the same review last year Vimeo was rated the best, but because HD on the web has been drastically evolving in the past year the updated review shows how much more competitive online video services are becoming.

YouTube was the winner this year with its excellent HD quality and larger playback area. These results support Vidlivery's earlier review of YouTube HD vs. Vimeo HD. To read the full article visit: Which HD Video Web Service Is The Best?