Support for embedded video?

[Tensaiteki]

Is there any way that we could get support for embedded video installed on the boards?

I think it would be really great if we could display videos uploaded to Google Video, Youtube, etc. within the posts (like many of us do with pictures) instead of having to make the readers click on a link, open up a new window/tab, and then come back to finish reading the post.

I did some searching and AME (link (http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showthread.php?t=150863)) appears to be very popular for this as well as easy to use. It doesn't require the use of BBCode tags, it just scans the post and automatically recognizes valid links to videos (kinda like how, right now, the board automatically recognizes URLs and converts them into links. Granted, I've never run a vBulletin system so I have no idea how much trouble it is to install.

I'm getting ready to post about a project I'm working on and have some videos that go with it, but I'd rather not have to send people off to a different site just to watch the videos.

[Donald Branscom]

You need to think of others. SERIOUSLY
50% of Americans do not have the operating systems on their computers to support VIDEO'S

RIGHT NOW many companies are trying to convince everyone with a computer that they need NEW computers (MAC AND IBM style), just so business men can make you watch more jumping monkeys and spinning mortgage ads.
Many people's computers cannot support FLASH SWF files right now because they do not have what it takes to support SHOCKWAVE 8

You want to seriously bog down this site and make it run VERY SLOW let people post video's.

BAD IDEA. I saw another forum ruined by the same thinking. They finally saw the light and disallowed video.

Develop your writing skills. Work on your spelling etc.,.And just because you say video clips are POPULAR so what!
I would rather have a fast resposive website NOT waiting while you see the words...LOADING....LOADING......LOADING......LOADI NG...LOADING
:angry:

[Tensaiteki]

You need to think of others. SERIOUSLY

I am thinking of others. With the proliferation of inexpensive digital cameras capable of recording video as well as the development of inexpensive/free and user-friendly video editing software and free video hosting services (such as Google Video and YouTube), I think that user generated video will only become more and more widespread. It is my hope that we can harness this power to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the communication of ideas and techniques between professionals and hobbyists alike.


50% of Americans do not have the operating systems on their computers to support VIDEO'S

I would be very interested in knowing your source for that statistic.

According to pcpitstop.com (Link (http://pcpitstop.com/research/osxp.asp)) Windows XP alone has around 80% market share in the United States. Any computer capable of running Windows XP is capable of playing the videos served by YouTube, Google, et al assuming it has a sufficient internet connection.


RIGHT NOW many companies are trying to convince everyone with a computer that they need NEW computers (MAC AND IBM style), just so business men can make you watch more jumping monkeys and spinning mortgage ads.

Yes, it's absolutely terrible that the companies that build computers want to sell them and actually make money to pay their employees , and completely unforgivable that their marketing people work to make that happen.

While there's nothing we can do if people want to share videos of "jumping monkeys," if they start posting videos of mortgage advertisements they will probably be treated as spammers, banned, and their posts deleted. Also, I seriously doubt enabling the embedding of videos in posts will have any effect whatsoever on the volume or type of spam that we get here.


Many people's computers cannot support FLASH SWF files right now because they do not have what it takes to support SHOCKWAVE 8

How many is "many"? Probably not as many as you think. Also, there is a difference between a computer not being able to support Flash/Shockwave and simply not having the requisite software installed.


You want to seriously bog down this site and make it run VERY SLOW let people post video's.

If the administrators do decide to install this capability on the board the additional server load will be very very slight. Most of the additional load only occurs at the time when the post is submitted and it is scanned to see if it contains any references to a valid video.

Furthermore, any videos in a post will be loaded last so they will not interfere with the speed of the rest of the page, even if you are on a slow internet connection. In effect, it will be no different than when someone includes a regular image in a post. Also, embedded videos will not fully load and play until a user clicks the play button, so if you don't want to watch the video, you don't have to wait for it to load.


BAD IDEA. I saw another forum ruined by the same thinking. They finally saw the light and disallowed video.

Could you please post a link to this other forum that was "ruined"?


Develop your writing skills. Work on your spelling etc.,.

I'll be the first to admit that my spelling and grammar are not perfect. However, I try not to criticize other people's writing skills if mine are not perfect, I would take it as a kindness if you did the same.


And just because you say video clips are POPULAR so what!

I did not say video clips were popular in my original post. I said that that specific vBulletin add-on was popular. I pointed this out since popularity means it has a large user base and generally very good support. This is important for the administrators since it makes installing and maintaining the add-on easier.


I would rather have a fast resposive website NOT waiting while you see the words...LOADING....LOADING......LOADING......LOADI NG...LOADING
:angry:

As I said before, the increased load on the welding web servers and therefore slowness in response time will be negligible. It also will not make any difference anyway when viewing the forum or thread lists, only when viewing the actual posts.

All in all, you strike me as having a very Luddite outlook on the whole issue. Should we also disallow all images, smilies, emoticons and just go pure text-based? Things would really speed up if we also removed all the advertisements and banners and just made people pay to have access. Would you like that?

[beth at weldingmag]

We are looking into this suggestion in conjunction with moving to a different server in Jan.

[Donald Branscom]

Why do you think that this web forum and others limit the size of the avatar and photos you can post? Try to imagine everyone posting videos's of welding. Proliferation or popularity does not mean quality.

[Tensaiteki]

Why do you think that this web forum and others limit the size of the avatar and photos you can post?

There are several reasons.

As far as avatars, they limit the physical size so they do not interfere with the formatting of the site if they get too big. They also limit the physical size to prevent them from getting too distracting since the avatar images hardly ever add to the discussion.

Avatars are also restricted in file size since they are usually stored and served from the welding web server. If everyone were allowed to have avatars with large file sizes, the server would quickly run out of storage space.

The size of photos that can be posted is only limited when those images are being uploaded to the welding web server. Since attachments take up space on the welding web server they must be limited to avoid running the server out of storage space. However, whenever I post a picture it is being served by my own server and is not taking up space on the welding web server so I can post a picture that is as large as I want it to be.

It's all a matter of server costs. Most users here are probably on a flat-rate plan as far as their internet service goes, so we can upload and download things over our personal internet connections as much or as little as we want and we always pay the same amount per month (or whatever your billing cycle is). However, it is completely different for people running servers. If welding web is like most sites they are charged by their service provider based on how much data goes to and from the server, their data usage is metered and charged just like someones household electricity is metered and charged.

If someone uploads a picture as an attachment the welding web server has to send it out every time someone wants to view it. Welding web has to pay every time that happens and the larger the image the more they have to pay. By limiting attachment sizes they control their costs. However, if someone, like me, posts a picture but has it hosted from a different server that image never goes through the welding web server, therefore costing welding web nothing.

Similarly, the videos I am hoping we will eventually have the ability to post will (by definition) all be hosted from a non-welding web server. So, while we can view those videos from a page withing welding web, it costs welding web nothing since their server is not transferring the video data.


Try to imagine everyone posting videos's of welding.

The point is not to just to have people post videos of welding in general, but to have people post pictures of themselves welding. Right now, with the ability to post still images, we are able to offer considerable assistance and advice to newer and less experienced welders. Now, if we could actually watch them while preforming the weld, we might be able to spot and correct problems with their technique or methods that would've been next to to impossible to spot just using still pictures. Also, the videos could be used to demonstrate and share helpful tips and tricks that would otherwise be difficult or impossible to effectively convey with just words and still images.

Surely, there will be many users that are unable to figure out how to make and post intelligible videos despite the availability of tutorials and other forms of help. However, this is not much of a problem since the same thing happens right now with regular still images. It will be those users who consistently make helpful, quality videos that will make everything worth it.


Proliferation or popularity does not mean quality.

I never said, nor (meant to imply) that it did. However just because something has proliferated and become popular does not mean that it is automatically low-quality.



BETH, thank you for giving this suggestion serious consideration, I look forward to the new server and (hopefully) new features.

[Bob at WeldingMag]

To clarify/detail WeldingWeb's official position:

Video is a vital part of the Web and is the fastest-growing capability. You need only look at the amazing influence of YouTube to understand it. Consider, even the Queen of England has a YouTube channel.

We understand that there are plenty of people who use WeldingWeb with a dial-up connection that may not deliver the kind of transmission speed that makes video useful -- or even tolerable.

But we also do not want to hold back the potential of this site for what is inevitably a declining number of users. Further, we feel that adding video capability shouldn't lessen the WeldingWeb experience for those who choose not to view any videos that may be posted here. At worst, it makes the experience the same as it already is today.

Finally, video is a perfect medium for welding content, since so much of what is discussed here is a dynamic and visual process. (Though amateur video will admittedly be a challenge given the glare of the arc and the difficulty in sharing your mask with a camera.)

So in the end, we view video as a capability that we want and need to add, but which will have an experimental quality to it. We don't really know how members will use it, or how it will develop over the long-term. But we believe it's part of our job to make it available, and we look forward to the creativity our members will apply.

With that said, as Beth already mentioned, we are planning a move to new servers sometime in January -- based on when the equipment arrives and is made ready for us by the folks in our IT department.

In close proximity to that time, we plan to upgrade to the latest version of vBulletin, and install a video capability. We are still researching the specific details of the video add-ons that we can choose from, but our goal is to maximize ease of use for members and minimize the load on our servers to assure the site runs smoothly and quickly for everyone.

When we have a definite schedule for these changes (probably within a week of when they take place), we will provide advance notice in the "Announcements" forum, because the upgrades will inevitably cause some short-term disruptions. At that time, we hope, as the saying goes, that you'll pardon our dust.

[David R]

I have to admit, I tried today to make an amateur video of pulsed spray mig. We tried all shades of the helmet, used a 300 watt halogen light on the work.......

What I came up with was nothing great.

David

[Donald Branscom]

I understand everything you say, but the magazine says it will have to have new servers.
Thousands of dollars
.The people viewing will have to have operating systems capable of viewing these video's. That will cost money. For us(me) buying a new computer so I can have the capability of viewing these video's, And I do not have the finacial rescources of the Queen of England.

[Donald Branscom]

I have to admit, I tried today to make an amateur video of pulsed spray mig. We tried all shades of the helmet, used a 300 watt halogen light on the work.......

What I came up with was nothing great.

David
Thanks for the effort.

Sounds like you just need a close up lens on a regular camera.

[scubaholic]

Thanks for the effort.

Sounds like you just need a close up lens on a regular camera.
i get the impression this guy is a genius.........he knows everything

[scubaholic]

i believe he must work for nasa