Jump to content

Online video upload - a poll


Who wants online upload for video?  

24 members have voted

  1. 1. Who wants online uploading for video?

    • Yes
      19
    • No
      5


Recommended Posts

Evening all

 

I'm guessing it will probably go nowhere but it seem a definite topic of conversation.

 

Alamy, you have video footage online but the process is messy to say the least. Your competitors are running away from you on this because of the way in which to get those videos to you. 

 

Im sure that the company is making enough money to get this up and running. I'm sure that once it is up and running then people would use it.

 

So how's about it? Who would like to see this subject moving forward as it seems to have stalled at Alamy HQ.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Definitely me too please. I consider myself primarily a photographer, but I have produced 1000 or so clips over the years. I licence the HD ones through a non-UK microstock library (one which very usefully shows the location of each purchase on a world map). in this way I know the majority of my sales go to British buyers. I would much rather concentrate on a British based outlet for my video which would give my clips a more appropriate shop window. Online uploading would also encourage me to invest in producing more of the same; Chicken and Egg and all that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am interested in some versions of video here . . . but for this vote, in the absence of a "yes, as long as its development doesn't in any way impinge on Alamy's core business of licensing images", I'm abstaining.

 

dd

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It is strange that we can so easily upload (massive) videos to Vimeo, Youtube and even Facebook, yet Alamy requires 250 clips on a hard drive!
No surprise though as I'm struggling right now to upload a few images to the news feed using their web uploader, although it could possibly be my connection.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

Would get into it if it weren't so difficult to get into it.

 

Bryan, what do you need to know? There are a couple of hurdles but they are easily overcome :)

 

 

Thanks Jools, I don't have any insuperable problems with the technology - have a number of rather amateurish Youtube videos - but it's the Alamy requirements that I perceive to be a barrier.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It is strange that we can so easily upload (massive) videos to Vimeo, Youtube and even Facebook, yet Alamy requires 250 clips on a hard drive!

 

It would be great if we had the kind of resources of Vimeo, Youtube and Facebook...!

 

The question in this poll is:

 

"Who wants online uploading for video?"

 

We do! That doesn't mean it's workable for us at the moment though.

 

At the moment, video on Alamy does sell but it's not a massive seller for us...yet. Customer demand is not where we had expected it to be...yet.

 

We ask for 250 clips via an approval process as it means we can concentrate our limited video resources to those who are producing the most commercially viable work. It means that after an initial approval, very little inspection needs to go on for the content that's sent to us. This keeps the overheads low.

 

If we were to open up online upload of video to all we would need to do some advanced QC for the content coming in - this just isn't possible for us to do right now. 

 

Our development resources are strong but limited. There are many areas of the business to think about, but from the content team's perspective, we're always thinking of ways where we can improve the contributor process, whilst staying within the financial boundaries we have. In terms of priorities, if we had to pick between a project to add online upload for video or improving the upload and 'manage images' function for stills then.....well,  video would have to come second place.

 

Online upload for video would certainly be nice to have - but we're adding around 100,000 videos per year at the current rate, keeping an eye on quality and making an increasing amount of sales in this area. If the demand for video continues to grow and get to a level that warrants it, then we would of course divert funds and resources into adding this option for contributors.

 

Cheers

 

Alamy

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't claim to be an expert in the video market but it seems to me that in order to achieve a high level of sales Alamy needs to achieve a critical mass in terms of the quantity of clips in the library, and/or a uniqueness about the clip collection (like the Alamy still image collection perhaps). If this critical mass is achieved, maybe involving a library of 1 million plus clips, then buyers may start to put Alamy Footage  nearer the top of their minds as a go-to place.

 

I doubt that the slow and steady approach will ever achieve this critical mass, not least because the competition is also developing at the same time. A determined drive to quickly grow the library seems essential, one aspect of which must be to make it easier for more people to submit their footage. Alamy has a ready made resource in its army of experienced photographers. I know video and stills are different but experienced photographers already have many of the essential skills needed for video. A well thought out quality control program could leverage this experience. 

 

It would take a brave decision to commit the resources necessary to make Alamy Footage a significant success, but I feel without that commitment, this particular part of Alamy will eventually wither away.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A thought achieving critical mass faster.

Perhaps Alamy should adopt a two tier approach and work with experienced video editors to act as consolidators and first stage of QC, to be intermediaries for individual videographers. If the editors had specialist knowledge, fields of expertise then they could grow those specialist niches very quickly. Then Alamy could just concentrate on the curation of the content as they seem to be trying to do by working with videographers of known quality.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

It is strange that we can so easily upload (massive) videos to Vimeo, Youtube and even Facebook, yet Alamy requires 250 clips on a hard drive!

 

It would be great if we had the kind of resources of Vimeo, Youtube and Facebook...!

 

The question in this poll is:

 

"Who wants online uploading for video?"

 

We do! That doesn't mean it's workable for us at the moment though.

 

At the moment, video on Alamy does sell but it's not a massive seller for us...yet. Customer demand is not where we had expected it to be...yet.

 

We ask for 250 clips via an approval process as it means we can concentrate our limited video resources to those who are producing the most commercially viable work. It means that after an initial approval, very little inspection needs to go on for the content that's sent to us. This keeps the overheads low.

 

If we were to open up online upload of video to all we would need to do some advanced QC for the content coming in - this just isn't possible for us to do right now. 

 

Our development resources are strong but limited. There are many areas of the business to think about, but from the content team's perspective, we're always thinking of ways where we can improve the contributor process, whilst staying within the financial boundaries we have. In terms of priorities, if we had to pick between a project to add online upload for video or improving the upload and 'manage images' function for stills then.....well,  video would have to come second place.

 

Online upload for video would certainly be nice to have - but we're adding around 100,000 videos per year at the current rate, keeping an eye on quality and making an increasing amount of sales in this area. If the demand for video continues to grow and get to a level that warrants it, then we would of course divert funds and resources into adding this option for contributors.

 

Cheers

 

Alamy

 

 

Is there any way we can get stats for video views/zooms on our dashboard? We currently have no way to know what's going on with them.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.