Would you use YouSendIt for Filmmakers? -- (Watermarking / Video Overlays/ Delivery)

[Phil McCarty]

I'm a software developer as a day job, and recently ran into a problem sending early edits of my first short film around. The password protected vimeo thing is okay, but less than ideal. It was a major headache restricting certain peoples access, or sending links and adding people to dropboxes, etc etc while not really wanting people to have full copies of the video, etc etc.

I'm wondering if there's any need for a system which be an ideal way to send videos?

Think of it as YouSendIt for filmmakers.

Basically, you could drag and drop a video clip to the page, enter some email addresses, and hit send.

The recipients would get an email with the link to download and/or stream the video.

You would then automatically --

• a. Have a unique invisible/inaudible watermark embedded in each, so that if it ever leaked, you'd know whose copy it was.
• b. Have a visible watermark overlaid on the video "This video was sent to [email at email address]", like the academy screeners
• c. Get delivery confirmation when the person downloads (complete with IP address, and geographic information)
• d. Send a "stream only" link so the person can watch, not download
• e. Turn On/Off that stream link or download link after sending
• f. Limit the link to a certain number of downloads.
• g. Limit the link to an expiration date.
• h. Learn exactly HOW much of the video the person watched/streamed

Just wondering what you guys thought of this. It'd be fun to build and it would have saved me a ton of time, if it'd been possible.

-Phil

*it could also be "cloud" based, where you uploaded your video once, and could then come back and send it any number of times with the same kind of tracking/protection/geographic info etc.

 

[Tim Whitcomb]

This is a rhetorical questions right?

If you build it, many will download it - no doubt

 

[Phil McCarty]

Well, not really rhetorical, I have a tendency to overestimate other peoples need for things

 

[Ryan De Franco]

You're hitting the market below FTP / "client login" and above vimeo uploads / wetransfer etc. Question is how narrow is that market, and how many people, many of whom pay for vimeo plus or wetransfer or dropbox etc, would be willing to migrate to your system?

I use wetransfer and yousendit, as I am not concerned with leaks and such in any work I am sending to others online.

 

[Joe D'Arcy]

I'm a software developer as a day job, and recently ran into a problem sending early edits of my first short film around. The password protected vimeo thing is okay, but less than ideal. It was a major headache restricting certain peoples access, or sending links and adding people to dropboxes, etc etc while not really wanting people to have full copies of the video, etc etc.

I'm wondering if there's any need for a system which be an ideal way to send videos?

Think of it as YouSendIt for filmmakers.

Basically, you could drag and drop a video clip to the page, enter some email addresses, and hit send.

The recipients would get an email with the link to download and/or stream the video.

You would then automatically --

• a. Have a unique invisible/inaudible watermark embedded in each, so that if it ever leaked, you'd know whose copy it was.
• b. Have a visible watermark overlaid on the video "This video was sent to [email at email address]", like the academy screeners
• c. Get delivery confirmation when the person downloads (complete with IP address, and geographic information)
• d. Send a "stream only" link so the person can watch, not download
• e. Turn On/Off that stream link or download link after sending
• f. Limit the link to a certain number of downloads.
• g. Limit the link to an expiration date.
• h. Learn exactly HOW much of the video the person watched/streamed

Just wondering what you guys thought of this. It'd be fun to build and it would have saved me a ton of time, if it'd been possible.

-Phil

*it could also be "cloud" based, where you uploaded your video once, and could then come back and send it any number of times with the same kind of tracking/protection/geographic info etc.

This system sounds like a good system for selling content online. I have recently created a number of educational videos for clients that they would like to distribute online. Your system sounds like it is heading in the right direction for this sort of distribution.
If you get the system up and running I would like the details etc. PM if you like.
Joe

 

[Mike Lary]

What you're describing sounds like a beefier version of Digital Pigeon. A solution tailored to the needs of the industry would be welcome. You might consider a feedback option so groups/individuals could make notes on project files (dailies or color correction sessions).

 

[Phil McCarty]

You're hitting the market below FTP / "client login" and above vimeo uploads / wetransfer etc. Question is how narrow is that market, and how many people, many of whom pay for vimeo plus or wetransfer or dropbox etc, would be willing to migrate to your system?

I use wetransfer and yousendit, as I am not concerned with leaks and such in any work I am sending to others online.

That's a very good question that I wish I had the answer to. One thing is that I don't necessarily see it as a direct competitor to dropbox (despite the poll question). My hope would be to actually integrate with Dropbox, so you can use files stored on Dropbox to actually send / store movies, as well.

 

[Phil McCarty]

This system sounds like a good system for selling content online. I have recently created a number of educational videos for clients that they would like to distribute online. Your system sounds like it is heading in the right direction for this sort of distribution.
If you get the system up and running I would like the details etc. PM if you like.
Joe

PM en route. I'm not so sure I'd be building something that would be a standalone store front. I'm a fairly big proponent of software that does one thing and does it very very well. Superior File Distribution and Video Content Distribution have some overlap, but it's not entirely 1:1. Plus I don't really long for the responsibility that comes with financial transactions between a seller and a buyer.

That said, I could definitely see this being an underlying service, so that maybe with an API call, if someone purchased "How to [x]", within a minute or two their personalized copy of "How to [x]" was ready and live on a server for them to download, with their name embossed in the beginning seconds of the video, as well as hidden in the video content itself.

--Phil

 

[Phil McCarty]

What you're describing sounds like a beefier version of Digital Pigeon. A solution tailored to the needs of the industry would be welcome. You might consider a feedback option so groups/individuals could make notes on project files (dailies or color correction sessions).

You know Mike, I'd been thinking about something like that. I kind of like the SoundCloud comment model, where you can pick specific sections of the song to leave a comment. It might be nice to have an equivalent thing, where you could mark a section of the video and say "I think we lose a little bit of the color here" or that sort of thing.

Is that what you mean?

 

[Michael Lindsay]

Where the most money would be would be on a polished all bases covered aprovals system.

It would also need to be rock, rock solid...

a coments feature where people can add coments specific bit of the film would be great.

Have you looked at http://blog.sorensonmedia.com/2012/...and-approval-functionality-with-sorenson-360/

I checked out a year ago and it was lacking but it might work.

M

 

[Phil McCarty]

Michael, what do you mean by a "polished all bases covered approvals system" exactly? My filmmaker background is mostly in screenwriting, with just a brief foray in to production so some of this is new to me.
----
I took a look at the Sorenson platform, and I think I see what you mean, it is quite literally a way for content creators to share revisions and edits with stakeholders, etc, and collect feedback.

What did you find lacking about Sorenson 360? It doesn't have much in the name of delivery, and no watermarking or security but what else would go into your dream system?

 

[Mike Lary]

You know Mike, I'd been thinking about something like that. I kind of like the SoundCloud comment model, where you can pick specific sections of the song to leave a comment. It might be nice to have an equivalent thing, where you could mark a section of the video and say "I think we lose a little bit of the color here" or that sort of thing.

Is that what you mean?

Yes, Phil. The ability to create a note on any user selected frame would be useful, along with a cascading view option of all notes for a given file with hyperlinks to the referenced frames.

It's important, at least based on my customer's needs, that the system be self-contained. Any additional step, even one as simple as downloading a player, would be met with resistance or rejected outright.

 

[Ryan De Franco]

Agreed. Self-contained, all-online, with the a button that pauses and brings up a comment bubble.

I like the way youtube does it: you specify the time (like "3:02") and the system converts it to a link that jumps to that point. Or you could do something new, but that works pretty well.

Do it! Make it cheap! There are so many content creators out there, many of whom are sick of the 2GB yousendit limits. I think integrating with dropbox is a genius idea.

 

[Phil McCarty]

Yes, Phil. The ability to create a note on any user selected frame would be useful, along with a cascading view option of all notes for a given file with hyperlinks to the referenced frames.

It's important, at least based on my customer's needs, that the system be self-contained. Any additional step, even one as simple as downloading a player, would be met with resistance or rejected outright.

Hmm. I think that's pretty doable. Seconds are a bit better than frames to be honest. Most web based video players are built for second-based manipulation, frame stuff tends to get fuzzy and might be off by 1/[xth] of a frame, I don't know how precise the frame count is supposed to be.

Here's a question, and I think I already know the answer to it:

Is it okay for commenters to see / have access to the comments from -other- commenters, or would you rather people comment into a vacuum?

I imagine the solution is "make it configurable", but I try my best to avoid that kind of thing if possible because then the software becomes more Microsofty and less Apple-y, so it'd be nice to have a default position that would please the majority of people 100% of the time, if that makes sense.

So a log-in/log-out is also bad for your clients Mike? Is this a context where you are distributing video to them, or they are distributing video to others?

Phil

 

[Gavin Greenwalt]

GoSimian.com

 

[Phil McCarty]

GoSimian.com

Why is that so expensive? $149/month for 2gb of storage? I noticed the same thing with Aframe and Wiredrive? I'm sure there's some kind of processing cost, but really, that seems exorbitant.

 

[Mike Lary]

I imagine the solution is "make it configurable", but I try my best to avoid that kind of thing if possible because then the software becomes more Microsofty and less Apple-y, so it'd be nice to have a default position that would please the majority of people 100% of the time, if that makes sense.
Phil

I would need the option to password protect the file, but I don't see the need to hide one authorized viewer's comments from another's.

I could see the benefit, however, of limiting note viewing access by group - while allowing multiple groups access to the same file.

So a log-in/log-out is also bad for your clients Mike? Is this a context where you are distributing video to them, or they are distributing video to others?
Phil

A login would be ok as long as they don't have to set up their own account. If I could set up logins from my end and send to them in an email or IM that would work. This would be for client approval of content, not for distribution.

 

[Gavin Greenwalt]

Why is that so expensive? $149/month for 2gb of storage? I noticed the same thing with Aframe and Wiredrive? I'm sure there's some kind of processing cost, but really, that seems exorbitant.

Niche software.

 

[Phil McCarty]

Thanks guys for all the really valuable feedback, this has been educational. I have my last bit of questioning before I get into the fun part, making.

I've scanned three of what I think are prototypical services, compared their pricing, and tried to figure out what the core functionality is to make this a useful and competitive
platform.

Cloud Based Content Management & Distribution -
- The ability to organize video content and distribute it to the user's clients&stakeholders.

Commenting / Approvals System
- Allow viewers to leave feedback attached to particular frames/times in a video
- Consolidate the feedback/notes for the user

Security & Tracking
- Inaudible/Invisible Watermarking
- Custom Visual Overlays ("This file sent to...")
- Branding Overlay (Company Logo)
- Delivery Notifications
- Geographic/IP Address Info
- Restricted by Dates / # of downloads /etc

Would this seem like reasonable pricing?

I've created two different core plans because I suspect there might be two classes of users. Those who are using it as a digital pigeon replacement ("I just went to send videos directly to people, and protect them.") and those who are using it as cloud based video content organizer ("I want to keep a library online for interacting with clients and feedback/approvals/etc") who will need more online storage.

But maybe a better way to think of it would be $X/mo plus $Y for every Zgbs of storage.

 

[Phil McCarty]

(also, might need beta testers in a couple weeks, if anyone is interested, feel free to PM)