I have a question that I am hoping you can help me out with- do you ever upload home videos you take of your kids on a website so that your parents or family members can check them out? We don't live close to our family so I would like to send them the home videos we took of our daughter. I don’t really know where to start. I have a great video camera and a computer but am not hip on how to upload the video and what sites are out there to do this on. I use Shutterfly all the time for pictures- so do you know if there is a similar site for video? Talking to a friend, she said you can do this on myspace. On the site, it looks like you can upload videos there but being that I have never used the site, I am not sure if it is a good idea to put pictures/video of my kid up there (it being the web and there are scary people out there). Please keep in mind I am not totally hip on all of this-so if it is safe, please let me know. If you know of another way to send the videos to my parents that is better or easier, please let me know. Thank you so much in advance.
Hi Kerie,
I have been using Phanfare.com for about 6 months now and I LOVE it. It is not free but like you I didn't know where to begin. This site is so easy it was worth it to me. Now I am into scanning old photo albums onto the site and the whole extended family is waiting to see them.
If you want to sign up you can use jenallen as the referal.
Good Luck.
Another option for a free site that allows video, picture, and audio uploads is http://babyhomepages.net My family has had an account here for a couple years (http://babyhomepages.net/bever) and we've been happy with it. For additional (optional) security, your site can be password protected, so only family and friends can access it.
I do some IT work, and as a side-note on myspace, be really careful about what you open and click on; there are huge numbers of viruses transmitted through myspace.
Hi Kerie,
We use www.sendspace.com. It's a free way to send any large file and it doesn't get posted on the internet for the public. You upload it to that site, it stays there for a week or something and you e-mail the link to whoever you want. They just click the link and download the video to their computer. Easy, free, and no worries about anyone you don't want seeing your video.
I.
I use youtube and it works great. I noticed one post had a concern about the videos being public, but each time you upload a video you have the option to make it public or to only send it to family and friends. The people who you want to see it just need to accept your invite to view your videos the first time. I never make the videos with my son have open access.
I like You Tube, it's really easy and people can set up an account to be notified any time you update the site which means you don't have to send a new link every time or invite them to view what you put up. They just subscribe to your site and get an email saying that you have something new up for them to see.
You can use a free site like photobucket.com
Since video cameras are different, you may need to consult your manual to download the movie from your camera TO your computer.
BUT, once you get that far, uploading the file on your computer TO photobucket is very similar to uploading photos to shutterfly and similar sites. Once your movie is on Photobucket, you can send your family and friends links to the videos! Obviously, you can share pictures, and make albums, the same way, and share them as well.
Here is an example. This from a VHS tape (a very very rare SNL skit from 1987, "We are the Kickers", a spoof of the Bears Super Bowl Shuffle, ). I crudely recorded it with the video function on my camera as the video played on the tv, so the quality is very poor--NOT any indication of the quality of photobucket! I downloaded the video to my computer, then uploaded the file to photobucket. Here is a direct link to the video!
http://s30.photobucket.com/albums/c331/laurajonandkevin/?...
Hope that helps somewhat!
I put my videos (although short ones) in my photobucket account. It also hosts pictures. It is free and secured (you have to have the password to get in). I know there are other sites too, but that is the only place I have used....I think dropshots.com maybe tooo...I think they do longer videos. You will have to capture the video digitally on your computer. I just take my short videos with my still camera and upload works the same as with pictures. But if you use a video camera you will most likely need a firewire card on your computer in order to transfer the video from the camera to the computer (assuming your camera has dv (digital video) capablities. If not, you would need the firewire and a converter box that converts analog video to digital. The ones we use at my school for this are these: http://www.canopus.com/products/ADVC55/index.php
They are very simple to use and then we just use Microsoft movie maker to capture the video (this should come standard on most Windows XP computers.)
Just wanted to add....I would not put videos of my kids up on Youtube. It REALLY surprises me that people do this. Those videos are open to anyone anywhere and you never know what people are doing to your videos.
I know the whole social networking thing can be very scary and there are lots of unknowns. If you want to create a community online, check your local newspaper website. They often have a social networking component. If your around the South Bend area, go to www.inthebend.com and click on the "my bend" area. Set this up and invite your family and friends. It is pretty simple to use. Good luck!
Kerie,
As a treat for my grandparents and Dad (in Arizona), I used Windows Movie Maker and burned them a DVD of my son's first year. They loved it and the program is pretty easy to use. As long as you are willing to take the time to assemble the video project.
Other than that, I maintained a personal website for my son. I bought my own domain name and published my own site and shared with family and friends that way. You can password protect the entire site so that only those who you want on there can view it.
T.
I use photobucket.com for all my videos. If they are long, you may want to consider just burning them onto a DVD and sending it. It can take forever to load long videos on a computer, especially if you have an older one. I don't do youtube, cause I don't like the thought that everybody and their brother can look at the video. I'm a little paranoid about that.
Hi, Kerie! I also have family that live away and we try to use video as much as possible. If you are gonna do this a lot, I'd suggest you invest in a good editing software. I use Pinnacle and it's very easy. That way you can actually make movies and take out any bloopers or just boring stuff.
Also, I have a journal site called Xanga. I like it better than Myspace because you can make your entries and content private to just those who subscribe to you. It has a photo and video section and you can place your movie in the body of an entry or just leave it in the video section. www.xanga.com Then, you can send just your link to your family. My parents still have dial up so this is easier for them than to try to download. Also, with the software, you can burn it on a DVD or CD and keep a hard copy.
If you have any other questions, feel free to PM me. Good luck! Sounds like a great idea!!
K.
My out of town friends and I You Tube!
Google also offers a service for photos and videos if you have an account. If not, it's easy to set one up.
There is safety in being able to share your albums, etc by email invitation, or making your folders private, etc. The nice thing too, is that you can share your images without the recipient having a google account.
There are many programs for getting your video to the computer. If your camera has a computer connection that will make things easier. I have heard some people use a device called a dazzle(?), to transfer their video to the pc. I think it's for cameras that have no digital connection. Not real sure.
You can also try out making your own photo cd's. Just save .jpg files to a cd. I think the older dvd players can't read into folders, so don't divide and organize. Maybe renumber your pics in order, and then burn to a regular cd. Test out in your own machine.
