Embedded Files
Video Sharing
Video Sharing
Once you have your video clips recorded, what do you do with them?
Video Sharing Platforms- YouTube, Vimeo, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, etc
Video sharing platforms are designed to distribute videos in their final form, intended for 'Viewing'
As such they apply 'compression' to the videos you upload in order to make them smaller and therefor easier to send, view and store. This compression results in a reduction in quality.
Vimeo is the exception to this. They host videos without compression, resulting in a large storage cost for the platform. Vimeo is therefor a paid platform in order to provide this facility to customers.
Video Messaging - Facebook Messenger, Whatsapp, Viber, Snapchat, etc
Video messaging services function exactly the same way as Video sharing platforms. They distribute videos in their final format and apply compression in order to make video sharing fast & efficient.
Electronic mail is intended mainly for text based exchanges, with restrictions applied even to large images files.
Videos can be sent via email, but heavy compression is applied in order to facilitate this. Sending videos via email is not advised. Links to video distribution platforms or file transfer services via email are much more effective.
Video Files for Editing
Video Files for Editing
If you intend on editing your video files, you need to begin with your files in the highest quality possible, with no compression applied.
Why? Because the exporting process of editing itself applies compression, in order to make your video efficient to play and easier to distribute, at varying degrees depending on the export settings applied.
Your video files will be at their highest quality straight from your recording device. There are a number of ways in which the videos can be transferred for editing.
Mobile Editing
You may choose to film, edit, export and distribute your footage all from one device, such as a smartphone or tablet.
This eliminates the need for file transfer, but will increased your need for processing power and storage space. If you have a high spec smartphone with loads of storage space this may be an option to consider. Mobile editors can often be quite challenging to use and a lot of them are subscription, but there a number which can be recommended, such as Lumafusion, imovie & Vimeo Create. Otherwise I'd advise processing your video on a laptop or desktop computer.
SD Card
If you have an android smartphone, you may have the ability to expand your internal memory with a micro SD card. Using a micro SD to SD adapter, you may be able to transfer the files to your computer if it has an SD card slot.
USB Cable
You may be able to transfer your video files to your computer or even directly into your editing software via your charging cable, if it facilitates file transfer. Not all cables are created equal, using the charging cable which came with your phone is usually the best option, some third party charging cables are not equipped for file transfer. You can often still use this option even if your phone is using a micro SD card.
Apple Airdrop will allow you to send uncompressed files to and from Apple Devices such as iphones, ipads and macs.
On a mac computer or laptop, airdrop can be sourced in the finder.
On iphones & ipads airdrop privacy settings can be found in the control centre or in settings. If using the control centre, touch and hold one of the 4 symbols in the top left corner to access the additional options in the menu. You'll need to have wifi connected to utilise airdrop, and privacy set to 'Everyone' on both devices.
You can share files by selecting individual files and searching for airdrop as an option for sharing.
Online File Transfer & Storage Services
Uncompressed video files can also be transferred from your mobile device to your computer via a variety of online services.
Most of the services I will recommend have a basic free account with a GB limit, if you want to transfer larger files, these often require a paid service.
File Transfer & Storage
File Transfer & Storage
File transfer & file storage are not always the same, but sometimes both functions can be facilitated via the same platform or device.
File transfer services will send an uncompressed file to another party or device via the internet. Sometimes it it stored for a short time then deleted. Good quality internet is required by both parties or devices for efficient transfers.
File storage services will host the video online for as long as needed, usually also allowing links to be provided in order to facilitate transfers between parties & devices and also for files to be accessed from multiple locations. Good quality internet continues to be a factor
Files also be stored on or transferred via computers, SD cards, flash drives & external hard drives. These methods can facilitate much larger file sizes and do are not reliant on internet speed. For these methods, compatible hard drive formats, speeds, cables and capacity often need to be considered.
The below services will host full quality files without compression, to be shared either between devices or between parties.
For our project, the file sizes we are using will not require a paid service.
We Transfer is a transfer only service, it does not store files, but is great for transferring full quality files between devices or parties, and you do not need to hold an account to use the service.
We Transfer will transfer files or folders up to 2GB in size. You can do as many We Transfers as you might need to, but if any individual file is bigger than 2GB, this requires a premium paid service.
Mobile devices may require you to download an app.
https://www.swisstransfer.com/en
Swiss Transfer is a file transfer service based in Switzerland which offers an incredible file allowance of 50GB per transfer, and download links are valid for 30 days, allowing plenty of time to download them.
It is not a file storage system, it is purely intended for file transfer, but is great for transferring larger files such as full performances or presentations in higher resolutions.
Google Drive provides 15GB of cloud storage to any google account holder free as standard, one of the largest free accounts available.
Google Drive gives users the ability to access, download and share files from any device with internet access by logging into your google account.
Mobile devices may require you to download an app and login with your google account.
Dropbox offers a very basic account which offers 2GB of free online storage.
You can use this storage to store or shar files & folders with devices or parties.
Be aware when sharing folders, as other parties can and and remove files from the folder. You might also need to have more than 2GB of storage to receive an invitation to share a folder if it is larger in size than your account allows.
https://account.microsoft.com/account/onedrive
One Drive is the Microsoft equivelant of google drive, with fewer features. If you have a microsoft email address, skype, Office 360, xbox, etc you should be able to login to the above link to access your OneDrive.
One Drive provides 5GB of free cloud storage, and as with the other services, it can be upgraded to add more.
Vimeo is the only video distribution platform which currently does not apply compression and therefor can be used for video sharing, file transfer and storage.
They have a free account with a 500MB per week limit.
After this they have a number of tiered plans depending on the video size and quantity you're likely to be dealing with.
They also have a number of collaborative & editing options available within the programme.
File Storage
File Storage
Once you begin to develop a taste for video editing, you'll find file storage and management become very important very quickly.
Computers and hard drives fill up quickly both with the video files themselves, but also with the render files required for editing, and for storing and backing up all of your final projects.
Consider investing in an external hard drive in order to keep your computer functioning optimally.
Cloud storage can be useful for final projects, even for raw files if they're not huge, but they can't be used for editing so ensure you've enough processing space available.
Final Thoughts
It might seem like a bit of a minefield trying to get your head around all of the options, but you don't need to know them all.
Find one or two which work for you and that's all you should ever need to use.
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