'Net Features : brightcove

Live Streaming Comes to Brightcove

Pete Prestipino — Wed, 15 May 2013 20:00:00 GMT

Video platform Brightcove has released a new module that will enable its customers to create and deliver multi-bitrate live video streams to the Web, iOS, and Android devices.

Similar to its on-demand video offering, Brightcove users will have access to the full set of analytics and monetization features, which could make the platform a genuine contender for brands needing to manage the full lifecycle of a live event from the convenience of one powerful platform. It is, however a rather crowded market with Edgecast, Ustream, DaCast, LiveStream and many others vying for a share of the space.

The good news is that there seems to be a fair amount of demand for live streamed content. A consumer study from Accenture revealed that 29 percent of tablet owners watch live content on those devices. Compare that to 52 percent of connected TV owners and 21 smartphones users that have watched live events and you start to get a good idea of what this release could mean for Brightcove.

"Consumers are increasingly accessing live event coverage, providing new opportunities for publishers to drive revenues and increase viewer engagement," said Ashraf AlKarmi, vice president of product management at Brightcove. "Live events have historically been difficult to manage and expensive to deliver. With Video Cloud Live, we are removing that complexity and high cost and enabling customers of all levels and technical expertise to deliver impactful live video events in an easy-to-use dashboard within the Video Cloud environment."

10 Tips for Overnight Web Video Superstardom

Allison Howen — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 19:30:00 GMT

If you want to spice up your Web presence, it may be time to consider implementing a video strategy.

If you aren't convinced, consider this: A recent comScore study reveals that Americans watched 33 billion online content videos in February alone. Moreover, Invodo research shows that consumers watch video 60 percent of the time when it is available, and that 52 percent of consumers who watch product videos claim the videos make them more confident about their purchases, which helps to reduce return rates.

In addition to those stats, implementing a video strategy can help your enterprise drive site traffic, improve time-on-site and engagement metrics, increase conversion rates and grow its social fan base. That said, producing videos can be a complex and even an intimidating process if you’re just starting out, which is why Website Magazine has compiled 10 tips that will help you become an overnight Web video superstar, just check them out below:

1. Get Good Equipment

While a simple Webcam along with a free online editor is suitable for composing basic videos, you should consider purchasing higher-end equipment if you intend on producing videos on a regular basis. For example, if you are creating product videos that include a lot of detail, you should invest in an HD camera. Also, there is nothing worse than trying to edit a shaky video, and since shooting a steady video with a handheld camcorder is harder than one would think, a sturdy tripod is also a good investment. In addition to those pieces of equipment, some of the Web’s free video editors, such as YouTube or WeVideo, don’t include as many features as you might want, in which case you should purchase a more robust video editing platform, such as Apple’s Final Cut Pro or Adobe’s Premiere Pro. Lastly, if you’re struggling with capturing sound, a microphone will certainly help with this problem.

2. Make a Plan

Before your jump into the production stages, you must first create a plan for your video. For example, what is the goal of your video? It could be to drive more traffic to your website, to inform your audience about a new product or to foster a better relationship with your customers. Once the goal has been identified, you must decide what type of video will allow you to reach this goal, such as a demonstration, an advertisement, a comedy or just a straightforward informative piece. You might still need some inspiration for your content, in which case you should check out TubeRank. This platform enables users to set three conversational triggers in order to view similar videos that have been successful on the Web as inspiration.

3. Write a Script

You may be good at giving off-the-cuff speeches, but that is not the best strategy for video content. This is because online videos have the ability to be seen by millions of people, and you don’t want any flubs to take center-stage over your content. By writing out a script, you can make sure that you include every important piece of information into the video and that your thoughts are organized so that the video isn’t too long and turns your viewers away. Additionally, you might even be able to find a way to fit some quirky or entertaining tidbits into the script that would be harder to implement when improvising. That said, don’t rely so much on your script that you come off as stuffy in your video, because it is important to show your personality in order to be more relatable to your viewers. This is where practice comes into play…

4. Practice Makes Perfect

Before you start shooting, make sure to practice because you need to be confident in the content that you’re selling. While you should practice in front of an audience at least once so that they can give you some tips for improvement, the best way to self-identify areas of improvement is by simply reading the script aloud and recording yourself with a Webcam. This will not only get you familiar with being on camera, but it will also give you an opportunity to analyze your voice (did you pronounce every word correctly?), as well as an opportunity to identify any nervous ticks you might have. Furthermore, by reading the script aloud, you will feel more comfortable with its content and be able to edit areas that don’t sound quite right.

5. Just Do It.

This step is pretty self-explanatory: Just do it. While your first video will most likely end up not being your best in the long run, it will help to give you confidence, which will go a long way in future productions.

6. Put On Your Editing Pants

After your video is shot, it’s editing time. It is important to note, however, that the amount of editing you will have to do depends on your video’s quality, content and purpose. For example, if you’re a skincare line that is shooting a product demonstration, you may want to splice in some close-ups of a model’s skin during a step-by-step demonstration. Conversely, if you’re a pet store that is putting together a video of your customers with their pets, it might be appropriate to use some unique effects, such as custom graphics, or attention-grabbing transitions when switching between photos and videos.

7. Don’t Forget About Audio

While you should certainly make sure your audio is consistent throughout your video during both the shooting and editing processes, you might also want to consider adding background music or sound effects to specific parts of your video. If this is the case, make sure you have permission for any audio you add to the video. YouTube, for example, allows users to access select audio from Creative Commons for their videos.

8. Ask for Feedback

After the video is edited, it is a good idea to show it to colleagues before publishing it to the ’Net. This is because an extra set of eyes and ears might see or hear something that you didn’t, such as a black spot between transitions. Furthermore, outsiders might suggest adding an element that you had previously overlooked, like captions or additional images or video footage.

9. Distribute

Once you are mentally prepared to become an overnight Web video superstar, it is time to start distributing your video across the ’Net. If you are not hosting the video on YouTube, then you will need to use another hosting platform like Vzaar or Brightcove. Once the video is up, it should definitely be featured on your website, but you should also create social and email campaigns around it too. By sending the video to your subscribers and sharing it with your Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Pinterest fans, you are increasing its audience reach and its chances of going viral.

10. Measure

After your video is published, it is time to start measuring results. While you should definitely evaluate metrics like views, time watched and completion rates, you should also analyze traffic spikes on your site because of the video. It is also important to monitor the devices and channels customers are using to view the videos, as this can help you tailor future video content and promotion strategies based on the audiences who respond best to this type of visual content. Additionally, to measure the popularity of your video across the social Web, you should analyze popular engagement metrics, such as shares, likes, comments, retweets and replies.

Monetize Video Across Devices with Brightcove

Allison Howen — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 16:15:00 GMT

Brightcove has made it easier for businesses to monetize video across devices, thanks to the general availability of its monetization solution for HTML5 video.

The video solution includes support for Video Ad Serving Template (VAST)-compliant pre-, mid- and post-roll ads, a new HTML5 video player API for setting and changing ad policies, as well as HTML5 video plugin support for popular ad servers, including FreeWheel, Google, Videoplaza and YuMe.

By leveraging the solution, businesses can maximize the revenue potential of their online video initiatives across platforms, including desktops, mobile devices, operating systems and browsers, as well as choose the best ad servers for their business.

“Media companies today must have confidence that their online video platform can address the ever changing landscape of monetization opportunities across a wide range of screens and devices,” said Chris Johnston, vice president of digital media solutions at Brightcove. “From early on, Brightcove has invested heavily in building a strong ecosystem of HTML5 advertising partners and a flexible, open architecture that makes it easy for partners to integrate with our platform. We are committed to helping our media customers future-proof their online video advertising initiatives and ensure they can consistently and reliably reach their audiences and generate the most revenue.”

It is also important to note that Brightcove invested in its Smart Player framework over the past year, which automatically adapts the video experience to account for operating system and browser inconsistencies. This technology ensures that ad integrations will work consistently across both HTML5 and Flash-based desktops and mobile devices, as well as makes it easy for advertising partners to build integrations. Moreover, the Smart Player framework allows users to future-proof their online video investments and advertising strategies by offering support for new platforms and operating systems as they enter the market.

Currently, the Video Cloud platform provides HTML5 video plugin support for ad servers from FreeWheel, Videoplaza and YuMe and Flash video support across more than 30 other ad servers and networks. Additionally, Video Cloud is among the first online video platforms to support Google’s IMA3 SDK on both Flash and HTML5, which enables publishers to take advantage of advanced features in the DoubleClick for Publishers (DFP) video module.

Expand Your Brand with White Label Solutions

Allison Howen — Fri, 31 Aug 2012 19:00:00 GMT

There are a lot of great new technologies being developed for the Web everyday, and much of it can be used to benefit businesses of all shapes and sizes.

Even if you run an enterprise-level organization, however, you may not have the resources necessary to develop your own unique technology, so most of us end up using robust solutions from third-party companies that specialize in those specific fields. And while this is the ideal method for the vast majority of Web companies, it does sometimes create a branding problem and many of these solutions can cause an inconsistent experience for customers. Brands can combat this problem by leveraging white label solutions – which just so happen to be the only type of white that is still okay to wear after Labor Day.

These white label solutions (occasionally referred to as “private label”) allow companies to utilize their own unique branding to offer a service without having to invest in the creation of the technology or infrastructure. This enables you to build up your own brand, sell products or services directly from your website and simplify your customers’ conversion path.

The best part is, there are white label solutions for pretty much everything! So if you’re interested in adding daily deals to your site, creating your own YouTube-like video platform, building mobile apps or even creating a private social network for your company, there’s a service for that. Check out five of the best white label platforms available below.

App Building

Do you love apps enough to launch your own app building service? If your answer is yes, then check out iBuildApp’s white label Reseller Program, which allows clients to use the company's technology to provide their customers with a mobile app building service. The software comes with promotional and marketing tools, and allows resellers to set their own prices and add a set up fee. By offering app building services to clients, businesses can generate a recurring revenue stream and maintain close relationships, who can use the service to create apps for iOS and Android devices.

Daily Deals

After the initial industry boom a couple of years ago, the daily deal sector seems to have tapered off a bit. However, one thing is for certain – saving money will always be in style. This is why some publishers have found success in creating their own branded daily deal sites through white label software programs, such as PoweredByTippr. This software is ideal for Web workers who already have an audience and merchant relationships in place. It enables users to start their own group buying site, which brings new customers to local merchants, local deals to consumers and traffic and revenue to publishers.

Social Networks

The Internet gets more social everyday, so why not add a branded social community to your website? A few weeks ago, Salesforce launched the pilot of Salesforce Communities, which enables businesses to create a customized and private social community where they can connect with customers and partners. This platform combines social networking features like profiles, real-time feeds, trending topics, recommendations and influence measurement with business information and processes from the Salesforce platform. While general availability isn’t available until 2013, those who are interested in participating in the Salesforce Communities pilot can register here. However, if you can’t wait that long to add a social community to your site, you can check out some other social website creation platforms, like Ning or SocialGo.

Video Services

If you’re looking to deliver professional quality videos to your audience on every conceivable type of screen, look no further than Brightcove’s Video Cloud platform. It comes with a number of easy-to-use tools and various features, including uploading and encoding, customizable video players, secure delivery, HTML5 video, social media integration, advertising and monetization capabilities, analytics and much more. Moreover, publishers can totally customize their channel within the Brightcove Console, where they can update details like its name, logo and description.

Gamification

Web businesses have been learning how to play with their consumers by using gamification services. Big Door is one of the ‘Net’s best gamification services, allowing publishers to add game mechanics to the Web interactions on their site by enabling points, badges, levels, leader boards, virtual currency and virtual goods to increase visitor engagement. Built on top of a white label engine, the Big Door platform helps users create a customized rewards program that offers both virtual and tangible rewards to increase customer loyalty.

BrightCove App Cloud Available

Administrator — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 22:30:00 GMT

Wouldn't it be nice if you could develop that next killer app in the cloud? Well you can! Cloud content service Brightcove has made App Cloud, an end-to-end platform for the development, deployment and operation of native apps for iOS and Android smartphones and tablets, available to the general public.

App Cloud combines an open HTML5 Web development model with "intelligent" cloud services to accelerate app development, optimize performance, measure effectiveness, and enable dynamic updates to installed apps. Developers use HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript and the App Cloud software development kit (SDK) to create apps.

“The App Cloud beta program has been very well received over the past few months, and we have been impressed by the quality, breadth and creativity of the apps developed by our beta users,” said Ashley Streb, Vice President of Technology at Brightcove. “Now, any organization can take advantage of App Cloud to easily build, deliver, and manage dynamic, custom content apps across multiple devices for a superior end user experience.”

Brightcove indicated that more than 1,200 individual users have participated in the App Cloud beta testing program and several App Cloud-powered apps are currently available for download through the iTunes App Store and Google's Android Market including apps from the U.S. Department of State and Lifetime Networks.

Brightcove Widget for the Ektron CMS Platform

Pete Prestipino — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 14:30:00 GMT

Online video platform BrightCove and web content management solution Ektron have expanded their partnership, enabling customers to incorporate branded video intot heir online properties and marketing campaigns through a new Brightcove widget.

“This is an exciting partnership that makes it easy for customers to take advantage of the most advanced online video platform and Web content management system in a fully integrated way,” said David Mendels, Brightcove president and chief operating officer. “Now thousands of marketers around the world can execute state-of-the-art video campaigns with the same efficiency as any other aspect of building and maintaining their websites and marketing campaigns.”

Ektron customers will be able to use Brightcove's media transcoding, management and publishing tools within the Extron user interface. Users can simply drag-and-drop a Brightcove widget into a site, page, or marketing campaign, creating a rich platform that can fuse text, audio, images and video into a transformative Web experience. Ektron also supports inserting Brightcove’s player embed codes manually for more customized video experiences.

Brightcove Powers Retailer's Fashionable Video Display

Linc Wonham — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 21:30:00 GMT

Women’s fashion retailer Warehouse is one company whose use of video to enhance its online presence has paid off immediately — at least aesthetically. Warehouse recently adopted the cloud-based video platform from Brightcove to showcase its products online and support its 320 stores across the U.K.

Among the new offerings on the Warehouse website are a fashion portal, a video product catalog and an innovative “shoppable” functionality in which the fashions shown in videos can be purchased on the same screen. Warehouse has also introduced a mobile application using Brightcove’s iPhone software development kit, and the app includes new video content from the site’s fashion portal as well as styling tips.

The influence of video continues to grow in the e-commerce industry and Brightcove’s platform has become a leading choice among businesses worldwide.

LiveStream API's Make Video Streaming More Accessible

Pete Prestipino — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 15:54:00 GMT

Livestream has opened up its live video streaming platform by releasing several APIs, enabling Livestream’s free and premium service to be integrated into in-house or third party online video platforms and players.

What this means is that users (customers, programmers, and web) can build their own Livestream powered video players and clip libraries using HTML, Adobe Flash or Adobe Flex development environments. Other Platform API’s released today include the Live Publishing API, Guide API, Account API and Chat API.

The most notable implimentation of the Livestream API is a plug-in LiveStream jointly developed with video platform Brightcove. Brightcove customers can stream live and linear video via Livestream into their existing Brightcove player.

“Livestream is an important partner for us as we look to meet the increased demand for high quality live streaming among our global customer base,” said Chris Johnston, director of technology partnerships at Brightcove. “In partnering with organizations like Livestream, we’re able to provide customers with seamless access to a broad feature set for live publishing, distribution and analytics.”

InPlay Video Statistics: BrightCove, TubeMogul

Pete Prestipino — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 13:33:00 GMT

Video analytics and syndication service TubeMogul announced a partnership with video platform company BrightCove.

Under the partnership, any video producer currently utilizing Brightcove's online video platform will be able to activate TubeMogul InPlay, a plugin that tracks rich viewership statistics like audience engagement, viewer attention span and site performance. Brightcove users will also have access to TubeMogul's video syndication tools, allowing them to automatically syndicate their Brightcove videos to YouTube and up to 20 other video sharing sites.

Website Magazine has discussed TubeMogul and BrightCove in various posts over the past few months and years.

WM Morning Wire: 10-14-08

Pete Prestipino — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 13:13:00 GMT

Welcome to October 14th, 2008! Below are a few press release that caught our attention this morning that you might find interesting. We'll be covering some of these releases throughout the day. If you have a news announcement you would like to share with the Website Magazine community, please contact Website Magazine editors now.

E-Commerce Vendor ShopSite Announces Version 10 of Leading Shopping Cart System
ShopSite, Inc., a leading provider of e-commerce shopping cart and catalog software for small to medium-sized businesses, announced the release of its new ShopSite version 10. ShopSite(R) is an industry leading e-commerce software option for web hosting providers, for new or existing Internet merchants, and for Web designers.

Brightcove 3 Transforms the Business of Online Video
Brightcove Inc. today announced the general availability of the Brightcove 3 online video platform, which transforms the way video is published and consumed on the Web. Built from the ground up, the new platform empowers website producers to be successful in the era of pervasive video.

Veridigm's MediaPal Launches First Music Industry Affiliate System
Veridigm, Inc. a UK investment Company today announced subsidiary MediaPal.com has launched the music and media industry's first Affiliate Management and Content Publishing System.

VidEngage.com Announces the World's First Video-Integrated Social Network
VidEngage.com today announced the grand opening of its video enabled social networking platform. Among a comprehensive offering of traditional social networking functions, VidEngage.com has launched a new video enabled community, in which users can create multiple video profiles for different purposes, such as for job hunting, networking, dating or communication.

Brightcove Beta Video Platform

Pete Prestipino — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 13:38:00 GMT

Brightcove announced the beta of its online video platform, Brightcove 3. The program provides access to a new version of the Brightcove service, which is already used in its current form by major media companies, businesses and organizations worldwide to reach more than 135 million unique Internet users every month. The solution is "built around the company's vision for increasing video consumption and engagement by introducing a completely new model for incorporating video players and information about videos into the context of Web pages" according to the announcement.

"Brightcove pioneered the publishing of professional online video with the first release of our platform in the summer of 2005, and in the last three years we've learned a great deal about online video by working with major media companies around the world," said Jeremy Allaire, Brightcove chairman and chief executive officer. "The Brightcove 3 platform combines all the learning we've done with a range of breakthrough innovations that promise to transform how online video is published and consumed."