VideoShare Online Video Sharing /faq

Is eVideoShare a free service?
As of now eVideoShare is available as a Beta version service. We're still in the process of understanding what users expect from such a service, what would they be ready to pay for and how much, etc.
In the mean time, we're making the Beta version available as free (with certain limitations ofcourse)

How do I share videos using eVideoShare?
eVideoShare helps you very easily share your videos with friends and family. Here we describe the 3 simple steps you can use

Capture the Video from your video recording device (camcorder, camera, etc.) onto the PC
Upload the video (using the Upload video option) by sending eMail to eVideoShare (with the video clip as an attachment), using the Web upload capability on the eVideoShare website or the eVideoShare smart client
Share the uploaded video with anyone who has a PC and is connected to the internet

For the last step, you have two options -
1. From eVideoShare Client - First login to the client, then right click on the video you want to share and select the Share... option or select the Share menu option under the Actions menu. This will display a form which will allow you to add new email-addresses and select existing ones you had entered previously. Use these to share your video.
2. From the eVideoShare website - First login to the website and go to the MyAccount page. Then click the "My Videos" button. You will find a set of icons next to each video listed on this page. Click on the Share icon. It will popup a form where you can enter the name and email-address of the person you want to share this video to. Repeat the procedure if you want to share with more people.
In both cases above, eVideoShare will send out an email to all those email-addresses with a user specific link for playing your shared video.

Which video capturing devices do you support?
Using eVideoShare you can share videos taken using a wide variety of devices including -

MiniDV Camcorders
DVD Camcorders
Microdrive/CompactFlash Camcorders
Digital cameras with video capability
Video Mobile-phones
...

Can you provide tips on moving videos from my video camcorder to the computer and onto eVideoShare?
There are multiple ways available to do this - the most common ones are described here -

Transferring video from the video recording device directly to the PC:
Basic video capturing is really not as hard as people would think it is. Follow these simple steps to capture the video from your Video recording device to the PC -
1. Connect the Video recording device (lets assume its a MiniDV camcorder for explanation purposes) to the PC using either the USB or Firewire connection
2. Use any video-capture software (like Microsoft WindowsMovieMaker) which allows you to control the camcorder from the software and capture the Video onto the PC. Typically the software will allow you to capture the video and then save the movie in many different formats - the better the quality, the larger the video file created. You want to select the lower quality and streamable video format like WMV (Windows Media Video) format for sharing over the internet - which would keep the file size small and it would be faster for everyone to watch the video over the internet. Given that the WMV format is streamable, it starts playing within a few seconds of selecting Play (i.e. the user doesnot have to wait for the whole video to get downloaded before playing). You would want to use the better quality format to archive your videos (see eVideoShare's archiving related services below)
  Example - Approx. 1GB high quality video file is created from a 60min MiniDV video recording whereas only a 70MB file internet quality video file is created for the same 60min video which will provide a decent quality playback over the internet at broadband speed. The time it takes to capture the video from your camcorder to the PC will depend on the kind of PC you use - i.e. the faster the CPU and more RAM it has, it would be faster (consult your Video-capture software's manual for more details). As a rule of thumb, any decent machine should take 1hr for capturing a 60min video.
  (Note: For other recording devices like the DVD Camcorder or Microdrive camcorders, step 2. above becomes very easy - as you can copy the DVD file directly to the PC)
Transferring video using a Digital Video Recorder or Personal Video Recorder:
These days there a number of different set-top recorders that people are using to record TV shows directly to a HardDrive in the recorder or onto a DVD. Some devices also allow you to convert your old VHS videos to DVD. Finally, most of these devices have FireWire, USB or SVideo/Audio input jacks. Using these, you can connect your camcorder to the Recorder and start recording your Videos. Once on the recorder, if it has a DVD Writer, you can burn the video onto the DVD and pop it into your PC. Copy the video files to the PC (using software that came with the Recorder) and then use the eVideoShare eMail video capability, Web upload capability or the eVideoShare smart Client to upload the video to the eVideoShare site. Some of these Recorders also support wired (Ethernet) or Wireless (WiFi) connectivity thus further simplifying the transfer of videos to your PC. For further details, follow the User Manual provided that came with your Recorder.

Tips on creating good videos
Typically Streaming video formats like WMV (Windows Media Video) are the best format for playing videos over the web. These formats are streamable formats and hence start playing within a few seconds of playing them, as opposed to other formats where the whole video needs to get downloaded before it starts playing.

There are a host of websites offering tips and expert advice on capturing better videos.
Couple of simple tips are -

Keep your camcorder as steady as possible. Use a tripod whereever possible.
Do not frequently zoom back and forth and zoom slowly as far as possible.
Leverage features available in your Video editing software - e.g. Windows Movie Maker has a option called AutoMovie where you can create automatic Music videos. This makes the videos all the more interesting and fun.
Add seperate audio tracks to the videos (using MP3 files that you already own)

How much time does it take to upload a video on eVideoShare?
The time required to upload a video depends on three things -

Size of the video file which depends on the duration of the video (longer the video, larger the size)
Video format (check the Video capture section for more details)
Your broadband/dialup upload speed

Can I use the eVideoShare service from anywhere in the world?
You can upload videos from anywhere in the world by sending the video through an eMail, using the Web upload capability available in the MyAccount page when you login to the eVideoShare website. You can also log into the eVideoShare client from any machine anywhere in the world as long as its connected to the internet (you will need to install the eVideoShare client on that PC though. Refer to Installation instructions for further details). You can then upload files from whichever PC/network you?re working on.

Can I share my videos with anyone?
As long as someone has an internet connection and email, you can share your videos with them using eVideoShare

What happens if I share my video but the upload is not complete yet?
This question is is applicable when you're uploading using the eVideoShare Client.
eVideoShare allows you to share videos as soon as you start uploading a video. The uploading will complete in the background. Until the upload is complete, eVideoShare will display your video in the "View Shared" tab of your shared users with a "red" square - letting the user know that the video is shared but not available for viewing yet. Once the video upload is completed, the same icon displays a "world" and will then be available for viewing.
If in the mean time, someone who you shared the video with (before the upload is complete) clicks on the video link in the share email they receive, they will get a message that the Video is still being uploaded and that they should check back later.

How is performance of video viewing from eVideoShare?
Why does it take so long for the video to start playing?
I have clicked on Play video but it still doesn't show the video
The time it takes for the video to start playing depends on the following -

Video format - Streamable (e.g. WMV) vs NonStreamable (e.g. MPEG) - Videos in Streamable formats will start playing quickly (in a few seconds), although NonStreamable formats have to wait for the whole video to get downloaded before it can start playing - time for which depends on the duration/size of the video (typically ranging from seconds to a few minutes)
Whether you have a dialup or broadband connection. The faster your internet connection, the quicker it will start playing

How secure is eVideoShare?
eVideoShare understands the sensitivity around your Personal videos. eVideoShare uses standard security mechanisms (password based) to ensure security of your account and videos. When you share your videos privately, only those users that get the shared link can play the video. Although, if those users forward their share emails to others, eVideoShare cannot stop the new users from watching your videos.

How do I upload videos to the eVideoShare.com site?
eVideoShare provides multiple ways for uploading videos -
1. eMail upload (will work for video clips smaller than 3MB) - you can eMail video clips directly into your eVideoShare account. Send video clips from your PC, Mobile Phones or PDAs as attachment to your eMails.
2. Web upload - You can access this from the MyAccount page once you login on the eVideoShare website. This allows you to quickly and easily upload your videos.
3. eVideoShare Client (recommended for large videos) - provides you with an easy StartUpload-and-forget way of uploading your videos - i.e. once you start the video upload process, the eVideoShare client immediately starts uploading the file to the server in the background. This way you can continue using the eVideoShare client to upload more videos. The progress of the upload is displayed on the client screen. eVideoShare will continue uploading the files even if you close the eVideoShare client window - as long as the eVideoShare Tray-icon is active (tray icons can be found at the right bottom in Windows). If you shutdown your machine, make sure you run eVideoShare once you restart your machine. The eVideoShare client is smart enough to continue uploading where it left off and complete uploading the remaining videos. The eVideoShare Client comes in handy when you're uploading large files or a number of files simultaneously. This way you can continue doing other work on your PC while the files are being uploaded.

How do I select a Thumbnail (small picture) to associate with my video?
I have problems when selecting thumbnails for my video. Can you help?
While uploading using eMail attachment or Web upload - Here the only way is to choose an image file that you want to assign as the Thumbnail for your video. If you don't select one, it assigns a default thumbnail image.
While uploading using eVideoShare Client - While uploading your video, the eVideoShare client automatically scans your video and allows you to select a specific frame from this list as a thumbnail. Currently this works for a variety of different video file formats, although in some cases (for certain video file formats), it may not be possible to pickup the thumbnails automatically from the video. In which case, you are allowed to choose an image file (JPEG) that you want to assign as the Thumbnail for your video. Finally if you don't select any, it assigns a default thumbnail image.
TIP: All video editing software (e.g. Windows Movie Maker) allow you to take a snapshot (capture an image) while playing your video on your PC. Save this as a JPEG and then assign it as a thumbnail for your video as described above.

What are Private videos?
What are Public videos?
Please click here - Public & Private Videos for detailed information.

Can I mark Private videos as Public and vice versa?
Yes. Login to the eVideoShare website and select the MyAccount page. Then click on the My Videos button which will list all the videos in your account. Next to each video, there are a set of icons. Select the Edit video icon. This will display all the properties of your video - Title, Description, Private/Public and Thumbnail. You can check the Public box On or Off depending on whether you want to make the video public or private. Once you submit, your new settings will take effect immediately.

How can I manage my videos within my eVideoShare account?
How do I delete videos?
Where can I see the remaining storage and bandwidth for my account?
Can I edit the title of my video once its uploaded? Can I edit the description of my video once its uploaded? Can I modify the properties of my video once its uploaded? eVideoShare allows you to manage all your videos (regardless whether they were uploaded from the Client or directly on the website) from the eVideoShare.com website - When you login to the website, you can select the "My Account" option which will take you to the Account Management Page. Here you can see all your uploaded videos along with their properties (size, date uploaded, title), the individual/total storage used as well as bandwidth for the current month. You can Play, Display more information, Link, Share and Delete your videos using the icons next to each video. Deleting a video will delete the video file as well as all the associated information (the title, description, any comments posted to it, the number of views, etc.) permanently. Deleting a video will also update the remaining storage space in your account.You can also Edit the properties of your videos including the Title, Description, Thumbnail image. Finally you can make a Private video Public and vice versa. Any changes you make will be effective immediately.

How do I video blog or insert my videos on eVideoShare in my blogs?
How do I add a link to my video from my home page?
How do I add a link to my video from my blog?
How do I add a link to my video from my group page?
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>For you to be able to point your video in your blogs, you will need to select the "public" option while uploading your video using the eVideoShare client. Once the video is uploaded, login to the eVideoShare.com website, then select the MyVideos folder in the Videos section at the bottom-left of the page. In that you should see the video you just uploaded (scroll or use the search feature if you have lot of videos in your account). Once you take your mouse over the video thumbnail, you will see a picture frame with multiple icons. Select the "Display Blog Html" icon. This will popup a window with a small html script. Copy this text and paste into your Blog text - whereever you create your blogs. Once you publish, you should see the name of the video and a small thumbnail for your video in your blog (also included is a "Powered by eVideoShare.com" text. Once you publish your blog, anyone who reads your blog should see this video thumbnail and can be able to play the video by simply clicking on it (the reader will be transferred to the eVideoShare video playing page to play the video)

Troubleshooting: I'm having trouble playing the videos. How do I fix this problem?
Someone I shared the video with is having trouble playing the video? How can they fix the problem?
Troubleshooting: video playing related issues?
Whenever you have a problem playing a specific video, select the "?" icon next to the video player section (at the center of the page). This will popup a window with helpful troubleshooting tips for the video. Sometimes, if the video file is large, it could take a few minutes for the video to start playing.

Is there a limit on the number of videos I can upload?
How many videos can I share at any time?
Is there a limit on the number of people I can share a video with?
How long can I keep my files on the eVideoShare server?
Currently, there are NO LIMITATIONS in terms of total numbers of Videos that you can upload. The limitations are only in terms of the total storage (which will be influenced by number and sizes of videos uploaded to your account) as well as the monthly bandwidth usage (which will depend on number of times your shared videos are played). More options will be available on this as we setup the pricing policies for the service.

What are the advantages of being a paid member of eVideoShare?
How do you charge for eVideoShare service?
Currently we support a Free account with unlimited videos, 100MB Storage and 1GB bandwidth per month.
More options will be available as we publish our pricing policies in the near future.

Can I share videos with my friends/family who are not eVideoShare users?
Absolutely! eVideoShare was created to make it very easy for you to share your videos with everyone (including non-members). You can share your videos with them, by using their email-ids. They will receive an email with a url-link which will take them directly to the web-page where they can watch the video shared by you (i.e. they do not need to login to eVideoShare to be able to play the shared videos. Note: Remember the advantage for your friends/family (with whom you will be sharing videos regularly) of becoming an eVideoShare member is that they can login to eVideoShare and always be able to view all videos shared to them by you (and others). Likewise they can start sharing their videos with you.

What are other services that eVideoShare provides?
Currently these are the additional services eVideoShare provides-

Comments - you and others viewing the video can share comments which will be visible to everyone watching the video. This makes Video sharing all the more interactive and fun!
Public sharing - you can share your videos publicly if you so desire. This opens up a whole new way of showing off your video related talents.
Video Blogging and Linking - you can link your videos into your Blogs/Home Pages/Groups easily.
Searching - You can Search for videos by Title, Description and all the Comments posted to the videos. This provides a fast and easy way to lookup videos rather than manual browsing

eVideoShare is always coming up with new ideas to make Video sharing much more interactive, fun and fulfulling. Stay tuned...

Why do I need to become a eVideoShare member?
The only way to share videos is by becoming a eVideoShare member. This registration process takes only a couple of minutes. Get your >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Free eVideoShare Account today!

Can I delete my videos?
Yes! You can manage your account and the space you have on the server by deleting videos (and archiving in the future). Please click here for more information - How do I delete videos?

Troubleshooting: Problem sharing video
Troubleshooting: The Sharing email doesnot seem to be working
Troubleshooting: I have shared a video, but my friend doesnot see a share email
Some times, email servers wrongly put eVideoShare emails in your junk or bulk folders. Make sure you ask your friend to check their Junk or Bulk folder to find the video sharing email. Ask them to add [email protected] to their email address book. This way, whenever you share videos with them in the future, the emails will go into their Inbox and not the Junk or Bulk folder. If they still cannot find it, please report the problem to our Support Staff using Customer Support. Please provide as much details as possible in your email so we can resolve your problem quickly.

Troubleshooting: Problems with verifying my email while registering on eVideoShare.com
Troubleshooting: I have completed the registration but still haven't received the verification email
Troubleshooting: Registration
Some times, email servers wrongly put eVideoShare emails in your junk or bulk folders. Make sure you check the Junk or Bulk folder to find the verification email. Add [email protected] to your email address book. This way, all future emails from eVideoShare will go into their Inbox and not the Junk or Bulk folder. You can also click on this link Having trouble logging in?. If you still have trouble with your registration, please report the problem to our Support Staff using Customer Support. Please provide as much details as possible in your email so we can resolve your problem quickly.

How can I communicate with the Publisher of specific video
I want to share private feedback with the Publisher of a Video. Is it possible to do this?
Can I post private comment only visible to the Publisher?
Private comments (visible only to the Publisher of the video and the person who posts them) are possible only when you're logged in. This can be done using the "Post your comment" feature next to the Video Player. While adding the comment, make sure you deselect the "Show this comment to all" which will post it so that its only visible to you and the Publisher of the video. For further details on comments functionality, click on the following link - Comments details.

Troubleshooting: The eVideoShare Client seems to be having some problems
Troubleshooting: When I run the eVideoShare Client, it asks me for a Proxy server and port number
Troubleshooting: When I run the eVideoShare Client, it doesnot show me a login screen
Once you download and install the eVideoShare Client, it will automatically run the Client. It then tries to connect with the eVideoShare server. This sometimes can fail due to the following reasons -

Your internet connection might be down. Make sure that you're connected to the Internet
You could have a firewall running either on your local machine or on the network your machine is connected to. The firewall could be preventing the eVideoShare Client from communicating with the server over the internet. In this case, you can configure your firewall software so that it allows the eVideoShare Client application to access the Internet. Or in some cases, you might have to contact your Systems Administrator to fix this problem.
You might be running an older version of the eVideoShare Client. In this case, you need to first uninstall the eVideoShare Client from your machine through your Windows Control Panel >> Add or Remove Software >> Remove eVideoShare. Once done, get the latest client from here - Download latest eVideoShare Client. And follow the instructions there to install it on your machine.
Alternatively, you can use the eMail upload and Web upload capabilies. You can find more details when you login to your account on the eVideoShare website. Just open the MyAccount page and select the Upload video button there.
If the problem still persists, please contact our support - Customer Support

Which Video formats do you support?
Currently, we support the following video formats -
AVI
MPG
MP4
MPEG
3GP
WMV
MOV
ASF
RAM
FLV

Can you explain more about the partnership between eVideoShare and muvee (quickSpin)?
We're always listening to the feedback we get from our users. Our users have been asking for us for easier ways of creating presentable videos. We know how hard it is to make decent videos especially given that most users are novice or intermediate level in terms of videography. Thats where Muvee comes into play. Muvee has been the leader in Instant Personal Videos. They take the hassles out of creating interesting videos. By simply clicking and selecting video clips, music and images, and combining them with unique Muvee styles, users can create very interesting videos. As part of this partnership, we have packaged the muvee quickSpin client along with the eVideoShare client. Users can thus sample the power of Muvee and start creating interesting videos. Once satisfied, users can also buy more Muvee styles as well as upgrade to the Muvee AutoProducer and other software providing even more advanced capabilities wrt instant video production. So for now, start by downloading our latest client and you will get muvee quickSping for free!

Problem with changing Content Rating from "General Audience" to other Ratings?
I have registered and can login to eVideoShare but still cannot change the Content Rating
To able to browse and play videos with Content Rating higher than "General Audience" you will need to first register and login to the eVideoShare website. Once you login to the site, you will see the MyAccount page. Here you can click on the Browse Videos. Once you're on the main home page, you can click on "General Audience" and follow the instructions to change the rating for which you want to play videos.

Technical FAQ

System requirements:

Pentium III 450 processor or equivalent or higher
10 MB free hard disk space
128 MB RAM or more
16-bit or higher color display at 800 x 600 or higher
Windows 98SE/Me/2000/XP
JVM 1.3 or later
DirectX 9 or later
Windows Media Player 9 or later
QuickTime 6.5 or later required for 2.1 PRO to support viewing of QuickTime movies