Is it an expectation that youtube videos be bad quality? I’ve seen a few music posts there, and they seem to come in 3 categories: dubbed professional music videos, live with a hand-held in a club or auditorium that sounds like a tin-can, other. The “other” category can be just about anything, from fretkillr’s excellent work done with a single camera, to video montages over a CD track, to who-know-what.
The reason I’m asking is: I’m thinking the band should produce a semi-pro video of us playing and then post it. Would we be breaking protocol? Would any one care?
I’m not exactly tuned into the Youtube community, but I should think the reason most videos are amateur is because the people making them aren’t putting a lot of effort into the recording. I should think most people know how to operate a simple digital camera, but they either can’t get their hand on or know how to use more professional equipment.
I’ve seen plenty of professional videos put up by the people who made them (as opposed to someone putting up a video they happen to like). I shouldn’t think it’d be breaking any ‘protocol’ unless it goes against Youtube’s TOS.
I think it is just that few people know how to make a decent video. You are not breaking protocol, and I can’t see anyone commenting with something like, “Hey, your video’s quality is halfway decent. Youz r Suxxor!”
Actually, I can see that comment being made, but I wouldn’t think much of it.
I think you’d do better if you have a professional video. I personally can’t stand amateur music videos.
Seriously, post whatever you want. It’s a wasteland anyway, pretty much anything goes.
You might want to consider Vimeo or another service, though. If I were producing something I wanted to be seen, I’d post to Vimeo (which offers HD), and Youtube, and link the vids to each other. That way, your video is available in high quality, on a clean-looking site, but you still get the audience of Youtube, and Youtube users would be able to bookmark/send your video within the site.