Suggestion regarding video quality on Power accounts
GaryBakker
Registered Users Posts: 266 Major grins
This is meant to be addressed to The-Powers-That-Be at SmugMug. Perhaps this is more of a complaint than a suggestion, but I prefer to be constructive rather than complaining.
For video content, the difference between a Power account and a Pro account is that Pro accounts can contain HD quality videos and Power accounts cannot. My suggestion is to allow HD content for Power accounts. Make the value added differentiator for Pro accounts to be the size (length) of the video rather than the video quality.
Here is my story:
a) I have had a Power account for a number of years. It is purely a personal account. In other words, I do not run a photography business and do not sell my photos. My SmugMug account exists simply to be able to share family photos with friends and family. http://www.bakkers.smugmug.com/ I am just a amateur. I am not trying to create great art. I am no Ansel Adams, and I am no Fellini.
b) Prior to our recent trip to Uganda to track the endangered Mountain Gorillas I purchased a new Canon SX200 IS. (Yes I know, it is simply a point-and-shoot camera which is often ridiculed by the more serious photographers here, but the photo quality is reasonable and it's convenient and it has a powerful zoom.) I did not know this when I bought the camera, but the SX200 IS takes video in HD.
http://bakkers.smugmug.com/Travelogues/Uganda-Selec/9660118_hmv8R#654471783_NtL4j
c) When attempting to upload my videos I discovered that I could not do so without upgrading from my Power account to a Pro account. (a $90 per year difference in price!). In frustration and desperation, I upgraded.
d) In retrospect, I suppose I could have uploaded my videos to YouTube and simply provided a link in my gallery, but that makes life difficult for the viewer. And difficult for me I might add. (Depending on the results of this suggestion, I may decide to do this in the future and downgrade back to a Power account.)
e) For comparison sake, Flikr allows HD quality videos for a mere $25 per year. Don't take this as a threat to pull my account -- I've put far too much effort into creating and populating my site. And I love SmugMug.
f) If point-and-shoot cameras are now recording in HD, I don't think I'm going to be the last person to be frustrated with the inability to upload their short clips without spending a significant amount of money.
g) In conclusion, I think the technology has outpaced SmugMug's rules regarding HD video. I believe it would be in your best interest from a business perspective to re-examine your stance on what separates Power accounts from Pro accounts for video clips.
As a loyal but frustrated member, I'd really appreciate a response to my suggestion and perhaps an explanation of the rationale for the rules as they currently exist.
Thanks.
For video content, the difference between a Power account and a Pro account is that Pro accounts can contain HD quality videos and Power accounts cannot. My suggestion is to allow HD content for Power accounts. Make the value added differentiator for Pro accounts to be the size (length) of the video rather than the video quality.
Here is my story:
a) I have had a Power account for a number of years. It is purely a personal account. In other words, I do not run a photography business and do not sell my photos. My SmugMug account exists simply to be able to share family photos with friends and family. http://www.bakkers.smugmug.com/ I am just a amateur. I am not trying to create great art. I am no Ansel Adams, and I am no Fellini.
b) Prior to our recent trip to Uganda to track the endangered Mountain Gorillas I purchased a new Canon SX200 IS. (Yes I know, it is simply a point-and-shoot camera which is often ridiculed by the more serious photographers here, but the photo quality is reasonable and it's convenient and it has a powerful zoom.) I did not know this when I bought the camera, but the SX200 IS takes video in HD.
http://bakkers.smugmug.com/Travelogues/Uganda-Selec/9660118_hmv8R#654471783_NtL4j
c) When attempting to upload my videos I discovered that I could not do so without upgrading from my Power account to a Pro account. (a $90 per year difference in price!). In frustration and desperation, I upgraded.
d) In retrospect, I suppose I could have uploaded my videos to YouTube and simply provided a link in my gallery, but that makes life difficult for the viewer. And difficult for me I might add. (Depending on the results of this suggestion, I may decide to do this in the future and downgrade back to a Power account.)
e) For comparison sake, Flikr allows HD quality videos for a mere $25 per year. Don't take this as a threat to pull my account -- I've put far too much effort into creating and populating my site. And I love SmugMug.
f) If point-and-shoot cameras are now recording in HD, I don't think I'm going to be the last person to be frustrated with the inability to upload their short clips without spending a significant amount of money.
g) In conclusion, I think the technology has outpaced SmugMug's rules regarding HD video. I believe it would be in your best interest from a business perspective to re-examine your stance on what separates Power accounts from Pro accounts for video clips.
As a loyal but frustrated member, I'd really appreciate a response to my suggestion and perhaps an explanation of the rationale for the rules as they currently exist.
Thanks.
SmugMug site => The Bakker Chautauqua
"The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits." (Einstein)
"The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits." (Einstein)
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http://blog.moonriverphotography.com/2009/07/power-of-p.html
http://www.dgrin.com/showpost.php?p=1156073&postcount=10
Thanks for the suggestion and feedback. If you don't mind, please put it here, where others can add their voice, too: http://smugmug.uservoice.com thanks!
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"The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits." (Einstein)
Given the voting process and the perceived preponderance of Pro users there, I fear my suggestion will sink into obscurity. I hope I'm wrong. We'll see. At least I can be content with the knowledge that I tried.
One thing I have going for me is that it is really a simple administrative change rather than a difficult technical change. There is something to be said for low hanging fruit.
"The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits." (Einstein)
I could not agree more with your suggestion, so I gave your Uservoice idea 3 votes.
Malte
http://www.vimeo.com/join
scwalter.smugmug.com
Hm, I'd totally managed to forget/ignore that a Power account is only $60... Didn't it use to be atleast $80 or something? This makes me even more convinced that there is plenty of room in the plan lineup for a new tier inbetween Power and Pro.
$60+60, that is tempting... Do you know if Vimeo scraps the original after conversion? What sizes do they convert to?
Malte
"The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits." (Einstein)
"The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits." (Einstein)
Thanks for the suggestion. My strong preference is to keep my videos together with the still photos, so this would only be a last resort.
"The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits." (Einstein)
Yet paying an extra $90 per year JUST to be able to post very short HD video clips seems overly punitive.
My main premise is that HD video should be allowed in Power accounts, not just Pro accounts. When simple point-and-shoot cameras are recording in HD, it's going to restrict many, many users at some point in time.
My suggestion is to use length (size) of the video as the differentiating variable between Power and Pro accounts.
"The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits." (Einstein)
In your earlier statement that there isn't much difference between power and pro, I'm surprised you would say that. You can sell images for profit with pro, you cannot with power. That's a huge difference.
Perhaps what you're saying is that you'd like a tier above power where you get all the features of pro except selling for profit.
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Let me clarify my statement then -- for a guy like me who is not interested in selling my photos, there isn't much difference between Power and Pro. Said another way, there is no difference that provides additional value to me except this HD video issue. And I don't think that difference should cost an additional $90 per year.
"The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits." (Einstein)
And thus the last line of my previous post:
Perhaps what you're saying is that you'd like a tier above power where you get all the features of pro except selling for profit.
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I'd like a capability above what a Power account allows, where I can post short HD video clips.
I'd prefer not to pay anything extra, but certainly the current financial leap to Pro is excessive. And of the five differences between Power and Pro accounts, only one is important to me. It is interesting that three of the five differences are related to selling photos.
Here are the differences: http://www.smugmug.com/photos/photo-sharing-features/
-- max photo size? doesn't affect me (but admittedly might someday as the technology advances)
-- video quality? this is my issue
-- password for assistants? doesn't affect me (who would need this except sellers?)
-- custom watermarks? doesn't affect me (again, only is important to sellers)
-- commerce (selling photos)? doesn't affect me (I simply want to display my stuff for friends and family)
Again, I fully understand the need and desire to differentiate the capabilities between Power and Pro accounts. For video I suggest that the difference be video length rather than video quality.
"The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits." (Einstein)
Yes, this is a good idea. A new tier between Power and Pro could be created, perhaps called "Master" or "Aficianado." It would include all of the features of a pro account, including HD video, but no shopping cart/photo sales. I'm thinking an $80-90 price point would work.
Just throwing it out there... not sure if it's feasible.
The cow that pays you!
It seems that Vimeo does not scrap the original file, atleast not on the $59.95 Plus tier. "Original file storage and downloading" here: http://www.vimeo.com/plus
I'd love for SmugMug to adopt this policy, to have photos and videos be equal citizens. Who would think it would be a good idea to settle for X3 and throw away the original image file? I do know about the SmugVault alternative, I just don't think that's the right way to go about it. And the original video file doesn't compare to the RAW file of photo, it compares to the full size JPEG's stored by Smugmug today. I'm thinking about futureproofing here, say if you'd want to reencode the video for some reason. And, ofcourse, knowing that the original is backed up.
So who's with me?
Malte
Videos should be 'equal citizens' as you put it. Visitors should be able to download the original video, just as they are able to download the original photo if the owner enables it.
The cow that pays you!
From YouTube Blog: "...And those of you who have already uploaded in 1080p, don't worry. We're in the process of re-encoding your videos so we can show them the way you intended."
Wise words, I think.
http://youtube-global.blogspot.com/2009/11/1080p-hd-comes-to-youtube.html
Malte
I signed up for a pro account in 2005 to host pictures of my family. For ease of use i wanted 1 thing that was not offered on the other accounts , a custom domain. Well apparently that changed last year sometime and power users can have custom domains. That's fantastic i thought, then i relaized, that im stuck with the video limitation. I too have a P&S along with my Olympus e510. The videos produced are 1280X720 ( hd). The only way i can use them is to convert them to a smaller file if i chage accounts. So now im stuck as well. Do i downgrade to Power and lose HD or pay more for a single feature. I also agree that this place is quickly becoming geared to pros and not families. Not offering an easy bulk download button that is not a firefox only extension or require another application is crazy.
Look out, Smugmug. Youtube is coming your way, and they've got 1080P video up their sleeves. Gone are the days when you can claim you are the only one offering full HD.
The cow that pays you!
Totally agree that power users should be 1080p. Almost silly to pay $90 extra for just video when you are an amateur who never uses the "sales" features.
I couldnt agree more with the original post and some of the other comments here. Smugmug is becoming increasingly unfriendly to family or home type users.
Continuing to ask home users to pay $90 just for HD video is ridiculous. Vimeo which I find offers a much better service for video, including keeping your original file, is only $60. Smugmug asks for a 50% premium on that and gives fewer features?
Ill be downgrading to Power when my Pro account expires at the end of the month, and Ill no longer consider smugmug my preferred choice for hosting my pictures and video.
We really need HD video on the Power accounts, I hate having to tell people coming to my galleries, "Ok, here's the site where the photos look great [link to smugmug], but now go over here to see the videos
Everybody is shooting HD these days, and I would expect a service I pay to do at least what a free service does.
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We love this feedback, and you all telling us how important HD is to you! Thanks for that.
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True. We pay you $$$, though.
Hopefully a happy medium will eventually be found where we can pay a little more to add HD video to our accounts.
One choice would possibly be a "delayed processing" type of system. I know that Amazon EC2 now offers a program where you can pay less for processing power in off-peak times (4 cents vs. 8.5 cents/hr or so when I've tried it for occasional small test instances), so maybe a service for Power users where they could upload their videos and they'd get processed later in the day/night could be possible.
I hear you about the biz model, but I agree with the OC that HD video is becoming ubiquitous. I chose SM because the quality of your still image presentation and flexibility is IMHO without equal. That being said, the ONE thing that I have been underwhelmed with is the tiny size of my videos when uploaded to SM.
My desire is simply to keep all my content in one place, and while I may be an amateur today, having it all on SM makes the upgrade to a pro-level account so much easier and perhaps even more likely down the road.
I could accept paying a little bit more for a "Power+HD" level account, but not $90.
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