We’re big fans of personalization, so we are very happy to let you know that the skins of Dailymotion embed players are now fully customizable.
To check it out:
Some examples:
Yesterday we released customizable embed players. Shortly afterwards we discovered a bug that caused all the embed players to play automatically. The problem was fixed immediately - sorry for the inconvenience.
If you embedded any players within the past 24 hours, and they continue to auto-play, please re-embed them to fix the issue.
The best content deserves the highest quality video, and it is in this spirit that Dailymotion has always sought to privilege its outstanding creative community with superior encoding.
For more than a year-and-a-half we have offered High-Quality video encoding, but with the rise of HD digital video cameras we have seen more and more Creative Content submitted in High Definition. This is why, from today on out, all HD video uploaded by MotionMakers and Official Users will be automatically re-encoded in 720p High Definition for playback on the site.
Anyone can watch videos in HD. To get the most out of Dailymotion’s HD, we recommend opening HD videos in full-screen mode or, even better, viewing the site on an HD-compatible screen. If your monitor is not big enough to enjoy HD, you can always connect your computer to your TV.
We have created a dedicated list page to help you find HD quality videos on Dailymotion: http://www.dailymotion.com/hd
Word to the wise, however: HD is both bandwidth and processor intensive, so a 2 Mbps connection is advised (and dual-cores don’t hurt ;).
Along with this bit of news comes another: the beta player which you have been able to test for a number of weeks has been activated throughout the site. In addition to HD support, it includes such improvements as realtime seeking, in-player embed and email tools, and greater user control over the quality of the video being streamed.
For the power-users out there, we have also included some handy keyboard shortcuts (NB: these do not work in fullscreen mode):
<CTRL>-<UP> : volume +10%
<CTRL>-<DOWN> : volume -10%
<SHIFT>-<LEFT> : video -60 secs
<SHIFT>-<RIGHT> : video +60 secs
<CTRL>-<LEFT> : video -10 secs
<CTRL>-<RIGHT> : video +10 secs
<LEFT ARROW> : video -15 secs
<RIGHT ARROW> : video +15 secs
<SPACE> : play/pause
Try it out and let us know what you think.
You may have noticed something missing up in the right corner of the header - the Inbox. Unfortunately, the Inbox has been having some issues recently, so we have had to temporarily take it off the site. It’s in the shop now, and the mechanics tell us it should be running smoothly, back where you normally find it, and with all your old messages, by early next week. We apologize for this inconvenience and thank you for your patience.
Below is a message from Loren Bouchard, judge of the animation contest….
Dear MotionMakers:
Well done. And thank you for sharing your work. In a contest with as modest a prize as this one, I wouldn’t have been surprised if entries were few and far between, but that’s not the case here at all. Besides the quantity, I’m impressed with the high level of originality. This is not a bunch of knock-offs - there are people taking real creative risks here. I’d like to recognize a few people/pieces for honorable mentions: stecker_show, happyfatties, MovingBoxStudio, and todd_spicer – thank you, great job.
jkenwks - “Mick the Mighty Miner” is really something. Keep doing stuff like that.
PSSTpassiton is a collective. So points right there, just for teaming up. That is key in this industry. I especially liked “Sparkle Esperantumor Stimulation”. Love 2D/3D mixed together.
And fugazi77: “Sunny Day All is Well” - another trippy piece, and another example of INCREDIBLY high quality animation and execution.
And now the winner…
The winner is Slothvision, who entered “The Sloth Life, It Can Changes”, “John Wolfington:Shotgun” and “PlanetX”. They all appealed to me immediately, but “The Sloth Life”, in particular, felt approachable and funny. The voice of the character came through (even though it was written), and there was a mature storytelling ability at work, with ups and downs and a bittersweet final beat that tied the whole thing together. A great short.
Thanks again everyone, for entering and for checking out each other’s work. I had a great time looking at all of these, and I had a great time working on our own little call-for-upload pieces. (Thank you, Nora.)
- Loren BouchardP.S. I can’t resist also sharing this - If you’re in the mood to hear a completely different (mean, nasty) perspective about this contest, check out this guy’s blogpost:
http://www.cartoonbrew.com/internet-blogs/a-new-low-for-online-animation-contests
We recently added an “Avatar Webcam Upload” function to the site, which lets you take a photo with your webcam and use it as your profile avatar.
All you have to do is:
You can access the new function by clicking the “my account” tab on the navigation bar within “my profile”, and then accessing the “Avatar” section from the account settings sidebar.
Enjoy!
The videoroll has enjoyed great success since its launch. As you’ll recall, it is a small tool which let you post a set of mini video players on any external site. Following its months of faithful service, we decided it was time give it a bit of a facelift, and are pleased to roll-out Dailymotion’s new Videowall!
Overview
The videowall is an evolution of the Videoroll. Whereas the old version only allowed you to post one column or row of videos, the Videowall lets you post not only a column or row, but and animated “wall” of up to 81 (9×9) videos. The mini-players within the wall will pull the most recent videos from any video list available on Dailymotion: featured videos, most commented, most viewed, your channels, your videos, etc. - the possibilities are endless.
The tool, moreover, is fully configurable: you can add drop shadows, control spacing, show or hide video info with mouseovers, auto-play previews with the “zapping” mode (try it, it’s fun), and define the position of the logo. Don’t hesitate to play with all these options to create your ideal Videowall!
I love it, but where can I find it and how do I put it on my site?
You can see the Videowall on this page, and you can get to the factory by clicking the “Videowall” link under “Tools” in the footer at the bottom of any Dailymotion page. To put a Videowall on your site, select your options on the Videowall factory page, click “Generate Videowall”, and then copy the code and paste it where you want it to appear on your site.
What’s going to happen with the old Videorolls?
The Videorolls already in place will not be affected by the launch of the Videowall, but don’t hesitate to replace your Videorolls with Videowalls! As always, we invite your feedback on and opinion of this new tool. Please leave any praise - or let us know of any bugs - in the comments of this post. All your input will be reviewed.
Today we launched our new player in public beta. You can test the player by clicking this button on any player page:
Below is an example of the new player in action:
Next week we will give a more detailed explanation of this player’s new functions. In the meantime, please give it a spin and leave any feedback (or reports any bugs) in the comments of this post. Enjoy!
You already know the Creative Content program, which gives greater exposure to Dailymotion’s creative users whether they’re filmmakers, reporters, musicians, entertainers, extreme athletes, or unclassifiable talents.
With more than 3000 MotionMakers registered, tens of thousands of Creative Content uploads, and over 90 million views, success and recognition are coming together, thanks to your creativity.
Today we have launched a parallel program called “Official Content“, this time designed for professionals, businesses, and non-profits.
Record labels, studios and production houses, media outlets, TV channels, sports leagues, political parties - all are using Dailymotion more and more to promote their videos.
As a professional content producer, your account is free from upload limits so that you can share as much of your work as you like with with the Dailymotion community. Get your content out there, follow its audience, test the community reaction and interact with your viewers.
“Official Content” videos benefit from increased visibility within the site. Their thumbnail frame makes them stand out from the rest of the content, and they may be featured on the homepage by our editoral team.
To join the program or learn more about it, please visit our page, “Become an Official User.”
Dailymotion is teaming up with the dopest animator in the business to find the next great animated series. From November 21st- January 4th we invite our users to enter their animated pilots, demos and concept tests into the contest group found at http://animationprocreation.dailymotion.com.
The winner will receive a four-month development deal with Loren Bouchard (producer of the current Adult Swim hit, “Lucy, the Daughter of the Devil”, and such acclaimed animated series as “Home Movies,” “Science Court” and “Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist.”)
Check out the amazing call-for-upload video Loren created:
