Socusoft Web Video Player is an interesting but powerful tool which I came across on a download site a few days ago. This program allows you to publish your video clips of various formats on your website, blog, forum and more, making it play videos directly online. It just needs simple steps to complete a web video. Different from videos on YouTube, The web video generated by this program has an embedded player, which can be fully customized.

The principle of this application is to integrate your video with a player together with relevant output codes to be embedded into HTML of your webpage or blog. It will take you three steps to make a web video. The input files accept FLV format only so as to enable output video player to playback clips. You may meet with the problem about videos of different formats. Well, it has a conversion component which accepts various video formats, making it easy to convert your files to FLV format.

Socusoft Web Video Player: http://www.web-video-player.com

Key features summary:

– GUI is easy to navigate– No time or other key limits– Support most video formats– Single/batch video input and conversion– Quick editing of video file properties– Cool themes for web videos– Rich parameter settings for web videos– Show/Hide of video play list and playback feature– Extremely easy to publish web videos and embedded player– Convenient to get ready-made files for Dreamweaver or FrontPage

Deficiency of this app: Not compatible with Mac

You guys can go to its website for more information about its features and functions. As stated on its site: the trial version generates web videos with a logo at the top left corner of the web player which links to its website. The logo is no big deal for us video fans. As for trial version’s another point: URLs such as company URL and advertisement links also cannot be added to the web videos. I would like to say: the advertisement links adding function is useful to businessmen and website promoters only. So, as for us, don’t worry about it as there is no time limit or other key limits. We can still use it freely for fun and experience its cool features. I think you can find out more and you may report back here in the comments.

PS: Tutorial — How to Make Web Videos Easily such as Video News on Yahoo, MSN and YouTube

Here is the tutorial link: http://funny-video-youtube.blogspot.com

After learning a little about web videos for advertising, you may be asking yourself just what type of businesses are taking advantages of this medium? The answers are just about everyone who understands the concept of entertainment in advertising.
Just about every business that has a website on the internet is now adding some sort of video advertising to their sites. This includes car dealerships, travel agents, real estate agents and even manufacturers. They realize that they get the attention of a viewer right away if a video comes onto the screen instead of a simple advertisement.
Department stores are also beginning to use video advertising on the internet not only on their websites, but also on internet advertising engines such as Google. It simply captures the attention of a potential buyer more than just a plain photo.
Imagine that you have a website that sells T-shirts, for example. A person goes to your website and sees a variety of T-shirts that are for sale. These are often pictured in photos either by themselves or on models. The prices are included, along with an ordering form. Most websites have a search option so if someone is looking for a particular T-shirt, they can find it easier.
The reason models are depicted in T-shirts is to make the product more attractive. More people are apt to purchase a garment featured on a striking model than an average person or on a mannequin. This is simply another way people are visual. They imagine themselves as the model in the T-shirt and feel that they will also look this way once the garment is acquired.
Now imagine you have this same website but decide to implement video advertising as part of your campaign. Instead of clicking on to a website that just depicts a bunch of models in T-shirts, you have a video where a model is wearing the T-shirt and talking about how much she loves her T-shirts from your company.
Or, you decide to go the humor route. A video depicts an unpopular, geeky kid wearing a white shirt with a pencil protector in the pocket and getting his books knocked out of his hands at school. He says something like “I’ve had enough of this, I’m getting myself over to XXX T-shirt company!”
The next clip shows the same student wearing one of the T-shirts and surrounded by a bevy of women. He winks at the camera and says, “XXX T-shirt changed my life – they can change yours, too.”
Corny? Yes. But entertaining and memorable. As a matter of fact, the more humor or unusual aspects you can add to your video, the more people will remember it. They may even like it so much that they post it on their blog or on “You Tube.” Then you get even more advertising for your business. For free.
Travel agents are quickly discovering that video is the way to go when it comes to advertising on the internet. More and more travel agencies are not just depicting photos of exotic places, but videos of the attractions that can be seen when visiting these places. People feel as though they are taking a trip. They sometimes call this a “virtual tour” and it is really quite effective. A virtual tour takes the viewer on a mini vacation all from their home computer. They get to see highlights of the wonderful sights, the hotels, the beaches and a lot of people enjoying themselves. This sparks their imagination. They envision themselves on the tour and it makes them want to visit as well. The more someone knows about the positive aspects of a particular tour, country or vacation spot, the more apt they are to want to book a vacation to this destination.
Speaking of virtual tours, we have already talked about real estate agents in a previous article. Many real estate companies are now adding video advertising to their websites. Instead of just seeing photos of a home, they see the entire home, just as they were touring it.
In addition to large businesses and professionals using video advertising on the internet, musicians are learning the value of this technology to promote their music and bands. Music videos came out in the 1980s and were frequently depicted on MTV. This was a very popular concept, but soon became very competitive. More and more money was being used to make a more “creative video” for the band. Bands who had creative videos depicting models or something unusual were selling more music than other bands who did not have the capital to create such videos.
In the 1980s, video cameras cost over $1,000. And if you wanted the video to look professional, you had to hire a director and some actors. The music videos of the 1980s were actual commercials for a particular artist or a band. And they cost a lot of money to produce.
Today not only professional musicians advertise by video on the internet, but amateurs as well. Video cameras no longer cost over $1,000. They are easy to use and the content can easily be downloaded into a personal computer. It is just as easy to upload a video into your webpage as it is to upload a photograph or some music. This allowed amateur musicians to began promoting their bands on the internet. On MySpace, for example, there are thousands of artists doing this. They do not even have to pay for their MySpace page. It is free. They simply have to have someone film their act with a camcorder, upload it to their site and they are advertising for free on the internet. It sure beats the old days of recording demos for thousands of dollars and trying to find someone on the radio to play them.
Individuals who have something unique to sell are also using video advertising on the internet. They can do this with little or no expense if they choose a venue like You Tube. You Tube allows anyone who is a member to upload their videos for others to see. The more clever the video, the better chance of it being discovered. If you want to draw people to your website, mention it in your funny video and put it on YouTube. Millions of people use this website every day. The videos are often either e-mailed to friends or put on blogs and other spaces. Suppose you have invented a special item to sell. You have a patent but have no idea how to sell it. You have a website and are trying to promote it, but are not having much luck. You can advertise on television, but it costs a fortune; even on cable TV.
Maybe you can come up with a funny video that will draw people to your website that involves your product. You can post this on your site and then wait for people to discover the ad. You can also place it on such video websites as YouTube.
Have you ever dated on the internet? Guess what? You are advertising yourself. You are adverting yourself in the hopes of finding a perfect mate. Many people put false photos of themselves on these sites and many internet daters have grown leery of some of the ads. Yet internet dating is big business. In today’s busy world, few people have time to go out and meet a special someone. So many people are taking advantage of the internet dating world.
Some internet dating sites offer their clients a way to communicate with another individual through video instead of just plain text. For a small fee, they can post a video of themselves on the site and talk about their likes, and dislikes. In addition to just seeing a photo, a person who is interested also gets to hear a voice and finds out a little bit more about the person he or she is thinking of contacting. It is very difficult to ascertain what a person is like from a photograph. They may have a voice that sounds like Mickey Mouse and really gets on your nerves. Or they may have an engaging smile and a sexy voice that you really find attractive. This person may look similar to many others who have turned up as your “match,” but chances are, you will watch the video and, if you like what you see, you will be more inclined to contact the individual. They will seem like a real person to you, instead of a photograph and text profile.
Car dealerships are another business that is using video technology to advertise on the internet. Car dealerships have always been known for their “over the top” approach to advertising. They sometimes run specials depicting happy customers getting great deals, or they show a video of a car being driven down the road and being able to make great turns. This cost them much less than advertising on television.
No matter what business you are in, video advertising on the internet can help you attract more customers, gain more exposure for your company and generate new leads and sales. Best of all, it is easy and relatively inexpensive to use. We will discuss how you can do this in a later article.

After learning a little about web videos for advertising, you may be asking yourself just what type of businesses are taking advantages of this medium? The answers are just about everyone who understands the concept of entertainment in advertising.
Just about every business that has a website on the internet is now adding some sort of video advertising to their sites. This includes car dealerships, travel agents, real estate agents and even manufacturers. They realize that they get the attention of a viewer right away if a video comes onto the screen instead of a simple advertisement.
Department stores are also beginning to use video advertising on the internet not only on their websites, but also on internet advertising engines such as Google. It simply captures the attention of a potential buyer more than just a plain photo.
Imagine that you have a website that sells T-shirts, for example. A person goes to your website and sees a variety of T-shirts that are for sale. These are often pictured in photos either by themselves or on models. The prices are included, along with an ordering form. Most websites have a search option so if someone is looking for a particular T-shirt, they can find it easier.
The reason models are depicted in T-shirts is to make the product more attractive. More people are apt to purchase a garment featured on a striking model than an average person or on a mannequin. This is simply another way people are visual. They imagine themselves as the model in the T-shirt and feel that they will also look this way once the garment is acquired.
Now imagine you have this same website but decide to implement video advertising as part of your campaign. Instead of clicking on to a website that just depicts a bunch of models in T-shirts, you have a video where a model is wearing the T-shirt and talking about how much she loves her T-shirts from your company.
Or, you decide to go the humor route. A video depicts an unpopular, geeky kid wearing a white shirt with a pencil protector in the pocket and getting his books knocked out of his hands at school. He says something like “I’ve had enough of this, I’m getting myself over to XXX T-shirt company!”
The next clip shows the same student wearing one of the T-shirts and surrounded by a bevy of women. He winks at the camera and says, “XXX T-shirt changed my life – they can change yours, too.”
Corny? Yes. But entertaining and memorable. As a matter of fact, the more humor or unusual aspects you can add to your video, the more people will remember it. They may even like it so much that they post it on their blog or on “You Tube.” Then you get even more advertising for your business. For free.
Travel agents are quickly discovering that video is the way to go when it comes to advertising on the internet. More and more travel agencies are not just depicting photos of exotic places, but videos of the attractions that can be seen when visiting these places. People feel as though they are taking a trip. They sometimes call this a “virtual tour” and it is really quite effective. A virtual tour takes the viewer on a mini vacation all from their home computer. They get to see highlights of the wonderful sights, the hotels, the beaches and a lot of people enjoying themselves. This sparks their imagination. They envision themselves on the tour and it makes them want to visit as well. The more someone knows about the positive aspects of a particular tour, country or vacation spot, the more apt they are to want to book a vacation to this destination.
Speaking of virtual tours, we have already talked about real estate agents in a previous article. Many real estate companies are now adding video advertising to their websites. Instead of just seeing photos of a home, they see the entire home, just as they were touring it.
In addition to large businesses and professionals using video advertising on the internet, musicians are learning the value of this technology to promote their music and bands. Music videos came out in the 1980s and were frequently depicted on MTV. This was a very popular concept, but soon became very competitive. More and more money was being used to make a more “creative video” for the band. Bands who had creative videos depicting models or something unusual were selling more music than other bands who did not have the capital to create such videos.
In the 1980s, video cameras cost over $1,000. And if you wanted the video to look professional, you had to hire a director and some actors. The music videos of the 1980s were actual commercials for a particular artist or a band. And they cost a lot of money to produce.
Today not only professional musicians advertise by video on the internet, but amateurs as well. Video cameras no longer cost over $1,000. They are easy to use and the content can easily be downloaded into a personal computer. It is just as easy to upload a video into your webpage as it is to upload a photograph or some music. This allowed amateur musicians to began promoting their bands on the internet. On MySpace, for example, there are thousands of artists doing this. They do not even have to pay for their MySpace page. It is free. They simply have to have someone film their act with a camcorder, upload it to their site and they are advertising for free on the internet. It sure beats the old days of recording demos for thousands of dollars and trying to find someone on the radio to play them.
Individuals who have something unique to sell are also using video advertising on the internet. They can do this with little or no expense if they choose a venue like You Tube. You Tube allows anyone who is a member to upload their videos for others to see. The more clever the video, the better chance of it being discovered. If you want to draw people to your website, mention it in your funny video and put it on YouTube. Millions of people use this website every day. The videos are often either e-mailed to friends or put on blogs and other spaces. Suppose you have invented a special item to sell. You have a patent but have no idea how to sell it. You have a website and are trying to promote it, but are not having much luck. You can advertise on television, but it costs a fortune; even on cable TV.
Maybe you can come up with a funny video that will draw people to your website that involves your product. You can post this on your site and then wait for people to discover the ad. You can also place it on such video websites as YouTube.
Have you ever dated on the internet? Guess what? You are advertising yourself. You are adverting yourself in the hopes of finding a perfect mate. Many people put false photos of themselves on these sites and many internet daters have grown leery of some of the ads. Yet internet dating is big business. In today’s busy world, few people have time to go out and meet a special someone. So many people are taking advantage of the internet dating world.
Some internet dating sites offer their clients a way to communicate with another individual through video instead of just plain text. For a small fee, they can post a video of themselves on the site and talk about their likes, and dislikes. In addition to just seeing a photo, a person who is interested also gets to hear a voice and finds out a little bit more about the person he or she is thinking of contacting. It is very difficult to ascertain what a person is like from a photograph. They may have a voice that sounds like Mickey Mouse and really gets on your nerves. Or they may have an engaging smile and a sexy voice that you really find attractive. This person may look similar to many others who have turned up as your “match,” but chances are, you will watch the video and, if you like what you see, you will be more inclined to contact the individual. They will seem like a real person to you, instead of a photograph and text profile.
Car dealerships are another business that is using video technology to advertise on the internet. Car dealerships have always been known for their “over the top” approach to advertising. They sometimes run specials depicting happy customers getting great deals, or they show a video of a car being driven down the road and being able to make great turns. This cost them much less than advertising on television.
No matter what business you are in, video advertising on the internet can help you attract more customers, gain more exposure for your company and generate new leads and sales. Best of all, it is easy and relatively inexpensive to use. We will discuss how you can do this in a later article.

How to Make Web Videos like Video News on Yahoo, MSN and YouTube?

Complete Guide – Step by Step — Publish video and player to your website, blog or forum and more

Video news has now become a necessary part on news websites due to its visual representation of information to people. Below are two screenshots of video news from MSN and Yahoo. From the screenshots, we may find that they contain two main parts: video and player. We may also find that the interface is simple but less functional. It is easy to navigate.

Now, what we will discuss right here is: How to easily make video news like these or even better and more functional ones?

[img]http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3340/3301845099_72a6cbea95_m.jpg[/img]

MSN video news

[img]http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3620/3301845105_640b7738e3_m.jpg [/img]

Yahoo video news

First Step: Download and Install Socusoft Web Video Player

I will show you an easy way to make such videos step by step. Before we go any further, we need to download a professional tool — Socusoft Web Video Player from http://www.web-video-player.com

When installation is completed, launch Socusoft Web Video Player.

Second Step: Check Video Format — Convert Video into FLV

Like other software, the input video files only accept FLV format so as to enable output video player to playback clips. If your video clips are different formats, you need to convert them to FLV format first. There is a simple tutorial on its website of converting video files of different formats such as MOV, WMV, FLV, MPEG-4, MPG, RM, RMVB, AVI, VOB, ASF, DV, 3GP, M1V and M2V into FLV format. Here is the link:

http://www.web-video-player.com/videoconverter.php

If you don’t need a tutorial, you may do it yourself. Click “Convert” to launch integrated converter and convert your video into FLV format.

[img]http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3395/3193139999_405d97862d.jpg?v=0.jpg[/img]

Third Step: Add Videos to Player

Go to “(1) Video” and click the button “Add” to add flash video (flv) files.

[img]http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3479/3193140001_dc2eec78f9.jpg?v=0.jpg[/img]

Fourth Step: Choose Themes for Player

Go to “Themes” and choose the template of web player for your video clips. There are lots of cool templates. Get one as you like or that matches the style of your website or blog. The program allows you to customize web player in advanced mode. Click to button “Customize Parameters” at the bottom right corner to find out more.

[img]http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3259/3193140007_342fd3f0d8.jpg?v=0.jpg[/img]

Fifth Step: Advertising Function (For registered users) — Add advertisement and link to video and player

Some people may want to add advertisements and links to video and player, which is considered as another strategy in product advertising and website promotion. Well, Socusoft Web Video Player has such advertising function with advanced templates but only for registered users. That is, you need to buy the program and then use the license name and code to register it so as to enjoy full function.

1) Prepare advertisement image

The format of the ad image can be jpeg, gif, jpg, png and swf. If you want to add an advertisement image with no target link on it, the format of the image can be jpeg, gif, jpg and png. If you want to add a target link to a web page for the advertisement image, the format must be swf. You may use Flash Slideshow Maker, Macromedia Flash, SnagIt or other tools to add URL easily to the image and save it as swf format.

[img]http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3297/3271548152_f8b5b06512_m.jpg [/img]

2) Choose advertising templates

Go to “Themes” and choose the template of web player for your video clips such as the template “Advertisement”.

[img]http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3308/3270728241_f51ea04369_m.jpg[/img]

3) Add image to player

Now go to the advanced mode. Click button “Customize Parameters” at the bottom right corner. Then, Click the blank field of Advertisement and get the advertising image.

[img]http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3432/3271548952_a32d05cfd3_m.jpg[/img]

Sample:

[img]http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3423/3271548616_366ed3d4f5_m.jpg[/img]

4) Add link to video

If you need to add target links to videos, go back to “(1) Video” and choose videos that you need to add target URL to. Then, click the button “Edit”. There will be a pop-up dialogue.

Go to “Target URL” and input the link such as company website. Please remember to add “http://” first.

[img]http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3411/3308306592_568eb49c1b.jpg?v=0.jpg[/img]

Sixth Step: Publish Video and Player on Your Computer

When finished the above steps, go to the sixth step “Publish”. Click the button “Publish Now” to integrate your video with player. Your video has right now been embedded a cool player. You may click “View Web Page” to preview your web video.

[img]http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3474/3193140009_b9b4927179.jpg?v=0.jpg[/img]

Last Step: Upload Files – Publish Video to Your Website or Blog

1) Publish video to your website

Click “Open Output Folder” and use upload tools such as CuteFTP to upload all of the files in the folder of “output” to your web space. You may create a new folder on your web space first such as “video” for the output files. If the created folder is in the root directory, the URL of your web video should be:

http://www.*****.com/video/***(name of the published html file).html

2) Add web video to your blog or forum and more

You may also add your published web videos to your blog or forum and more. Here is an example of adding videos to google blog.

Click “Open Output Folder”. Then, open the html file with FrontPage, Dreamweaver or Notepad. The html file is the same with the one uploaded.

[img]http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3328/3308306612_bc47a5e070_m.jpg[/img]

Right here, I use Notepad to open the above-mentioned html file and switch to the code mode and change the paths like the following screenshot. Please note that you need to input your website URL instead of ” *****.com” as shown below.

[img]http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3352/3308306660_81070bb896.jpg?v=0.jpg[/img]

After that, copy the code between “object” as above. Go to your google blog and paste the code as shown below. After that, publish the post. You may now view your web video on google blog.

[img]http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3347/3307476797_b6eea7a1c4.jpg?v=0.jpg[/img]

Sample: http://funny-video-youtube.blogspot.com

Some blogs may not support HTML well. If so, you may also use the following code, which is simple. That is, “iframe” plus “the path”.

[img]http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3427/3307476823_c5871f7de0.jpg?v=0.jpg[/img]