webqem blog

These days social networks like facebook have brought people together to connect, share and discover new things and ideas. And since the beginning film and tv have captivated and brought audiences together. Now Ooyala Social is bringing these worlds together, allowing publishers to harness the power of social to grow their audiences.

Powered by the same core technology that runs Ooyala Everywhere, Ooyala Social enables publishers to grow audiences, boost engagement and drive revenue on the world’s biggest social network.

Built-in social features promote sharing and content discovery. And Facebook Connect-based authentication ensures viewers enjoy seamless viewing, whenever and however they connect. With Ooyala Social, users can:

• Share videos with friends and family, and chat while viewing
• Discover what their friends like and recommend
• Watch on nearly every kind of screen and device
• Rent or buy videos easily with Facebook credits

Facebook is just one piece to the growing social TV phenomenon. Ooyala envisions a future where video viewing, content discovery and engagement all have a connected social dimension—a future that’s enabled by Ooyala’s backend social API integration. Social meets big data, meets HD-quality video on all devices.

One of the first publishers to take the plunge with Ooyala Social, is one of our favorite movie studios – Miramax. The guys that brought you classic films such as Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill, Good Will Hunting and Clerks – are now available to rent right within Facebook. You can even view them on any other device like a smartphone, tablet or connected TV.

webqem, Australia’s leading web solutions company, today announced it has chosen Ooyala to provide high quality online video for its customers. webqem will standardize on Ooyala to help its clients publish, analyze and drive revenue through video. Through this partnership, webqem’s 300+ customers around the world will have access to Ooyala’s video technology and analytics.

webqem will use Ooyala to provide leading companies in the IT, HR and marketing industries with compelling online experiences. With Ooyala’s technology, webqem is offering companies with unprecedented control over online video experiences and valuable insight into analytics in order to increase viewer engagement and generate more revenue. Ooyala’s analytics deliver real-time reports on 500 different metrics, giving webqem insights into user viewing behavior, content reach, and global distribution and sharing. With Ooyala, webqem will be able to extend their reach internationally through engaging online video experiences.

“We have always been committed to delivering cutting edge web experiences that drive our clients’ businesses and set them apart from competitors,” said Larry Adler, Operations Director, webqem. “With Ooyala we’re now able to provide the industry-leading online video platform to our clients so that they can create rich viewing experiences for their customers across all screens, including desktops, smartphones, and tablets.”

Online video is being rapidly adopted by global organizations as they look to maximize consumer interaction and engagement. According to Generator Research, the global online video market is expected to grow by 225 percent to US $14 billion in 2014.

“As online video is increasingly adopted by every kind of global organization, webqem is ahead of the pack in offering premium video solutions,” said John Treloar, Managing Director of Ooyala ANZ. “We’re proud to work with them to make it possible for their clients to monetize content assets and make better business decisions regarding their video audiences.”

About webqem

webqem was born in 1999 to meet the demand for a professional, highly skilled web solutions company. With unrivalled experience in IT, online marketing and training, the webqem team provides leading edge, one-stop web solutions. We take the time to get to know what our customers really need, bringing with us a passion for the possibilities that the web offers. Servicing IT, HR and Marketing departments within leading corporations such as MLC, Allianz, CommSec and oneworld, we also work with many highly successful small businesses online.

About Ooyala

Ooyala is the leading online video technology and services company. Ooyala provides online video publishing, analytics and monetization to leading global companies to help increase revenue and engagement. With Ooyala’s comprehensive online video solution, content owners gain viewer insights that enable strategic business decisions. Ooyala has over 500 customers including global media companies and brands including ESPN, Dell, REI, Sephora, Bloomberg, Endemol, Fremantle Media, Telegraph Media, Vans, and Vice Magazine. Visit Ooyala on Facebook and follow @Ooyala on Twitter.

Creative nerds of the internet have been abuzz for the last few days after the release of The Wilderness Downtown. It’s a half video clip, half HTML5 experiment for Arcade Fire’s song, We Used To Wait (link to bad YouTube bootleg)

It’s gotten an interesting response. Mostly, people that have bought into the hype of HTML5 love it and tout it as another reason why Flash is dying. However, others aren’t as impressed.

I for one, think it’s pretty great, but I don’t think it has anything to do with HTML5 or the lack of flash

It’s just the right amount of “interactive”
Halfway through the piece it asks you to write a letter to your younger self, and the interface is fun and playful and most importantly totally intuitive. This small amount of emotion and playful engagement keeps you hooked and helps you remember the experience

The use of multiple windows
This is an old trick, but still a great one. Since early JavaScript we’ve been able to do this, but the way it’s used here is pitch perfect. This is mostly because the overall experience is passive and you’re just watching. There’s a good reason why we can’t use this in ads, but I think its underused enough that its still memorable for most people when they see it in this kind of movie watching context.

The art direction is great
Not “change the world” great, or even D&AD award winning great, but defiantly “highlighted in a good portfolio” great. The grading on the video combines well with the sketchy style of the illustration. The small amount of 3d is tastefully handled if a little low resolution. Even the slight treatment to the Google maps and street-view images is great.

It makes me think of home
I ran it using my actual childhood home address, and the gimmick totally worked on my. I became that runner. I imagined myself going for a run near my old home and flashing back to my childhood. This may not be as effective for you as it was for me, and I suspect mileage may vary based on how long you lived in one home or how good the Google coverage is in that area.

The song is great
As with all music video clips, the star is the song and this is a damn great song. In fact, I love the album. You should go get it. Go on. I’ll wait.

It’s effective
I’ve been listening to the album all day, and recommending it to people. I even wrote a blog post about it.

Yes, a lot of this could have been done with flash, possibly even better. But as a creative its not the technology that impresses me, it’s the idea. Something we need to remind ourselves of continuously as the HTML5/Flash war continues.

Creating interactive catalogues is easy with maxoom. All you need is an Adobe .pdf file and maxoom. Watch a demonstration of how easy it is to create an interactive catalogue  using an Adobe .pdf file as the sourcefile for a maxoom. This video will show you how to upload your content to maxoom, create the pages, add features and publish the content.

More information about maxoom interactive catalogues with images and video is available online.

Adobe provides a great online resource that is Adobe TV. This website has come back better than ever with its recent relaunch. Launched at the end of  August, the redesigned Adobe TV is now faster and features customization, improved navigation, sharing options, and a more accurate search.

You can watch a full range of programs, from entertainment to instruction to tips & tricks, with videos covering almost every piece of Adobe software – from the Creative Suites, to ColdFusion and Flex, to Photoshop & InDesign. So whether you are a beginner, intermediate or advanced user, Adobe TV has a video that will cater for your needs. You can check out Adobe TV online, you will be pleasantly surprised at the number of great videos available.

There are some useful eSeminars coming up for users of Adobe’s video software: CS4 Production Premium, Encore, Premiere Pro, Photoshop or After Effects. A variety of topics are offered to suit user’s ability, whether beginner, intermediate or advanced – there is an eSeminar for you. Have a look at the topics listed below, find one that tickles your fancy, then go to the registration page & secure your free spot in the eSeminar.

September eSeminar Video topics:

• RED Camera workflow with CS4 Production Premium. 4th Sept.

• Encore – Authoring to BluRay and Flash using custom designed templates. 11th Sept.

• Using video with Photoshop CS4. 18th Sept.

• Audio tool for video production – including speech to text workflow. 25th Sept.

Last week saw the release of the latest update to the Flash Player. Previously code named “Moviestar” Flash Player 9 Update 3 now supports the H.265 video standard – the same standard deployed in Blu-Ray and HD-DVD high definition video players.

This version also includes hardware acceleration for better performance on multi-core machines.

A HD gallery has been launched to help demonstrate the capabilities of the new version of the player, it’s well worth checking out at http://www.adobe.com/products/hdvideo/hdgallery/

The release of Service Pack 3 for Adobe Acrobat Connect has meant a visible improvement in performance partly made possible by the required use of Flash Player 8.

Flash Player 8 has better video compression algorithms (codecs), which are being utilised in this update to Connect for improved quality screen sharing during live meetings.

Another benefit is that Flash video files (FLVs) compressed with the Flash 8 codec are now better performers when served up as content from the Adobe Acrobat Connect server. Connect can stream FLV files, detecting user connection speeds and optimising performance on the fly, with better quality visuals coming as a result of the codecs used for Flash 8.

While there are a number of applications available for compressing video into the FLV format the majority, especially the freeware and shareware variety, are still only using Flash 7 compression. Adobe ship a Flash Video Encoder with Flash CS3.

Tests last week at webqem resulted in a live video feed from a TV tuner card streaming within an Adobe Acrobat Connect Meeting Room’s Camera pod. The implication for folk hosting Connect online meetings is the possibility of being able to display video material directly from either a DVD or VCR. Want to know more? Contact us via the comments section below.

We have been working with iPrime (the digital arm of regional network Prime Television) over the past year to produce the “world’s first” town-specific, video-based social networking site. canberra.iprime.com.au is based on the premise of “Right here, right now” and provides local users with a one stop shop for all content relevant to Canberra.

iPrime were keen to move away from the traditional portal approach and as such we recommended using the latest technologies including Adobe Flex and Adobe Flash. This allowed us to build a rich, engaging site that users can navigate through seamlessly.