Uploading Your Own Videos
Uploading your videos to YouTube can be accomplished in a couple of ways. The service provides a program that you can download to your desk-top computer for multiple files, or you can just click on “Upload” at the top of the screen to open the Video File Upload page. YouTube displays the file limitations on this page. They must be high-definition videos, up to 2GB, and no longer than 10 minutes.
If you want to save yourself some hassle, check first that the video you want to upload is in one of the file formats supported by YouTube. You can tell what the file format is by checking the file's extension — that's the part of the file name that comes after the “dot” near the end. The list of files You-Tube supports includes, as of this writing: Windows Media Video (WMV), 3GP (cell phones), AVI (windows), MOV (mac), MP4 (ipod/psp), MPEG, FLV (Adobe Flash), and MKV (H.264). These are all listed on the YouTube website.
After a few lawsuits, YouTube has gotten serious about copyrighted materials appearing on the website. As the service states: “Anytime YouTube becomes aware that a video or any part of a video on our site infringes the copyrights of a third party, we will take it down from the site as required by law.” Your safest bet: Don't upload any TV shows, music videos, concerts, or commercials unless they consist entirely of content you created yourself, or you have written permission to use them.
When you click “Upload,” you'll have the option of uploading a video from your desktop computer, or recording a video with your webcam directly to YouTube. (You'd be surprised how many people do this.) You'll probably want to edit the file before you upload it, but YouTube provides editing tools if you decide you want to tweak it later.
Click on the “Upload Video” button to access your desktop computer files. Find the file you want to upload and double click it. That starts the upload process. You'll be able to watch the uploading progress from the Video File Upload page. Once the video is copied to the website, you'll see a frame-by-frame preview, which allows you to trim the clip. You'll also see a URL, which is the address of your video on the YouTube website.
While the video uploads — it could take several minutes — you can fill out your video information and privacy settings. You'll also have the option of embedding a link to the video in your own website, or link it to Facebook or Twitter. Be sure to click the “Save Changes” button.
YouTube allows you to upload ten videos in a single uploading session.
