best way to deliver HD content

[Noa Put]

For those that shoot dance performances or any other performance or events that requires delivering larger amounts of dvd's, how do you deal with requests to get the performance in HD?

For the first time I have had the request if it was not possible to deliver a HD file, like a 1080p MP4 file as well.

I could supply a usb stick but what first comes to mind is the long transfer times per stick if it's usb2 so it needs to be a usb3 stick and even then it will take quite some time copying them one by one.

Downloading looks like a much easier option, everyone has internet, just place the file online once and provide them all with the download link. The only thing I worry about maybe one buy's the HD option and shares the link with others that didn't pay.

Does anyone know of a good download provider who maybe has some safety build in with unique download links per person and statistics so I can see how many times a certain file is downloaded?

[Mark Ahrens]

I'm interested in this, too; but have never taken the time to find a unique download (once) provider.

The ideal is to be paid up front for the production and then just release the download link to all of those who have paid. I don't do performances on spec. Sales are upfront and i know what i'm earning before i even leave for the gig.

Last year i suggested an HD download link be provided to the DVD purchasers; my client was hesitant to agree for fear of the following year having less sales due to sharing. My philosophy is that if sales were hurt the following year then the production will be of lesser quality (less angles, less time editing). If that fact is made plain in the initial sales pitch to the purchasers / parents, perhaps they would understand that the more they share the link, the more the final product will suffer. These dance studios should really include the production fees in with the cost of the dance lessons then just uncharge for physical media.

[Don Platon]

Have you tried VimeoOnDemand? I'm working on an ecommerce implementation using Vimeo & have taken a peek at their dashboard. They may have what you are looking for. Another idea is to set a "window" for the download link, delete it and then republish requiring another transaction.

[Paul Mailath]

actually vimeo on demand might be the way to go if you could set your own price, then anyone who want's it can download. the thing to watch out for is the music - vimeo are becoming as anal as youtube with copyright music so that could kill the idea.

[Noa Put]

Thx for the suggestions, vimeo on demand would require people to have a paypal account and that would be an issue as most that will be downloading the video don't have that. I have been thinking this over more and probably will secure the payment upfront so only the ones who payed get a download link. If I was able to provide each buyer with a separate link which would allow only to be downloaded once or twice they would not be able to share it any further.

I also want to make it as simple as possible, most people are not so computer savvy and might get confused if downloading involves more then one step, I want them to arrive on a page with the download link which should have a clear big "download" button, I had a quick look at dropbox for businesses which looked like a possible solution.

[Roger Van Duyn]

Sometimes I put 1080P HD MP4 files on a DVD-Rom for clients. However, in addition to labeling each disk as DVD Video and DVD Rom, I make sure the standard DVDs and DVD-Roms look a little different from each other, usually a different photo or graphic.

For a nice touch, try a twin disk case.

Blank, printable single layer DVDs are dirt cheap.

A lot of Blu-Ray players play the MP4 DVD Roms.

[Jonathan Schwartz]

The other thing to consider would be file size. We recently added downloadable files to our service through our website. But a 1080p 10 minute video compresses to around 500mb. An hour dance recital would be 3GB and if you happen to film some of the 5 hour marathons that I film you are looking at downloading a 15GB file. While I was trying to give our customers the highest quality possible, I had several complaints about file size. I would love to offer some of my other videos as downloads, but unless I deliver in SD, I can't see people downloading 5GB files. What do you think?

[Paul R Johnson]

I have the same issue. I actually have a secure system running for audio tracks which works well and it doesn't care what file type is downloaded, BUT I'm quite near my limit with server downloads, and having lots of people, downloading big files may well tip me into the next usage band, with extra cost. Plus, of course lengthy upload times, even with fibre.

I was thinking about these stick burners? No idea what they're like.
Standalone 1:5 Usb Flash Drive Duplicator And Eraser Flash Drive Copier - Ebuyer

[Noa Put]

The best way would be to experiment with the lowest bitrate possible so that it still looks better then dvd quality, you then might get away with 1gb per hour of recording? I know people might expect blu-ray quality but then they shouldn't complain about filesizes.

[Jeff Pulera]

Hi Noa,

I always enjoy reading your posts. Regarding acceptance of PayPal for online sales, I started using them two years ago for recital DVD sales. PayPal has a tool that provides HTML code that I paste into MY OWN web page. When a customer clicks on the "Add to Cart" button on MY web page, it opens a PayPal sales page. They can then input their credit card information to complete the order - they do NOT need to have a PayPal account at all, but can use PayPal if they have it. All payments received go into my PayPal account and I can choose to then move those funds to my own bank account, or of course spend those funds to order fun video gear using my PayPal account.

The instructions made it really pretty simple to set up and I really like it, saves me a ton of time not having to take orders and process credit card transactions manually. The orders just pour in and I have don't have to deal with that end of it at all.

I'm in the US, so I can't promise this is offered in the EU region, but this is the US link - https://www.paypal.com/webapps/mpp/p...ments-standard

They take just a small fee for each transaction, which I would have to pay to ANY credit card processor anyway.

Other benefits I've experienced are:

Printing orders/receipts
Printing of shipping labels, with discounted rates (saves me time and money!)

Thanks

Jeff Pulera
Digital Vision Productions

[Noa Put]

The problem with paypal is not very much people use that around these parts, unless they shop a lot online in other parts of the world like I do :) Not many Belgian companies offer paypal payment and if they do they charge a small percentage extra so it's not exactly a payment method that is promoted here. I think if I would have to supply a HD download of a danceperformance through a paypal payment a very large group would not even know what paypal means. :) Too bad actually as it is a very simple, safe and effective way to purchase online.

[Jeff Pulera]

Again, the customer making the purchase doesn't know they are paying on PayPal, to them it seems they are still on MY website and they have simply gone to my "Payment" page, and they enter their card info. Forget PayPal. Has no bearing on the customer experience.

Thanks

Jeff