Note: Since I published this article, YouTube went back and reinstated the time limit on their videos to 10 minutes. You can read the post here.
I was having a great vacation in Ecuador and thanks to my new USB digital camera
It seems an easy task with all the tools and services we have nowadays: YouTube, Facebook and all the other social sites.
I was up for a rude awakening.
The first issue was that my camera records all clips as separate files. I had to find a way to stitch all the clips into longer videos. After looking around for open source tools to do this, I found a great tool called Video Converter, which is a part of package from Extensoft. The handy video tool allows you to merge clips into one big video.
So I started putting together my clips, and decided to upload these videos to YouTube. I thought this would be the best way, as everyone I know is pretty familiar with the site.
Of course, YouTube doesn’t take files that are larger than 1 Gig. No sweat, the same Video Converter tool allows me to compress videos in FLV (Flash format) that are substantially smaller than the original AVI’s.
After uploading my files for a couple of hours, I was finally able to see them. I was prepared to send the links to everyone, when I noticed YouTube had taken down my videos.
The reason? The videos were longer than the 10 minute limit per video that they have.
A limit on duration of the video?
I can certainly understand the limitation in size, due to infrastructure costs, but if the video is smaller than 1 Gig, why does YouTube care about the duration?
I ended up uploading my videos to Viddler, feeling very disappointed.
Today, as I was writing this post, I went to double check the size and time limits on the upload page on YouTube, and noticed something incredible.
The time limit is gone!
This is a smart move by YouTube, as more and more people want to share their long-form video content on the web, and I’m sure many people, like me, were going elsewhere to share their videos.
So, get those cameras rolling without a care. You won’t be limited by time no more.
{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
Looks like they took it away again!
http://help.youtube.com/support/youtube/bin/answer.py?answer=71673&ctx=sibling&topic=16612
Has anyone confirmed this?
They imply that changing your account type will let you do it.
This appears to be free – has anyone tried it?
What do we use for long videos now that Google Video is closing?
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Sorry I didn’t read it close enough:
it says “regardless of account type”
shoot!!
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This is just crazy! I did check again on my own upload profile page and it again shows the same limitation.
I’m gonna write a post about it right now. Thanks for the heads up!
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OMG someone needs to build something that allows people to upload longer videos…
does anyone know of an existing service?
blessings!
sandy
http://www.theworlddrum.com
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Yes. Veoh has no time limit, and it is great. You can even find full movies uploaded to it.
Now the video limit is again increased to 15 minutes. Looks like a nice move from Google
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Now the video limit is again increased to 15 minutes. Looks like a nice move from Google ……. http://www.buzzingup.com/2010/07/youtube-limit-increases-to-15-minutes-for-all-users/
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what do you mean about your last sentence : “The time limit is gone!”
because i still found duration limit:
Videos can be…
High Definition
Up to 2 GB in size.
Up to 15 minutes in length.
A wide variety of formats
I have good news: For people who have not violated the Community Guidelines, the time limit is COMPLETELY GONE! It says so on the uploading page.
Zach, I don’t know where you’re seeing this. I still see the 15 minute limit.
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Zach, now I know what you’re talking about. This is very cool! http://techcrunch.com/2010/12/09/youtube-time-limit-2/
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