YouTube Australia Blog: March 2012

Do You Have What it Takes to be the ‘Next’ great YouTube Vlogger?

Thursday, 29 March 2012

This is a cross-post from the Official YouTube Blog.
Vlogging, or video blogging, videos are some of the most popular on YouTube. And rightfully so--they’re one of the few types of videos that literally anyone can create: all you have to do is sit in front of camera, share words of wisdom (okay, wisdom not always required), and upload the video. From accounts of political struggle in the Middle East to fan reactions of newly-released music videos to testaments of personal discovery, the intimate act of vlogging can take many shapes and resonate with audiences around the world.A few weeks ago, we asked YouTube creators what form of content we should tackle as part of our Next Creator program, a development initiative to help promising creators find their voices, improve their skills, and build their audiences. You resoundingly responded with calls for YouTube Next Vlogger. Starting later today through April 18, applications will be open for sixteen promising vloggers to take part in three months of intimate educational workshops held on Google+ Hangouts. Each vlogger will receive $5,000 worth of video equipment and more than $10,000 worth of promotion on and off YouTube. Participants will also receive mentoring from industry experts, such as iJustine, one of the most successful vloggers and content creators on YouTube! YouTube creators from Australia, Canada, India, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States can learn more and apply to Next Vlogger on the Creator Hub. If previous Next Creator participants are any indication, the Next Vloggers will be an incredibly talented and engaging group. We can’t wait to introduce them to you on April 30, but they need to apply first!Vlog on!Austin Lau & Bing Chen, Global YouTube Creator Program Managers, recently watched The Dominic Show’s “Dating Tips: Break Ups”

Get More Into: New Music

Friday, 23 March 2012

What better way to spend your Friday than by digging into new music to kickstart your weekend?

This week there’s a myriad of the random, trippy and psychadelic manifesting in new music videos from The Horrors, The Shoes, Sam Sparrow and Hot Chip. Our favourite British exports don't disappoint this week with Hot Chip giving us a dizzying glimpse inside the studio in their new video for ''Flutes'...meanwhile their countrymen and cult space-rockers Spiritualized, are back with 'Hey Jane' from their highly anticipated new album. Rounding off our british wave are The Horrors taking us on a psychadelic animated journey in their latest video for 'Changing The Rain'...

Cameos are always popular at Team YouTube and this week is no exception! DZ Deathrays feature comedian Arj Barker in their new video for ''No Sleep', and Lana Del Rey's latest offering 'Blue Jeans' features tattooed model Bradley Soileau. Not to be outdone, home-grown hero Sam Sparrow's latest video 'Happiness' is also bound to get your toes tapping as he unveils some of what's to come from his forthcoming album 'Return To Paradise'. French synth duo The Shoes have teamed up with skate film director and photographer Daniel Wolfe on 'Time To Dance' which zeroes in on Jake Gyllenhall as a hipster-killing psychopath - a must see epic at 8.5 minutes long!

Here’s the full playlist. Enjoy!

Posted by Cat Conroy, YouTube Music.

Improving video awesomeness with one click

Thursday, 22 March 2012

This is a cross-post from the Official YouTube Blog.

Whether you’re perfecting your double backflip at the park, capturing a flash mob on your phone, or enjoying singing in a subway, it’s not easy to get your video quality perfect. Sometimes videos suffer from symptoms like “shaky-camera-itis” or “augmented-darkness-levels” that keep viewers from seeing just how awesome your video really is. We made a big step last year with the YouTube Video Editor, and now we’re adding a feature that does the work of curing these symptoms for you. If you upload a video that’s shaky or dark, we’ll automatically offer to fix it for you, creating an updated version of your video on YouTube. When you upload a video that could use a fixup, you’ll see a notification bar on the Upload page and in your Video Manager. Click the button to fix it, and you’ll see a side by side preview to decide if you want to accept the edits.

Select “Okay” if you’d like us to update your video to the preview version (you can always undo this later). Even if you’re uploading a video from your mobile device, the Video Manager on the desktop will give you a notice if this video can be cured as well. Here’s an overview:

This breakthrough in video awesomeness is possible thanks to our research team who expanded on the “I’m Feeling Lucky” button launched last year, automatically detecting if stabilization or color correction would be helpful for you. The result is a one-click option rolling out over the next few days that cures these two symptoms now, and more planned in the future.

So you keep capturing those awesome moments, and we’ll keep on developing ways to help you make those videos even more awesome.

Posted by John Gregg, software engineer, recently watched “Panda,” and then watched “Panda (stabilized).”

Seeing familiar faces on YouTube through Google+

Thursday, 15 March 2012

This is a cross-post from the Official YouTube blog.

As you surf through YouTube's decorative vegetable carvings, wingsuit flying videos and Hindi lessons, you might start to notice some familiar names and faces. That's because today we're adding a feature that lets you sign up for a new YouTube channel using your existing Google+ profile. You can now use your Google+ profile name and photo on a new YouTube channel, giving you one consistent identity across platforms when uploading videos, sharing, commenting and other public activities.

Today’s update gives the more than 100 million of you on Google+, who are already able to watch YouTube in Hangouts and share videos with your Circles, another way to bring the best of Google+ directly into your YouTube experience.

Here’s what you’ll see if you sign up for a new YouTube channel and you already have a Google+ profile. If you want this to be your channel name and photo, just click OK, “I’m ready to continue.”

If you want to create a YouTube channel that’s different from your Google+ profile (e.g. “KatnissForPresident”), click “Create a username,” and you’ll have the option to create a YouTube channel as usual. It looks like this:

This is currently available on the English version of YouTube and we’re looking to roll it out across languages in coming months. Also, if you already have a YouTube channel and want to connect it to your Google+ profile—stay tuned. We’ll be following feedback on this update and hope to add more features that bring the best of Google+ into YouTube.

Posted by Trevor O’Brien, product manager, recently watched “Bruce Springsteen - Born to Run.”

Welcome to your new YouTube channel

Thursday, 8 March 2012

This is a cross-post from The Official YouTube Blog.

Making it easier to connect with the content you love was the aim of the redesigned homepage and channel layouts we launched in December of last year. You can now start with a video you love, discover and follow a whole channel of great content from that creator or curator, and organise all the channels you love in a homepage that's always updated with the new videos you'll want to watch.

Since these updates, the data shows we’re onto something:

Daily unique visits to channels have increased by 60 percent since December 2011
Daily net subscriptions are up 50 percent since December 2011

Today is the next step in the new YouTube look and feel we launched in December, where all channels will be updated to the new layout. What does this mean for you? Well, for starters, you’ll now see every channel organised into one of four channel templates customised to suit different types of creators:

We’ve also built new ways to help you stay more engaged with the channels you love. For example, the Channel Feed shows you all the videos uploaded to a channel, as well as playlists and Liked videos across YouTube. The channel feed makes it clear what you’ll get if you subscribe. When you do, this feed will also be published on your homepage so you can keep up with all the latest activity from your favorite channels.

On the topic of features — a big thank you for all your feedback that we’ve incorporated over the past six months. You’ve helped us learn what works and what needs improvement as we evolved the design over time. Your feedback continues to drive updates and new features, and for all of you creators, here are a few updates to note:

You wanted the ability to feature content prominently so we added a Featured tab and subsequently improved it with more templates and a search feature to help you program it more easily
You told us having Favorites more accessible was important to you, so we turned it into a customisable part of your channel
You wanted to link your +Page or your Google+ Profile to your channel, so we added this option

If you’re a YouTube creator, check out our post from last week with tips on making your channel look awesome, as well as the YouTube Creator Blog for regular updates on ways to improve your channel and connect with other creators.

The YouTube Team

Get More Into: Australia’s Laneway Festival

Friday, 2 March 2012

Cross-posted from the YouTube Official Blog. From big-time dream-pop to big-haired rock & roll, there are plenty of reasons to love festival season in the Southern hemisphere. Following the pumped up kicks, rockabilly licks, and modern-day lullabies that brought sold out crowds across Australia for Big Day Out, we spent the day hanging at St. Jerome’s Laneway Festival in Sydney. What began as a packed side-alley show in Melbourne has quickly developed into a national touring event and a favourite summer festival.

Between sets in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide, Auckland, and Singapore, here’s what some of Laneway’s biggest names had to say about touring down under, the Laneway vibe, and their favorite inspirational acts on YouTube:

The Horrors get into psychadelic pop and out-of-this world sounds of Connan Mockasin

Multi-instrumentalist, arranger, producer and vocalist Jonti talks big beats and big sounds of Flying Lotus

Hear what outstanding female vocalist have inspired The Drums to come together as a band

Recorded in their same hometown, Twin Shadows’ At My Heels brings laughs & tears to electronic pop duo Chairlift

M83, known the world over for reverb effects and loud instrumentals, has his first encounter with the electronic music of Jean Michel Jarre

The Laneway crew’s just completed their tour but you can enjoy your own little taste of this iconic Australian festival right here on YouTube. Ernesto Soriano III, YouTube Australia, recently watched “Toro y Moi ‘Still Sound’.”

Australia Blog

Do You Have What it Takes to be the ‘Next’ great YouTube Vlogger?

Get More Into: New Music

Improving video awesomeness with one click

Seeing familiar faces on YouTube through Google+

Welcome to your new YouTube channel

Get More Into: Australia’s Laneway Festival

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