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How to Upload Videos to Archive.Org and Make Them Available in Free, Open Formats
Finding a web service that will host your videos and make them available in as many formats as possible is not always easy. Most web video services have restrictive terms of use, complex navigation or DRM mechanisms that prevent easily downloading their content. This article intends to show how to use Archive.org to make your video available to a wider audience.
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Steps
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1Make sure you have checked the Tips section of this articleAd
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2Go to http://www.archive.org and click on "Join Us" at the top right corner. If you already have an account, just login. -
3Once you have logged in, click on the "Upload" button at the top right corner. -
4Choose the non-Flash option to manage your upload. This won't show a progress indicator but works on all systems and doesn't depend on Flash being installed. -
5Fill all the information requested on the resulting form. If the description has any special or accented characters, you must use HTML entities! For example à would be entered as &p;agrave- You can safely click on Choose license, a new popup window will appear and when you're done you will be back at the form without loosing any information.
- If this is the first time you ever upload a video to Archive.org, make sure the This is a test item (remove after 30 days) check box at the end of the form is checked. This is an important step to properly learn how to use Archive.org.
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6When you're done completing the form, click on Share my file(s) -
7A message indicating your item is ready will appear. To proceed to upload your file, click on the highlighted link. -
8Locate the prefer not using Flash ? link and click on it. This will present updated upload instructions on the right part of the screen. -
9Follow the instructions:- Find the Manage your Directory Tree section
- Click on the Tree Root folder
- Click on the File menu item in the bar above that
- Hit the Add button in the sub menu
- Select a file from your computer
- Repeat the last two steps for additional files
- Press the Upload button next to the Add button - This may take a long time depending on your connection speed and size of your file. During such time the web browser must remain open.
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10You can always check the status of your upload by clicking on the File button (1) which will expose the menu where the upload status is displayed at the bottom. In front of the file name you will see an icon indicating the file is either being uploaded (2) or its transfer has completed (3): -
11Once you have finished a new screen will indicate your updated entry can be seen:
Bookmark this page. It is the final web address for your submission which you can later share or publish elsewhere.
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12When clicking on your item's link for the first time you will need to indicate which collection you'd like to submit it to. In this case, Community Video would be the only choice. Click Submit movie to proceed. -
13Now we need to request a task to The Internet Archive so it creates other versions of the same video, including thumbnails, Ogg Theora, re sized and smaller versions. In order to do this, click on Item Manager:
... then under Edit operations, click on Derive:
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14You can now open the task and see the item history, which will indicate when this task has completed. -
15You can go back to your main item page which should be bookmarked (see above steps). It can take a few hours until all file versions have been derived, converted or generated. During such time you will end up at the form asking for you video to be submitted to a collection again. You must wait (again, perhaps a few hours).AdAd
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Tips
- When possible always use the highest resolution, best quality version of the file you want to upload
- Rename the file to a descriptive name that includes the date. Example: 20101222-BigBuckBunny_Trailer-480p.mov
- Use a wired connection when uploading large (>1 minute) video files. Nothing is more frustrating than to start an upload and come back a few hours later to a dead wireless connection.
- Make sure you have the rights to upload a video - otherwise it may be taken down
- Always verify your submission by visiting the item's page (last step of this guide)
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