New YouTube Service Uploads Video Directly From Webcams
YouTube has launched a new service called Quick Capture that lets people upload videos to YouTube.com directly from a webcam. Ars Technica explains how the new service works.
The Quick Capture tool uses an Adobe Flash Player API to connect to the user's webcam. The user must first grant the Flash Player permission to use the camera and microphone-and must do so every time-before using the service. Once the user grants permission, he or she must then select the type of connection being used for the video and microphone: DV, FireWire, or USB.
After entering in the title, description, tags, and categories in the text boxes to the left, the user is all set to click the "Record" button. Videos are saved directly to the site, no encoding necessary. In fact, a user who wants to post videos to YouTube using the Quick Capture method doesn't need to have any software at all, aside from a working web browser. One thing that Quick Capture currently lacks is the ability to edit your videos once they're recorded, though, so editing-savvy users may still prefer to record videos on their own.
Ars Technica says that this could simplify the recording and encoding process and make it easier for some people to become videobloggers. Many of these webcam videos aren't likely to be very widely viewed but maybe a few will create interesting enough videos to grow a subscriber base on YouTube.
