How to Make a 3D YouTube Video the Easy Way

3D is no longer exclusive to movie studios. If you can scrape together two camcorders, some sticky tape and access to a hooked-up computer, you’re just a few steps away from making your own three-dimensional cinematic works of art, says Amy-Mae Elliot of Mashable.

This is largely thanks to YouTube‘s free online 3D Editor suite. Mashable spoke to Samuel Kvaalen, YouTube software engineer who helped develop the product. Kvaalen told why the video-sharing company created the tool in the first place: “The idea was trying to make creating 3D videos accessible to as many users as possible in a simple, easy manner.”

So is it really easy to make your own 3D YouTube video? After a quick walk-through of the software with Kvaalen, Mashable tested it out. Here’s the super-simple, step-by-step look at how to shoot and edit a three-dimensional video.

1. Shooting

As far as hardware goes, you’ll need two cameras, ideally the same model, although you can use any two that can record at the same resolution. You’ll also need some way of holding them together and some 3D glasses so you can edit and view the final result.

They used two Cisco Flip MinoHD pocket video cameras. They separated them slightly with Blu-Tack in order to reach the power button on the side of the camera. Be sure to use a ruler or other straight surface to ensure the camera’s lenses are at exactly the same height.

Once you’ve got your cameras lined up, you need to attach them together. They simply wound masking tape around the bottom of the cameras to hold them in place. Think of it as recording separate footage for your left and right eyes. This is the basic principle behind how 3D technology actually works.

With that set-up complete, you’re ready to go. What to shoot is, of course, up to you, although Kvaalen has some pointers to share. “You don’t want to film objects that are too close — you want to try and keep it at a decent distance — a few feet away is ideal,” says Kvaalen. In addition he suggests keeping the camera as stable as possible. This will yield the best results. Finally, try and press record at exactly the same time on each camera.

2. Editing

Once you’ve shot your footage, signed into your YouTube account and uploaded your two videos, head over to YouTube’s 3D Editor. It looks similar to the ordinary YouTube Editor, but you’ll see tabs on the bottom right that relate specifically to 3D editing. You can now drag and drop the two clips that you want to use to the “left” and “right” boxes.

The first thing to do is get the time sync right. Whereas this used to be done manually with editing software, the 3D Editor does it for you. Kvaalen explains: “You want to start filming with both cameras at the same time but that’s pretty much impossible, you’ll always have at least a few milliseconds off, so this uses the audio to sync them automatically.”
By “listening” to the audio from the videos — even just ambient sound — the Editor will be able to accurately time sync the two videos.

Next up is vertical alignment. Kvaalen offers some more advice: “Users should bolt the cameras together so they don’t move relative to each other, or “vertically shift,” but there is usually a small vertical difference in height. This tool lets a user manually suggest a vertical shift percentage.” As far as attempting a guess estimate the shift, they just kept tweaking until it looked right. Start at plus or minus 10% and keep going until you get the best result.

Finally, once you are happy with your video in the preview window, you can add a title in the top right hand box and publish it. After the video processes (usually a couple of minutes) you’ll have a shareable 3D video to impress your friends!

3. The Results

To view one of their test videos in 3D, you’ll have to grab your 3D glasses, but even if you can’t find a pair, they can report we were happy with the results.

With relatively little hardware and a pain-free editing process, YouTube’s aim of making 3D video creation simple, easy and “accessible to as many users as possible” has been achieved with the 3D Editor. There will be a lot of YouTube users having lots of fun with this 3D tool.

Have you used YouTube’s 3D Editor? How did you find it? Let us know and link us to your creations in the comments below.

Reinventing the Newspaper: Part 620

To date, the print newspaper’s relationship with the Internet has been a little bit like Dr. Jekyl’s learning to live with Mr. Hyde: On the one hand, enormously powerful; but on the other, quite difficult to control, and pretty easy to have turn against you, says blogger Nate Hubbell. And in recent years, the traditional newspaper has more often than not found itself on the receiving end of Mr. Hyde’s more destructive side.

The popular way of fighting back for larger newspapers and print magazines, if they have the brand
recognition and readership base required to support it, has been to launch a so-called “paywall” – basically a digital subscription – for their online content. Wall Street Journal, The Times of London, Wired, The New York Times -they’ve all got a paywall of some design erected around their Web content now.

In the main, all of these paywalls have been examples of the newspaper and magazine companies trying to apply their print business model to the digital age. Very few, with the possible exception of The Daily, have tried
to really break the mold and do something completely different.

The New York Times has launched a new section of their website, called beta620 (the 620 refers to their headquarters’ building number in Manhattan, NY), which appears to approach the idea of the newspaper in 21st
century from a truly fresh perspective.

As GigaOm noted, the site itself has the feel of a startup, “with the lower-case beta620 label, and a series of quirky images that identify the different projects underway at the NYT.” And, indeed, it does have somewhat
of the same goal in mind. The projects underway are explained quickly, and the lead developer of the project is given direct credit for the idea right on the page. Additionally, at least for the time being, all the apps on the site are free to try out – much like the give-it-away-free-at-first-to-get-them-hooked strategy of many Internet and social startups.

The new site is a great attempt by the newspaper company to actually innovate and move the industry’s model forward. In my humble opinion, we find some of the ideas very cool, especially the Longitude app, which shows
news stories’ geographical origin and spread overlaid on Google Maps; and Buzz, which puts a “filter” over the normal NYT.com site appearance to show the extent to which each story is being shared and generating “buzz” across various social networking platforms.

Of course, we have no way of knowing if this new startup-like path is the future for newspapers. But, for our money, it seems like a good idea, and at least they are trying something new. We’re certainly interested. And that’s really the point.

Paying for Followers is as Icky as Paying for Sex

Peter Shankman

There are certain things you don’t do in this world: Abuse an animal. Make any attempt to get any TSA official to smile. And also, you never pay a consultant or company to acquire new Twitter followers for you. They’re not real, and they won’t help you in the long run says Social Media Entrepreneur Peter Shankman.

By itself, the number of Twitter followers you have is the new penis envy. If that sounds familiar, it should – I’ve said it before. But with new “consultants” popping up all over the place guaranteeing you “2,000 new followers in 30 days” in exchange for your credit card number, I believe it’s time to revisit the subject.

1) Quality will always trump quantity. I’ll take 500 interested, engaged, active, and contributing-to-the-conversation Twitter followers over 50,000 from whom I never hear back any day. In fact, (and I mentioned this before, too,) when I have some occasional free time, I’ll DM some followers I’ve never heard from before, asking them if I can change anything to make their experience of following me more beneficial. If I don’t hear back, or if they continue not to respond to anything I tweet, I no longer count them as a “real” follower in my mind. In some cases, I’ve suggested that some followers unfollow me, and based on what they’re tweeting about, follow other, more relevant Twitter users, instead. It’s never about the amount. It’s about the engagement of those you
have.

1a) – Remember –By default, high engagement from the followers you do have almost guarantees new followers daily, since they’ll be people who have seen your current followers engaging you – thus, they become interested in what you have to say. This is the best kind of follower, an organic follower. Getting organic
followers should always be your goal, because they’re born from you tweeting interesting and exciting content. I can guarantee you that paying for followers will not generate one single organic follower. Expecting it to is like
expecting a prostitute to want to come home the next morning to meet your family. There’s no reason for them to, since it was always a business transaction, and nothing more.

2) Here’s the number one, time tested, best way to get new, organic followers: Respect the followers you currently have! My favorite line of all time, and I say it often: Having an audience who actually wants to listen to what you have to say is a privilege, not a right, just like wearing Spandex. You have the privilege of having an audience who wants to engage with you, and you must respect that. That means listening to what they have to say more than you ask them to listen to you. It means holding contests and giving away free (quality) product or discounts to the audience you currently have, and not insulting and ignoring them by holding weekly “our next follower/fan gets a free thingamabob!” contests. You’ve worked hard to have the right to talk to the audience you have. Why would you, as soon as you get them, ignore them, looking for the next one? It’s like those people we’ve all met at networking events: As you’re introducing yourself to them, you can’t catch their eyes, because they’re
already scanning the room for the next possible introduction who they think might be better than you. Insulting as hell, isn’t it? Well, by constantly focusing on trying to get that next new follower/fan and not giving props to the ones you have, you’ve become that guy to your audience. Don’t become that guy.

3) So the logical question then becomes “well, if you’re telling us to only focus on the followers/fans we have, how do we attract new ones?” And it’s a valid question, with an even more valid answer. Your job is no longer to do your own PR. For years, it was. For years, you were the one charged with shouting from the rooftops how totally awesome your company was, and getting people to listen and believe you. Those days are over. That’s no longer your job. If you’re still doing that, you’re wasting your time.

Your new job is simply thus: Create such amazing experiences for your current customers and audience, with stellar customer service, amazing response to them, and spectacular content tailor-made for the audience you already have, and your current audience will take over your job AND DO YOUR PR FOR YOU!

Think about it – Your audience, if treated beyond well (think awesomely,) will go out and share how happy they are with their audience, and well, simply put, chances are, that’ll convert some of their audience over to you, and you’ve got an organic follower, who’s so much more likely to turn into a paying customer for you.

It’s no longer about you having to shout about your awesomeness. It’s about allowing an audience who for the first time has the tools to do it themselves, to go out and do it. And you’re not asking them to – you’re not begging – you’re not asking them to “vote for your page,” or any of that crap we see so often. You’re simply offering such an amazing service, product, and in the end, full experience, that they do it on their own, because they want to share their story.

Think about the last time your flight was late. Remember when you finally landed? You and everyone else on the plane pulled out your mobile phones and bitched. Didn’t matter who you called, you just needed to bitch about the craptastic service you got, and how you were never flying that airline again. But then, think about the last time you had an awesome experience. You did the same thing, without even realizing it. You shared it. You talked about it. And you did it without being prompted. You wanted to talk about it. You wanted your friends,
those people who put their trust in you, to have that same amazing experience. You wanted to build organic followers for the company or brand that made you feel like a superstar.

That’s what we need to be striving to do. Not trying to get to a “number” or fans of followers. Not pulling out the tape measure. We need to focus on being amazing, in all aspects of our business. When we figure that out, it won’t be a numbers game anymore. It’ll be about your business growing. And in the end, a business that grows,
and generates revenue, and is profitable… Well, I’ll take that over a thousand new followers every single time, and so should you.