So I've been taping the parent workshops at my son's preschool. I'm lazy, instead of editing the videos, I plugged my camera into my standalone DVD-Recorder's Firewire port and just dumped the whole tape to a DVD. The recorder has a convenient feature to auto-create chapters every 10 minutes.

I then rip with DVD with the Linux dvdrip tool, and from there I use ffmpeg to convert the VOB files into SmugMug-compliant H.264/AAC MP4 files. (At least I hope they're not reencoding them just because my container isn't a MOV.)

Anyways, this would all work beautifully if my stupid DVD-Recorder didn't (apparently) actually auto-create chapters that are 10 minutes and 1 second long.

Yep, you got it -- my videos get rejected by SmugMug for length. Man oh man, it would be nice if there were like 5 seconds of grace on that 600 second limit. :-P

:-P 5 seconds grace? Then you would want 10.

Originally Posted by docwalker :-P 5 seconds grace? Then you would want 10.

I'd love to hear the logic behind the time limit. I just don't get it (and I did bring it up once via direct support, but I'll jump on this again to try and perhaps get momentum for a future change :) ).

Smugmug, as a provider, needs to worry about disk space.
Different people can find different things easier. For me, it's much easier to find the file size vs. the video lenght. I've heard it's the opposite for others. But what really matters here - for Smugmug - is disk space, not time (and of course, user experience).

I have several movies that are over 10 minutes long, yet far less than 500MB. Why can't the rule be something like, "Videos can be unlimited in length as long as they are less than 500MB"? Followed by guidance in your excellent FAQ: "Depending on your quality settings, a movie recorded in HD can generally be x long, etc".

The argument that I was given prior is that most people know how long their movie is but not necessarily how big the file is. It seems this current limit then is built for the extreme neophite, who doesn't know how to check the size of a file on their computer, where I don't think that represents the majority of your clientelle. And absolutely not your Pro users, which I am one of. I know Smugmug is easy to use, but for someone to even get to the thought of hosting photos online, I'd guess they have some familiarity with computers, including how to look up file sizes.

Long story short: at least for pro users, you should alter the limit to be bounded by file size, not something essentially meaningless like length.

Thanks,
Per

Long story short: at least for pro users, you should alter the limit to be bounded by file size, not something essentially meaningless like length.

The licencing fees for the H.264 patent pool are very different for short and long form content (see http://www.mpegla.com/avc/AVC_TermsSummary.pdf). Hosting long form video gets expensive quickly.

Folks keep in mind that conversion of video is not simply changing the file extension. You have to take into consideration a ton of factors like the length, file size, compression, and format for the basics. You also have to worry about things like the codec used, the audio conversion, the aspect ratio, and the video dimensions. They all add up to making some video files huge.

We have to also take into consideration the processing time and power required to convert these videos. Sure a video may ONLY be 10 minutes long. But the processing costs money. For every minute of video it takes X amount of time to convert it. X is determined by the factors listed above. We also have queue so if others are uploading video we have to spread the load.

We are working to make the video processing faster. That will allow the costs to drop. As the costs drop, things will change. We also create multiple display copies of your video so that the appropriate high quality video size is called for your visitor. That also takes time.

Personally, I have a hard time understanding why people think conversion and display will happen instantly. When I process video for personal use I start with a .mov straight from the camera. I import it directly into Final Cut Studio 2. It can take me a couple hours to weeks to edit. Every move I make has to be analyzed by the system, rendered, and finally displayed. It is a fast system but it does take time. Once the video is done I have to export it out. When I do, it can take hours depending on the length of the video and the other factors listed above. This is a normal part of the video editing process. I have come to accept that it happens.

Please understand that we know you want longer videos and it will happen eventually. We want it as well. But no matter how long the video, we demand high quality results. We want your video to look the best it can here on SmugMug. Changes are being made behind the scenes to improve things.

Take a look at our October 30th release notes and you will see this:

• We sped up video processing significantly.
• Added “Replace Video Preview Image” tool so you can now tell us what your videos should look like before your fans click Play. Upload a jpeg that matches the resolution of your video (e.g. 1280×720).

We hear you and we will continue work hard to make things even better.

Originally Posted by docwalker Folks keep in mind that conversion of video is not simply changing the file extension. You have to take into consideration a ton of factors like the length, file size, compression, and format for the basics. You also have to worry about things like the codec used, the audio conversion, the aspect ratio, and the video dimensions. They all add up to making some video files huge. We have to also take into consideration the processing time and power required to convert these videos. Sure a video may ONLY be 10 minutes long. But the processing costs money. For every minute of video it takes X amount of time to convert it. X is determined by the factors listed above. We also have queue so if others are uploading video we have to spread the load. We are working to make the video processing faster. That will allow the costs to drop. As the costs drop, things will change. We also create multiple display copies of your video so that the appropriate high quality video size is called for your visitor. That also takes time. Personally, I have a hard time understanding why people think conversion and display will happen instantly. When I process video for personal use I start with a .mov straight from the camera. I import it directly into Final Cut Studio 2. It can take me a couple hours to weeks to edit. Every move I make has to be analyzed by the system, rendered, and finally displayed. It is a fast system but it does take time. Once the video is done I have to export it out. When I do, it can take hours depending on the length of the video and the other factors listed above. This is a normal part of the video editing process. I have come to accept that it happens. Please understand that we know you want longer videos and it will happen eventually. We want it as well. But no matter how long the video, we demand high quality results. We want your video to look the best it can here on SmugMug. Changes are being made behind the scenes to improve things. Take a look at our October 30th release notes and you will see this: We sped up video processing significantly. Added “Replace Video Preview Image” tool so you can now tell us what your videos should look like before your fans click Play. Upload a jpeg that matches the resolution of your video (e.g. 1280×720). We hear you and we will continue work hard to make things even better.

Thanks for the details!

Originally Posted by LiquidAir The licencing fees for the H.264 patent pool are very different for short and long form content (see http://www.mpegla.com/avc/AVC_TermsSummary.pdf). Hosting long form video gets expensive quickly.

Great info. Thanks!

Originally Posted by LiquidAir The licencing fees for the H.264 patent pool are very different for short and long form content (see http://www.mpegla.com/avc/AVC_TermsSummary.pdf). Hosting long form video gets expensive quickly.

From that link:

For (b) (1) where an end user pays directly for video services on a title-by-title basis (e.g., where viewer determines titles to be viewed or number of viewable titles are otherwise limited), royalties for video greater than 12 minutes (there is no royalty for a title 12 minutes or less) are (beginning January 1, 2006) the lower of 2% of the price paid to the Licensee (on first arms length sale of the video) or $0.02 per title (categories of licensees include legal entities that are (i) replicators of physical media, and (ii) service/content providers (e.g., cable, satellite, video DSL, internet and mobile) of VOD, PPV and electronic downloads to end users).

So clearly, the limit should be 12 minutes! :-}

Nice try. That is taken out of context. That applies to viewing of videos in a payment per video setting.

Originally Posted by darryl I then rip with DVD with the Linux dvdrip tool, and from there I use ffmpeg to convert the VOB files into SmugMug-compliant H.264/AAC MP4 files.

I hate to bump this super-old thread, but do you mind sharing your ffmpeg switches? I can't seem to find a combination that retains the quality of the original.