It's certainly not "the next big thing" poised to hit the Web. The technology behind streaming video - live and recorded - has been around for several years. What is certain is that it's not a fad, and it's not going away.
At one point in its early history, the adult Web consisted primarily of collections of erotic still images. When that became commonplace, Webmasters began to look for new ways to attract surfers' attention. It wasn't long before someone concocted a plan to offer surfers adult video via the Web. It only made sense, that individual must have reasoned, that the millions of people in the U.S. who rented adult videos also would pay to watch them online, thereby avoiding the inconvenience of physically traveling to a commercial establishment, the potential embarrassment of being seen "in one of those places," and in some repressive areas, the near impossibility of obtaining the materials in the first place. Add the number of adult-site surfers in other countries to those in the U.S., and the profit potential for such an offering became astronomical.
When adult video hit the Web, it took off like a rocket. Initially, it existed in the form of short clips that users had to download to their own hard disk drives before they could watch them. Streaming video - products that appear on the user's monitor screen almost in real time - followed quickly. Though the new products required no download (except of a small browser plug-in), they suffered at first from the narrow bandwidth at which most users connected to the 'Net at the time. Excessive buffering often rendered the first streamed video attempts slow, jerky, stop-and-go; in short, difficult to watch. Still, surfers enjoyed them and clamored for more, especially in places like Oklahoma, many Southern states and foreign countries where it's illegal to sell, rent - or sometimes even possess - hard-core adult material.
As Java and JavaScript became universal standards for scripting Web interfaces, eventually even browser plug-ins became unnecessary in some cases, though their use remains the widespread standard due to security concerns.
Today, with the quality of Web-streamed video approaching that of broadcast television, the majority of adult sites make use of it in some form. Streaming technology improves almost daily, new methodologies arise constantly, and more consumers are signing up for broadband Internet connections all the time. The newest entry-level computers come out of the box broadband-enabled and replete with heavy duty multimedia capabilities.
In addition, a bevy of service providers, hardware manufacturers and software developers - many from mainstream America - have stepped forward in recent months with new products to improve the security, quality and delivery of video via the Web. One of them even promises to deliver full-screen, near-DVD-quality products to any Web-enabled device later this year. Web-enabled devices - like television-set-top boxes that will transmit broadband content from the 'Net to the family TV - are on the horizon, though cost may prevent their widespread adoption by consumers for some time.
Yes, boys and girls, the days of squinting at jerky video images of folks having sex on a 14-inch monitor may be nearing an end. What this means for the adult Web is that if a site doesn't offer some kind of video product now, it had better begin to do so soon or risk being left in the dust of the latest Internet revolution.
So - how does one take advantage of the galloping juggernaut that is Webcast adult video? It's really not that difficult, but there are a few choices you'll have to make.
Decisions, Decisions
First and foremost, of course, a Webmaster must decide how he or she will incorporate streaming video into his or her site. If the site is a for-profit venture, the ability to generate i come from video offerings is necessarily a driving concern.
Generally, "premium" items - those items for which a Website requires payment - are most successful at generating revenue when their topic or theme matches or complements that of the rest of the site. For example, if the site is designed to appeal to multiple amputees with foot fetishes, then the video products available at the site also should appeal to that particular niche market. It would make little sense (and probably generate little revenue), for example, for the site to offer video feeds depicting lesbians playing with toys.
After content decisions are made, Webmasters must determine the business model they think will work best for their sites and their customers. If the site is completely free otherwise, would adding a video-for-pay section help or hurt its traffic and bottom line? If the site contains a members-only area already, should new video content be included in the current membership fee, or is it more appropriate to add an additional charge for video content? Perhaps the membership fee should increase?
Should video content be purchased, leased or original? Should it be "sponsored" and given away free in the hope of generating up-sell i come, or should it be the most convincing reason for potential members to join?
All of the suggestions embodied in the forgoing questions represent viable options for providing video to users.
Basically, the discussion boils down to this: Will you create your own content or use someone else's? Once that decision has been made, the others will fall neatly into place.
Buying, leasing or using free video content provided by someone else has a number of benefits: It's easy to install, it runs on the provider's bandwidth and it's generally low-maintenance. In the case of free content, it's also free.
Freedom
People love to get something for nothing, and free content is a good way for those adding video to their sites for the first time to get started. Its biggest benefit is that it doesn't require an investment of anything but time. Besides attracting traffic to a site, free video content also usually offers revenue opportunities in the form of "up-sells."
Up-sells is an industry term used to refer to revenue generated when users click on any of the banners that a company free video feeds (or other products, for that matter). Generally, free video feeds are surrounded by a number of banners offering surfers the opportunity to "see more" for a certain price. This is a particularly popular format for live audio-video chat, wherein the sexy men or women on screen "tease" until customers pay them to take it all off and perform. Customers like these programs because once they part with their cash, often they get to direct the action of the on-screen model, and that action can be very explicit. Webmasters like the programs because they convert "lookers" to members very well, paying the referring Webmaster (on whose site the free feed is running) from 20 to 50 percent of the revenue generated. An active site with free feeds of this type can generate hundreds or thousands of dollars each month, with very little required of the Webmaster. Pornication (www.pornication.com) and Streamray Inc. (www.streamray.com) specialize in this type of video feed.
Other free video feeds are available from large content providers like VideoSecrets (www.videosecrets.com) and iBroadcast (www.ibroadcast.com), as well as from some of the larger adult video production companies. Vivid Video (www.vividvideo.com) is one notable example. Though live audio-video chat may be available from these free content providers as well, typically they specialize in providing short and full-length adult video features from brand-name studios, ready to go. All a Webmaster has to do to install it is put up a page touting its availability and linking to the interface. Again, these free feeds offer up-sell opportunities through the incorporation of banners on the interface.
Wicked Content (www.wickedcontent.com) even offers free hosting for Websites displaying its live and recorded video feeds.
It should be noted that in most cases, free video feeds are not of the highest quality. Often, the windows in which the videos appear are small, and frame rates (the rate at which the video plays) can be slow. However, customers who opt for the up-sell will see a much better product in most cases - and users who only want the free versions really have no room to complain about any limitations inherent in what they paid for.
Another important point: Because of recent changes in the U.S. political climate, many free video feed providers now require their products be displayed only in protected areas of sites. That means the feeds must be behind a members' log-in screen or protected by an adult verification system in order to prevent access by minors. Webmasters, of course, can determine qualifications for membership and age verification in any way they choose, but all should be aware that the onus is on them to prevent minors' access to so-called "harmful materials."
Buying the Farm
Because free video feeds are a companied by banner advertisements and may be of lower-than-optimal quality, owners of many pay sites opt to purchase video streams from content providers. While this option can be expensive, it carries the benefits of using the provider's bandwidth (which also can be expensive, especially where video is concerned) and ease of installation. For those with little or no original content, limited server or bandwidth space or technical constraints, buying or leasing video streams from content providers offers the benefits of flexibility, reliability and customer retention, without the headaches that can be associated with building and maintaining or leasing a video server and creating original content.
A number of large content providers dominate the industry: Python Communications (www.pythonvideo.com), VideoSecrets, and Babenet (www.babenet.com) are only a few. Most content providers offer a variety of video stream types at several price points. Finding the ones that best suit a site's theme and its customers' desires may require some research, but live and recorded streams are available to satisfy almost every straight, gay, lesbian and fetish desire.
At this writing, voyeurism remains one of the most lucrative video niches in the adult market. Florida-based CandidCam (www.candidcam.com), which began its network of live voyeur sites with the now-infamous VoyeurDorm (www.voyeurdorm.com) offers a range of slice-of-life peeping cameras trained on young women, men and watersports - among other things - in a variety of packages.
Leased or purchased video content, like free video content, is quickly and easily integrated into existing Websites. The Webmaster simply creates a page including his affiliate link to the content provider. When members click on the link, in most cases they receive the video without ever knowing it's not actually hosted on the site they're visiting. Additional benefits to members include the lack of sometimes annoying banner advertisements and generally higher-quality video streams presented in larger viewing windows.
One important caveat when buying or leasing video content or using free video content: Ensure the provider has the legal right to offer the content to others. Webmasters with doubts about the legitimacy of a provider's offerings should ask to see copies of contracts or request a written statement that the content offered is licensed and free from encumbrances. "Hold harmless" agreements are a good idea, as well, in case copyright issues develop down the road.
In addition, all content should conform strictly to the guidelines in 18 USC �2257, the so-called Child Protection and Recordkeeping Act.
Homegrown
For diehard do-it-yourselfers and dedicated amateurs, there's always the option of creating and streaming original content. This can be an expensive, time consuming and high-maintenance undertaking, but many who do it say the rewards are worth the investment.
Offering video on a Website can be as simple as encoding a few "home movies" in the proper digital format, placing them on a server and providing a link that allows users to download and play them through any of a number of Web browser plug-ins. Actually streaming video - live or pre-recorded - through a Website, though, is a much more complicated process.
First, it's important to ensure the equipment that will be used to create the product is up to current technology standards. Basic gear should include a video camera, Webcam or existing video content; a PC or Mac with a video-capture card, and video-editing and -encoding software (see "Do It," pp. 62,64). Transmitting video streams via the Internet also requires a Web server equipped for video streaming and the bandwidth to "push" the streams to users who request them.
If the streamed content will be created from existing video materials, those materials must be translated into digital form. In the simplest case, this involves popping a videotape into a video cassette player, connecting the player to a video capture card installed in a computer and playing the video into the computer, where it is encoded by installed software. The encoded video, saved to a storage medium - like a hard drive or writable CD-R or DVD-R - then is uploaded to a Web server. When a user with the proper browser plug-in installed on his or her computer clicks on a link to the stored video, the plug-in interface launches automatically and plays the video.
Plug-ins for the three major video players - Windows Media, Apple QuickTime and RealPlayer - also may be imbedded in Web pages. Though the user still must have the plug-in installed on his or her computer, embedding a player in a Web page allows the user to view the video content "in" the page, rather than in a separate window launched by the plug-in software.
The user's experience of Webcast video content is affected by a number of factors, including the bandwidth available on the sending end, the bandwidth at which the user connects to the 'Net, and general Internet congestion. Most video compression software allows streams to be encoded at multiple frame rates and transmission speeds in order to provide the best experience for the end user. Generally, the faster the user's connection to the 'Net, the better his or her experience with the finished product will be, but good encoding software can deliver a reasonably pleasant experience even for those with dial-up connections. In the case of streamed video - perhaps more than any other aspect of the adult Web - it is extremely important that a Web designer understand and "know" the users of his or her Website. Because connection speeds have a profound effect on the end-user's experience, video should be encoded to provide the best experience for the majority of a site's users. Server logs can provide a good deal of information about a site's visitors.
Serving live video requires all the hardware and software mentioned above, but involves additional considerations. It is even more important that live streams be encoded with users' needs in mind.
When streaming live video, Webcams - or in some cases, standard video cameras - are connected directly to a computer's video-capture card. As the image is generated by the camera, it is fed directly into the computer, encoded "on the fly" by software designed for that task, and fed out almost immediately to anyone connected to the feed. So-called "live" video is not really live, but delayed by the amount of time it takes the encoding to occur - in ideal cases, no more than a few seconds.
The expense incurred in producing this type of video feed can be overwhelming, as the machine capturing and encoding the live feed must have a direct connection to the Internet - preferably a broadband one. In addition, the machine must be overloaded with resources like RAM and hard-disk space. It should include a high-quality video-capture card or cards - and a sound card or cards, if an audio feed will a company the video - and good compression software. While many small amateur sites employ the technique successfully with one or two video streams, large sites with many cameras and simultaneous streams employ entire server farms; multiple, redundant Internet connections and often content delivery networks.
In most cases, streaming live video requires one computer per camera, though as technology improves, this may change.
Providing video content is an excellent way to gain and retain Website customers. Still in its infancy, the medium is changing rapidly - and one day soon may supplant much of the market now served by video sales and rentals and movie theaters, especially in the adult industry.
Viva la revolucion!
