Social Strategist - Online Strategy & Innovation: YouTube & Adobe Partnership: It Happened!

YouTube & Adobe Partnership: It Happened! · 06/18/2007

In March I wrote a proposal for a partnership between YouTube and Adobe, suggesting that by providing video editing tools to YouTube users, YouTube could help generate more of a community around content creation. I was catching up on my tech news from the weekend today when I saw this TechCrunch story: YouTube Remixer: Edit Videos Online at YouTube. Powered by… you guessed it, Adobe Premiere Express. Even though the implementation isn’t exactly what I had imagined, I still feel like flashing lights and throwing confetti in a Colbert-style “I was right!” moment.

Adding captions and transitions obviously isn’t going to cut it for even amateurs who are serious about creating video content, but these are good baby steps for those who aren’t at that level yet. I still think a ~~student~~ YouTube edition of the actual Adobe Premiere software would be a good move for the company; providing the next small step up toward the real thing. If Adobe is worried about losing revenue to people who will just download a free limited edition instead of paying for the full version… let’s face it, people who don’t want to pay are just going to pirate your software anyway.

If you give them a free version that has most of what an amateur user needs, you’re building customer loyalty, and making it much more likely that they’ll reach a professional level at which they’re willing to pay for a full version. For more analysis, ideas, and (hopefully correct) predictions, make sure you’re subscribed to my feed.

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Hello, Jay,
Good meeting you last night. You asked about a reading list. You can find my suggestions at For Emetrics Summit Attendees: Where to study this stuff.
I enjoyed your post, by the way. It’s refreshing to know you were correct, isn’t it? – Joseph

— Joseph Carrabis · 06/20/2007 11:48 AM · #
Hi!
If the Adobe tool is still a bit primitive, perhaps YouTube should look at FORscene from Forbidden Technologies plc. Launched in 2004 at Europe’s biggest broadcast show, it is a frame accurate video editor implemented as a Java applet which is used by production companies around the world to make broadcast TV programmes. The consumer version (Clesh) is more suitable for home movies – it allows upload from “any” format, frame accurate editing with things consumers need to fix their shooting (eg video levels, audio levels, dissolves) and web/podcast publishing. You can see some example videos via the link.

— Stephen B. Streater · 08/25/2007 07:00 PM · #