As some of you might have noticed I have been uploading videos to DTube over the last three months ever since I began (what I think of as) my Steemit and DTube journey. Along the way this 'journey' (at least the DTube side of it) has been fraught with errors, failures and ultimately lots of wasted electricity from my very limited supply of what I generate each day, wasted data from my very limited cellular data plan and a heck of a lot of wasted time. All of which I was actually okay with (failures/errors and all) because I thought that I was actually archiving my videos on a decentralized platform where they would be accessible for as long as the service/platform existed. I was even okay with the videos only able to generate revenue for seven days because I am way more fond of sharing knowledge as opposed to desiring revenue.
What I did not know was that the videos are only hosted on DTube for a meager forty-five days and then deleted. From my understanding of things the 'well received videos' (whatever the hell that means) do not suffer this same short life span. Before I ever started using the DTube platform I read everything that I could find about it and somehow missed any mention of this forty-five day hosting limit. I probably could have found this out if I drank the Discord Kool-Aid but that is an entirely different topic.
What gets me is that the videos still appear to be hosted on DTube even after the forty-five day period and if I press play it just shows the spinning little icon like the video is trying to load so there is no way to really tell that the video is no longer being hosted. Personally I think there should be some sort of banner (or something) that informs the user that the video is no longer being hosted and thus is not playable.
So now I face a dilemma of whether:
To stop posting to DTube altogether.
To post very low quality videos in 240p to conserve data, electricity and time.
To embed a permalink to the video in the DTube article to the original video file hosted on Google Drive.
To post only to Steemit and embed the Google Drive video in the article. EDIT: Not an option because Steemit does not allow Google Drive videos to be embedded.
To post only to Steemit and include a permalink to the video file on Google Drive in the article.
To keep doing what I have been doing with no changes.
None of the above.
Anyway as you can probably tell I am rather frustrated over the entire endeavor. The following is an example of what I have done each morning over the last ninety-odd days since I started my Steemit and DTube journey.
Day 639. (Again and not so vague) Wake up...peak out from under the blankets...is the sun up...barely...good...get out of bed...turn on LED light...turn on netbook...start making espresso while netbook boots up...take a morning piss...damn it's cold in here...put on a few more layers of clothes...enter login password on netbook...open text editor...start watching a daily video...start typing out an article while brain is still mostly asleep...just type...edit and spell check later...espresso is done...pour eight shots into remnants of coffee and hot chocolate left over from the night before..keep typing article about the video...damn this video is long...keep typing...ok good the video is done...the article is written...sip more espresso...roll a smoke...is brain awake...no...good start editing and spell checking article...finish smoke...article is done...blink...good...open image editor and make cover image for video...save cover image...good...enough sun yet to start uploading video and charging netbook...maybe...do it anyway...plug in cellular signal repeater...wait for it to equalize...good...turn on phone's mobile data...wait for connection to establish...good...start WiFi hotspot...excellent worked first try...start app to block inbound calls and texts...I fucking hate spam phone calls and texts interrupting my data connection...that's why you have the app...Yeah that's right...okay everything loaded...gently turn the phone screen off...plug in backup battery to phone so it stays operational...gently place phone in diy cooling cradle so it does not overheat..turn on fan for cooling cradle...damn that fucker is noisy...just jiggle it so it is quieter...good that worked...still kind of noisy but meh...okay turn on netbook WiFi card...connection established...good...open web browser...go to DTube...login...upload cover image...it worked...good...start uploading video...wait for it...okay it is working...copy and paste article...add tags...add title...all set...wait a billion seconds for upload to finish...roll another smoke...open next video...start writing another article...almost awake enough to edit as I go...meh just write the fucking thing and edit later...okay good...pour more espresso...sip...sip...sip...finish the fucking smoke...video still uploading...okay go ahead and edit...all set not even any misspelling...that's a rarity...okay open image editor again...make a cover image...save new image...upload not done...back to text editor...open a third video...start typing article...awake enough yet to edit and write simultaneously...Yeah...then edit...good article done...still fucking uploading first video....gah I need real internet someday...nice fantasy...never going to happen...do dogs want out...fuck no it is cold outside and they are warm in the bed...damn they are some lucky dogs.
Thanks for reading and P.S. Don't drink the fucking Kool-Aid!!!
"To embed a permalink to the video in the DTube article to the original video file hosted on Google Drive." What I do is a normal DTube post and then in the description say something like if you have problems with playback click here. Then I provide a link to a place where I long term store my video.
Yes but that begs the question of why use DTube in the first place then - is it solely on the off chance of a @dtube upvote? I suppose that is a compelling reason in any case LOL
Yeah @carlgnash and @ethanvanderbuilt I am of the same mind on this because honestly what is the point other than maybe getting a few more viewers from people perusing DTube. Seems like a waste of my extremely limited cellular data and electricity. I am (on the other hand) mulling over whether I should just upload very low quality 240p videos to DTube and providing a link to the original video on Google Drive. What I am thinking of doing is when I make the 'video snap' for DTube adding some text to it that says something like 'This video will self destruct on DTube in 45 days and after that you can only play it on Google Drive' or something similar.
People can discover you and your video content through DTube instead of though some other service. Also, you can receive Steem rewards for your content for 7 days. You don't have to host your videos someplace else to receive your Steem rewards.
Just blaze it! And right on man! Keep it coming!
Yeah I had that same rude realization a few months back. If you actually visit the d.tube website, those videos are gone all the way from your channel there. A visitor wouldn't even know you had uploaded videos at all. I say go for the combo of including direct link in the text of the dtube upload. BTW some of the videos of mine that were deleted by dtube earned $100s and received huge dtube votes, so I don't think it has anything to do with how well received the video is.
Yeah it is very discouraging @carlgnash!
My older videos still show up on my channel
but the older ones don't play.If the video's were no longer listed that would be one thing, however they show up but don't play, that's a big no no.
This doesn't make me happy.
Huh that is strange - all my videos that got deleted just don't appear period on my profile. I have uploaded at least a dozen dtube videos and if you visit my channel there is nothing there (see below):
Sure enough, I don't see any of your videos.
All of my videos are listed but only the most recent two of them work.
Honestly I have no idea how it works then. I was surprised my videos were all the way gone, on this main account and a couple other accounts I run I had $150 dtube votes on videos that just disappeared from my channel
I don't think there is a real problem with what dTube is doing persay I think that expectations are set by the name. sure you did your research and well many steemit dApp docmentation isnt great and a little marketing goes a long way
I think dTube should reposition itself away from being a "YouTube" alternative but instead a snapchat alternative where vidoes are seen as disposable content since well you only earn for 7 days and well finding old videos isn't really a dTuber thing. Its more about latest content being produced. you're only as relevant as the last video you post kinda thing
I personally don't see much value in dTube apart from hoping to get upvotes from the various communities and dTube itself. I'm going to be honest I don't use the platform at all, ive watched a few videos from steemians I follow and its really mostly vlogging, tips on how to use dTuber and response videos between other dTubers or interviewing other dTubers.
I found a few creators who actually did really interesting content or cool commentry about topics but they stopped using the platform and so my interest in it kinda went along with it.
I hear you very well @chekohler and actually agree with much of the sentiments you express.
As I stated in my original post the part that really gets me is that once a video has been deleted by @Dtube (or whoever does the actual deleting) it should either be removed entirely from the site or a banner (or something) should notify the user that the video is no longer being hosted. Otherwise it just looks like the video is trying to load.
The other thing that gets me is the obvious huckster quality of not making it very clear to content creators that DTube is a short-term hosting site and not a "Youtube alternative". While it is very true that many dApps suffer a woeful lack of good/useful documentation I think that something so entwined (as DTube seems to be) with Steemit should have better documentation especially in regards to it's lack of hosting longevity.
All that stuff aside I just wasted three months of my life (and my limited time and resources) on an archival project that I wrongly thought had some longevity to it. So in essence all my effort was for naught because the revenue generating aspect of both DTube and Steemit is by no means my prime motivation behind using the platforms.
For archival purposes the above approach may be the best for the time being. Hopefully you have offline backup(s) as well. ✌
Yeah @novacadian that is the solution I am leaning towards as well. I do have offline backups as well on three different hard drives.
@novacadian I did a test to see if I could embed the video from Google Drive but it gives me this error: (Unsupported https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwBY4ko1KwkSTGFobzBrNkVBQ3c/preview) So I guess that they maybe block embeded videos from Google Drive. I have scoured for a solution but cannot find any posts about how to do it.
Yeah but you can at least provide a link to the Google Drive video - it is the same difference really, as DTube videos don't play in a Steemit.com post anyway so the typical user will have to click through to play a video anyway
Very true.
You can only embed from YouTube on Steemit. On Busy you can embed YouTube and DTube, but nothing else.
Thanks @cahlen that sure explains why I could not get a Google Drive video to embed on a test post.
I just post on YouTube and earn about $2 a day for ever and ever from my 1,000 uploaded videos ... I could never get DTube to work... problems with thumbnails
Posted using Partiko iOS
Yeah @offgridlife Youtube works well enough for folks but I refuse to use it. I had a small gaming channel a few years back that was generating okay revenue considering it was relatively new and had a small following. Then Youtube changed it's policies and basically shafted all it's small contributors a few years ago. Anymore you have to have a thousand subscribers to even run Ads. None of that is actually why I won't use the site though but it sure left a bad taste in my mouth about it. I won't use the site anymore because they censor the fuck out of people.
This post was shared in the Curation Collective Discord community for curators, and upvoted and resteemed by the @c-squared community account after manual review.
Thanks.
I thought they fixed this.
I had this conversation a month or two ago with someone. At that time I tried playing my first d.tube upload from May 29, 5 months old, and it worked, now it doesn't. Only my videos newer than 2 months work.
@dtube this is a MAJOR show stopper. You will lose users and you may lose me. I'm willing to setup my own IPFS node, so I'm willing to spend time and money. In other words I'm also willing to pay for my long term storage if you had that option.
If the old videos aren't available anymore you need to have some kind of informational "error message" saying so, just letting the web client sit and spin is going to discourage everyone, thinking your service doesn't work.
At the beginning of this venture I was looking at setting up my own IPFS node so this wouldn't happen. Looks like I'm gonna have to do that AND most of my videos are unplayable.
Not happy. :-(
Apparently @meanbees the forty-five day limit is still in effect for 'unworthy' videos. It really is disheartening and the inability for people to see that the video is no longer available for playback just seems either negligent/indifferent or just downright shady.
No thank you!
@jacobpeacock
Wow you sure can write !!!!!!
Day 639
awesome.
(:
I am Dtube illiterate .Sorry I can't advise. But sure hope you can still do your video's ... and audio.
Thanks for the compliment @annephilbrick! Writing is probably the worst and least beneficial vice that I possess at this point in my life. I am still mulling over what to do in regards to the videos (and audio versions of the videos) but I will figure something out. :)
That just sucks :( dtube=bootube, but I love your post, might be the best one yet. day639
Thanks @myjob! That Day 639 post is one of my favorites as well.
My hacky solution for now is to compress the video files that I upload to DTube to 240p, include a permalink to the original video file hosted on Google Drive and include an 'expiration date' in the Video Snap image on DTube. Honestly though I have to say that all the extra effort is probably not worth it at all and I am considering just abandoning DTube altogether.
Thank you for using Resteem & Voting Bot @allaz Your post will be min. 10+ resteemed with over 13000+ followers & min. 25+ Upvote Different account (5000+ Steem Power).
WOOT! I solved all my @DTube problems by abandoning any continued usage of the platform. Maybe someday I will return to it when it lives up to it's branding. Cheers and Sa La Ve!