YouTube versus Screencast

There are several media sharing websites that can be used to host your video recordings. Most offer a free version and the ability to embed your media onto a webpage such as a blog, or in the VLE (E.g. Blackboard). Media sharing websites offer varying features, so I have done a brief comparison of two video sharing websites that we use in the E-Learning Unit – YouTube and Screencast – for you to decide which better suits your needs.

YouTube

Advantages:
By now most people have at least heard of YouTube. Being a very popular video website makes YouTube a highly visible platform to showcase your video content. Viewers can search for videos directly on YouTube’s website and since Google’s acquisition, YouTube uploaded videos are also likely to pop up in a Google search. YouTube will also stream almost any video content, for free! There is no limit to the number of videos that you can upload; nor to the number of views that your videos receive.

Disadvantages:
There is currently a 15 minute limit on the length of each video that can be uploaded into YouTube. While this isn’t a major issue, as recordings can be split into chunks, it can be annoying especially for pre-generated videos. It is possible to create a playlist of several videos which can be watched continuously (giving the impression of one long video) – this playlist can be made available to your users. Your viewers won’t be able to download your video; however YouTube does convert your videos into a smaller flash version, making it easier for your viewers to stream your video content over their network. This conversion reduces the quality of your videos and can be frustrating especially for screen capture tutorials, as video becomes blurry and may be indecipherable. It should be noted that being a YouTube partner (which is also free, but has requirements) lifts some of these limitations (E.g. being a part of YouTube Edu).

Screencast

Advantages:
Screencast does not have a video length restriction, which means that you can upload those 1 hour lecture videos to your heart’s content (well, depending on the amount of storage space you have left). Screencast does not mess with the quality of your videos, which makes screen capture tutorials easily viewable. Also your viewers will be able to download your videos. You can batch upload videos (and other media such as images and audio) as well as organise them into folders. There is also an option to publish directly to iTunes as well as generate RSS feeds for your users to subscribe to.

Disadvantages:
Screencast is not near as popular as YouTube and does not offer the ability for viewers to search for videos. With the free version there is a storage space limit of 2GB and a monthly bandwidth limit of 2GB (which means that you are limited in the number of views that your videos can receive per month). It costs £7.50/month or £73.50/year for their Pro version which allows 25GB storage and 200GB monthly bandwidth. In order to customise your page you will also have to have their Pro version.

I have put together a comparison chart to highlight the different features of YouTube and Screencast. Overall, if you want your videos to be publicly searchable and to reach a wider audience, then YouTube would be the better option. However, if video quality or organisation is more important, then go for Screencast. Please note that both YouTube and Screencast offer privacy level settings if you are concerned about your video’s publicity.

Comments are closed.