The active evolution of the online video world is accelerating. New announcements are unrelenting (which is why I frequently add VidWeb Bits to this column); and recently there has been a flurry of activity in what you might call the "service sector" of the video streaming business.

Compression specialist encoding.com has extended its services with a new tape-free, digital video web site called MediaUpgrade.com, and they have also announced a new strategic relationship with video hosting specialist InterVu. Meanwhile, the full service facility and online video channel developer, TV on the Web has taken an equity investment from Ampex Corporation while also expanding its channel offerings. It's new video Web channels include the Business Uncut news channel through a new relationship with PRNewswire, and the Internet Channel through an expanded relationship with the Internet service provider PSINet. (TV onthe Web is also host to the Videography-sponsored Producer's Channel.)

Because these developments can effect how video professionals put their productions on the Internet, in this month's Video Web column, I will attempt to put them in perspective. And for further clarification, I got electronic input (via e-mail, of course) from encoding.coms minister of order and reason, Martin Tobias, and from TV onthe Web's Chairman and CEO, Dave Gardy.

OVERVIEW
As I discussed in the May, 1998, Video Web column "Putting Your Video Online," there are two general approaches to streaming your video productions. You can do it yourself, or you can use a third-party service bureau (or bureaus). "Service bureau" is, of course, a term that has been lifted from the desktop publishing business where designers frequently use third-party companies for the more hardware intensive parts of their production process like scanning images and high-end output.

For independent and in-house corporate producers, similar strategies are emerging on the video Web. And, just like with the video production businesses themselves, there are a variety of approaches. In fact, the process of preparing and presenting video on the Web has similarities to the video production and post process in that the decisive factors are frequently the volume of material, the size of your audience and your need for control, not the technologies.

Another significant non-technological ingredient is the informational foundation that underlies much of today's business world. From my experience on the web, I've found that "skills" these days are defined as much by knowledge as they are by talent. For example in doing web sites for clients, of course, there are basic production skills (the understanding of HTML code or how to optimize graphics for quick downloading are just two examples). But, there is also the knowledge that my company has acquired in web promotion, not just doing listings with search engines, but learning how to optimize those results and other strategies to help build web traffic.

Likewise, when it comes to putting video on the web, why not let someone else deal with the learning curve and why not let them make the investments in the ever-changing hardware and software?

MAKING THINGS EASIER
While some video professionals enjoy staying up with the latest variables (software tools, new codecs, etc.), others will be served through relationships with service providers. In fact, some producers, like my own company, use relationships with companies like the ones we are discussing here to offer "turn-key services" to their clients without needing to actually perform these servies "personally." Of course, this is the kind of sub-contracting that has led to the popular strategy frequently referred to as the "virtual company."

Encoding.com's founder, Martin Tobias, explains this kind of leverage in the context of his video encoding services: "By partnering with experts who provide best-of-breed services in a particular area, companies can get much better value and service while not having to be an expert on everything in the world. Be the best at what you do and partner with people who are the leaders in their fields. It just makes sense, especially in the new technology area where processes and procedures are not standardized and where the technology is still changing quite rapidly. Streaming media is still very new and very few companies have really implemented it in a big way -- less than 2% of Web data is rich media today. Microsoft and RealNetworks ship new versions of their software about every six months. Especially in these early stages it, is quite beneficial to partner with someone who has been there before and understands the technology."

ONLINE DIGITAL TRANSCODING
Encoding.com's latest service is strictly online, totally digital and amazingly inexpensive. The new service which operates its own web site is MediaUpgrade.com and it specializes in taking digital video files and transcoding them into one or more streaming video file formats.

According to Tobias, the search engine HotBot documents that today's Internet includes more than 2.5 million non-streaming video files (video clips such as AVI or QuickTime files). He says, "MediaUpgrade.com offers a great opportunity for companies to easily spruce up their Internet presence with a streaming experience."

And the prices for this tapeless, e-commerce service seem almost too good to be true. In fact, they are free during their Beta testing period that is expected to end May 1^st. Thereafter, with a $10. minimum order, pricing will begin at $2.50 per output minute that includes one file type and two baud rates. Output file types include RealPlayer, Windows Media Player, QuickTime and others. Each additional file type is priced at $1 per minute. Each additional baud rate is priced at $.50 a minute. They say the prices are so affordable because of the automated efficiencies of handling digital files and uploading them directly into encoding.com's "optimized encoding process."

MORE ACCESSIBLE HOSTING
One disadvantage of using a specialized service like encoding.com is that streaming media hosting must be handled separately. The good news is that hosting services are becoming more affordable as well as more common. For example, for sites that don't expect huge audiences, some ISP's now include RealPlayer hosting within their bundle of hosting services. For example, I offer my clients a hosting package from the ISP HostPro that includes 10 streams of RealMedia within a monthly hosting package that costs less than $50/month. This service is more than adequate, for example, for a video producer who wants to put his or her demo reel online or for a small to medium-sized corporate client that wants to offer its marketing video online.

For streaming content that needs to support heavier viewing volumes, encoding.com now offers InterVu as its "preferred partner for large-scale streaming media hosting." They claim to have "tied our encoding process very tightly to InterVu's networks so that the publishing process is seamless." Other high volume hosting services include Broadcast.com and RealNeworks itself. TV onthe Web also offers high-end hosting amidst a broad, full-service approach that includes video production, capture and compression services, and much more.

REDEFINING FULL SERVICE
In fact, TV onthe Web has built its business with a one-stop shopping philosophy from day one. Originally known as Gardy-McGrath, founder Dave Gardy explains: "We reasoned that corporate and government customers only wanted to deal with one purchase order and write only one check, rather than hire 10 different free-lancers from cameramen to producers to graphic artists." As a result, Gardy's company grew into a 20,000 sq. ft facility, a veritable video "factory" that, in 1996 began offering streaming video services, and in 1997 became one of live webcasting's pioneers.

In fact, its full service menu even includes "proprietary ?webcaster' modules which consist of a portable miniaturized TV station master control and a specially configured ?lunchbox' computer that can hook up to any ISDN line on site and send the signal back to our servers." And through another strategic relationship, those servers are co-hosted at the major Internet service provider, PSINet.

Then, as a result of a pilot program with a shipping association Gardy-McGrath recognized that some of its largest clients also wanted online video channels and it began to roll out the TV onthe Web "family" of narrowcast video Web "channels" (including the Videography underwritten Producer's channel.) Gardy says that "We are now up to 11 underwritten channels; and with our recent investment from Ampex, we are projecting over 60 channels by year's end." And that's just the beginning of Gardy's vision. He also told me, "We plan on rapid expansion to over 500 channels. . . We are continuing to attract private placement funding and are considering an IPO."

Another impact of the Ampex 20% equity investment is that the child has bought out the parent. TV onthe Web has acquired the original full service production company (Gardy-McGrath), however Gardy says that the company will use some of the new investment capital to expand its more traditional production services.

Where does this leave his steaming service business? Gardy explains, "We will continue to support the first two business models, on-demand streaming and live webcast production, but the network of channels is our primary growth model. The first two business models support the third one."

IN SUMMARY
As you can see, there are as many ways to approach online video as there are ways to do video production. The approach that's best for you depends on your audience and your objectives.

What's clear is that the video Web is picking up speed (bandwidth) as well as a new assortment of business models. The good news for video professionals who understand this new medium is that we have a more flexibile assortment of resources than ever before, and these services are rapidly becoming more affordable as well as more accessible. Stay tuned.

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