You, too, can upload videos to YouTube
Makes it Easy for Anyone to Create and Share DVD Home Movies

By Eric Benderoff
Published October 23, 2006

If you've been too intimidated by technology to partake in America's newest passion--posting a silly video on the Web for all to see--fret no more.

Uploading video is easier than you think, and easier still thanks to an upgrade to a simple video camcorder that was already a noteworthy product.

Earlier this year, I wrote glowingly about the Pure Digital Point & Shoot Video Camcorder. This nifty device fits into a pocket, makes it easy to shoot a video of decent quality and has built-in software for transferring video from the camcorder to a computer. It stores 30 minutes of video--a new model holds 60 minutes--that you can fill up and then delete to record some more.

Priced at $130, it's a steal compared with $500 or more for a proper camcorder. And it's a better deal today because it removes the fear factor of posting a video online.

By clicking on a menu option on the software that comes with the camcorder, you can post a video directly to Google Video or Grouper, ready to be viewed by friends and family across the globe 10 minutes after filming. It is shockingly easy to post a video with this software.

And once you've tried that, you might as well see how easy it is to post a video on YouTube, the uber popular video site that Google just agreed to buy for $1.65 billion in stock. With the video stored on your computer, just go to YouTube.com, register and then follow the upload instructions. Both the YouTube and Google Video software browse your computer files to find your videos.

I uploaded two videos to Google Video and one to YouTube after saving the videos from the Point & Shoot camcorder to my computer. To see them, search for "Ivan Batman Pumpkin" at either site. (Ivan is my 2-year-old son and we're carving a Batman logo into a pumpkin.)

The Point & Shoot camcorder makes posting a video simple for tech neophytes. Here's how it worked, from start to finish:

Once you have video worth keeping, plug the camcorder into a PC or Mac by flicking open the USB arm built into the camcorder.

The software is built right into the camcorder so there is no CD to load. The 13 videos I shot opened for viewing almost instantly.

Next, I saved the videos to my computer, which took 5 minutes.

Then, I was ready to upload to Google Video. The software helped me locate the file I wanted and prompted me to format the file for uploading. It took about 3 minutes to get a video on Google Video from my computer. Upload speeds vary depending on your Internet connection.

The only drawback is that the videos look grainy when posted on the Web. They don't look as grainy when you play the clips on a TV--the camcorder also comes with cords to plug it directly into a television.

But for $130, the graininess is a minor issue. This is an entry-level video camera that will encourage people to shoot videos and experiment. It would be a great gift for a kid, too.

The Pure Digital Point & Shoot Camcorder is sold at Target and should be at other retailers, including Costco and CVS, by Nov. 1. Also, if you bought the first generation of this camcorder, Pure Digital said it will soon post a software upgrade at its Web site (www.puredigitalinc.com) for the video upload tool.

FROM VHS TO CD:
Speaking of sharing your videos, Sony just introduced the fourth generation of its handy DVDirect DVD burner. The stand-alone DVD burner comes with numerous plugs--USB, analog and digital video inputs, S-Video and multiple slots for storage cards--to transfer photos, TV shows saved on a TiVo, and, most importantly, homemade videos onto a DVD.

I didn't test the product, but in a demonstration by Sony, the burner worked well and was not even attached to a computer. Just plug a VCR, camcorder or digital camera into the device and press Record. A small screen on the device provides step-by-step instructions.

Videos transfer with the touch of a button, even dividing the content into DVD-like chapters for easy navigation.

For the legions of people who have boxes of home videos stored on VHS tapes--or Betamax, this is a Sony product after all--$250 for this useful gadget is a worthwhile investment.

And by saving those memories in digital form, you can then upload an old video to YouTube to show kids today what fun it was to be a video pioneer back in the 1980s.

Record and save
Pure Digital Point & Shoot Video Camcorder
Price: $130 for 30 minutes; $170 for 60 minutes
Available now at Target, and will be sold at other retailers by Nov. 1.