How to email Video

You have created videos of your new baby daughter and need to email them to all your family dotted around the world. The problem is that the files are around 75 Meg in size each and they just seems too large to email. What do you do? There are several options available which include the option to email videos or upload videos to a web service for others to download. We will explore each of the options available which will allow you to successfully send them.

How to email Videos

As mentioned earlier, video from your digital camera can run up huge file sizes which are not capable of being emailed in most circumstances. The good news is that if you run Windows XP with at least service pack 2 then you have the ability to compress your videos down making them a more manageable size and capable of being emailed. The free software you can use to do this is called Windows Movie Maker which can be found in your Accessories menu. To compress video ready for emailing follow the instructions below.

1.)Copy the videos to a folder on your PC from your camera
2.)Load up Windows Movie Maker found at Start > All Programs > Accessories
3.)Click Import Video which can be found on the main screen under the Capture Video heading
4.)Select the video(s) that you want to import. If you are feeling a tad creative then feel free to upload several videos to make one longer video to send
5.)Once imported, various slides will be captured and displayed in the middle of the screen. You can use this window to drag and drop the slides in to the Timeline at the bottom of the screen to make up your video. You also have the choice here of choosing various transitions between videos.
6.)If you just want to send the one video with no special effects then just select all frame and drag them all to the bottom in to the Timeline.
7.)Once processed you can then select the save to my computer option in the Finish Movie menu.
8.)When you have selected the option in step 7 you are presented with two form fields to fill in. The top is the name of the file while the second box is the location of the file. Fill in these boxes and click next.
9.)You will now see several options. Select the option which says “Other Settings”. Once selected you have a drop down box containing a number of various options. To email video I would recommend using the Video for ISDN or Video for Dial-up access options. The reason for this is that it is capable of shrinking a 90 meg file to less then 20 meg.
10.)Click Next and the compression will start which can take anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes or hours depending on the speed of your PC and size of the file.

Of course, this all might seem long winded to just email video to someone. There is another option which we will now discuss which will allow you to upload videos to a web service such as youtube.

Upload Video Clips

Rather then email your video there are services available which allow you to upload video clips and in some cases these services are free. Lets take a look at how you can upload a youtube video for others to see.

If using Youtube (which is a free service), your video is limited to 10 minutes and 1024 MB which is generally sufficient for most home videos. Youtube mentions on their upload page that “Uploads usually take 1-5 minutes per MB on a high-speed connection, and converting your video takes a few minutes.”

Before we begin the steps here it is important to know that video uploaded to Youtube is public and can be viewed by anybody with an internet connection unless you specify the privacy options which will allow you to invite up to 25 friends to have access to the videos. To do this, your friends will also need a free Youtube account.

1.)Visit youtube.com
2.)Click the Sign Up link at the top of the page and fill in the details to create your free youtube account. Once all the steps are followed you will then need to log in to your account.
3.)Click the yellow upload button towards the top right of the page.
4.)Fill in the form which includes details about what you are uploading and the category it will fall under.
5.)Select Browse and then select the video file you want to upload on your computer and click Upload Video.
6.)Once uploaded you will be presented with options which allow you to make the video private.
7.)When this is complete you can then email the web address to your users so they can view your videos.

email Video Conclusion

Email can be a little fragile from time to time and especially so with larger files. If compression with Windows Movie Maker doesn’t work well for you then Youtube is a great way of sharing videos with friends.