did you try youtube.com? some of the tech uploads there are good. the only problem is there are lots of bs too.

ok, as far as i know , from working in sales last christmas and talking to the rep
who knew a lot more than me, video's not my forte, still photography is. from the pep talk he gave me, 24fps is still the thing for serious movie makers, and tape is the only way ...

I think he meant 24p  (progressive) which gives you film-like characteristics.

Has anyone got any views on the HG20/21?

DMCA only applies to US companies.  It's a safety-net for publishers of UGC to give them a stay of execution while they take action on reported copyright infringements.

The host may be your best bet if they don't respond.  A list of USA SPs and their agents:

http://www.copyright.gov/onlinesp/list/index.html

Not many creative co-operatives work.  United Artists sold out as did many record labels that 'kept it real'.  One notable exception that's kept the vision is in fact a photographic cooperative: Magnum.

I've worked with Magnum on image quality in the past and you feel like you're a part of something special.  Their focus on the co-operative and sticking to their vision has worked well.

http://agency.magnumphotos.com/about/about

You can have both if you want.

However, the main disadvantage to sub-domains is that if you ever wish to secure all three sub-domains with an SSL certificate, you may be charged extra.

Setup the sub-domains and re-direct incoming requests (HTTP Header) for personal.mariadelaidesilva.net to www.mariadelaidesilva.net/personal.

If anyone tried to reach 'www.mariadelaidesilva.net/personal' directly, you could accept or reject the request based on the URI used by the client.

You could setup a default re-direct for those typing in 'mariadelaidesilva.net' or  'www.mariadelaidesilva.net'

Remember too that most browsers provide a short-cut for .com addresses.  Just type the domain name in the address bar and hit CTRL+Enter and it will wrap www. and .com around the name.

If you downsize using (say) Photoshop's bicubic interpolation, you may wish to sharpen afterward to reduce any moire effect.

SS automatically upsizes images 4X. This means a 4MP images is upsized to 16MP, and you aren't losing any sales because your image is too small. There are two benefits to downsizing: technical flaws are minimized (which may help borderline images get approved), and upload time is reduced.

Hmmm.. quite where they get all the missing information from to up-size 4x is one of the great mysteries of information theory. 

This is a redacted version of an update sent to Vivozoom contributors earlier this week:

Summary is:

• Pre-launch testing with launch in next few weeks if feedback is positive
• Moneybookers support
• Pricing announced

----------------------

xxxxxxxx, thanks for contributing your images. We�d like to bring you up-to-date on our plans and progress.

LAUNCH

We are presently in a closed-user group test of the customer site and plan to launch the site within the next few weeks

LAUNCH PRICING

Our subscription packages range from single-seat $279 (USD) for 30 days at 15 images per day through $5,999 (USD) for 12-month 25 images per day on a 5-seat license.

Our VivoFlex Option offers our clients the ability to purchase images that can be dowloaded any time over a 12 month period.  Prices range from $149 for 25 hi-res images including vectors through $49 for 12 web-res  images.

We are also offering Enhanced Licenses at a flat $45 to our clients.

PAYOUT

We have now added Moneybookers as an optional payout mechanism in addition to Bank Transfer and Paypal. Payout threshold is the same as Paypal at $50 USD. If you wish to switch to Moneybookers, go to your Account Page in the Dashboard and select 'Moneybookers' for the Payout Method.

RELEASE ATTACH

We received a lot of robust feedback on this! We have recently updated the Release Attach functionality. You can now specify that a release can be attached to just one image, all images on a page or all images in your MANAGE queue. We hope this helps.

CLIENT SITE PREVIEW

We'd like you to take a look at the site before we launch. It's password protected, but for the next few days, you can review it at www.vivozoom.com <http://www.vivozoom.com/>  with the following credentials:

    user: xxxxxxxx

    pass: xxxxxxxx


Note: If you have approved images on the site, your portfolio can be seen at:

    http://www.vivozoom.com/viewportfolio-xxxxxxxx

We provide a  multiple-image-download facility. A client can download (for example) a complete lightbox as long as the subscription quota is available. If the downloads would exceed daily quota, clients can purchase "top-ups" that are valid for 24 hours. Customer feedback on this feature has been universally positive.

We've also taken steps to ensure that we maximize your images' potential. All embedded color profiles of images for web-display have been converted to JPEG working space for browser display. To see this in action, take a look at the following image previews:








Our version is a more accurate rendition of the original hi-resolution image with its color profile applied.

WE WANT YOUR IMAGES!

Any images uploaded in the next week should hit the site before we launch. Remember, there are no upload limits on our FTP server, so please continue to submit images and you'll ensure vivozoom is the premier Microstock site for professional image buyers.

Any questions, please email or call our creative director, Stacey Goldberg creative <at> vivozoom <dot> com or call 1 800-476-3899.

Regards,

Lawrence and Tom

RECENT QUOTES FROM ALPHA CLIENTS: (unedited)

"Warranty very important and stands out from the competition" - Major UK Publisher

"Photographs more professional thank istock and Shutterstock"  - Large US Educational Publisher

"Multiple downloads excellent � Not on any other Microstock site" - Educational Publisher

"There's really nice photos on the website and refreshing to see something different. I'm sure a lot of us have Photodisc pictures memorized by now (!)" - Large Chicago-based publisher

"Great presentation, layout and speed.."  - Major Contract Publisher (Customer Magazines & Online Branding)

Is the review time going to speed up?  It took weeks for my last submissions to be reviewed.
Thanks
Steve

Steve, yes review times will speed up, but I guarantee that we'll never be as quick as many of the other sites.  We have onward legal obligations to fufill by approving an image and this will always take a little longer.

Tom

According to Alan Meckler's blog, he was talked out of purchasing iStock in late 2003. 

http://www.alanmecklerblog.com/2009/03/thoughts-from-a-sale.html

Hard to square those survey results with this:

http://unsharpmasked.com/blog/2009/02/2009-stock-photo-sales-down-40-percent/

No read it again.  We defend the claim with our own money.

Again, same warranty as a Getty or Corbis would provide.

To see the contrast, here is the 'Warranty' from a popular Microstock site:

THE CONTENT IS PROVIDED 'AS IS' WITHOUT REPESENTATION, WARRANTY OR CONDITION OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE IMPLIED REPRESENTATIONS, WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF MERCHANTABILITY, OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. ISTOCKPHOTO DOES NOT REPRESENT OR WARRANT THAT THE CONTENT WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS OR THAT ITS USE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR FREE. THE ENTIRE RISK AS TO THE QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE OF THE CONTENT IS WITH YOU. SHOULD THE CONTENT PROVE DEFECTIVE, YOU (AND NOT ISTOCKPHOTO) ASSUME THE ENTIRE RISK AND COST OF ALL NECESSARY CORRECTIONS.

IN PARTICULAR AND WITHOUT LIMITING THE GENERALITY OF THE FOREGOING, IF YOU ARE DOWNLOADING CONTENT THAT IS IN A FLASH FORMAT OR FILE (WHETHER .SWF OR OTHERWISE) ISTOCKPHOTO MAKES NO REPRESENTATION OR WARRANTY RESPECTING SUCH CONTENT WHATSOEVER, WHETHER AS TO OWNERSHIP, TECHNICAL OR LEGAL COMPLIANCE, OR OTHERWISE.

Recognize that?  Familiar?  Essentially Caveat Emptor.   

Take a look at the posts in this board from number 21 to 27.  You hi-lighted lack of Warranty on your own blog.

Most of our corporate clients aren't allowed to license unwarranted imagery.

Tom

So you don't intend to verify the information?

We're using the same standards we applied at Getty.  Perhaps you could have a word with Jonathan or Bruce and suggest the same?

Tom

Quote from: donnelt on February 20, 2009, 11:14

Warranty:  We do the same as every one else who offers a warranty.  Again nothing magical.  Take a look at Getty's or Corbis' EULA.  Would you like Getty to offer a warranty on istock images?

I didn't think you were asking for imagery exclusivity, whereas Getty and Corbis do.

Also I thought your warranty is for contributor ownership nothing to do with the image content, have I read that wrong.

Richard.. we're non-exclusive.  Exclusivity is moot.  We aggregate non-exclusive RF images at www.imagepick.com and it's warranted imagery.   

I think the interesting question today is 'What is a warranty'.  That should speak volumes for the maturity of Microstock.  Some get it.  Some don't.  Some get it and fear the implications.  Others welcome it.

Take your pick.