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Faster frame rates, an expanded library of cool sound effects and easier fan funding options are just some of the new content creation features coming to YouTube as the online video site bumps up its tools and offerings for the artistic minds that create and post videos on YouTube.
The expanded YouTube creator features were unveiled by Matthew Glotzbach, director of product management for creators, and Oliver Heckmann, vice president of engineering for creators, in a recent post on the YouTube Creator Blog.
The new features and updates are being introduced to help content developers make their videos even more awesome, while also helping them to expand their global audiences and businesses on YouTube, wrote Glotzbach and Heckmann.
Among the key tools to arrive in upcoming months is YouTube Creator Studio, which will give content producers the ability to quickly see and evaluate user analytics for their creations, while providing new tools to manage their videos and more, according to the post. The app is available now on Android and will be available for iOS in the coming weeks. A redesigned YouTube Creator Studio is also coming for desktop users, they wrote.
Another big improvement is an expanded audio library that for the first time includes thousands of free sound effects, wrote Glotzbach and Heckmann. “You’ve used the hundreds of free songs in the Audio Library on millions of your videos,” they wrote. “But until now, you’ve had to go through extreme lengths to make your own zombie screams and fighter plane sounds. To make your lives easier and videos better, from today you now have thousands of royalty-free sound effects at your disposal. We’ve also added more tracks to the Audio Library.”
Frame rates for YouTube are also getting a boost, with rates of 48 to 60 frames per second under the planned improvements, wrote Glotzbach and Herrmann. “Your video game footage with crazy high frame rates will soon look as awesome on YouTube as it does when you’re playing, when we launch support for 48 and even 60 frames per second in the coming months. Take a look at some preview videos on the YT Creator Channel. Make sure you’re watching in HD!”
Revenue generation features for YouTube content creators are also getting updates, with new fan donation capabilities that are being eyed presently by a group of content creators, according to Glotzbach and Heckmann. “Your fans aren’t just watching your videos, they’re also helping support your channel through services like KickStarter, IndieGogo, Patreon and more,” they wrote. “We’ll be adding another option for you, where fans will be able to contribute money to support your channel at any time, for any reason.” Interested creators can sign up to try the new feature. Some of the content creators who are eyeing the new feature include Dulce Delight, Fitness Blender, The Healthcare Triage and The King of Random.
Other planned new features include the ability of fans to submit translations of your content in any language to help expand its reach to more people in other languages, wrote Glotzbach and Heckmann. “More than a billion people watch YouTube each month, but not all of them speak the same language and some are deaf or hard of hearing. Automatic speech recognition and automatic translation on YouTube can help, but your fans can do an even better job.”
New interactive on-screen information cards are also planned for YouTube content creators, as well as new ways to create playlists for users. In addition, a new weekly SiriusXM show has launched that features “The YouTube 15,” which highlights the biggest names and rising stars in music from YouTube, according to the post.
Google bought YouTube in October 2006 for $1.65 billion, according to an earlier eWEEK report. In March 2013, YouTube announced that it has grown to providing video content for more than 1 billion viewers per month. The popular video-sharing site has helped launch the careers of a slew of entertainers and made celebrities out of ordinary citizens, thanks to viral videos.
In January 2014, YouTube launched a first-time-ever online gallery where viewers could begin to see previews of the ads that would later run on television during the Super Bowl XLVIII broadcast on Feb. 2. The gallery provided viewers with sneak peeks of some of the ads that were shown during the broadcast through a YouTube Ad Blitz pregame gallery that was created. In the gallery, users were able to watch and vote for their favorite ads, and then share them with friends through social media networks.
In November 2013, YouTube hosted its first-ever YouTube Music Awards, with fans voting for their favorite performers. The awards presentation, which was streamed live Nov. 3, presented music fans with a wide assortment of live performances from some of the biggest music stars who became global hits on YouTube in 2013, including Arcade Fire, Avicii, CDZA, Earl Sweatshirt, Eminem, Lady Gaga, Lindsey Stirling, M.I.A., Tyler, The Creator and Walk off the Earth.
In September 2013, YouTube streamed live online coverage of the 2013 Mercedes Benz Fashion Week events in New York City, bringing the latest fashions and trends to the world. Included in the YouTube coverage were more than 60 live shows from BCBG, Rachel Zoe, Betsey Johnson, Jenny Packham and more on the IMG Fashion YouTube channel, as well as stylish channel live stream shows on getting made up to the hilt with expert help from fashion and makeup experts such as Louise Goldin and Jeremy Scott.
YouTube launched in May 2005 as a video-sharing Website where people could post their creative works and watch to see if they gained any footholds. YouTube’s popularity has been huge, with the site receiving more than 100 hours of uploaded video from creators each minute. All of that video content is being created by millions of partners and contributors, some of whom have become very popular through the growing site.