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View Full Version : Why do the videos on Rand Paul's youtube channel look like crap?




jct74
09-08-2014, 11:30 AM
This is not what a youtube video is supposed to look like:


http://i.imgur.com/xfwBH4G.png
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGtIu6_hrD4



This is what it is supposed to look like:


http://i.imgur.com/7XqgKjM.png
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rZRB32DF28




Why can't Rand's office figure out how to upload a youtube video properly? Just about every interview on Rand's channel is like this, with the reduced image size, big black borders in the viewable area, and low quality crappy resolution. Rand is a 2016 Republican frontrunner whose interviews probably get watched more than any other member of congress... he is a supposed master of social media who even has a snapchat account... but his staff hasn't noticed or doesn't care that his youtube videos are done completely wrong and look terrible?

Does anyone else agree this is a problem that should be fixed?

green73
09-08-2014, 11:31 AM
Hot topics pls.

Crashland
09-08-2014, 03:27 PM
Yes I think this needs to be addressed

jct74
09-08-2014, 03:52 PM
Here is another comparison.


http://i.imgur.com/eAN5xeU.png
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-4vBMrhi-Y


http://i.imgur.com/iPHJULN.png
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3APhQ2Gg-U




Also in full screen mode notice the difference in resolution.

http://i.imgur.com/m4zsHpO.png

http://i.imgur.com/nI2P74J.png

ctiger2
09-08-2014, 03:54 PM
They're using Govt approved rendering software.

Natural Citizen
09-08-2014, 04:03 PM
Does anyone else agree this is a problem that should be fixed?

Yes.

Of course, unlike most folks, I'd tend to think that fixing the problem would be to give the task to someone a little more thorough. Speaking only for myself, I have very, very little patience with incompetent people who are considered to be "thinkers" or "doers".

Mr.NoSmile
09-08-2014, 04:12 PM
And he would have won the Iowa primary if he hadn't uploaded that ONE video in 360p instead of 1080p. Curses.

CPUd
09-08-2014, 04:15 PM
Maybe Rand is uploading them himself.

Natural Citizen
09-08-2014, 04:16 PM
And he would have won the Iowa primary if he hadn't uploaded that ONE video in 360p instead of 1080p. Curses.

I know that it seems like a mediocre kind of thing but presentation is very important. Remember when Kennedy won versus Nixon? Kennedy looked brilliant in black and white. He took the time to pay attention to the little things with regard to knowing how to visually present himself with what they were working with. Or, to be clear, the people whose job it was to think about and apply those things took the time to pay attention.

jct74
09-08-2014, 04:45 PM
I've already contacted Rand's office about this multiple times and they refuse to do anything about it, so I'm hoping if I make a thread about it here the right person will see it and get it taken care of. I'm sure some people from Rand's office or closely connected to his office visit this forum on a regular basis.

What really pissed me today is they uploaded that half-hour special on Rand's medical work in Guatemala which was pretty cool but it has the same problem as all his other youtube interviews. Which sucks because I'm sure people would like to watch it in full size/resolution, and also clips from that show will likely be used in future moneybomb/promotional videos.


edit: maybe his staff could re-upload the MSNBC special if they see this thread, that would be really nice.

Natural Citizen
09-08-2014, 04:52 PM
I've already contacted Rand's office about this multiple times and they refuse to do anything about it, so I'm hoping if I make a thread about it here the right person will see it and get it taken care of. I'm sure some people from Rand's office or closely connected to his office visit this forum on a regular basis.

What really pissed me today is they uploaded that half-hour special on Rand's medical work in Guatemala which was pretty cool but it has the same problem as all his other youtube interviews. Which sucks because I'm sure people would like to watch it in full size/resolution, and also clips from that show will likely be used in future moneybomb/promotional videos.

I wonder if it may have anything to do with copyright permissions. Perhaps use of corporate resources (FOX, MSNBC, CNN and whatnot) is granted for political use in low quality or something. Silly, I know, but that is what we've become since corporate takeover of political processes. Including things like this.

Bastiat's The Law
09-08-2014, 05:20 PM
Would like to see some HD videos on his channel.

jct74
09-08-2014, 05:26 PM
There is a term for what the problem is here BTW. it is called "windowboxing" and it is caused by using the wrong aspect ratio setting. It doesn't have anything to with what resolution is being used, although one of the effects of it is to cause a decrease in resolution, along with a decrease in image size.

No matter what resolution is chosen youtube will automatically blow up the video image to fit the viewable area, but not if you choose the wrong aspect ratio. It is a really easy fix.

jct74
09-08-2014, 05:27 PM
I wonder if it may have anything to do with copyright permissions. Perhaps use of corporate resources (FOX, MSNBC, CNN and whatnot) is granted for political use in low quality or something. Silly, I know, but that is what we've become since corporate takeover of political processes. Including things like this.

No I don't think that is it. Like I noted above the problem here is not resolution, it is aspect ratio. Also I have seen other members of congress upload interviews on their youtube channels, and none of them have this problem. Look at Bernie Sanders' channel for example, the interviews he uploads look great and nothing like Rand's.


http://i.imgur.com/gBu6Qsp.png
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlX2NaWR9i4

Natural Citizen
09-08-2014, 06:00 PM
No matter what resolution is chosen youtube will automatically blow up the video image to fit the viewable area, but not if you choose the wrong aspect ratio. It is a really easy fix.

Oh, yeah. That's right. I've had that problem myself when I was making my son's prospect videos for the NCAA. I had the aspect ratio wrong and it did turn out that way with the box screen. I think all I did was take it out of widescreen (16:9?) before I saved it again to 4:6 or whaterver it is.

Yep. That's it. That's what they are doing alright. Very good grasshoppa...

It is actually an easy fix. Just have to take the time to give a crap, I suppose. It's kind of trick, though, as I recall because you have to consider the aspect ratio of the raw video too before you choose the aspect ratio of the project itself when making an actual video for youtube or whatever.

It actually took me a long time to figure out that this was what I was doing wrong. There was a setting in Windows Movie Maker (which is whatr I was using) to change it.

jjdoyle
09-08-2014, 06:11 PM
Make sure to get the intern/secretary that answers the phone, to write it down, and wait on hold until they deliver it to his media person. If they won't let you speak with them directly.

I had to contact Ron Paul 2012 about a YouTube issue, and it took three calls to the campaign office get it done. It's like they don't listen, aren't passing it on, or don't know how to use Google to research their render settings on this one. 2014. Potentially running for President? Yes, this shouldn't have to be addressed multiple times.

WD-NY
09-08-2014, 06:45 PM
Sigh... total amature hour.

It's little things like this that make me worry that they still don't get the importance of online ...

jct74
09-08-2014, 08:32 PM
Oh, yeah. That's right. I've had that problem myself when I was making my son's prospect videos for the NCAA. I had the aspect ratio wrong and it did turn out that way with the box screen. I think all I did was take it out of widescreen (16:9?) before I saved it again to 4:6 or whaterver it is.

Yep. That's it. That's what they are doing alright. Very good grasshoppa...

It is actually an easy fix. Just have to take the time to give a crap, I suppose. It's kind of trick, though, as I recall because you have to consider the aspect ratio of the raw video too before you choose the aspect ratio of the project itself when making an actual video for youtube or whatever.

It actually took me a long time to figure out that this was what I was doing wrong. There was a setting in Windows Movie Maker (which is whatr I was using) to change it.

Yeah the first few videos I uploaded on youtube a few years ago were squished in the horizontal direction with big black bars on the sides, like this one uploaded on Rand's channel a few weeks ago.


http://i.imgur.com/Yq8no4l.png
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytWfR4nyGrw


After a few weeks I finally noticed there was something wrong and found the aspect ratio setting in Windows Movie Maker, fixing the problem. I still see a lot of people on youtube making the same mistake, some people that have been uploading for years they still haven't noticed there is something wrong with their videos. If nothing else this thread can serve as some education for novice youtubers reading this thread.


One other interesting thing to note is that there is a way to partially fix the problem for videos already uploaded. It will blow up the video to fit the entire viewing area... BUT it does not solve the problem of reduced resolution. All you have to do is add a special tag to the tag field of your youtube video. For example to eliminate windowboxing add the tag "yt:crop=16:9" to the tag field. More information here (https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/146402?hl=en). So if Rand's staff wanted to put a bandaid over all the videos that have already been uploaded they could add that tag to every one. But like I said it does not solve the problem of reduced resolution which is really the bigger problem, so I hope that Rand's staff doesn't see this suggestion and just start adding this tag to all new videos uploaded without figuring out how to apply the proper aspect ratio. And I would really like for them to re-upload the MSNBC special on Rand with the correct aspect ratio applied.

jct74
09-08-2014, 09:05 PM
Would like to see some HD videos on his channel.

That would be nice, but I would be happy with his videos just looking halfway decent. As it is now they are pretty bad, and one of the effects of this is to drive people away from Rand's channel to other channels that upload his interviews. If given the choice between a crappy video on his channel or someone else that has uploaded the same interview in better quality, I will usually choose the video with higher quality and post that videos in threads here, on the front page, and other places. It would be good to have as many views driven to Rand's official videos and channel as possible, for various reasons.

CPUd
09-08-2014, 09:43 PM
I know people who go and spend whatever on flat panel TVs, and occasionally they will play something that is not in the correct aspect ratio. They will sit there and watch it like nothing is wrong.

radiofriendly
09-08-2014, 10:27 PM
I know people who go and spend whatever on flat panel TVs, and occasionally they will play something that is not in the correct aspect ratio. They will sit there and watch it like nothing is wrong.
It dumbfounds me! With all of the technology we have more people are listening to music and watching stuff in the worst of possible ways! People listen to music from iphone speakers!

Rand's youtube page need not look like crap...

heavenlyboy34
09-09-2014, 12:30 PM
This is not what a youtube video is supposed to look like:


http://i.imgur.com/xfwBH4G.png
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGtIu6_hrD4



This is what it is supposed to look like:


http://i.imgur.com/7XqgKjM.png
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rZRB32DF28




Why can't Rand's office figure out how to upload a youtube video properly? Just about every interview on Rand's channel is like this, with the reduced image size, big black borders in the viewable area, and low quality crappy resolution. Rand is a 2016 Republican frontrunner whose interviews probably get watched more than any other member of congress... he is a supposed master of social media who even has a snapchat account... but his staff hasn't noticed or doesn't care that his youtube videos are done completely wrong and look terrible?

Does anyone else agree this is a problem that should be fixed?

Why? Probably because he hasn't hired that amusing beaner Eduardo. Hire Eddy, Rand!! (yes, eddy asked me to post this comment via FB. :) :D )

RonPaulGeorge&Ringo
09-09-2014, 05:45 PM
I would guess that they have tuner card in a desktop computer using the QAM cable feed in the Capitol, so they only have access to most channels in SD; and therefore, in the case of most channels including MSNBC, letterboxed as well. Hence the windowboxing on the eventual youtube upload.

(And the aspect ratio is still 16:9, both windowboxed and fullscreen, BTW.)

Mr.NoSmile
09-09-2014, 07:22 PM
I know that it seems like a mediocre kind of thing but presentation is very important. Remember when Kennedy won versus Nixon? Kennedy looked brilliant in black and white. He took the time to pay attention to the little things with regard to knowing how to visually present himself with what they were working with. Or, to be clear, the people whose job it was to think about and apply those things took the time to pay attention.

...yeah, except Kennedy and Nixon were shot in the same resolution. Kennedy just looked more presidential. And on television. Via radio, people thought Nixon won. There's not much of a comparison since that was who looked more presidential. This is just about what video looks better. And yes, it is mediocre. I honestly can't believe this is a thread.

jct74
09-09-2014, 10:46 PM
I honestly can't believe this is a thread.

Well, Rand's youtube videos are viewed by a shitload of people. 8.4 million total views and 38.6 thousand subscribers to his channel, to be exact. Also, he is very likely going to be running for president, and trying to reach out to as many young people as possible, particularly through the use of social media. It would be good to not have someone making the same rookie mistake over and over again uploading his videos to millions of people. These video clips will also be used for future moneybomb or promotional videos.


Do you honestly not think it is at least somewhat of a problem that his videos look like this:

http://i.imgur.com/eAN5xeU.png



when with the simple change of a setting they should look something like this:

http://i.imgur.com/iPHJULN.png




Gee, hardly a difference there.

RonPaulGeorge&Ringo
09-09-2014, 11:57 PM
The squishovision was probably done by WETA for their 4:3 480i subchannel. That can easily be compensated for on a TV with the "wide" or "zoom" function. Maybe not so easy for capturing video.

WIKIPEDIA:
Despite its positioning, digital subchannel 26.4 serves as WETA-TV's main programming feed. 26.4 is broadcast in standard definition and is the equivalent of the former analog channel 26. Therefore, channel 26.4 is the channel that is provided on the standard-definition tiers of local cable providers.[citation needed]

Digital channel 26.1 simulcasts any programming seen on the 26.4 subchannel that is available in high definition, as well as 26.4's entire primetime and overnight lineup regardless of whether the programming is broadcast in high or standard definition

Fourteen
09-10-2014, 09:33 AM
Why can't Rand's office figure out how to upload a youtube video properly? Just about every interview on Rand's channel is like this, with the reduced image size, big black borders in the viewable area, and low quality crappy resolution. Rand is a 2016 Republican frontrunner whose interviews probably get watched more than any other member of congress... he is a supposed master of social media who even has a snapchat account... but his staff hasn't noticed or doesn't care that his youtube videos are done completely wrong and look terrible?

Does anyone else agree this is a problem that should be fixed?

You probably have a point. But perhaps once he declares his candidacy and assembles a campaign team, he'll be able to have more tech-savvy people running his channel? Maybe I'm wrong and I just don't know how these things work...

MelissaWV
09-10-2014, 09:40 AM
Some problems are not that critical and vital to the overall success of a campaign, and this could arguably be one of those minor things. If that were all that went into evaluating whether a problem is addressed, it might not be a thread.

The other half of the story is how difficult something is to fix. If this is a one-click fix that would correct something viewed by so many, and pre-emptively prepare for when even more important videos are uploaded, then it's worth the effort.

georgiaboy
09-10-2014, 10:32 AM
fix it, Randsquad.

CPUd
09-10-2014, 11:03 AM
When Ron Paul had the rally in Tampa, they streamed it live via youtube. I was really impressed with the video quality and lack of bandwidth issues. I think maybe Collins was the one who set that up ?? :confused:

RonPaulGeorge&Ringo
09-10-2014, 12:17 PM
someone making the same rookie mistake over and over again...

when with the simple change of a setting they should look something like this:



You're still not getting it. The source video is 4:3 SD. It's not a "rookie mistake" to upload in 4:3 SD when the source video itself is 4:3 SD.

Ronin Truth
09-10-2014, 12:56 PM
Maybe he's just going after that down home Kentucky populist amateur look instead of the city slicker professional video treatment.

YEEE-HAW! :D

New York For Paul
09-10-2014, 01:03 PM
You probably have a point. But perhaps once he declares his candidacy and assembles a campaign team, he'll be able to have more tech-savvy people running his channel? Maybe I'm wrong and I just don't know how these things work...


He already has a tech savvy team. If you check threads from 2008 and 20012 you might find there are many criticisms of the campaign. It is still many of the same people in charge or their friends. The great technical people left many years ago.

jct74
09-10-2014, 02:21 PM
I would guess that they have tuner card in a desktop computer using the QAM cable feed in the Capitol, so they only have access to most channels in SD; and therefore, in the case of most channels including MSNBC, letterboxed as well. Hence the windowboxing on the eventual youtube upload.

(And the aspect ratio is still 16:9, both windowboxed and fullscreen, BTW.)


You're still not getting it. The source video is 4:3 SD. It's not a "rookie mistake" to upload in 4:3 SD when the source video itself is 4:3 SD.

It sounds like you are saying the problem is more complex than just having the correct aspect ratio setting. If that is the case though, why not just get the software or hardware that is needed? I understand Rand is trying to keep his office costs down and save taxpayer money, but how big of a cost would that be really? And if his technical people don't know exactly what is needed, why not just walk down the hallway to Bernie Sanders' office and ask them how their videos look so pristine?

Bernie's videos are in 16:9 by the way, not 4:3. So I would think the source video is not in 4:3.

mad cow
09-10-2014, 02:31 PM
You're still not getting it. The source video is 4:3 SD. It's not a "rookie mistake" to upload in 4:3 SD when the source video itself is 4:3 SD.

I would think that 4:3 video sources would be right rare and actually hard to find these days these days when ~one billion smart phones,let alone video cameras,all record in 16:9.

Jackie Moon
09-10-2014, 03:08 PM
The squishovision was probably done by WETA for their 4:3 480i subchannel. That can easily be compensated for on a TV with the "wide" or "zoom" function. Maybe not so easy for capturing video.


You're still not getting it. The source video is 4:3 SD. It's not a "rookie mistake" to upload in 4:3 SD when the source video itself is 4:3 SD.

I agree, that seems like it could be the problem.

Here's a picture of my TV when I turn on the SD version of CNN:

http://media.virbcdn.com/files/45/65b75f5d0167c457-rand_paul_videos.jpg

Looks like:

http://i.imgur.com/eAN5xeU.png

It's still the same 16:9 shape but on the SD channel it's shrunk down. As said, you can compensate on a TV by zooming in.

So I'd guess the problem is that Rand is capturing his video from the SD version instead of HD.