Video for Web - Thanks to YouTube

Embedding video in your website used to be a painful and very technical process involving codecs, compression and all kinds of palyer and bandwidth considerations. Its not quite as simple as writing an email but these days, with the advent of YouTube and Facebook, video is even easier to embed in your website. In this article we will explain how to upload a video you have created with YouTube and embed it in your Basespace website.

Here is an example of an embedded YouTube video:



Some basic steps need to be followed. Please note that you will need a YouTube account. Simply join or login here using your Google account details to sign in. Once signed in, click the upload button in the top right corner. Now to start:

1. You will need a video source - either a file that you have recorded using your video or digital camera and then transferred to your computer, or a webcam.
2. Fill out the fields that YouTube asks for and take note of the fact that you can keep the video private (in other words - not listed on the YouTube website). Make sure you specify that you wish the video to be embedded on another website.
   
3. Once you have completed the optional settings, you will be asked to upload the file from your computer, in which case you simply click browse and navigate to the file, select it and hit 'upload video'. If you opt to use the 'quick capture' method, your computer webcam will start and you will need to follow the on screen instrucitons to record your video.
4. As soon as your video has been uploaded you have the option of embedding the video in your site presented to you. YouTube writes the code for you and all you need to do is copy and paste. Thanks guys!
5. Make sure the page you want to embed the video in is open in your Basespace CMS. Switch on the 'View Source' checkbox and paste the code from YouTube where you want it. Remember - this view does not take into account spacing and paragraphs, so be careful to paste it in the right place. Experiment a bit with a page that you have not published on your website.

Thats it! Now preview the page (allow some time for the YouTube player to load - it will be faster on subsequent page views) and play your video. The upside of this method of embedding video is that it is incredibly simple. The downside is that YouTube insist on advertising other videos in the player after your finishes.