Easy Ways to Share Home Video, Worthy or Not

All aspects of Grouper are free now, but future versions of the software could contain premium services.

YouTube

With this service, uploading was quite easy -- the entire procedure took 12 minutes. And about 20 minutes later the clip was on the site.

I could have restricted viewing to people I listed by their e-mail addresses. But I again chose to make Earl's performance available to anyone who came to the site.

I feed him, but his talent belongs to the world.

Again, I used the keywords "dog" and "treat."

Within two hours of being posted, the clip was viewed 44 times. One user rated it five stars.

I have no idea why.

Google

Google's service, at video.google.com is more oriented toward professionally made clips, a few of which require a payment to view.

There are, however, home videos on the service. They are all public -- no invitation-only clips are allowed.

The wait to see whether a clip has been deemed appropriate for the site -- no guidelines are given, except that it cannot be pornography or copyrighted material used without permission -- is a bit like the process of applying to a film festival.

So will the little saga of my doggie getting a treat make the cut at Google Video?

After 12 nervous hours it finally did, and it was worth the wait. The Google version, which can be found by searching for "What I Go Through" (the clip's title), features the best sound and image quality of the sharing sites tested.

Now we're waiting for the call from Sundance.

\o7David Colker can be reached via e-mail at technopolis@ latimes.com. Previous columns can be found at latimes.com/technopolis.

\f7