video

Welcome back to CNET's guide to pocket filmmaking, where we show you how to turn the smartphone in your pocket into a camera capable of shooting video projects worth sharing.

In this episode, we look at the importance of correctly lighting your movies, whether it is with natural light, the use of reflectors or by using some very handy, portable and inexpensive light packs. We also examine which settings on your phone can help you get the best images possible.

Editors' note: Jason Van Genderen was the winner of several short film-making awards at festivals including Tropfest NY, Tropfest … Read more

Would you spend $1 million for a video ad on Facebook?

That's allegedly what the popular network is aiming to squeeze out of advertisers when it starts rolling out video ads sometime this summer, says a story today in Ad Age.

Citing information from one "executive briefed on the product," Ad Age reported that the video ads would carry a price tag upwards of $1 million, run for no longer than 15 seconds, and be scheduled so that no Facebook user sees more than three such ads per day.

Facebook has been chatting up ad agencies to … Read more

Twitter is in talks with TV networks Viacom and NBC to bring more video content to the microblogging site, according to a Bloomberg report.

The deals under discussion would allow Twitter to stream videos to its users in exchange for splitting the resulting revenue with the TV networks, sources told the news outlet. The deals could be finalized as early as next month, with arrangements with other TV networks to follow, sources said.

CNET has contacted Twitter for comment and will update this report when we learn more.

So far, Twitter's video experience has been limited. It launched Vine, … Read more

As Boston grapples with the aftermath of two explosions that hit the city during its annual marathon, YouTube has created a way for people to immediately get the latest news.

The video steaming site has built an official YouTube Spotlight page devoted to all video related to the blasts. Titled "Explosions at the Boston Marathon," the page has 26 videos as of this writing -- from President Barack Obama's speech to videos captured by onlookers to police press conferences detailing the explosions. More videos will surely be added as more is uncovered about what happened.

If you were hoping to watch last weekend's Coachella concert on your iDevice, you just missed your chance: although the event was streamed live on YouTube for free, the iOS YouTube app doesn't support live streaming.

It does now. (Cruel timing, Google!) YouTube 1.3 for iOS, released today, adds a handful of new features and fixes, not the least of which is access to live streams.

For those unaware, YouTube offers a variety of live content, everything from concerts (natch) to news and sports.

The iOS streaming feature joins a "Send to TV" option introduced back in February, … Read more

Nintendo had yet another bad month in March, according to Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter.

In a research note to investors today, Pachter, who follows the gaming industry about as closely as any other analyst, said he believes Nintendo sold 55,000 Wii U units in the U.S. in March, representing a 17 percent decline compared to February. Perhaps even worse for Nintendo, its old Wii mustered 85,000 unit sales, falling 51 percent year-over-year, but still trumping a device that came out long before its latest.

Pachter, who each month releases his estimates on hardware sales based on channel … Read more

One of the biggest shortcomings of the otherwise excellent Roku 3 is its lack of an official YouTube channel, although savvy users can get around that limitation with a variety of workarounds, including the "private" VideoBuzz channel. Or at least used to be able to.

VideoBuzz reported on its Facebook page yesterday that it "received a notice from Roku management asking us to close down the channel as we don't own the content which is being streamed by VideoBuzz channel." The channel is set to go offline April 17; VideoBuzz says it's looking into … Read more

Anyone who misses the fuzzy quality of old VHS tapes can take a nostalgic tour courtesy of YouTube.

Celebrating the birth of the first commercial videotape recorder 57 years ago, YouTube has added an option to certain videos to let you view them in old VHS mode. Instead of sporting today's cleaner digital look, the videos appear in a scratchy, static-filled screen.

One such video to get the VHS treatment is a clip from the Pixar film "Ratatouille." Just click on the Enable Tape Mode icon to travel back in time and watch the video in all … Read more

Psy's sequel vid to the hyper-uber-gigantic "Gangnam Style" landed on YouTube today, and as of this writing it's garnered only a paltry 7 million viewings or so, with about 350,000 thumbs up and 38,000 thumbs down.

It's tough being an international sensation.

Of course, it's impossible to know if "Gentleman M/V" will top its predecessor's more than 1.5 billion views -- the most ever on YouTube -- but something tells us the preadolescent crowd will find one or two things to love here (things we're too … Read more