VReel
Encyclopedia
VReel was a video sharing web site that allowed users to upload, share and view high quality videos by use of a proprietary video codec
. The site was in open beta in an effort to replace the now defunct Stage6
site with a viable alternative. Using a similar style to the defunct site, VReel has received a licence from DivX, Inc.
to use their codec, and has signed an agreement with Edgecast
to host the Web site globally. VReel has since begun development of their own replacement for the DivX Webplayer.
VReel was taken offline on August 3, 2008 due to bandwidth theft, and to prepare for the Beta 2 launch. VReel then announced that the Web site would be back online on August 30, but financial problems forced the company to postpone. VReel launched a private beta on November 11, and entered Open Beta on November 28. They acquired the StageHD.com domain, and are currently forwarding all page requests to their video portal.
, DivXIt.net's inbound traffic gained the attention of DivX, Inc., who immediately issued a cease and desist order against the Web site for copyright infringement. Following this event, DivXIt staff responded to the order offering to sign the domain name over to DivX, Inc. in return for a free licence for the Web site. This arrangement was met, and the domain DivXIt has been transferred to DivX,Inc.
Having moved to a new domain (VReel.net), the site continues to steadily grow. A short time after interacting with DivX, VReel was contacted by Limelight Networks, and was offered a hosting plan on their network.
The original beta test of VReel.net was scheduled to begin on 18 May, with the full release occurring at the 31st of the same month. However on the 23rd, VReel released a statement in its updates forum stating that its development team was late in releasing the beta version of the site, and that as of that date, they legally had 2 more days to deliver the beta release. This did not occur however, and the site's lead developer is currently in an arbitration
process with the development team. Towards the end of the update, the lead developer states that a new development team was to be selected "in the next 5 days", a period which would end on the 27th.
The site underwent an Open Beta test stage which started on June 19, 2008 after a delay of 4 days.
Because of multiple leech sites stealing their bandwidth during the construction of beta V2, and the extensive testing needed for new features, VReel had to go offline for some time before the launch of beta V2.
VReel's traffic share has continued to rise since its launch. Currently the site is taking in more than 500,000 unique hits per day and will continue to rise.
On October 8, VReel announced a partnership with Lavasoft. Eoghan stated "VReel.net, the home of high definition and high speed online video has
today announced its software partnership with Lavasoft, for their highly acclaimed and award winning Ad-Aware anti-spyware software.
As of November 28, VReel has been in Open Beta. The VReel Player is the next major development for the site
, to replace the DivX Web Player. With the new webplayer, VReel would natively support 4 formats. The Vreel Player has not yet been released to the public.
In contrary to previous announcements, the VReel Player will not be based on the VLC player and neither will it be open source
. After the project has been put on hold it has now been continued and will be (re)built from the ground up in closed source. Among concerns, the primary concern for going closed-source (instead of open-source) was the confrontation with too many security issues when having the source open for everyone. The VReel Player will be redeveloped under a closed source license, and will be fully capable of DivX, XviD and h.264 mkv playback.
Video codec
A video codec is a device or software that enables video compression and/or decompression for digital video. The compression usually employs lossy data compression. Historically, video was stored as an analog signal on magnetic tape...
. The site was in open beta in an effort to replace the now defunct Stage6
Stage6
Stage6 was a video sharing website owned and operated by DivX, Inc., where users could upload, share, and view video clips. Stage6 was different from other video services in that it streamed high quality video clips that were user-encoded with DivX and Xvid video codecs.The website never went...
site with a viable alternative. Using a similar style to the defunct site, VReel has received a licence from DivX, Inc.
DivX, Inc.
DivX, Inc. , based in San Diego, California, now part of Sonic Solutions, a division of Rovi, was the corporation behind the MPEG-4 Part 2-based codec, DivX. The company's codec has been downloaded over 240 million times since January 2003...
to use their codec, and has signed an agreement with Edgecast
EdgeCast Networks
EdgeCast Networks is a Los Angeles, CA, based content delivery network . The company was founded in 2006 and is funded by the venture arm of The Walt Disney Company, Steamboat Ventures. It has CDN reseller agreements with Deutsche Telekom, Global Crossing, Navisite, and The Planet...
to host the Web site globally. VReel has since begun development of their own replacement for the DivX Webplayer.
VReel was taken offline on August 3, 2008 due to bandwidth theft, and to prepare for the Beta 2 launch. VReel then announced that the Web site would be back online on August 30, but financial problems forced the company to postpone. VReel launched a private beta on November 11, and entered Open Beta on November 28. They acquired the StageHD.com domain, and are currently forwarding all page requests to their video portal.
Early development
VReel began under the title DivXIt.net. Drawing attention from the Internet community by means of social bookmarking Web sites such as DiggDigg
Digg is a social news website. Prior to Digg v4, its cornerstone function consisted of letting people vote stories up or down, called digging and burying, respectively. Digg's popularity prompted the creation of copycat social networking sites with story submission and voting systems...
, DivXIt.net's inbound traffic gained the attention of DivX, Inc., who immediately issued a cease and desist order against the Web site for copyright infringement. Following this event, DivXIt staff responded to the order offering to sign the domain name over to DivX, Inc. in return for a free licence for the Web site. This arrangement was met, and the domain DivXIt has been transferred to DivX,Inc.
Having moved to a new domain (VReel.net), the site continues to steadily grow. A short time after interacting with DivX, VReel was contacted by Limelight Networks, and was offered a hosting plan on their network.
The original beta test of VReel.net was scheduled to begin on 18 May, with the full release occurring at the 31st of the same month. However on the 23rd, VReel released a statement in its updates forum stating that its development team was late in releasing the beta version of the site, and that as of that date, they legally had 2 more days to deliver the beta release. This did not occur however, and the site's lead developer is currently in an arbitration
Arbitration
Arbitration, a form of alternative dispute resolution , is a legal technique for the resolution of disputes outside the courts, where the parties to a dispute refer it to one or more persons , by whose decision they agree to be bound...
process with the development team. Towards the end of the update, the lead developer states that a new development team was to be selected "in the next 5 days", a period which would end on the 27th.
The site underwent an Open Beta test stage which started on June 19, 2008 after a delay of 4 days.
Downtime
VReel servers went down on Saturday 31 May due to the recent fire at the The Planet data center, and returned on Wednesday 4 June.Because of multiple leech sites stealing their bandwidth during the construction of beta V2, and the extensive testing needed for new features, VReel had to go offline for some time before the launch of beta V2.
Past development
On October 8, VReel announced a partnership with Lavasoft. Eoghan stated "VReel.net, the home of high definition and high speed online video has
today announced its software partnership with Lavasoft, for their highly acclaimed and award winning Ad-Aware anti-spyware software.
As of November 28, VReel has been in Open Beta. The VReel Player is the next major development for the site
Closed Beta testing
As of November the 10th Vreel started its closed beta testing. They introduced beta testers in waves, and applications were available for users to apply. The second wave began on November 14, and finally the third Began on the 21st. During the closed beta period there were free keys given to those who won "Treasure Hunts" that Eoin made.Open beta trial and public launch
Due to the success of the beta waves between November 10 and November 21, Vreel went into a 24 hour beta trial on November 28 for a server stress test. Due to the success of the testing, Vreel went into a permanent Open Beta, meaning anyone can now access the site.Beta 2 Phase
VReel Beta 2 has introduced several new features. These include expanded community features and premium accounts.VReel-Player
VReel has been working on their own webplayer, based on the VLC media playerVLC media player
VLC media player is a free and open source media player and multimedia framework written by the VideoLAN project.VLC is a portable multimedia player, encoder, and streamer supporting many audio and video codecs and file formats as well as DVDs, VCDs, and various streaming protocols. It is able to...
, to replace the DivX Web Player. With the new webplayer, VReel would natively support 4 formats. The Vreel Player has not yet been released to the public.
- DivX5.x encoded video
- DivX6.x encoded video
- XviD1.x encoded video
- H.264 encoded video
Present & Future
After several weeks, if not months, of inactivity and a short re-introduction of Zango in between. However, since the cash injection that was announced on May 5, 2009 the site has drawn itself a new path for the future.May 5 2009 announcement
Among the changes were:- Zango removed
- Due to financial problems VReel was forced to temporarily re-enable the Zango product gateway to give support over several weeks, the cash injection caused VReel to be financially comfortable even without Zango.
- Most advertisements removed
- Together with the above it also enabled the website to remove most of its advertisements (such as Pop-upPop-up adPop-up ads or pop-ups are a form of online advertising on the World Wide Web intended to attract web traffic or capture email addresses. Pop-ups are generally new web browser windows to display advertisements...
and HoverHover adHover ads are a special type of pop-up ads created using Dynamic HTML, JavaScript and similar web browser technologies. Because they do not scroll with the web page, they appear to "hover" over the page, usually obscuring the content.- Background :...
ads).- Serving renewed
- Change of CDNContent Delivery NetworkA content delivery network or content distribution network is a system of computers containing copies of data placed at various nodes of a network....
and new serversServer farmA server farm or server cluster is a collection of computer servers usually maintained by an enterprise to accomplish server needs far beyond the capability of one machine. Server farms often have backup servers, which can take over the function of primary servers in the event of a primary server...
. Previously all streams and downloads were delivered through a partnership with EdgeCast NetworksEdgeCast NetworksEdgeCast Networks is a Los Angeles, CA, based content delivery network . The company was founded in 2006 and is funded by the venture arm of The Walt Disney Company, Steamboat Ventures. It has CDN reseller agreements with Deutsche Telekom, Global Crossing, Navisite, and The Planet...
. This has now changed into a server and bandwidth deal with about half a dozen of ISPs. EdgeCast will still be kept as a back-up service.- Free users get ability to embed videos
- The feature to show VReel-hosted videos outside the site was previously preserved for paying members only. This feature is now available for everyone.
- Redevelopment of VReel Player
In contrary to previous announcements, the VReel Player will not be based on the VLC player and neither will it be open source
Open source
The term open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's source materials. Some consider open source a philosophy, others consider it a pragmatic methodology...
. After the project has been put on hold it has now been continued and will be (re)built from the ground up in closed source. Among concerns, the primary concern for going closed-source (instead of open-source) was the confrontation with too many security issues when having the source open for everyone. The VReel Player will be redeveloped under a closed source license, and will be fully capable of DivX, XviD and h.264 mkv playback.
Shutdown
External links
- Official website, beta.vreel.net
- VReel board, vreel.net
- Twitter-link, twitter.com