Current DTube Issues As I See Them
Let's take a look at the big things holding DTube back at the moment.
I assume we all can agree that this platform has great potential. I mean, we're here reading and watching and so are many others. That said, there's some issues preventing growth, adoption, and use that are making life difficult. Let's take a look ...
Note: I understand this is a Beta and in no way want to bash the creators. They've done great work. Don't make this an excuse to give anyone grief.
Sign Up:
Right now I have a dozen friends waiting for accounts. Some intend to post and some just intend to read/watch. However, both groups are sitting and waiting for nearly a week to get an account.
From multiple applications trying to get one to go through to just crazy wait times this is REALLY hurting the platform.
We are pointing traffic in the direction of alternatives to Youtube and then presenting them with a locked door. So, while they wait on an account, they start looking at OTHER alternatives and we run the risk of permanently losing that traffic.
Wait times MUST go down. Perhaps the easiest solution is two possible accounts. One for creators and one for readers/watchers? Or a fast approval which can get you reading/watching but a longer process before they can create?
Which idea sounds good to you?
Playback:
Firstly, we need to let people know that there's no native compression. Otherwise, playback suffers greatly and people will stop watching pretty quick.
IIf you have been having issues and don't know what I'm talking about please see my article here: https://steemit.com/dtube/@scaredycatgamer/getting-dtube-uploads-to-work-100-of-the-time
The simplest answer here would be a notice on the upload page and a link to a trusted download for HandBrake or similar.
Searching:
Type "Gaming" into the search field and you get 10 results.
None of those are my videos despite having "Gaming" as a tag AND in the description. Not to mention that I'm sure there's more besides just my videos.
This can't be a difficult fix but certainly keeps people from finding what they are looking for.
Suggested Content:
A simple feature we lack which is of the utmost importance to a new platform.
Discovering new content is by dumb luck at this point. There's just no easy way to see more of what you're into.
The tag system is helpful but ultimately too generic in its results.
Perhaps the ability to sort content by multiple tags would work?
Anyways, these are just my thoughts so far and I'm sure that some of them are already being addressed. Let me know what you all think in the comments.
And if you like watching LetsPlay videos for scary games or just enjoy watching a goofy blonde get freaked out please check out my channel.
Thanks
I think you've hit on some key issues here and hope more people see this post. Keep up the great work!
Thanks. I was hoping it would catch a bit more attention. Trying to get people to come check it out and vote on it so it gets more exposure.
One other issue, I know this is kind of minor compared to some of the other things but hmmm... why does my d.tube not reflect the same profile images as my steemit? I'd like to start uploading soon and it'd be nice if that could get fixed ☹️
Here's my recommendation regarding the video compression and playback issues you mentioned, encode at a lower bit rate. And trust me, I'm having the same issues you are, and I agree its totally annoying!
I typically encode at 7Mb/s or higher for my Youtube videos, but it appears that DTube cannot handle high file sizes and the high bit rate encoding that follows. I'm going to drop my bit rates in OBS to like 4.5 MB/s, this will make the videos stream faster back to users because there's less data to transmit.
Another thing to note, don't use Windows 10 DVR to record videos. If you must use Windows DVR to record your game play, then consider re-recording the video at a lower bit rate in OBS afterwards, or you can always use handbrake as you mentioned. Either way, Windows DVR records at like 14Mb/s! It creates humongous file sizes.
You're right, the indexing of videos is totally broken at this point! The platform only indexed 1 of the 4 videos I posted so far. While I do like the fact our videos get published to Steemit in a blog post as well, of course we would want people to be able to find our content on DTube with a simple search.
Anyway, I followed you as well and will be checking out your videos :)
Thanks for the info. I see you found my article on getting playback better too.
Thanks. I will keep posting as I figure the platform a bit more.
I'm glad we're all all talking about this stuff and finding solutions, its going to help others who're just getting started here like we are :)
Exactly. Wish I could guide more people to these type of posts so that more take notice.