Online video storage, editing and management service StashSpace will make a full public launch and media press on Wednesday. Unlike the many services we see focused on short form video, such as Jumpcut (a Yahoo! acquisition) for editing and VideoEgg for online capture, StashSpace lets users work with long movies in the browser. It’s easy to use, has a good pricing structure and targets a clear pain point in a large market. Shutterfly’s $87 million IPO last week was further evidence that easy online multimedia storage for non technical users is a market ready to take flight.
Users upload video of any length through the StashSpace website, then select clips they want to save with a workspace built as an ActiveX plugin. Saved footage can be edited, shared and viewed through the site. It may not be the flashiest company online, but I think StashSpace’s strategy is smart given the direction the consumer video market is going.
Founded by John Larsen, Lars Krumme and Steve Smallman, Stashspace is based outside of Seattle. The company is self funded from the co-founders tech work in the late 90’s and the last 7 years of revenue from their related site, homemovie.com. StashSpace is the fourth major iteration of the company’s software, now updated and rebranded for an era of ubiquitous broadband and inexpensive online storage.
One of the key differentiators is that the company will digitize, transcode and put online video tapes for $5 each. This is much less expensive that most of the company’s competitors - they say it’s an unusually automated process for them. DVDs can be purchased for $15 with personalized covers made for an extra $4.
Krumme told me that they believe there is a huge market in analog video that non technical users would like to digitize, put online, edit and share. Making this easy and cheap sounds like a great strategy to me. Prior to this launch targeting consumer users, the company’s primary distribution channel has been through wedding videographers and newlyweds. Consumer video creation is becoming popular enough now that it makes a lot of sense to expand that user base and most services are still focused on short form. Making themselves known will probably be the company’s biggest challenge.
The StashSpace editing function is very nice, 100 screen caps are created for each video uploaded from the web, users then clip sections from timeline marked by those screen shots. The clippings can be dragged onto a clip board, a new screenshot and title can be selected from each selection. It’s easy to copy video segments from one file into another, add photos and captions. It’s a very smooth online editor that’s suitable for big files. The software supports tagging, which I believe is great for navigation even for non-technical users.
Storage is paid with through tokens that cost between 25 and 40 cents per 5 minutes. That means that online storage of an hour’s worth of video comes to at most $8 per year. Users get free tokens for doing things like sharing video and trying new features; downloading video to iPod format costs 1 token. Serving up unlimited video files in Windows Media format is free. There’s also a widget that can be used to display your videos on social networking sites.
The service is primarily for Windows/IE right now, though there is some basic Mac and Firefox support and full features are scheduled for early next year. I’ll be much more interested in using the service when this is the case, but the world is as it is and Windows only isn’t going to stop them from doing well in sales.
There are a number of competitors for this sort of function, but the primary one targeting users interested in easy, long form online video editing is probably OneTrueMedia (our coverage). OneTrueMedia’s interface is quite different, their prices are higher, they have venture backing and more commercial partnerships online with sites like Johnson and Johnson’s BabyCenter.com. I think the analog to digital conversion, editing and DVD making market is probably more than large enough for both companies to do well. StashSpace’s pricing may pressure its competitors though and that would be good.
Disclosure: StashSpace was a sponsor of the TechCrunch 7 party.
easy to sue, eh? where do i sign up for the tort.
thanks James, typo not Freudian I promise. everybody’s ok here I’m sure.
Oh my GOD that GUI looks ugly
I think they forgot to hire a designer. Looks terrible.
Marshall, you probably don’t know this, but this company sponsored techrunch7. You should add a disclosure.
“Add tokes to your stash”? Hmm, that’s a TechCrunch sponsor?
Digital Silo (digitalsilo.com) has provided a similar service for the past two years.
My GUI is better!!
this is awesome, i have been looking for something like this,
there are not enough free video editing tools available but this makes it so i don’t have to install a bulky video editing software and clog up my harddrive…
Give these guys a break. It’s pretty tough to pull this kind of thing off technically. It’s probably a couple of guys. Sure, they need an interface designer and someone in marketing who will likely tell them to lose the “stash your hash” stuff, but otherwise, I think any online video editing tools are just cool and impressive and Congrats to StashSpace for pulling it off.
If you are looking for a thriving, profitable video service for masses take a look at NetTapes.com.
(Disclosure: I am a friend of the founders, so I am biased, but I love their service for their simplicity an quality.)
They digitize any analog tape into DVDs for just $9.95/tape. This is cheaper than Homemovie.com/Stashspace (it will cost you $5 for digitization + $15 for ordering DVDs from them) or any other service I am aware of.
Also, they can convert your raw video into short movie with music (that they host for sharing with friends and family) for just $19.95/tape. I am a regular user of this service and our family and friends just love it.
I don’t see masses editing their own video anytime soon. So an affordable full service approach of NetTapes is ideal for masses. This is bearing out by the fact that NetTapes has become a big hit with mainstream americans in towns and cities across America.
any companies out there that will let me edit video on my phone yet? (rhetorical)
Are there any services that will simply let you share video with family and friends, along the lines of YouTube or Google Video, that are easy to use for my parent’s generation, can restrict the viewing of videos to invitation, and don’t cost a lot?
I don’t want or need online editing capabilities myself. I just need an easy way to share video of the grand-kids with the grandparents that won’t intimidate them. Sites like YouTube overwhelm them, and I want to restrict access to my videos.
Tony
“clear pain point”? You mean free iMovie and MovieMaker software from the two leading OS vendors isn’t enough? Everyone should have access to one of these two software applications… hmm.. maybe I missed something.
Ok, the analog to digital conversion is nice, but I can just go pick up a dazzler for less than $50 and then do my entire library if I want. $5 a peice maybe ok for the hassel though.
Definately this one has a “Grandma” factor in place. Its not for anyone with a modern camera or tech-sense. It caters to convenience and the non-tech savy… which aren’t really using the internet either, though… hmm..
TonyB,
Take a look at the SharePak service from NetTapes.com. Sounds that like exactly what you need.
TonyB,
Take a look at the SharePak service from NetTapes.com. Sounds like exactly what you need.
TonyB - With all of the emphasis on our editing capabilities, it isn’t well noted here that stashSpace allows you to easily make a movie out of one solid chunk of video and share it privately with selected people. Invitations are e-mailed to those people, and we have great customer service for anyone who needs a hand hold (Grandma).
JonB - The write-up doesn’t mention that you can encode directly from a digital camcorder into stashSpace, but you can. So, bring on the tech-savy modern camera owners as well as the BetaMax toting Grandmas!
OK, I’m done blowing my whistle. oh wait, Jimmy Yo - we have girls too
Thanks for the comments.
jonny807
Luogo interessante, buon disegno, lo gradisco, signore! =)
I’ve just completed a bad experience with Nettapes.com. I really hate bad customer service and unfortunately, that’s what I experience using Nettapes.
Before I explain my story I will point out, I had a camera that was acting a little off and I had trouble playing back my tape on it. So when I saw went online to see if there was a company that could transfer the tape to DVD, I found Nettapes. I filled out their online form and left them a message saying that I was having a little bit of trouble playing it back on my camera. I feel you should know that upfront but it really has nothing to do with the poor service I was about to receive.
Just after Christmas, I sent my tape off, and all seemed great at the beginning. I got an email from them saying the tape arrived and it would be about 2 weeks before they would get it transferred. My credit card was charged immediately. After 2 weeks had passed, I wrote them an email asking for a follow up. They replied pretty quickly and said that due to the holidays they were a little behind but expected to ship my DVD by the weekend. That seemed fair, but that was the last response I received until recently. I followed up again 2 weeks later with another email…with no response…then again a week later, with no response. My wife called the number on the email, and a man with a thick India accent repeated the “we are backed up because of the holidays” excuse. Then he said he could not respond to us and that we would have to use email to correspond. My wife explained that we haven’t received any recent responses to our emails and he just went into a robot response mode and kept repeating until we hung up. I did follow up with more emails and no responses. My wife also sent a few emails…with no response. I tried calling a few more times and only got an old fashioned sounding answering machine. The outgoing message on the answering machine repeated that they were backed up because of the holidays…even though it is well into February now. I left messages telling them my order # and that I was no longer interested in their service and wanted them to ship back my tape and refund my money. I never got them to answer the phone on any attempt to call them. Finally nearly 6 weeks later, I received an email that said they were having troubles transferring my tape and wanted to know what I wanted to do…with no reference to any of my previous messages. I responded saying…”as I stated in earlier messages, please return the tape and refund the money”. No response. A week later, I received an email saying “your order is complete and is shipping out today”. I didn’t know what to think…they pretty much ignored my request to return and refund my money. But I figured maybe they worked through the problem and if the DVD arrived and all was good…then fine…I wouldn’t use them again…but at least thy completed the job. When the DVD arrived, I popped it in, I discovered there was a problem alright. The audio was fine, but the video was only on the left side of the screen. More the half the screen was a digital mess. The transfer was totally useless. They didn’t leave a note on it, no other emails. They still ignored my request to refund, etc. At least I got my tape back…but I was out $14.
Now it was time for follow up.
I went back to their website to see if they listed any other email addresses. I figured since the one I was using didn’t get any responses, maybe another one would. I found 3 different emails there, including the one I was sending messages too. I then emailed them all to express my displeasure with the company and asked them why they ignored every message I left and then demanded a refund…again.
Figuring I wasn’t going to get a response again, I then went online to see if I could write a review at epinions or complain to the BBB, and I did a google search on nettapes.com and found other people that were having troubles with delays and no responses. I posted up a review that pretty much matched what I typed above. I also took the tape to a local TV station who had no troubles transferring it to DVD with a few tracking adjustments.
Then the responses started coming from an unnamed (did not put his name on the emails) Nettapes source that sent me half-hearted apology, did admit to being backed up, and did offer a partial refund…but then went on to basically say they did nothing wrong.
Then this guy went on to the message board I posted the review on and posted a response that I was unfair and then lied about offering the refund earlier and that they contacted me about the problem with the tape and tried to turn the focus of their lack of customer service onto the tape I sent. Email after email came in now…wish it was before…never taking responsibility for their own problems and trying to lame blame on anything but the problem I was complaining about…no responses and ignoring my requests. If they had responded…they wouldn’t have even got to the tape problem.
I don’t like poor customer service, and that’s what this company has…poor customer service…and a poor product.
In my opinion, I think it’s a side business somebody set up in their garage with a few tape machines and when they actually started getting multiple orders they discovered they were in way over their heads. If they are so swamped…hire a few more people and do the job right.
They have since removed the phone number from their website…why bother taking calls if everybody that’s calling is mad at you?
What this experience has told me is that there is a demand for this type of service and I’m strongly considering starting up my own competing business that offers everything they do…plus customer service.
I hope Stashspace and other companies that are mentioned here take notice. People like to be treated nicely. Communication is good. Answer your phones and don’t be scared to talk to your customers.
Until they grow up a little…stay away from Nettapes.com
nettapes a garage company? don’t know..but here’s some info to help contact them mr.sitcom…BTW, if you paid by credit card, dispute the charge. I think you have 3-4 months…
Have you mapped the nettapes mailing address as published on their site?
5612 Fort Benton Dr, Austin, TX — it’s a house dude.
Checkout that address from zillow.com or google maps.
If you can’t get in touch with someone?
http://www.whois.net/whois_new.....mp;tld=com
That points you to 10570 Whitney Way, Cupertino, CA …..another house.
—-
Maybe the tapes are collected in the TX house and bulk shipped to Kukatpally India. http://www.nettapesindia.com where labor is cheaper. Hopefully they get it back in time before people complain? Who knows. Did your tapes come back with stickers from around the world on them?
Good luck sitcom. You seemed so passionate about your tribulation, thought I’d share information that’s public.
Thanks for the info. I actually did get a partial refund back from Nettapes, only because I made a big stink afterwards and they saw me posting my reviews. It was only $10…but it’s the principle. I really hate bad customer service.
I did find all that info you posted too with a little online search and found that the only person that did respond to me is the guy posting here…his name is Raja and he is the CEO of Nettapes. But he answered the phone once when my wife called and finally answered emails when he saw my online reviews. So I do tend to think it’s a one-man operation…and he is in way over his head.
BTW…Raja from Nettapes told many lies to me in his emails too. I just want people know what kind of business it is before you send off your priceless home videos to him.
Thanks again for the feedback.