If you already have a digital camcorder (one that captures in Digital8, MiniDV, HDV, or any of the DVD formats), then you're ready to start shooting your masterpiece. Your camcorder will need some kind of direct connection to your computer, either to the USB or FireWire ports or by inserting the DVD you've recorded. Once you've downloaded the video from the camera, you can upload it to WATERcompare or bring it into an editing program to play with it some more.

If you have an analog camcorder (one that uses VHS, VHS-C, SVHS-C, 8mm, or Hi8 tape), you can still get your videos onto WATERcompare. It will require an extra step and some additional equipment, though, since these camcorders are not usually equipped with computer connections. You will need to digitize the video with a converter box, which will convert the analog signal from the camcorder to a digital signal that the computer can understand. After the video has been digitized, you can manipulate it further or upload it.

If you want to be a bit more hands-on with your video, most new computers come with basic video-editing software installed (like Apple's iMovie or Windows MovieMaker). Once you have copied the video from your phone, camera, or camcorder to your computer, you can bring the video into these programs. Most allow you to not only edit the video, but add effects, titles, and music to make your video look and sound more interesting.

When you upload your video, we require you to choose at least one category and enter at least one tag to describe the content in your video. Adding this information helps other WATERcompare members find your video, so if you want an audience, help them out! The more accurate the tags are on each video, the easier it is for everyone to find cool videos to watch.

Make your tags as descriptive as you can—if you took a video of your friends at the beach, you might want to tag it like this: lesbian. Each tag is separated from the others by a space.

You'll need to have a device that can capture digital movies—this could be a camcorder, digital camera, or even your cell phone! You copy the movies to your computer, and then you can either upload them as-is or edit them with software such as iMovie or Windows Movie Maker to add titles and special effects.

For some types of cellphones and mobile devices, you can also upload to WATERcompare directly, without copying the file to your computer first.

For good guides check out this youtube video guide.

Once you're happy with your final result, you'll need to save the video in a format that WATERcompare can accept in order to upload. Unless you're a professional video producer, we recommend that you save your videos as either QuickTime .MOV, Windows .AVI, or .MPG files— these are the most common formats and they work well within our system. We specifically recommend the MPEG4 (Divx, Xvid) format at 320x240 resolution with MP3 audio. Resizing your video to these specifications before uploading will help your clips look better on WATERcompare.

1. Click "Upload Videos" in the upper-right-hand corner of any WATERcompare page.
2. Enter as much information about your video as possible, including Title, Description, Tags, and Category. The more information you include, the easier it is for users to find your video!
3. Click the "Upload a Video" button.
4. In the next window, click the "Browse" button to browse for the video file. Select the file you want to upload.
5. Click the "Upload Video" button.

Depending on your connection speed and the size of the video, it can take anywhere from a few minutes to several hours to upload a video. Generally, if you have a high-speed Internet connection you can expect the upload to take somewhere between 1-5 minutes for every 1MB. However, the experience is different for every user because of the variation in connection speeds.

We recommend the following settings:

• MPEG4 (Divx, Xvid) format
• 320x240 resolution
• MP3 audio
• 30 frames per second

All videos uploaded to WATERcompare have to be under the 500MB file size limit. The longer the video is, the more compression will be required to fit it into that size. For that reason, most videos on WATERcompare are under 20 minutes long. You can compress your video using movie editors, like Windows MovieMaker or Apple iMovie. Programs like these allow you to edit your videos, add soundtracks, and compress file sizes.

We don't have any limit for the number of videos you can upload, and don't foresee adding a ceiling anytime in the future. So start making videos and upload as many as you'd like—it's more content for the whole WATERcompare community to enjoy!

If you already have a digital camcorder (one that captures in Digital8, MiniDV, HDV, or any of the DVD formats), then you're ready to start shooting your masterpiece. Your camcorder will need some kind of direct connection to your computer, either to the USB or FireWire ports or by inserting the DVD you've recorded. Once you've downloaded the video from the camera, you can upload it to WATERcompare or bring it into an editing program to play with it some more. If you have an analog camcorder (one that uses VHS, VHS-C, SVHS-C, 8mm, or Hi8 tape), you can still get your videos onto WATERcompare. It will require an extra step and some additional equipment, though, since these camcorders are not usually equipped with computer connections. You'll need to digitize the video with a converter box, which will convert the analog signal from the camcorder to a digital signal that the computer can understand. After the video has been digitized, you can manipulate it further or upload it.

Most computers come with some sort of video editing application already installed, such as Apple iMovie or Microsoft Movie Maker. Using these programs, you can easily edit your videos, add soundtracks, change the file type, compress the file size, etc. There are also more advanced editing programs available for purchase or download online. We encourage you to look around and find the editing software that's right for you.

To view a video in full screen mode, simply navigate to the video you'd like to watch and click the full screen button located to the bottom-right of the video. As you hover over the button, you'll see it animate to show a representation of our standard video player transforming into a full screen player. Once you click the button, the video will expand so that it covers the majority of your screen.

To exit full screen mode, simply click the "Close" button, which looks like a checkbox at the bottom-right of the full-screen video.