Revision3 Blog: Announcements category

It’s been a very busy summer here at Revision3 in case you haven’t noticed. In addition to creating and releasing great shows like Diggnation and Internet Superstar, we’ve added Epic Fu and Wine Library Reserve and have got even more great shows coming. But building the next generation of television isn’t just about creating shows. No, it’s also about using the technology that we’re lucky to have access to help complete our mission. And what is that mission exactly? We want our viewers to enjoy our shows anywhere, anytime and on any device.

Part of executing on that mission involved working with great partners to get our shows on their platforms or devices and we get super psyched when we do launch on a device or platform as cool as TIVO or Metacafe. So you can imagine my excitement in being able to share with you all that we’re proud to announce that you can now watch Revision3 on your TIVO or on Metacafe!

TIVO defined what the Digital Video Recorder is to many of us. Every DVR that has been released has looked to TIVO to try and emulate their awesome experience. So now, if you head over to their VIDEO DOWNLOADS section, you will see EVERY Revision3 show on there for your enjoyment. So, if you own a TIVO go ahead and sample our shows, subscribe to your favorite and enjoy our shows in their full resolution glory on your TV!

But if you like watching your video on the web and you’re a fan of the excellent site Metacafe, you can now head over to our channel on Metacafe at www.metacafe.com/revision3/. There you can check out all our great shorter form shows for quick and fun video viewing.

We’re doing our best to bring our shows to you everywhere you want them to be, and the best part is, there’s even more great things coming. Stay tuned and keep watching as much Revision3 as you can and don’t forget to tell your friends.

Thanks.

Although we’ve been expanding the topics we cover here at Revision3, we always have a sweet spot for the hard core tech. It’s where we came from, and SYSTM and Tekzilla are still among our biggest shows. So when I met the guys from the popular online video show Hak5 at our NY Diggnation in June, naturally the conversation steered towards hooking up.

And hook up we did! I’m pleased to announce that Hak5 is coming over to Revision3, and will join our stable of oustanding online video programming. The three year old program will debut here the week of September 8th, and even more exciting for existing fans: it’s moving from monthly to weekly!

It’s been an interesting summer for Hak5. Their studios were flooded back in the spring, which resulted in a completely new set. The good news is that they built out an amazing area to shoot in, which should add even more depth and visual interest to the show.

We’re glad to have them on board. Please join me in welcoming the team from Hak5 to Revision3! I can’t wait to see the first episode (I hear it involves a pineapple, but that’s all I’ll say).

Jim Louderback

In the bad old days, if you want to get a show on TV you had to head to Hollywood, suck up to guys with more pinky rings than sense, and pimp yourself out for years before getting your dream on the air.

The alternative? Local access cable. Party on Wayne.

But the internet has changed all that. Now anyone with a dollar and a dream (and a video camera) can create entertaining, compelling and fascinating content - and then post it for all the world to see. Alas, just because you put it up doesn’t mean you’ll build an audience.

That’s where we come in. Our Revision3 shows have proven that all kinds of concepts, shows and hosts can build big audiences. But there are way more shows than even we can bring through Revision3’s destination site. But we want to help the next crop of talented show producers develop their skills and find and audience. So today we’re launching Revision3 Beta, our farm team of up and coming shows.

This is not just another user-generated video site. Not anyone can become a Revision3 Beta show. We’re going to be hand picking a small group of shows with promise, and then we’ll be launching them inside our new Revision3 beta destination site - and then helping them to develop. Who’s leading the way here? None other than the internet’s Martin Sargent, who along with being an amazingly creative show host and producer is gifted at spotting and nurturing creative talent.

Got a show you’ve been slaving over? Head over to Revision3 Beta and upload it for Martin to look at. Even if we don’t pick it up for Revision3 Beta, he’ll spend some time giving you feedback and helping you craft the next best thing.

What sort of shows will you find on Revision3 Beta? We’re not saying yet - but we’ve got a half-dozen cool new shows lined up that we’ll be launching in mid September, right on the Revision3 Beta site.

Oh, and one last shout out to the great folks at Viddler, one of our favorite online video destinations. Revision3 Beta is powered by Viddler, which will make it simple to create, upload, watch and promote our new lineup of shows.

So if you’ve got a great show, upload it to Revision3 Beta today. And look for our mid-September launch of the first crop of what we’re confident will become the next big things in Internet Television.

Jim Louderback

The tech team here at Revision3 is constantly making small changes to the code underlying the website, and occasionally tweaking the video encoding parameters in an effort to make our show files smaller, or better-looking, or both. Most of the time, these changes are invisible to the naked eye (unless you know what to look for). Starting with today’s Tekzilla, though, there is a change to the High Definition file format that you might actually notice if you look closely. Technical explanation follows!

Ever since Revision3 started releasing Pixel Perfect in HD back in September 2006, we’ve released our HD content in Apple’s QuickTime format. QuickTime’s MOV container was the easiest way for us to provide High Definition video compressed in the H.264 codec, which provides the best-looking video at the relatively low bitrates needed to control bandwidth costs and reduce your download times. From now on, though, we are using the MP4 container to hold our H.264 video. The MP4 container (or, “MPEG-4 part 14″) is actually based on the QuickTime MOV container, but has the blessing of the ISO (International Standards Organization), and much wider device support.

What does this mean for you, the viewer? Well, if you’re already a happy viewer of our QuickTime format files, you should be able to continue viewing happily - the main difference you might notice the filenames end with “.mp4″ instead of “.mov”. If you have a player or device that supports MP4 files, but not QuickTime - like, say a Sony PS3 or an Xbox 360, you can now start watching Revision3 in High Def!

Want to see something cool? Head over to our brand new Revision3 channel on YouTube.

It’s one small step for YouTube, one giant leap for Revision3! Now everything we produce is available on YouTube - and our channel is absolutely one of the best looking destinations inside the giant video site.

Read all about it in our Revision3 / YouTube press release, if you want more details. But now you can enjoy our revolutionary programs anywhere YouTube is served.

— Jim Louderback

As summer kicks into gear, we’re proud to introduce you to Intern Row, a new blog that will be written, managed, and produced by the interns here at Revision3. Each one of our wonderful interns will contribute to the blog and it will be updated frequently.

Revision3 is a firm believer in providing opportunity and experience to those who participate in the internship program. We take interns from all across the nation and give each and everyone of them the ability to work on all of our shows from any and every direction; various responsibilities include shooting, editing, promoting, marketing and business development. Intern Row provides yet another opportunity for our interns to talk about their experiences while at Revision3, along with any related interests they may have.

Think of this blog as another way for you to get behind the scenes of Revision3. Not only will the interns discuss their experiences in and out of the office, but they will also blog and vlog about current events along with other various interests of theirs.

The interns are more than welcome to suggestions for content, so if you want to see something specifically be sure to leave a comment here, on Intern Row, or in the forums.

- Ron Richards

When it comes to wine expertise, no one has more experience, understanding and charisma than Gary Vaynerchuk. He’s clearly the internet’s wine steward, guide and host.

Over the past year, he’s built legions of “Vayniacs”, fans who just can’t get enough of his wine video program Wine Library TV. Every day Gary provides an approachable, energetic and enthusiastic review of 2-3 wines, as he “sniffy-sniffs”, tastes and rates the world’s fermented berry juice.

Don’t think pretentious, though. He’ll never discuss a wine’s bouquet, or use high-falutin’ words that mean nothing. Instead, Wine Library TV is dedicated to dropping the veils of mystery from what ought to be a pleasant, affordable and wonderful accent to life’s meals, gatherings and every-day occasions.

As a clear internet expert, it’s only natural that Wine Library and Revision3 hook up. Gary’s clearly a wine geek, and he’s dedicated to turning everyone else into a passionate wine fan – and shaking up the establishment along the way. And that’s what we do here at Revision3: shake up the established order while helping our viewers expand their passions.

So today we’re pleased to bring Wine Library TV into Revision3. You can watch and subscribe to the program here. But there’s more than just brining the show to you. We’ve added a new twist. Although Wine Library TV is an amazingly fun show to watch, at 15-20 minutes a day it really requires a substantial level of commitment to watch every single episode. I’m a huge fan, and I only manage to watch a few each week.

So for those of you new to Wine Library TV (and those of you like me, with super-short attention spans), we’re proud to announce Wine Library Reserve. With this new program we’ve summarized, and edited a 15-20 minute program down to its essence, to its core, and extracted the best of the best in five minutes or less.

Want a taste of what the Wine Library experience is all about? Try Wine Library Reserve. You’ll be hooked! Then, if something really intrigues you, watch the whole episode.

Because (as Gary says at the end of every episode), you, with a little help from me (Gary) – and now us at Revision3 – are changing the wine world.

Welcome to the revolution. Not only will it be televised, but chances are Gary will find the perfect wine to go along with it.

Hey everyone! Everyone here at Revision3 is putting a whole bunch of effort into building out a brand new Revision3 store and merchandise site. That means new shirts, hats, hoodies, stickers, wristbands, headbands, mouse pads, mugs, beer openers, and everything else awesome.

In an effort to make sure we provide you with everything that you want / need, we are looking to you for thoughts and suggestions about products we could supply from the store. We are open to any and every idea (as long as it is appropriate and possible) for every show. For example, AJ Vaynerchuk (a summer intern of ours) designed a concept for a Revision3 sneaker:

As you can see when we say anything, we really mean it! In addition to the products available in store, we’re going to be planning on some great free giveaways and stuff like that.

If you want to make a suggestion you can either leave a comment on this blog post, or make your way over to the Revision3 forums (here) and join the discussion there! An early favorite of the forums posters (and ours) is the laptop skins!

We are truly excited about getting this thing going and thank you in advance for all of the suggestions!
- David Prager

This truly is an epic announcement. I’m overjoyed to say that the amazingly entertaining, cool and ground-breaking show Epic Fu is now a part of the Revision3 lineup.

You can read all about it in our Revision3 Epic Fu press release. But let me just add a few more comments.

First, if you’ve never seen Epic Fu, you are in for a BIG treat. The show is wonderfully produced, full of great information about the web and modern culture, and so fast paced, even the Taz the hyperactive Tasmanian Devil would love it.

Second, host Zadi Diaz is a legitimate force on the internet. She’s developed an amazingly strong and loyal fan base, and via their innovative social network, Epic Fu has created an awesome on-line community, called MIX that extends the experience of the show out in virtually every direction. I’m excited to both bring Revision3’s core audience into that community, and to learn from them as we extend and enhance the communities around our other shows.

Finally, producer Steve and Zadi are some of the nicest people I’ve ever had the privilege to work with. Someone said to me recently that the truly talented are the most humble and real, and that obnoxiously over the top egotists are comparatively lacking in the talent department. If that’s true, Steve and Zadi are prime examples. They are genuine, real, talented and wonderful to work with. I encourage you to watch, download and subscribe. I know you’ll quickly become a passionate Epic Fu fan… just like me!

Revision3 is now available on Viddler.com! As we continue to add new partners to the Revision3 family, we are particularly excited to announce that starting today, we have teamed up with Viddler to bring you all of your favorite shows.

We believe Viddler is the next great online video destination and absolutely love the team behind the start up. This is just the beginning of a great partnership, the thunder before the storm, if you will. Please help support Viddler and checking out all of the Revision3 shows you know and love in their brilliant player, like last week’s Diggnation. This is the beginning of a great partnership with more to come soon!