Your first upload is the moment a recording on your memory card becomes a submission. Getting there takes a handful of steps, and none of them are complicated. This walkthrough shows you the order, so nothing has to be hunted for on the first attempt.
If you want to know what happens to your clip afterwards, the article on automatic video distribution explains the machinery behind it. This one covers the part that stays in your hands.
Before you upload
Watch the recording once more from beginning to end. Does the scene make sense without any background knowledge? Can a viewer tell what happens, and when? If both answers are yes, the clip is a good starting point.
Check your camera clock as well. A clock set wrong costs you credibility later, and it cannot be corrected after the fact. Note down where the scene took place while you still remember it. You will need both details for the description in a moment.
Copy the original file from the memory card to your computer. Never work directly on the card, because the recording loop overwrites older files without asking.
Creating and setting up an account
A submission needs an account. Registration asks only for the essentials, and once your address is confirmed you can start straight away.
Take a moment for your profile. The name shown there is the name channel operators see alongside your submission. Check your email address too, since every response about your clips travels through it.
Note
You also need an account if you run a channel yourself. The channel operator role is requested from inside your account afterwards.
Uploading and choosing channels
Now you upload the file. Keep the page open while it transfers. For large files a stable connection matters more than a fast one, because an interruption costs you the whole transfer.
Next you choose the channels your clip should be offered to. This is the most important step, and the decision stays entirely with you. No channel receives a clip you did not select. If you are unsure, look at what a channel usually publishes and decide from there.
Finally, describe briefly what can be seen. Two or three sentences are enough: place, time, situation. Anything unusual belongs there too, such as poor visibility or a manoeuvre that happens near the edge of the frame.
After you submit
Your submission appears in your overview. It shows which channels received an offer and where each one stands. Responses also reach you by email.
Nothing happening immediately is normal. Channels review incoming material at their own pace, and an offer expires after a while so your clip is not tied up indefinitely. Until then there is nothing for you to do.
If you want to be quicker next time, routine helps: secure the recording, check the clock, write the note, upload, choose channels. By the third submission it runs alongside everything else.
