It was subject of a very interesting research by eMarketer, stating that not only marketers in China plan on increasing digital spending in 2012, but the main target of that spending is video.

eMarketer forecasted that online ad spending in the country will increase 39% in 2012 (after being increased 43.2% in 2011), “driven by strong growth in both internet penetration and online activities such as online video, social media and search.”

Video was in fact the top answer, with 23% of the marketers surveyed expected to devote most of the increased spending to that medium in 2012.

eMarketer estimates that online ad spending in China will reach $7.36 billion in 2012, and more than double to $16.48 billion by 2016.

In a country with such a big economy and growth, that is big news for online video worlwide.

This study is also interesting in the light of the March announcement that the two biggest video sites in China – Youku and Tudou -will merge, showing a consolidation of online video in the region.

Featured and world premiering at the Quinzaine Des Realisateurs at Cannes this week, the Franco-Belgian film was directed by Benjamin Renner, Stéphane Aubier, Vincent Patar and based on a children’s book by Gabrielle Vincent about:

This is the story of the friendship between Ernest, a big bear who wants to become an artist and Celestine, a little mouse who doesn’t want to become a dentist.

Great animation, great colors, great characters, awesome stuff. Check out this clip first:

And here’s another clip:

We cannot wait to see the whole thing!

And particularly impressive since it hit the 60 hours milestone just a few months ago, and 48 hours a mere year ago.

“Every single minute you now upload three whole days worth of video.”

This was announced as Youtube turned 7 years old, and the stats on the video they made really show the growth from its inception. Take a look:

The video giant has other reasons to be happy too. As PaidContent analyzed from the latest comScore report, the number of minutes spent watching Youtube grew 55% over April of 2011, to an average of 434.8 minutes.

Ad serving also continues to grow with the recent launch Google Adwords for Video (and April was record-breaking in terms of number of video ads watched), so Youtube shows no signs of slowing down.

It won’t be long until it breaks the 100 Hour mark in uploads per minute too, when do you think that will be?

Here we go:

10. Kevin Allocca: Why videos go viral

Kevin Allocca is YouTube’s trends manager, and he has deep thoughts about silly web video. In this talk from TEDYouth, he shares the 4 reasons a video goes viral. (This is the first talk posted from an amazing TEDYouth event. Many others will come on line next month as part of our TED-Ed launch. We can’t wait …)

Kevin Allocca watches YouTube videos. For his job.

9. The Clues To A Great Story, With Pixar’s Andrew Stanton

Filmmaker Andrew Stanton (“Toy Story,” “WALL-E”) shares what he knows about storytelling — starting at the end and working back to the beginning. (Contains graphic language …)

Andrew Stanton has made you laugh and cry. The writer behind the three “Toy Story” movies and the writer/director of “WALL-E,” he releases his new film, “John Carter,” in March.

8. Salman Khan: Let’s use video to reinvent education

Salman Khan talks about how and why he created the remarkable Khan Academy, a carefully structured series of educational videos offering complete curricula in math and, now, other subjects. He shows the power of interactive exercises, and calls for teachers to consider flipping the traditional classroom script — give students video lectures to watch at home, and do “homework” in the classroom with the teacher available to help.

In 2004, Salman Khan, a hedge fund analyst, began posting math tutorials on YouTube. Six years later, he has posted more than 2.000 tutorials, which are viewed nearly 100,000 times around the world each day.

7. James Cameron: Before Avatar … a curious boy

James Cameron’s big-budget (and even bigger-grossing) films create unreal worlds all their own. In this personal talk, he reveals his childhood fascination with the fantastic — from reading science fiction to deep-sea diving — and how it ultimately drove the success of his blockbuster hits “Aliens,” “The Terminator,” “Titanic” and “Avatar.”

James Cameron is the director of Avatar, Titanic, Terminator, The Abyss and many other blockbusters. While his outsize films push the bounds of technology, they’re always anchored in human stories with heart and soul.

6. Charlie Todd: The shared experience of absurdity

Charlie Todd causes bizarre, hilarious, and unexpected public scenes: Seventy synchronized dancers in storefront windows, “ghostbusters” running through the New York Public Library, and the annual no-pants subway ride. At TEDxBloomington he shows how his group, Improv Everywhere, uses these scenes to bring people together.

Charlie Todd is the creator of Improv Everywhere, a group that creates absurd and joyful public scenes.

5. David Kelley: How to build your creative confidence

Is your school or workplace divided into “creatives” versus practical people? Yet surely, David Kelley suggests, creativity is not the domain of only a chosen few. Telling stories from his legendary design career and his own life, he offers ways to build the confidence to create… (From The Design Studio session at TED2012, guest-curated by Chee Pearlman and David Rockwell.)

David Kelley’s company IDEO helped create many icons of the digital generation — but what matters even more to him is unlocking the creative potential of people and organizations to innovate routinely.

4. Adam Sadowsky engineers a viral music video

The band “OK Go” dreamed up the idea of a massive Rube Goldberg machine for their next music video — and Adam Sadowsky’s team was charged with building it. He tells the story of the effort and engineering behind their labyrinthine creation that quickly became a YouTube sensation.

As the president of Syyn Labs, Adam Sadowsky merges art and technology to create interactive projects big and small.

3. Franco Sacchi tours Nigeria’s booming Nollywood

Zambia-born filmmaker Franco Sacchi tours us through Nollywood, Nigeria’s booming film industry (the world’s 3rd largest). Guerrilla filmmaking and brilliance under pressure from crews that can shoot a full-length feature in a week.

Franco Sacchi is the director of This Is Nollywood, the story of Nigeria’s massive homegrown film industry.

2. J.J. Abrams’ mystery box

J.J. Abrams traces his love for the unseen mystery –- a passion that’s evident in his films and TV shows, including Cloverfield, Lost and Alias — back to its magical beginnings.

Writer, director and producer J.J. Abrams makes smart, addictive dramas like TV’s Lost, and films like Cloverfield and the new Star Trek.

1. Chris Anderson: How web video powers global innovation

TED’s Chris Anderson says the rise of web video is driving a worldwide phenomenon he calls Crowd Accelerated Innovation — a self-fueling cycle of learning that could be as significant as the invention of print. But to tap into its power, organizations will need to embrace radical openness. And for TED, it means the dawn of a whole new chapter …

After a long career in journalism and publishing, Chris Anderson became the curator of the TED Conference in 2002 and has developed it as a platform for identifying and disseminating ideas worth spreading.

And there you go. What is your favourite and most inspirational TED Talk (either on this list or not)?

ONLINE VIDEO BUSINESS

Google leads $35M funding round for Machinima

YouTube’s first transmedia sitcom goes above and beyond

(ED: this was also a subject of a post right here on the Wooshii blog)

Do Video Sharing Apps Like Viddy & SocialCam Threaten YouTube’s Dominance?

Turner Broadcasting Takes a Bite of Funny or Die

Gasp! Thanks To These Startups, Teachers Are Making Money On The Web

MythBusters’ Adam Savage Cries Foul on Fake YouTube Virtuosity

YouTube Expands Its Merchandise Store To All Partners, Not Just Musicians

CREATIVE INSPIRATION

Van Goghs Ultra-Perspective Works (Tilt-shift)

Digital Cameras Could Soon Be Able to Shoot Video for Longer Than Ever—But Is That Better?

Watch How This Time-Expanding Car Commercial Was Painstakingly Stitched Together

“Lazy Sunday 2″

Creating Still Photographs by Extracting Frames from HD Video

Neil Gaiman’s Commencement Address

Is There a More Awesome Combination Than Pizza and Animated Gifs? Doubt It

NEW WOOSHII PROJECTS

Photo shoot in lab (Glasgow)

Informational Product Video for International Couriers

Slot machine graphic & animation (~$400 per game)

And there you have it for another week. Till the next one

It has been used in a variety of films, TV, and music videos, and it’s an awesome shot when used right. You want to know how to build your own DIY version? Then listen to Wooshii member Justin Johson tell us all about it in a great video for the Vimeo Video School, where he and Erik Beck show us how to build one for under $200.

Check it out:

A little bit of trivia: the SnorriCam is named after two Icelandic photographers and directors, Einar Snorri and Eiður Snorri, who worked together under the name Snorri Bros (but are not otherwise related).

Here’s a final recap of all the things needed and steps to make your own SnorriCam:

Materials:

+ Skateboard deck

+ Manfrotto Articulating Light Arm

+ Light Arm camera platform

+ Manfrotto female pigeon plate (1-1/8″)

+ Non-slip adhesive pads (1-1/2″)

+ Various nuts and bolts including U-bolts

+ Nylon straps and buckles

+ Metal tie downs

+ Thin foam sheet

Steps:

1. Measure and cut the skateboard deck in half.

2. Measure 3-4 inches from the top of one of the deck’s halves and cut the tip off. Save this piece for later!

3. Trim and sand the cut edges of the skateboard deck. You don’t want to get a splinter when you’re wearing it!

4. Place the Manfrotto Articulating Arm in the female pigeon plate. Hold one of the skateboard halves to your chest, then place the arm on top of that to figure out how high you want to mount it on the deck. Mark this off with a marker, then drill out the holes. Erik found that 3-4 inches from the bottom of the board was the right level for his rig.

5. Using small nuts and flush-mount bolts, attach the pigeon plate to the skateboard deck. You may also want to use the non-slip adhesive pads to add extra shock absorption between the arm and the chest board (skateboard half).

6. Place the metal tie-down plates in the top left and right corners of the skateboard half you’ll be mounting on your chest. Mark these holes with a marker, then drill them out. Now you can place the buckle part of the nylon strap under the tie-down plate to attach the straps to the front of the board. Bolt these down while making sure the buckles point out ever so slightly.

7. On the chest board, mark and drill out holes for two U-bolts, approximately 1 to 2 inches from the bottom on the left and right.

8. On the back board, mark and drill out holes for another metal tie-down, approximately 2 inches from the bottom and centered. Slip a bungee cord under the tie-down plate and bolt it into place.

9. Retrieve the piece of wood you sawed off your board in step 2 and use it along with the back board to sandwich the nylon straps. Spread glue between these two pieces, then bolt them together.

10. To make the rig more comfortable, cut some thin foam to fit the inside of the chest and back board. You’ll want to use hot glue to make sure this stays in place. Make sure you cut out sections of the foam to expose the bolts in case you have to make changes later.

Testing and Use:

1. Thread the nylon straps from the back board through the front buckles, then place it over your head to wear like a sandwich board.

2. Attach the hooks from your bungee cord to the loops your U-bolts make in the front, then tighten down the nylon straps.

3. Insert the camera arm into the pigeon plate. Add gaff tape to the articulating arm to create a snug fit between the female pigeon plate and the arm.

4. If you’re starring in your own snorricam video, ask a friend help you with final framing while wearing the rig. They will be able to see and help you compose the shot.

PPro tip: When using the rig, be sure to hide it under clothing so you don’t see it in your shot!

Congrats, you just learned how to set up and use a snorricam. Don’t forget to thank the Snorri Bros. and The Indie Machines for helping you add a dynamic new perspective to your videos!

Here are some highlights:

- Video ads saw another record-breaking month with nearly 9.5 billion, representing 1 in 5 videos viewed online in April. The last month was record breaking too and had 8.3 billion ads watched;

- The total overall number of videos watched was 37 billion;

- And of all the US population, 181 million U.S. Internet users watched online video in that month;

- every one of those people watched 1,307 minutes of online video content;

- The duration of the average online content video was 6.4 minutes, while the average online video ad was 0.4 minutes.

- Video ads accounted for 20.5 percent of all videos viewed and 1.6 percent of all minutes spent viewing video online.

- 4 Billion minutes of video ads were watched;

- Video ads reached 52 percent of the total U.S. population an average of 60 times during the month.

With no surprise, Google Sites (Youtube) was where people saw the most video, followed by Yahoo Sites, Vevo and Facebook.

When it comes to where Americans saw the most vidoe ads, no surprises either, as Hulu tops the list yet again, with 1.6 billion video ads delivered, but closely followed by Google with 1.3 billion. Hulu also delivered the highest frequency of video ads to its viewers with an average of 49, while ESPN delivered an average of 27 ads per viewer.

The signs are clear: more and more people are watching video ads today, and video ad networks are getting better and better at putting them in front of viewers. As there are more ways to let customers see your videos today than ever, and as there are ways to make a video or have your video made, the opportunity for businesses to get into online video and take full advantage of all its benefis are easier than ever.

And one thing that shows it’ coming shortly is a brand new video by Nike Football. One that is the top shared video worldwide in the past 24 hours, and that has since last Friday got nearly 9 Million views.

Watch it first, we’ll discuss it after it:

Here are 5 things we can learn from i, when it comes to making a video marketing campaign:

1 -Go after a lot of targets. In this case, they have a lot of players that each means a lot to several countries and several teams. By having plenty of them even from different generations (as it is the whole point of the video), and with a big following each, Nike got a huge number of people that felt connected with the video, even if for different reasons (different targets).

Proof of it is the language ditribuition of the video views, whereas usually it is very english-centric, this one is much varied:

2 – Have a clear concept for the video campaign. The whole concept of it is very clear and easy to understand: the young and the older generation face each other. If you try to make the concept for your video too complex, you will loose your audience.

3 -Give your audience some easter eggs. This video has stuck quite a few easter eggs on the video (or “hidden tunnels” as they call it). You can only see them here – http://www.youtube.com/nikefootball – but that provides additional fun and reasons to watch the video again than most videos out there – even a Sonic mini game!

4 – Make it long, for multiple purposes. This video is 3 minutes long, arguably not the best length for a video to go viral. But it has (mainly for the first reason above), and Nike is certainly using this video as two or three TV ads, plus having the whole video on the web. This makes their buck count and be used to the maximum extent – they can portions of the same vidoe in a variety of platforms.

5 – Make them root for something. In this video you find yourself rooting for some footballer or another, and that’s kind of easy when the subject of a video is sports, but it doesn’t just work with that world – you find yourself rooting for characters in movies too, for example.

If it’s a video for a chainsaw brand, you can make the audience rooting for the person cutting down a piece of wood, or even struggling to turn the chainsaw on. This sort of thing makes the audience connect with the video and thus be more emotionally involved – and that’s key to sharing and multiple viewing.

-

So there you have it, a great new video and campaign from Nike Football leading us to the Euro 2012, and plenty of lessons we can take from it.

Made by Toasted Productions who won the pitch, the video features live-action footage – some of it filmed at sweet 1000fps with a IDT Redlake camera – and nice motion graphics.

Check it out::

Things like improved and faster rendering, raytracing, 3d motion tracking

Awesome new tools, right?

If you want to go in-depth on these, here are a few other tutorials from vfxbro has other tutorials –

Ray Tracing

3d Camera Tracking

What do you think of these new features?