MP4 and 1080p (compared to WMV and 720p): how important are they for a clip store?

Hello everyone!

I haven't released any new videos in over three years, but I'm hoping to start again very soon. Mind you, I've told people this several times before, but hopefully it will be true this time.

I realize that video standards are constantly evolving, and since I've been out of the game for so long it's possible that my usual presentation might not cut it anymore. The casual, amateurish nature of my videos definitely won't change. But I'm wondering how helpful it would be to mess with video format and resolution.

So far all my videos have been in the WMV format. Also, for the last several years the resolution has usually been 1280x720 (it was 640x480 before that). Certainly not the largest or most versatile compared to 1920x1080 and MP4. But I must admit that I tend to be more comfortable with the parameters I've been using. In particular, because I have a hard time optimizing the picture quality due to so-so lighting and lack of skill/experience, I find that some of my videos look better in 720p than 1080p, in part because video artefacts aren't as noticeable with a smaller picture. So I'm a little reluctant to switch. As for MP4, well, it's obviously become a much more common format over the last few years, quite possibly the standard nowadays (I really don't know), but even then I'm hesitant. I'm just used to encoding videos in 1280x720 WMV and prefer how they look (in terms of resolution, at least). Of course, I'm not the one buying these videos, so maybe my personal preferences aren't the most important.

Anyway, what I'm asking is, how important is it for a tickling video producer to offer larger resolutions and MP4? If one does offer them, should they replace 720p and WMV altogether or should there be multiple versions of each video? Would doing the latter result in a significant increase in sales or would it mostly make my store more cluttered, with just a few extra sales?

Also, if I decide to make 1080p videos (no promises), is there any reason to keep selling 720p ones? Again, it's been a long time since I've been active in this market, so I don't really know if the vast majority of computers can handle 1080p or if there's still a significant demand for 720p. Surprisingly enough, my own computer is 8 years old. I will buy a new one soon, but my current one is still perfectly capable of playing 1080 videos. Then again, it was fairly powerful when I bought it, so I don't know how it compares to the average computer nowadays.

Any advice/comments would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Just saw this post and i realize that its been a while but I personally would love if you released some new clips!

1280x720 has always been fine by me.

I'm very excited to see you release some more videos.

Honestely, what's important is working with good ticklers and genuinaly ticklish ticklees
I almost never buy videos because it's very common to be frustrated with fake non ticklish models after reading that they're "extremely ticklish"

I personally prefer 1080 but I'm fine with 720 and I'm pretty sure most computers these days would have no problem handling 1080. If you're curious about what resolution people would like it's hard to say because there are so many different preferences but I have heard people on here complain about new videos that are anything below 720. So maybe that's something to keep in mind. And I don't think that having one clip in WMV, MP4, MOV, etc. would make your store look cluttered. A lot of stores do that nowadays so I'd guess that it works.

The highest quality the better.....because as time and technology passes, when you look back, you'll want those gems to stand out.

I have older clips that were utterly fantastic, but DAMN I wish they were in better quality!

Hopefully you're still working on your comeback! Love your stuff, bought several of your videos, and still periodically check your website hoping for an update.

As for your format question, my vote is squarely in the 1080 camp. Nearly every screen nowadays can support that resolution, and the extra detail that gets captured makes it worth the file size for me. If I'm trying to get a good look at the models toes, or smile, I want the pixels there to show it.

I don't see the value in carrying multiple formats. As much as making 1080 clips might take more of your time, making 1080 AND 720 would take even more, plus clutter your store.

My two cents, glad to hear the news.

DarkTitan said:

Hopefully you're still working on your comeback!

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I am. Very soon, if I don't procrastinate too much.

the extra detail that gets captured makes it worth the file size for me. If I'm trying to get a good look at the models toes, or smile, I want the pixels there to show it.

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I'm not really concerned about file size, but rather about detail/quality. While I obviously use an HD camcorder, I've never been quite satisfied with the picture quality. Some of the videos can look pretty good, including in 1080, but others seem to suffer from some level of graininess and/or other types of video artefacts. I think part of the cause is that my lighting isn't optimal. That and the reasonable but modest quality of my camcorder, of course. I find that reducing the resolution actually makes the picture look a little better and sharper, because it makes the artifacts less noticeable. I can see how a higher resolution can increase the level of detail, but I'm not sure it's the case with my own videos. To me it seems like it's the opposite. But maybe it's just me and even my videos would look better at 1080. I just don't know.

I don't see the value in carrying multiple formats. As much as making 1080 clips might take more of your time, making 1080 AND 720 would take even more, plus clutter your store.

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I don't see the point either. If I decide to go with 1080 I won't offer 720 versions at the same time. Hopefully most systems can handle 1080. It's more the WMV vs MP4 thing that bugs me a bit. But I'm leaning towards sticking to MP4 from now on.

Thank you for the feedback!


While I'm here, I'd like to mention that I will be closing my website (but not my C4S store, of course) at the end of the month, as it has become a lot less relevant over the years. My email address will also change.

tamfield said:

I hope you can't change your style about clips cause they are really varied about tickling)

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As far as I can tell, the style of my future releases shouldn't be that's much different from that of my older work. But it's hard to tell for sure. It's possible that I've made some gradual changes over the years without realizing it. I've accumulated enough unreleased raw footage for many new series, but haven't worked on editing or even reviewing most of it yet, and obviously I haven't received any feedback from other people about it. So maybe a pattern of new tendencies will be discovered as a produce and release all that material. Whether it will be for better or worse, I really don't know.

tamfield said:

I wonder you will choose which alphabets this time.

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Ah yes, my rather unusual, obscure and sometimes silly video-naming system. Well, I'm assuming most people don't care in the slightest, but just for the hell of it I'd like to go over the alphabets I've used so far and those I might use for future videos.

I named my first video Last Laugh Alpha. That was all the way back in 2002. As I released more videos/series, I continued using the Greek alphabet, so the names were Last Laugh Beta, Last Laugh Gamma, and so on. After a few years, when I split each video into several clips (or scenes) for sale on Clips4Sale, I had to tweek the system a bit. I went with a very simple solution, adding a number at the end of the name of ech clip (for example: Last Laugh Alpha 1, Last Laugh Alpha 2, etc.)

Quite honestly, when I started working on my videos, I never expected to produce enough to actually run out of letters. In fact, I wasn't even sure I would make more than 3 or 4 videos. But it eventually happened. The Greek alphabet served me well from Last Laugh Alpha to Last Laugh Omega.

When I realized that my original naming system was too limited, I figured I might as well just switch to a new alphabet. I found out that, while there are plenty of different alphabets, there aren't that many that have sufficiently distinctive names for their letters. But I eventually settled on the Hebrew alphabet. Many of the letters are similar to Greek, as both languages share a common ancestry, but I felt that the names were different enough for my needs. So I used the Hebrew alphabet from Last Laugh Aleph to Last Laugh Tav.

That still wasn't enough to cover all the video series I was releasing, so yet a new alphabet was needed. I decided to go for something even more obscure: Elder Futhark, an old Germanic runic alphabet. I've been using it since Last Laugh Fehu, all the way to the last series I've released, Last Laugh Ingwaz. But I'll run out of letters (or runes) after only two more series.

So what comes next? I figure I might go with Futhorc, an Anglo-Saxon runic alphabet that evolved from Elder Futhark. Some of the letter names are very similar, but just different enough to be valid for my videos. Not very original on my part, but, oh well.

I have a few more ideas in case I use up all of Futhorc, which is actually entire possible if I don't get so tired of producing all that unused material that I decide to just give everything up. Candidates include Gothic, Old Irish, as well as the more fanciful Enochian, which is the mythical, occult alphabet (and language) of the angels.

tamfield said:

I'm sure that your new works would be great,you shouldn't worry too much about that.I will be waiting impatiently your new clips.I wish you all the best of luck.

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Thank you, I appreciate it.

tamfield said:

That's great.Maybe you could also try to use Tengwar(Elvish) alphabet.It sounds promising though

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I actually considered that option in the past. I mean, if I'm thinking of using a fictitious alphabet (Enochian), why not another? But while I'm not exactly worried about legal action from the Tolkien Estate, somehow it just doesn't seem right to me.