Open Studio #3: Posting secure videos

Patreon Feedback Product Betas
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Hello creators! For our next Open Studio discussion, I’m thrilled to be sharing a concept for delivering exclusive videos to your patrons. You’re not imagining things, this is the second week in a row that Open Studio is focused on posting content. We’re actively investing in improvements to the posting experience because it is a primary way for creators to successfully deliver content to their patrons.

Why are we working on this?

Our Data Science team recently discovered that creators offering tiers with bonus and secure content are able to retain 93% and 92% of pledges, respectively! Many of you have figured this out because you’re already offering bonus content, early access to primary content, behind the scenes, and works in progress as exclusive video benefits to your patrons.

We’ve heard from creators that there isn’t a good way to deliver exclusive video content to your patrons on Patreon. Many of the tools and processes that you’re currently using, for example, could be leaked to the general public. Our goal is to help you deliver unique value to your patrons while providing security that your work only reaches intended audiences.

How it works

We have been exploring integrations with content hosting platforms that allow you and your patron’s experience to remain on Patreon. In the concept below, you’ll be able to upload a video directly on the video post page. The video will be hosted on Vimeo, a video platform known for its privacy settings. We’ll take care of uploading the video to Vimeo and configuring the most secure privacy settings for you. The video will only be available for patrons to view on Patreon. If you want the video to also be available on your website, you can always add more domains to the video’s privacy settings on Vimeo’s website. On the post editor, you can decide whether to post this video to all of your patrons or select specific tiers.

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We know that longer videos can take some time to process, and it can be a hassle to come back to complete your post the next day. If you finish your post and save a draft, we can automatically publish the post for you once the video finishes processing and is available for patrons to view.

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Patrons will be able to view the embedded Vimeo video either through your feed or their own. If anyone has the rare superpower to find the video’s Vimeo link, they’ll be taken to a page that says the video is not found because it’s only viewable on Patreon. This will be a completely secure method for you to deliver exclusive video content to your patrons!

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Feedback we’re looking for

Just a reminder that these designs are a draft for you to give feedback on, and not the final version of what we will build. Some things that will be helpful for us:

  • Does this meet your needs for offering secure videos as a benefit to patrons?
  • Would you want us to automatically publish the post after the video has finished processing?
  • Does creating this post from within Patreon fit well with your current workflow for delivering content to your patrons?
  • Is there anything that concerns you about this integration?
  • Do you have any additional questions?
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Does this meet your needs for offering secure videos as a benefit to patrons?
I like this idea but my concern at the moment is what are the video restrictions? Is NSFW content allowed (as in NSFW artwork progress videos, stuff that talks about adult content, etc. Stuff that’s already in line with patreon’s TOS.)

Would you want us to automatically publish the post after the video has finished processing?
Same as posts, give us the option to post immediately or schedule. (Extra important on mobile because you guys don’t have scheduling on mobile :confused: )

Does creating this post from within Patreon fit well with your current workflow for delivering content to your patrons?
It’s the same as all other post types except lense, it wouldn’t make sense to have it elsewhere. Please make it just another post type or included in the current video post type.

Is there anything that concerns you about this integration?
Just the above question about weather or not Vimeo will allow the content patreon allows, including NSFW content like art process videos, etc. I don’t know if the integration will allow all things patreon will or not and this will impact weather i can really make use of it.

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I don’t do video content myself (yet), but I’ve considered doing animation shorts in the future, is it a concern that vimeo as a platform does not allow adult video posts?

I’m an adult content creator, so an adult animation for instance would be removed on the vimeo platform and would result in your vimeo account being banned permanently - is there a video integration platform that has this security that doesn’t have that limitation? Do you have a deal worked out with vimeo where they won’t ban privated adult content?

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  • Does this meet your needs for offering secure videos as a benefit to patrons?

As @Temrin mentioned, I’m not sure this will work for me since Vimeo doesn’t like nudity (even though they claim it’s okay). I’d would LOVE to have built in videos, but I’m not sure this will work for NSFW creators.

  • Would you want us to automatically publish the post after the video has finished processing?

Scheduling would be fantastic, but I’d be happy either way.

  • Does creating this post from within Patreon fit well with your current workflow for delivering content to your patrons?

If this is made available to creators like me, I would use it all the time! At least a couple times a week probably. I do vlogs often and longer relaxation and dance videos usually once a month.

  • Is there anything that concerns you about this integration?

As mentioned above, I hope this will be available for ALL creators. That’s my only concern.

  • Do you have any additional questions?

Not right now.

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Does this meet your needs for offering secure videos as a benefit to patrons?
Yes - use it a lot and love the control Vimeo offers.

Would you want us to automatically publish the post after the video has finished processing?
Prefer to have control over this.

Does creating this post from within Patreon fit well with your current workflow for delivering content to your patrons?
Yes! I host 5-6 videos per week through unlisted youtube videos and prefer them not shared, so this is super useful.

Is there anything that concerns you about this integration?
Nope! :slight_smile: Thanks!

Do you have any additional questions?
Nope - have an awesome day :slight_smile:

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Thanks for the feedback @Temrin! Being able to schedule a video post makes sense.

Posting secure videos would be part of the current video post type.

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Hi @Temrin, @Watsup, and @dekilah!

Thanks for sharing your concerns around NSFW content. We’re still in the beginning stages of figuring out what an integration for posting secure videos would look like, so it’s helpful for us to know that this needs to be considered.

Thanks again for your feedback!

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Hi @thedailyba! Thanks for your feedback!

I’d love to hear more about the type of control you’d like to have, and how it fits in with your current workflow using Vimeo. Are you currently uploading videos that take a couple of hours to process on Vimeo?

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Is there anything that concerns you about this integration?

I’ve used Vimeo in the past and canceled my pro account after several friends were shut down without warning for posting (private) NSFW content. I’m concerned about this feature relying on a service that doesn’t seem like a good fit for the entire Patreon community.

Would you want us to automatically publish the post after the video has finished processing?

Would there/could there be any kind of option to upload separately & then link up as a private video to the post? I often like to preview/make sure it’s working before blasting out to patrons.

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Does this meet your needs for offering secure videos as a benefit to patrons?

Yes. It’s nice that there’s (in theory) no way to leak the video

Would you want us to automatically publish the post after the video has finished processing?

Actually, no. It would be better to have the option to post or to schedule.

Does creating this post from within Patreon fit well with your current workflow for delivering content to your patrons?

Yes. It’s nice when I -don’t- have to go through 3rd party services and can just do everything right inside Patreon.

Is there anything that concerns you about this integration?

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. Captions. Does Vimeo offer captions? (I honestly have no idea, I looked at them a few years ago, and they did not, but that could have changed).

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This is very exciting. I don’t make videos yet but I want to and I was wondering how to share early access videos.

A question: if I delete the post that has the video, will it delete the video as well? Or will there be another way to manage uploaded videos (like a media library)?

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Thanks for the feedback @myrrh!

As we’re thinking about adding ways to streamline your workflow, it’s helpful to know that you like to preview your posts before publishing. You’ll still have the option to do that. Once the video has finished uploading and processing, you’ll get an email notification with a link to complete and review your post.

Thanks for sharing your concerns around NSFW content. We’re still in the beginning stages of figuring out what an integration for posting secure videos would look like, so it’s helpful for us to know that this needs to be considered.

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Hi @SarahDawn!

Thanks for the feedback! It looks like Vimeo does support captions, but you’ll need to create them through another service: https://help.vimeo.com/hc/en-us/articles/224968828-Captions-and-subtitles

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Hi @Maarika! Thanks for your comment!

In this concept the videos will be hosted on a third-party site, such as Vimeo, you’ll be able to manage the videos there even if the Patreon post is deleted. Hope that helps!

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Yes, this will be awesome! I’m so excited! Previously, I didn’t have a good way to do this, so I didn’t discern what posts go to what tiers, and that really watered down the offering I was making. I really appreciate you understanding our use cases and making tools that reflect them!

Yes, automatically publish, or give me a way to choose. I have s-l-o-o-o-w upload times and would love to know it will post ASAP.

yes, posting in Patreon is great.

What file formats will be optimal for Vimeo - can you make that clear in the posting instructions? I use iMovie and have a few options for output of my videos. Also, will you be adding livestream options at some point, or will I always have to record my livestreams elsewhere and then upload them later if I want to share them with just specific tiers?

Thank you!!!

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This would be a great option for me if I did uploaded videos. I do livestream recordings so I am not sure this would apply. I currently do not use the livestream option from Patreon because my husband and other chat moderators would not have access unless they (a) logged into my account (nope) or (b) were a paying patron (double nope). Until we have the ability to have channel moderators/admins any restricted videos are not going to work for me. I have been looking into using crowdcast but paying $89 a month for something I can do for free on YouTube seems a lot to have to pay for security. I may still do it just because there is not a better alternative right now and they allow me to email the secure links to specific people (my mods and husband).

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I upload anywhere from 1-3 hour videos of long-form course/conference content. When I replied it was more that I want to be able to control when people are notified of it. Sometimes I do a whole two day conference and upload them all, with a scheduled release date to the people that have paid for the access. (I’ve done this via email outside patreon since it wasn’t a feature within patreon). Hope that helps!

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like. thanks for choosing vimeo - much prefer over yt :slight_smile:

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Does this meet your needs for offering secure videos as a benefit to patrons?

Yes. Been waiting for that feature.

Would you want us to automatically publish the post after the video has finished processing?

Sure, makes sense. Maybe send an email when it’s processed?

Does creating this post from within Patreon fit well with your current workflow for delivering content to your patrons?

It’s convenient. Uploading the video on Vimeo and posting the URL on Patreon would also work though.

Do you have any additional questions?

Which Vimeo plan is required? It’s just for the paid plans, isn’t it?
(In which case I can’t use it for the time being.)

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