How to upgrade to the new YouTube channels look

You work hard on your channel and your videos, so we’re doing the same on making channels look their best on YouTube. That’s why in December, we launched an updated look and new templates for channels, as well as features across the site to keep you better connected with the channels you enjoy.

Like a great symphony, these channels and features work best when everyone is playing on the same page. So that’s why we’re encouraging you to update your channel to the new look, and by March 7 we’ll be updating everyone. If you have a YouTube channel and 15 minutes today, select the “Try the new design” button on the top of your channel page that will give you step-by-step instructions for updating.

The step-by-step was a good start, but I want more info. Whatcha got?

• Use this Checklist to make sure you have the main parts of your channel covered
• Want to do more? The YouTube Creator Playbook has a special section just for improving your channel, as well as a ton of YouTube tips from the best in the biz
• Still have questions? Stop by the Help Center for more answers

Why the change?
We know how hard it is to find great content on YouTube (you’re uploading 60 hours of video per minute), so when viewers find your channel we want to help you keep them there, and keep them coming back. All uploaders are not the same, so now you have four different templates to best suit your needs: Creator, Blogger, Network and Everything. With the old design, it wasn’t always easy for viewers to browse your channel. However, we loved parts of the old channels design too (heck, many hours and Red Bulls were consumed to build it), like your ability to feature content. So we’ve enabled a new Featured Tab that offers you the ability to keep doing that.

I’m freaking out — please don’t change this!
We know change is never easy, especially when it’s something you’ve spent lots of time and effort on. Even more, there are human beings at YouTube who look at every piece of feedback, bucket them into categories, and work with product teams to address them each week. So whenever you see a blue "Send Feedback" link, know that that's not some decorative ornament. It's for real. So give your feedback because we (humans) need it to keep creating ways for YouTube to showcase your channels.

The YouTube team

Watch a star-studded reading of the play '8' live on YouTube this Saturday night

Editor’s note: From time to time we invite guests to the blog to talk about a topic of interest. We’re thrilled to have Rob Reiner, actor and director, join us today.

I want to invite you to come to YouTube on Saturday, March 3, to watch a reading of a powerful new play, 8, about marriage equality and the Proposition 8 trial.

The play, written by Academy Award winning screenwriter Dustin Lance Black (Milk), is an account of the case filed by the American Foundation for Equal Rights (AFER) in the U.S. District Court in 2010 to overturn Proposition 8, a constitutional amendment that eliminated the rights of same-sex couples to marry in the state of California. Framed around the trial's historic closing arguments in June 2010, 8 provides an intimate look at what unfolded when the issue of same-sex marriage was put on trial in the U.S.

At the time of the trial, the Supreme Court ruled against allowing cameras in the courtroom, preventing anyone outside the court from witnessing the proceedings. Today, we’re able to give people around the world a look at what happened behind closed doors via the live stream of this reading of 8 on AFER’s YouTube channel.

I hope you'll join me, George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Martin Sheen, Kevin Bacon, Jane Lynch, Matthew Morrison, Jamie Lee Curtis and others who will be performing in the West Coast premiere this Saturday evening at 7:45pm PT (pre-show begins at 7:30pm PT). Tune in to youtube.com/americanequalrights to watch the event live streamed from the Wilshire Ebell Theatre in Los Angeles, Calif.



Rob Reiner, director of 8 and founding board member of AFER, recently watched “Prop 8 Unconstitutional: The Highlight Reel”.

Versus: liberating opinion with Google+ Hangouts

Whether enabling voters to interview their President, or connect underwater in a project to photograph the ocean floor, Google+ Hangouts are being used in amazing ways. Not only do Hangouts have the ability to connect people on opposite sides of the planet, they can also connect people on opposing sides of the social and political spectrum. We’re delighted to announce that a new series of global debates, that will be live streamed on YouTube, will do exactly that.

Versus, from Intelligence²—an organization committed to revitalizing the art of live debate—will give you the chance to question people who are close to the decisions being made on topical issues, on both sides of the debate. Real-time voting on the channel will also let the speakers know how their arguments are resonating with viewers.



The first motion to be debated is “It’s time to end the War on Drugs.” The debate will air diverse opinions from the likes of +Richard Branson, +Russell Brand, +Julian Assange, and experts such as the former Presidents from Mexico and Brazil, among others. BBC newsreader and presenter +Emily Maitlis will chair the debate.

The debate will be streamed live on the Versus YouTube channel on March 13 at 7pm GMT. From now until then, we invite you to discuss the issues and join the debate on the Versus page, where you’ll also find out how you could have the chance to secure a place in the live debate hangout.

Anna Bateson, director of YouTube marketing, EMEA, recently watched "Richard Branson: No More Drug War (2011 International Drug Policy Reform Conference)."

Meet marydoodles, our February YouTube Partner On The Rise

This year’s not-so-short month of February brought us lots of talented YouTube Partners as part of our monthly "On The Rise" program, and in the end, marydoodles, was the partner featured on today's YouTube homepage.

Mary Gutfleisch came to Los Angeles by way of Minnesota and Chicago, and now spends her days making props and costumes for Epic Rap Battles of History. But her true passion is making pictures - her work spans techniques such as watercolor painting, pen and ink, and chalk drawings. And the subjects of Mary’s work are just as varied: she’s covered dragons, teddy bears, zombie-style self portraits, and she’s even captured the elusive narwhal.



Here are a few words from Mary:

First off, I’d love to give a big shout out to every single teacher who caught me drawing in their class but never made me stop. It was very rude of me. I apologize. I’ve always loved creating art and I LOVE movies and making videos! So to be able to combine the two...it feels like the best Christmas ever and it’s not even Christmas. And the most amazing thing is that this is all supported by many many many individuals (like yourself) who watch. So thank YOU! And thanks to the folks at YouTube for recognizing my channel and to all my friends over at Epic Rap Battles of History for letting me ride your coattails (I will dry clean your coat). It’s awesome to be able to connect with other artists and fans alike and I hope to inspire you as much as you’ve inspired me. Art is more accessible now than ever before and I feel lucky to be able to sharedji/kjmOMG! I JUST SPILLED HOT TEA ALL OVER MY ARM!!!

If you’ve enjoyed this monthly On The Rise blog series and want to see more rising YouTube partners, check out our On The Rise Channel. Keep an eye out for next month’s blog post, as your channel may be the next one On The Rise!

Christine Wang and Devon Storbeck, YouTube Partner Support, recently watched "The Orangutan and the Hound."

TED’s 10 Ads Worth Spreading winners announced today

Today’s guest blog post comes from Ronda Carnegie, Head of Global Partnerships at TED.

Last October, we at TED set out to recognize the best in advertising with a program called Ads Worth Spreading. We wanted to find and honor clever, engaging ads that clearly communicated a company’s ideas, sparked thoughtful conversation about advertising, and advocated for audiences, who want to be entertained, not interrupted. Agencies and industry luminaries were invited to submit nominations via YouTube.

The winners of the second Ads Worth Spreading initiative were announced moments ago at the TED Conference in Long Beach, CA. This year’s 10 winners were carefully curated to shine a spotlight on ads that break the mold through longer-form, idea-based storytelling; were driven by ideas; value human attention and intelligence, and take the time to tell a thought-provoking story.

Entries ranged from 30-second spots to five-minute mini-documentaries, as well as several custom-made TED Talk-like pieces humanizing companies and causes. The winning work will be showcased at TED2012 as well as on TED.com and you can watch them all here on YouTube. Enjoy the full list of winners below!

The 2011/12 Ads Worth Spreading are:               

Chipotle: Back to the Start; Company: Chipotle; Agency: Creative Artists Agency
As he regrets the mass production and artificial methods of his industrial animal factory, a determined farmer opts to return to sustainable farming methods for the future and betterment of society.

Citizen Engagement: The Return of Ben Ali; Brand: Engagement Citoyen; Agency: Memac Ogilvy Tunisia
Although former Dictator of Tunisia President Ben Ali was ousted amidst the chaos of the Tunisian Revolution, many quickly lost interest in politics. In order to galvanize the Tunisian people out of hibernation, La Goulette shocked residents by warning the return of tyranny. 88% turned up for the October 23rd vote.

NTT Docomo Mobile Phone: Xylophone; Brand: NTT Docomo, Inc.; Agency: Drill Inc.
Organic and imaginative, NTT Docomo captures the essence of their new mobile phone to redefine nature and technology.
                                                                                       
Microsoft/Xbox: Kinect Effect; Brand: Microsoft / Xbox; Agency: Twofifteenmccann
Pushing the realm of imagination and technology, the Kinect takes a leap into the future of education, gaming and interaction

Sharpie: Start with Sharpie; Brand: Sharpie; Agency: Draftfbc - Chicago  
Cheeming Boey, builds a career around drawing on cups with Sharpies. His inspirational story is one of creativity and drive, challenging those who tried to taint his dream.

Mazda: Defy Convention; Brand: Mazda; Agency: Team Cosmos/JWT Germany/Team Mazda Europe     This moving advertisement shows how their heritage helps Mazda to see things differently and overcome adversity.

L'Oreal Paris: Aimee Mullins; Brand: L'Oreal Paris; Agency: R/GA and McCann Erickson
L’Oreal’s new beauty ambassador knows a lot about challenging notions of perceived beauty and achievement, as the wearer of double prosthetic legs.

Rethink Breast Cancer: Your Man Reminder; Brand: Rethink Breast Cancer; Agency: john st.
A tongue-in-cheek assertion that women are more likely to watch a video if it features a ‘hot guy’ underpins the serious message of this video.

Prudential Day One: Linda;  Brand: Prudential; Agency: Droga5  
Linda Gutherie reveals the thought process and life changes behind retirement as she shares her first day of retirement.

Canal +: The Bear; Brand: Canal+; Agency: BETC Euro RSCG
A bear skin rug that becomes a movie director? Just watch it ;-)

Guest to the YouTube Blog Ronda Carnegie, Head of Global Partnerships at TED, recently watched “Back to the Start”.

Michael Fassbender and Your Film Festival

On February 2, we opened submissions to Your Film Festival, a competition to find the world's best storytellers and connect them with a global audience. Created in partnership with Ridley Scott and Scott Free London, the Venice Film Festival, and Emirates, Your Film Festival will send 10 finalists, as chosen by you, to the 2012 Venice Film Festival where a grand prize winner will receive $500,000 to work on their next project.

Today, we'd like to introduce the newest member of the Your Film Festival team, award-winning actor Michael Fassbender.



Fassbender joins Ridley Scott as a Your Film Festival juror, as well as co-executive producer on the winner's grand prize project. This means that he and Ridley will work together to produce the winner’s next film project! With credits including Shame, X-Men: First Class, 300 and Inglorious Basterds, Michael brings world-class experience ranging from some of the biggest blockbusters to the most critically acclaimed indies.

If you haven't submitted yet, consider this your 1-month warning. Submissions close on March 31 at midnight ET. For more information, check out the Your Film Festival channel.

Good luck!

Nate Weinstein, entertainment marketing manager, recently watched “Kevin Allocca: Why videos go viral.”

Captions for all: more options for your viewing and reading pleasure

Since we first announced caption support in 2006, YouTube creators have uploaded more than 1.6 million videos with captions, growing steadily each year. We’ve also enabled automatic captions for 135 million videos, more than tripling the number of captioned videos available since July 2011. YouTube and Google’s video accessibility team have been hard at work, and we wanted to let you know about some of our progress over the past few months:

For YouTube viewers

More languages: We now support automatic captions and transcript synchronization in Japanese, Korean, and English. Speech recognition for those languages makes it easier for video owners to create captions from a plain transcript. Video owners can also add captions and subtitles in 155 supported languages and dialects, from Afar to Zulu. In Movies and Shows, you can even find out which subtitle languages are available before deciding to rent.

Search for videos with captions: Looking for that great quote from a video on YouTube? Add ", cc" to any search, or after searching, click Filter > CC to only see results with closed captions.

Caption settings: While watching a video, you can change the way the captions look by clicking on the “CC” icon and then the “Settings...” menu item. This includes changing the font size or colors used, and we’re planning to make this available on other platforms and add more options soon.

Broadcast caption support: If the channel owner provides a video caption file in a broadcast format, we now support its position and style information, just like you’d see on TV. This means the text can appear near the character who is speaking, italicized to indicate an off-camera narrator, or even scrolling if the original captions were generated in a real-time mode. Check out this little demo from CPC to see how it looks, or even watch a rental movie with captions like those available from The Walt Disney Studios.

For YouTube creators

More supported formats: YouTube now supports many of the common caption formats used by broadcasters, such as .SCC, .CAP, EBU-STL, and others. If you have closed captions that you created for TV or DVDs, we'll handle the conversion for you.

MPEG-2 caption import: If you upload an MPEG-2 video file that contains closed captions with CEA-608 encoding, we'll import the captions along with the video and create YouTube captions. For example, the nonprofit organization Public.Resource.Org recently added thousands of public domain videos with closed captions to YouTube, coming from government agencies like the National Archives. Here’s some insight from Carl Malamud, President, Public.Resource.Org:

Many of the DVDs and VHS tapes lying around in our vaults and attics--particularly those that were produced by governments and others that care about accessibility of their videos--already have Closed Captions embedded in them. Pulling that information out automatically and making it visible on YouTube means that these videos will continue to be accessible to new generations of viewers.

Along with the millions of people like myself who rely on captions and subtitles, we were very encouraged when the Federal Communications Commission published rules governing closed captioning requirements for video on the web, whether that’s to your computer, tablet, phone or other device. We hope these new regulations will drive captions closer to becoming ubiquitous for video everywhere, and in the meantime we’ll keep developing more ways for you to enjoy all the great channels on YouTube.

Ken Harrenstien, software engineer, recently rented “Cars 2” and was ecstatic to see its awesome captions.