Quicktime 640x360 H264 keyframes=all bitdepth=max uploaded file size = 37MB
This is SD quality - or HQ in YouTube-land.
You can view the original video courtesy of Archive.org but it may take a while to download (and they've messed with the gamma!)

An HD companion site is being prepared.

To view the windows in their native sizes go here: VIRB

Most people don't yet have computers and connections capable of viewing seamless HD, so SD is still the best format available for streaming video to cash strapped independent filmakers, and will remain so for a while. However where it is possible to upload a HD video an SD one is usually also available.

Where the option was available I have uploaded a thumbnail image showing a teenage zombie to the hosting site. Most sites include this in the final embed, some do not. Some create their own thumbnails - YouTube offers a choice of 3 random ones which are rarely what you'd really like to use.

I have added object width="640" height="400"tags (the height includes the controller) on each video to attempt to resize them.(if otherwise, I have left a note above) Some video hosting sites allow this. Others clearly do not. Notable exceptions are ExposureRoom (up to 640) and Creative Cow which are locked to the size you upload but look excellent at whatever size you choose.

Scalability may be an issue if you want to embed your video at a size that complements the design of the rest of your web page. Hosts that scale video windows down in size usually degrade the quality.

To me the design of the embed window is also a big issue - a bad one can make the rest of your page look messy. Also I have used only video hosting sites that offer video embedding of a quality which can be regarded as useful to filmakers. If anyone knows of any other hosting sites worth including here please mail me: karel kareltests .co .uk giving the url of a good example and I will include it. 

The file for this page takes up about 65KB on my server. Tiny. That's because all the graphics and images are hosted elsewhere, mostly as at photobucket. (Some broadband services offer free web space, so you may find that worth looking at.)

Many people stick with whoever is hosting their videos - Vimeo and ExposureRoom are popular among video professionals and offer excellent quality and exposure, but little in way of customizing your home page. 

More customizable options include excellent newbie Webs (free + paying), the pro photographers' SmugMug (paying) and even Wordpress (free) for which you can buy numerous themes, such as from RevolutionTwo.

This site's sister page showing the above video windows in their native sizes uses a VIRB page. Virb is a good place to show off your work with plenty of customisability. And it's free! Take a look at examples of how others have done it here, and register here. If you're going to use VIRB you'll find that the embed code provided by some hosts needs a little tweaking. I've found that adding the following before the embed tag does the trick:
(param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /) (param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /) (param name="movie" value="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=XXXXXXX" /)
and then eclosing the result within object tags. Substitute angled brackets for the regular ones I've used here.

But if you can do a bit of coding there's plenty of other hosts to choose from. There's a list at Hosting-Review and 10 Best Hosts and for UK users (since that's where I am) at UK Hosting-Review.
Yet more info on hosts at Web Hosting Jury. 
It's regrattably common to have problems with hosts - I did. But I'm very happy now with using the excellent
As for domain registration, in the UK I can't recommend UKReg more highly.

For advice on coding your page to maximise your Google rating visit Optimized by Red

For some great tips on getting search engines to find your video's site visit SEO for video

And to check your coding run it through W3C Markup Validation Service

Meanwhile Joel Williams (aka blogtechguy) has posted a guide to 60+ video hosts!


Impressive. A good overview of what's out there, but now over a year old and some are... gone!

My site here is checked regularly. Follow updates on (opens in new window)

And for more general bits of film industry news you could do worse than follow KarelsTweets

Glad to oblige: 'Johnny's Liver' trailer

This page uses Vimeo for its embed host. The file for this page is 27KB and is on space I rent cheaply at 1&1 who also give me very comprehensive stats and tools. The logo is hosted at Photobucket for free. I've added a black border to the thumbnail image before uploading that to Vimeo so it sits above and apart from the play bar, thus looking a bit neater.