Since 4.2.1 isn't fully functional yet with Amazon S3 (and because S3 costs money), maybe we could protect videos somewhat by uploading to youtube as unlisted, then using a third-party player like jw player on a protected page inside members login area. This way video hosting is free and reliable, and because it's through jw player or something similar, people don't link back to the unlisted video at youtube. And the video is still mostly protected because one must be a member to access the page where the video is, and even then I doubt paying members will try and figure out the source code and see where the video is hosted. Amazon S3 will be much costlier. I also heard about Vimeo Pro today for $199/yr but they host up to 50gb of video and that might not be enough for me. My tutorial videos can run very long. What do you think?
I've been researching for hours, and actually I think I've overlooked Vimeo Pro. It actually seems like a brilliant solution. Vimeo launched the 'Pro' version last summer, so it is still fairly new, and actually it seems like a great solution for the following reasons: 1) Cost-wise you can't beat them, and 50gb really is a lot of video space, and if you are running short you can purchase another 50gb or 250k more video views. 2) With the Pro version, you can have and sell your commercial video material on a membership site for example, and you can constrict the video plays to only your website on a protected page, so in other words, only members will be able to view it. 3) You can customize the player, or use the video file in another player like jw player. They automatically have HD, SD, and Mobile files created so the viewer can select their quality.
Ive had quite a few clients using vimeo to host their files- as they allow you to set what sites can show the videos. Works great with a self hosted membership site. David