Sharing, Watching, Saving Rare Soap Opera Videos

[vetsoapfan]

You read on SON that ultra-rare 1970s' episodes of The Young and the Restless have been uploaded to the internet by a generous soap fan.

 

You discover that years' worth of the NBC soap The Doctors are streaming for free on a youtube channel. Ditto primetime's excellent Peyton Place.

 

Filled with excitement, you settle down to watch some classic soapy goodness, only to discover that every single video has already been deleted; taken down by TPTB for whatever reason. Even the uploaders' accounts have been terminated.

 

Is there ANYTHING more frustrating???

 

When I complained about this situation recently to a friend, he told me that he avoids all the hassle of sharing "special" videos by bypassing youtube/the internet altogether, and  just using Drop Box instead.

 

Drop Box is a private file-storing and sharing application that is surprisingly easy to set up and use. Even  someone like me, who is embarrassingly computer illiterate, had no trouble starting to use the system within a few minutes.

 

I created a disposable email account for when I wanted to interact with other video traders. I used that email address to open my Drop Box account. Then I installed DB to my laptop and...voila! I was trading files with my friend immediately.

 

(To share, you have to click on and drag your videos over to the Drop Box folder. Once the material is in there, you click on the Share With button beside the files, and type in the email address of the would-be receiver. Copies of the items are instantly transferred to his DB account, while the original copies remain safely in yours. If your friends send videos to you, they appear automatically in your DB folder. You can keep them there and/or download them to your own hard drive using the Download button.)

 

Instead of taking chances with youtube and similar sites (which routinely delete videos and close down members' accounts), maybe we should consider this alternative method of sharing rare stuff. Particularly when it comes to certain videos that we know will be targeted for removal.

 

Just a thought.

 

What do y'all think?

 

 

 

 

[BoldRestless]

This idea has a lot of merit. YouTube is difficult right now. I'm glad that a lot of people are now trading links to unlisted videos and playlists, but it's still incredibly frustrating when you go to the playlist and some of the videos aren't available due to copyright.

 

I haven't used DropBox, but I know people also share with sites like MediaFire, FileFactory, etc. I'm for whatever will keep the videos up longer (preferably permanently) and has the least limits on file size so you don't have to cut up the videos. Can one DropBox be shared by multiple people at once?

 

Another downside to YouTube is it slightly degrades the quality each time.  So if someone uploads a video, I download it, it gets deleted, then I upload it to my channel, and someone else downloads it from there, etc, each time it's losing a little.  With DropBox you could save the original video is in its original quality.  I keep my soap videos on an external hard drive for backup.

 

I would suggest that if something like this is created, everyone should have to upload a certain number of files to participate.  I realize not everyone has a collection of their own, but DVDs can be purchased for as little as $4 and usually contain a couple of episodes, so it would be accessible to most people.  The software to rip the videos from the DVD is free.  I use Handbrake.

 

The biggest downside would be attracting more people. There are so many people out there with videos we'd never reach. YouTube was a great and easy way to find videos and uploaders. Remember that a lot of times when someone is uploading promos, and commercials, and other daytime shows, they very well might have full soap episodes too, but they were removed due to copyright. 

[vetsoapfan]

 

I know there are various file-sharing apps out there. Drop Box allows you to send videos to other people whether they have a DB account or not, which makes life easier. And you can share one file with as many different people as you like, which is a major plus. I am new to the system, so I do not know about limitations on file size, but uploaders could always make it clear that such-and-such a file will be available for a limited time, and may be replaced by other files in the future (in order to free up space) if necessary. Those who wish to save their own copies of on-line videos are wont to do so pretty quickly after hearing about them, anyway, so if a file is removed from the uploader's DB box, it shouldn't be a problem. He can always upload the video again for anyone who missed it the first time. 

 

 

I did not know about the video degradation on youtube videos. That's what happened when you made copies of copies of VHS and Beta tapes. The quality would deteriorate dramatically. 

 

 

As it stands now, there are only a few SON members who have gotten their hands on rare material to share with other members, and they have done so freely and generously, without demanding anything in return. I've shared many DVDs and flash drives with friends and not required compensation either (although of course I love to trade video-for-video, to expand my personal collection). I think it's better to keep it casual and have SON-ers contribute what they want to, when they want to, without denying viewing access to other members. I've previously been in groups where vicious infighting erupted because one person would complain, "I uploaded a movie that was 25 minutes longer than your movie, so you still owe me 25 minutes!" Or, "My soap opera episode is more rare than the one you shared, because I got a copy of that five years ago! You're ripping me off!" Too many rules and too much nit-picking have resulted in more than one group shutting down amid acrimony. If someone wants to trade vid-for-vid, fair enough, I understand 100%, but they can simply do that privately. I love that the posters here freely share their stuff with everyone. I hope they continue to do so. It has made many soap buffs very happy.

 

 

That's true about collectors' having more material in their collections than we actually get to see. When I first suggested that we use Drop Box to upload prone-to-be-deleted videos, I was specifically  thinking about sharing stuff among the existing SON crew. I'd love to draw in more outside collectors who possess rare episodes too, but I wonder: if we open things up to the internet community at large, would we run the risk of whiny and vindictive trolls reporting our activities to TPTB, the moment they get their knickers in a knot over a perceived slight? That's apparently what happened with The Doctors, when folks started spreading the news about the soap's youtube uploads. Infighting precipitated crybabies to report the show's existence to TPTB, and the uploader's YT channel was closed down. Goodbye, The Doctors. :(

 

We have to be careful, whatever we do. 

[BoldRestless]

 

That sounds very good.  I looked it up and the max for DropBox is 2GB of space. I suppose that rather than moving the files to free up space, it would be even better to just create additional free accounts so that everything remains available.

 

 

I don't think the problem is as bad as it is with VHS, but it does exist. YRFan83 uploaded a couple of videos to MediaFire because YouTube blocked them, and those files are larger than what I downloaded from YouTube (even though I downloaded in the best quality possible). Of course, I am absolutely happy to get whatever I can, and I have seen episodes in terrible quality that I still cherish because I wouldn't get to see them otherwise.

 

 

I am also an uploader who shares my videos freely and I've never asked for anything in return (but perhaps you wouldn't consider my material rare as my earliest video from my own collection only goes back to 1987).

 

I had that thought because I was once in another group (not soap related) that gave access to anyone to the basic forum but you needed to upload at least 5 things to get access to the entire forum with the rarer material (you didn't have to upload rarities, anything would do). The idea was to broaden the base. I certainly wouldn't want the type of infighting you are describing either, and I wouldn't judge anyone because their material is shorter or not as rare. It was just an idea to expand the number of people uploading. There are plenty of DVDs for sale online and if everyone bought a couple of DVDs we could create a more complete collection without placing the burden on just a couple of people. I started this hobby when I found some old VHS tapes, but once I exhausted those, I purchased some DVDs as well. I have a lot of DVDs that I still need to rip. It's not difficult, but it is time consuming. Another way that people can help is by downloading whatever they see so that if it gets deleted, people can request it from them (though this will be less necessary with your proposal here).

 

 

That's such a shame. I can't understand why fans would do that!

[~bl~]

Actually the first time The Doctors was deleted it was due to someone being a jerk, and an argument. This time, it wasn't the case, but someone who was trying to help after LA stopped airing it.

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I think part of the problem other than time is the technology. I have a lot of weird things on DVD (burned from VHS to DVD - so the quality is questionable as not HD - some things I have straight to DVD non-HD like a lot of RH episodes from its SoapNet run), but the software on a Mac isn't free, and people who have tablets and newer Macs don't even have DVD drives anymore. I don't share stuff as I don't have an easy way to upload. If I know someone well, I actually use the mail. I don't have a large archive of old things, as I only got a VCR in the 90s. 

[BoldRestless]

 

Those are good points, thanks. I didn't know that was an issue with Macs.

 

As far as HD, I don't think anyone should be that picky when dealing with soaps. If I'm download a current episode then sure, I will try to find in HD, but I wouldn't expect it for an older show. I'm even happy when people upload audio only clips from the 70s and 80s.

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[vetsoapfan]

 

Oh. Duh. Of course. Perfect, logical idea. I'm embarrassed that I did not even think of it. 

 

 

 

Right. When I know it's a miracle that certain episodes have survived at all, I am happy to get them in any condition. There are several episodes of Another World from the 1960s and '70s on line, which are not great quality, but I am not complaining. I am ecstatic to see them.

 

 

True, most of what I personally want to find was originally broadcast before 1984, with the exceptions being Marland's ATWT and Labine's GH  (the BJ hearty transplant story). But it's very generous of you to share what you have with other collectors who want "more recent" material. My own interest lies predominantly with the 1970s, '60s, and '50s. (Remember, I'm ancient, LOL!) 

 

 

Oh Lord yes: ripping and editing DVDs together can be a very time-consuming and laborious process. I just recently made six discs for someone and it took forever. I was happy to do it, but it did take a lot of time, patience, and energy.

 

 

Never underestimate the petulance of on-line drama queens. :)