• How do I upload a film?
• How long/large can my film be?
• What video file formats can I upload?
• How do I upload a film from DVD onto reelintime.com?
• How long will my film take to upload?
• Why can't I see the film I've just uploaded?
• What should I put in my film description?
• How do I tell my friends I have a new film?
• My upload didn't work! Help!

Just click on Upload to start. It's a two step process. First, we ask you to provide details about your film, such as when and where it was filmed so that we can catalogue it properly in the Archive. Second, you select the file from your own machine, and the upload process can begin. This can take some time, depending on the size of the film. Once the file has arrived safely at reelintime.com, we do some processing on it so it's easy to playback on the site before everything is ready.

When processing has finished, your uploaded film will be visible in the Archive for everyone to see unless you chose to store it in your Vault (in which case other people can find it but can't play it unless you invite them by name — see the help about your Vault for more information).

If you want to get your films onto reelintime.com, but they're not in digital format yet, then you want our conversion service.

There's no explicit limit on how long your uploaded film runs for, but its filesize must be less than 200Mb.

It's impossible to say how long your uploaded film can be because many factors affect the filesize. For example, an uncompressed, high-resolution film just a couple of minutes long can be over the limit, but another film with better compression and lower resolution might run for half an hour and still come in under the filesize limit.

So if your film's filesize is too big, there are steps you can take to reduce it before you upload. You'll need to use conversion software to do that — there are products available at a range of prices, as well as a variety of free software which may be able to help (such as Format Factory for Windows).

• Convert the file to smaller dimensions
  Film playback on reelintime.com runs at around 484 x 364 pixels, so it's a good idea to reduce your film down to these dimensions before you upload. If your film doesn't quite match this aspect ratio, it's usually OK just to fix the width at 484 pixels.
• Choose an efficient format
  Some video formats are more efficient than others. It can get complicated though, because some film formats allow you to use different codecs (which do the encoding for you), which make different tradeoffs between size and quality.

We support a wide range of video file formats, including all the common ones.

This includes video file formats such as WMV, AVI, MOV, and MPG.

For the technically minded, click here for specifics.

You will need to use ripping software, to rip the film off your DVD before you can upload it.

Unfortunately, DVD files (such as .VOB, .IFO and .BUP files) can't be uploaded to reelintime.com. This is because they are not actual video files but files used as part of the DVD container format. Ripping effectively combines these components into a single, recognisable video file.

There are products available at a range of prices, as well as a variety of free software which may be able to help (such as Format Factory for Windows). Most ripping software lets you control the settings of the files it produces. Our recommended file format for playback on reelintime.com is MPEG4 (Divx, Xvid, or SVQ3 rather than h.264) at 484 x 364 resolution with MP3 audio (64k mono). You could also choose to break your film into shorter sections or chapters.

That depends on the filesize and the speed of the connection. But a large file may take a long time, so be patient! The upload progress bar should indicate how your upload is doing.

Depending on your connection speed and the size of the video, it can take anywhere from a few minutes to an hour or more to upload a video. Note that it is normal for the upload speed of your internet connection to be considerably slower than its download speed.

Generally, if you have a high-speed Internet connection you can expect the upload to take somewhere between 1-5 minutes for every 1MB. However, the experience is different for every user because of the variation in connection speeds.

Once you've uploaded your film, it's placed in a queue and is processed automatically. If the site is particularly busy, this may take a while, but often it can all be done in a couple of minutes. The filesize and the length of your film do affect this process, so for big films, you'll have to wait a little longer. The film will be listed, but you won't be able to play it until it's been processed.

You can see your own films at any time by clicking on My Account near the top right-hand corner, and then clicking All My Films.

To best promote your film, its description should be both accurate and interesting. Here are a few tips to help you get started:

• Make your description clear and specific
  Your video should stand out from the crowd. Try to determine what content it contains that will help users distinguish it from other videos. Using descriptive language in complete sentences is a good idea.
• Choose the right theme
  The theme into which you place your video is part of its description as well. People are more likely to watch it more frequently if you've put it under the relevant theme.

Share your video by emailing your friends a link to your film. When you watch any film on reelintime.com, there's a Share button underneath the video.

You can also post the film to your blog. The embed code to use is shown alongside the video. Copy and paste that into your blog post's HTML.

Normally you'll see the progress bar fill up as your film is uploaded, and then it's done. If your upload fails, it could be one of these problems:

• Network problems?
  If your upload starts well, and the progress bar advances over time, but then freezes, it's worth leaving it running for a little while longer. The most likely cause for this will be network congestion, which may clear. If the progress bar doesn't move for a long time, cancel the upload (for example, by going to another page or closing the window) and try again later.
• Bad File Format or Encoding Error?
  If the upload seems to go OK, but then fails with a file format error message, or reports an Encoding Error when you look at All My Films, then check that your file is one of the supported formats. Be sure that the file really is the format you think it is: just changing the filename extension (e.g., renaming a file to .wmv) won't make it the right format. There are a few proprietary codecs (that's the encoding used within the file format) that can also cause problems, but those are rare. Try saving the file in a different format, or with different encoding.
• Firewall?
  If your upload never works, then it's possible that your firewall software may be preventing it. This might happen if you're on a corporate or school network — in such cases you'll need to check with your network administrator to find out what restrictions are in place.