14 DAY TRIAL // YouTube has done more than enough to not only make online video a reality, but something in itself, something that hasn't existed before and that can't be created outside of the web. Online shows, particularly on YouTube, are different than TV shows in a number of crucial ways.
Still, that's not to say YouTube can't do any more. One thing that it's working on is making editing, even basic editing, easier for users. That's the point of the YouTube video editor and that's the point of the latest addition to it, interstitial, intro and outro videos.
The idea is simple and obvious, the ability to have a short introduction to a video that already exists or an outro to put things into perspective is very important.
It's important to video creators, especially ad-hoc ones who happen to have one video go viral, and it's even more important for curators who rely on the videos of others.
"We’ve noticed more and more playlists with interstitials in between videos -- short intro or outro videos that recap the previous video and introduce the next one. You’ve been using interstitials to weave individual videos together into a bigger story, and frankly, we’re impressed," YouTube wrote.
"For example, Eat Your Kimchi uses interstitials to tur1n a music playlist into a K-POP news show. So, to make it easier for you to tell great stories through playlists, we’re making it easy to add interstitials right in the playlist editor," it added.
The playlist editor now has an "introduction" button that prompts the user to record a video with their webcam, then and there, or create a text-only interstitial.
Users can even ad songs to them, from the free library. These intro videos won't show up in any feed, they'll be marked as unlisted, but they can be monetized if they're at least 15 seconds long.