Video LightBox
A couple of months ago I wrote about Visual Lightbox, a program that makes it easy to generate Web photo galleries that are based on the LightBox2 script. The same company has just released Video LightBox, a program that makes it easy to add YouTube videos to a website. It's literally as easy as 1-2-3: 1) Copy and paste the URL of a desired YouTube video, 2) Select a template and, 3) Publish the generated page to a website. Video LightBox generates an image thumbnail for the video, and when a visitor clicks on the thumbnail it expands and displays the video in a lightbox window. You don't have to use the HTML page generated by Video Lightbox; instead, you can add the code to your own page. I used Video LightBox to generate the code for the Video Clips page on my personal website. You can see the page here.
UPDATE: Now, in addition to adding YouTube videos to a site you can embed FLV, MP4, and 3GP video files as well as adding Google Video, Metacafe, Vimeo, and MySpace videos to your site.
Like Visual LightBox, Video LightBox is free for non-commercial use and a license for business use is only $25.00. I purchased licenses for both Visual LightBox and Video LightBox because I plan to use the programs for commercial sites. You can learn more about the program and download the free edition or purchase the business edition at http://videolightbox.com/.
Is it for YouTube only? I prefer vimeo..
No, Video LightBox is not limited to YouTube videos. You can also add Google Video, Metacafe, Vimeo, and MySpace videos.
Silly question … but I purchased the Video Lightbox business edition. I have a license key but can’t figure out where it goes … Never got any instructions from the company and no reply to support email requests. Can you help?
While Video LightBox is running, press “Ctrl+Alt+R” and a “Register” dialog should appear. Copy and paste the registration key that was sent to you and press “Register”. Make sure you have an Internet connection before you press “Register”. When you restart the program, all restrictions should be removed.
Will it play .m4v files? and or .mov’s?
Video Lightbox will play Youtube, Google Video, Metacafe, Vimeo, MySpace videos, flv, mp4, and 3gp video files. Unfortunately there is not yet support for .m4v or .mov files.
I have the free 1.6 version of video lightbox…I paid for the business license and tried the ctrl+alt+R but no go. Am I missing something?
I sent the developer an email, but no response so far.
Thanks!
Jim,
You should be able to start Video Lightbox, hold down the Ctrl, Alt, and r keys simultaneously, and have a registration window pop up. If that doesn’t work, you might try downloading the program again and reinstalling.