If you doubted the traction that Web video is currently gaining, then today’s announcement from Google and the creator of hit animated show Family Guy will surely prove the trend is edging upwards once and for all.

Google has inked a deal with Seth MacFarlane which sees the latter creating original content purely for the Web, which Google will then distribute around the Internet using its AdSense advertising system.

Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy

The project, which is set to be called Seth MacFarlane’s Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy, will not be officially unveiled until September, but The New York Times has today got the scoop on the revolutionary plan for distribution.

Web video, and original content on the Web, has been growing for a good while now, but the big problem facing content-creators is the lack of a solid business model for making money from the venture. Google’s plans for MacFarlane’s work could set a new precedent in this field.

Do you ever feel like you are being left behind when it comes to the revolution that is Web video? You may not know where to begin, or need help in the production, editing or uploading of video to the Internet.

Luckily there are resources designed to help you get you started on the road to producing high-quality videos to share on sites such as YouTube, DailyMotion and Metacafe.

One of these resources is a book titled How To Do Everything With Online Video, part of the How To Do Everything series of books which take you through the process from beginning to end and give you a nice overview of the skills and equipment needed.

NBC plans to show 2,200 hours of live television from the Beijing Summer Olympic Games online on NBCOlympics.com this summer, and all for free, with advertising on the site being the main revenue source for the company.

However, as good as that sounds, and it is a brilliant thing that the Web is now being used for these types of high-profile events, the amount of restrictions being placed on the coverage means NBC are proving to be just as totalitarian and dictatorial as the Chinese Government.

Controversially Free Coverage

I’ve already spoken a little about NBC’s plans for their live streaming coverage of the Olympics Games online, but the thrust of that article was about media mogul John Malone’s views on the plans, with him objecting to the lack of a fee for the privilege.

Since then, it has come to light that NBC are placing a number of restrictions on the live TV coverage, both in terms of who can and can’t watch the footage, and about how much access other sites will have to the videos & live streams.

There were rumours back in April of a new video download service coming to the Playstation 3, with television and movie studio executives being given an early heads up of Sony’s plans.

Now, Sony have officially unveiled its plans for the download service, with Kaz Hirai and Howard Stringer detailing the plans for a summer launch at a Tokyo press conference.

USA Comes First

The new service will allow all owners of the Playstation 3 to download television programmes and movies to their console. The US will get the service first, before it is rolled out to Europe and Asia soon after.

Sony has already used the PS3 as a kind of trojan horse to get Blu-ray adopted as the high-definition DVD format of the future, and is now planning on doing the same for digital downloads as a viable distribution method.

We spend our time here at WebTVWire talking about online video, with high-profile companies such as Apple, Fox and Hulu getting mentioned at every opportunity.

However, to stand a chance of putting video on to the Internet via user-generated content sites such as YouTube, Metacafe or Daily Motion, you first need to have the tools to capture and edit the video to be view-worthy.

Corel Ulead VideoStudio 11.5 Plus

This is where video editing software such as the Corel Ulead VideoStudio 11.5 Plus comes in to play, enabling people everywhere to produce professional-looking videos, slideshows and DVDs without needing a degree in IT.

The Corel Ulead VideoStudio 11.5 Plus is one of a range of video editing suites available, and in this field, consumers certainly have a wide range of products to choose from.

We’ve been covering the activities of IpTV Evangelist for some time now. Company founder Gilbert Hammer has had many of his views on the world of IpTV highlighted here on WebTVWire.

Gilbert has always been passionate about IpTV and the different ways that the technology of Web television are evolving. So it’s an obvious next step for IpTVe to become a service for media companies to utilise.

I’ve been a big fan of the BBC iPlayer ever since it first launched this time last year. And so it is with great delight to now find that the BBC have given the free Web TV service a rebuild.

The new BBC iPlayer version 2.0 is available from today in beta form, with the current software being put out to pasture on July 7th. With such a short testing period, the BBC needs all the feedback it can get.

Radio Now Included

So what’s new? The most obvious new feature is the integration between television and radio, with the BBC’s on-demand radio service now becoming part of the iPlayer.

The old static iPlayer landing page has been revamped to become a new dynamic page with many more interactive features, and a much more Web 2.0 feel to it. It’s confusing at first but after a while shows itself to be much more user-friendly.