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Improving Dropbox video preview quality - thinking outside the box

The poor quality of the Dropbox transcoded preview has been discussed over the years, particularly between 2015-2017.

Over the last six years, internet speeds have changed remarkably and online streaming is now commonplace.

So our clients are unforgiving in their distaste for the Dropbox preview product.

Dropbox has made it plain, that as far as they are concerned the solution is just download. However many many clients want to be sure the product is right for them before they download.

Thinking outside the box, if we load two versions of each video, one optimised for preview, of smaller file size etc.(so clients can be sure its the product they want- but we can be certain that for instance, the preview won't be out of audio/vision sync) and the full res version for them to download.

Surely the Dropbox engineers who work on the auto transcoding know the optimum specs for the preview file?

Can that please be shared with your clients? ( after all we are supposedly on the same team)

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Comments

Rich

As has been stated, there is nothing to fix here. The preview of a video is just that; a preview. It is not intended to be the high-resolution original video that you uploaded. It is a transcoded preview of the original file, limited to 15 minutes of playback. If you want to see the original video in its original quality, you need to download the file an play it locally.

Simply put, Dropbox is not a video streaming service. If that's what you need, then you should be using a service that's meant specifically for streaming.

Leo6

Rich,

then why would you say that the quality of the stream depends on the speed of your internet connection?

if dropbox is thinking about different qualities of a stream for different bandwithes, why are they only making the preview worse and not better with a faster internet connection?

Just trying to understand...

And also, it is not about wanting to use another service just for streaming...it is about sharing stuff and of course(!) also videos with you colleagues to describe a certain scenario for example, and they just do not want to download the video to their computer for that.

I do not undertand why you talk against that so much mate. It's not like you want to use dropbox like youtube or netflix or whatever.

Rich, but you can add switch "dl=1"/"dl=0" in settings?

bgpictures

Hello. It makes sense that the video quality would be chosen based on quality of the internet conntecton. If it worked like this all the time, it would be great. However, I have a reliable 100 Mbps connection, and I regularly get an overly-compressed version of my videos when I test dropbox links in a browser. A manual override (HD) button... or better yet, a (SD) or slow/low signal override button would be better than the automatic detection for the times where some combination of dropbox, OS, browser, and hardware are not communicating properly. Thanks! B

bgpictures

The thing to fix would be the preview-quality. I often output short 4K sequences (final delivery), and make 720p h264 versions (previews) for clients. They are small files with low data-rates which look great locally, and stream well on every device I've tried when posted to my website... but are inexplicably, unacceptably re-compressed when a dropbox link is shared. I would never expect to print these previews to film or encode to DCP, but do expect them to at the very least, pass-through my original web-friendly encoding, or re-encode in a way that isn't demonstrably ridiculous.

Not looking to share a feature film, just a quick way to share an element for review by a client who might not be as tech-savvy as you or me.

At some point, it's just about organization. I have paid vimeo and dropbox accounts, and work to develop pipelines which best serve group communication. I assume dropbox is doing or would want to do the same. In the long run, if sharing video links through dropbox becomes a liability, users like me will streamline away from dropbox. So yes, I would say it is definitely something to fix.

groom

I'm +1 on this issue. More than once I've questioned keeping my Dropbox account for this purpose. I'm now looking at what apps sync through Dropbox and if there is a separate way to sync them then I am giving up on Dropbox. All of the people who make excuses on behalf of Dropbox on this thread are making good arguments, but the real issue is that the service is only as strong as it's users. If it's users want a feature, then I think it's important for the company to consider it and respond accordingly. If it's not part of their business model and they are staunch about that then that is fine, but tell us - the users - so that we can decide to stay with your company or find something that works for us.

Sanchez

Hey @groom, welcome to our forum!

Thanks for chiming in about this… we appreciate it.

As Rich mentioned earlier, we provide previews for your videos on our site, and as such, they will not be shown in full resolution/quality unless you download them.

I can’t say what our plans are for future services, but I can say that our user’s feedback is invaluable, and it does reach the desks of our developers.

Cheers

bgpictures

Thanks for the confirmation. There is still no explination of why the existing previews are of such poor quality. Previews are not binary. There is a range of image degradaton with any lossy encoding. Move the sliders... so to speak, giving us more image quality, please.

uEduard

Well, in this case, Dropbox at least should consider, informing the users, to download the video in order to get the full HD quality.

Here is my case:

1. I record various tips and tricks using QuickTime

2. I save the video directly to my Dropbox folder

3. Share the video with my clients

Now they will see a very low quality of that screencast, with no way to inform them that they can download the video to see in HD quality - I get that they don't want to provide this way directly into the player itself, but still, they should consider taking into consideration their clients feedback.

For example, Google Drive - still the same service as Dropbox, offers ways to see the video in HD.

Rich

uEduard wrote:
Well, in this case, Dropbox at least should consider, informing the users, to download the video in order to get the full HD quality.

They already do. The message appears if the video is paused, or when the 15-minute preview time has been reached.

uEduard

That message should be all the time, not if you pause the video of 15 minutes have passed. My videos are no longer than a few minutes so that should be displayed all the time.

Sanchez

Hey @uEduard,

You make some good suggestions here about video playback, and I’m letting our team know about them. Thanks for the feedback!

Cheers

derloopkat

What I need is preventing the user to open the video. Only download should be allowed. Not giving the opportunity to watch this rubbish is essential.

Mark

Hi Derloopkat - when you send the link alter it so that it is forced to download

https://help.dropbox.com/desktop-web/force-download

dojima

Thanks for the solution. It's hilarious this is even an issue. When you share a file with someone, you expect that they're going to receive, bit-for-bit, the exact file intended—not some transcoded, inferior garbage version. If I wanted someone to mangle my video files, YouTube already does a perfectly acceptable job of that. Dropbox is basically using people's ignorance as a way to try to save bandwidth under the guise of a feature. Sure it's possible to share videos in full quality...that is, if you're willing to take the time to figure out how to do it. Silly. Glad I'm not paying for this abomination.

Rich

dojima wrote:
Sure it's possible to share videos in full quality...that is, if you're willing to take the time to figure out how to do it.

Doesn't take much time to click "Download."

dojima

Clicking download has nothing to do with 'sharing' it in full quality. To 'share' it in full quality, you have to use Mark's solution.

Let me break it down for you: let's suppose I'm trying to share a video. I create a link and give it to someone. Unless they have previous knowledge of how Dropbox works, they have no idea they're watching a transcoded video on the link I provided to them. Indeed, as people in this thread have mentioned, their clients thought something was wrong when they were provided a video that cut off after 15 minutes. It wouldn't occur to the ordinary person to download the video in that situation, and it doesn't occur to the uploader that their file will be altered, since it's not mentioned anywhere, and that's not the default behavior on any cloud storage site that I'm aware of other than Dropbox. I just happened to find out because I checked the link. Further, even if I know that the file has been altered, there's no intuitive way to find a link that I can share with someone without Googling. I first tried removing '?dl=0'. That doesn't work either.

In the Dropbox "About us" page, they state, "When people put their files in Dropbox, they can trust they’re secure and their data is their own." People are rightfully upset about this issue. A transcoded video is certainly not my own data.

Sanchez

@dojima, I appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts on this, and I’m sending your feedback on to our team.

Thanks

Sanchez

Hi everyone,

Would you mind taking a minute of your time to fill out a survey sharing your experience using our Dropbox Community? You can access the survey here: http://bit.ly/2lNKIxT

Thank you!

[This thread is now closed by moderators due to inactivity. If you're experiencing a similar behavior, feel free to start a new discussion in the Ask a Question section here.]

Robert K JSS Tech

I have asked this question via Support lines twice and zero response

Megan

Hey @Robert K JSS Tech, happy Wednesday!

Your feedback regarding our previews and files has been very valuable, and I will endeavor to make sure your voice is heard.

We listen to your needs because it allows us to fully appreciate how Dropbox fits into and influences your daily routine.

By the way, do you refer to a specific platform or all of them?

I'll forward your feedback to the appropriate areas so we can continue to improve.

If you need anything, I'll be one post away.

Rob Kothe

Across all platforms, the quality of preview videos is woeful.

On desktops, you can improve Dropbox compressed video preview watchability with VLC.

But sadly it does not work on Apple devices because the Dropbox/VLC enforced default is download. Duuhhh.

What I am asking for is not for Dropbox to embark on a project, I am just asking for information.

Why is that so difficult?????

googman

Hi @Rob Kothe, Video previews take up an extra space on the Dropbox servers and this space is not paid by you directly (indirectly, of course, you still pay for it). The worse the quality of the video preview, the less space it takes up. The less space the video previews take up, the less costs the Dropbox has.

Megan

Hey everyone!

As of September 2022 we have an update on this.

Dropbox users deserve high-resolution playback when previewing their video content.

Now you can watch in HD or 4K quality without leaving Dropbox. Basic users get HD (1080p) resolution and paid users get 4K (2160p) resolution.

Find more about this here & here.

I hope this helps!

Robert K JSS Tech

We finally left Dropbox. Having seen time after time they don't care about customers.

Quality and customer service from Vimeo is outstanding.

Jacob

Why my videos on preview on iPhone Dropbox app are still in low resolution? Everything is in pixels. My internet connection is fast and stable and I’m a Dropbox plus user. Any ideas?

Megan

Hi @Jacob, I'd be happy to look into this for you!

If you try to export the content to your device, can you preview them with the desired quality?

Have you tried previewing them in the app, using your cellular data, or a different network?

Let me know more!