Community Help Forums have just been launched! This new discussion board is the official place to share ideas, feedback, ask and answer questions, and offer general help to your fellow YouTube community members. Here, you can find out the latest on Announcements, Bug Reports & Issues, How-to's and TestTube Feedback.

You can access the Community Help Forums through the Community Tab, our Help Centre or by clicking the Community Help Forums link displayed at the bottom of most pages on the site. In addition to related articles, forum posts are now included within search results in the Help Centre. Although YouTube staff may jump in periodically to post updates on bugs, upcoming features or make general announcements, the purpose of this board is for experts from our community (like you) to have a centralised place to post commonly asked questions and provide answers about site usage. You must be logged into your YouTube and Google account to post a question or reply, but anyone can read messages on the Community Help Forums. You will need to click on "Join this group" upon your first visit to the forums, then you can post as often as you like while still logged in.

Our ultimate goal is to make Community Help Forums the easiest and fastest way to get help on YouTube - but we can't do it without you. We encourage everyone to stay active, post often and help us make this discussion board the main destination for users to seek help from community experts.

The YouTube Team

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Trust Radiohead to decide to make a video without a camera or lights. Witness the data+laser magic of "House of Cards" on our home page today or right here:



So how did they do it? With the help of 3D image capturing created by two technology companies: Geometric Informatics and Velodyne LIDAR. Their scanning systems produce structured light to capture up-close 3D images, while another system uses multiple lasers to capture large, landscape-type environments. In this video, 64 lasers rotating and shooting in a 360 degree radius 900 times per minute produced all the exterior scenes. Here's a video that may give you a better idea of all the machinery involved:



You can also find this data-centric bit of creativity on Google's code website, which contains additional pieces of data available for incorporation into your own visualizations. Upload such videos to Radiohead's YouTube group if you'd like to share them with the band and the YouTube community. Thanks to a Creative Commons license, all the data used to produce this music video is being made available to share with you.

Now, join in -- go forth and manipulate data!

Geeking out,
Michele K-Tel
YouTube Music

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As we let you know, YouTube recently received a court order to produce viewing history data. We are pleased to report that Viacom, MTV and other litigants have backed off their original demand for all users' viewing histories and we will not be providing that information. (Read the official legalese here.)

In addition, Viacom and the plaintiffs had originally demanded access to users' private videos, our search technology, and our video identification technology. Our lawyers strongly opposed each of those demands and the court sided with us.

We'll keep you informed of any important developments in this lawsuit. We remain committed to protecting your privacy and we'll continue to fight for your right to share and broadcast your work on YouTube.

Sincerely,
The YouTube Team

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The latest installment of YouTube's Living Legends series is a double dose, featuring two of the greatest rappers of all time. These reigning members of hip-hop royalty represent both East and West coast styles and are two very different voices in the genre's past, present and future. So, get ready for Public Enemy guiding force Chuck D. and the one and only Cardozar Calvin Broadus Jr., better known to the world as Snoop Dogg. They're eager for your questions:



You'll be in good company as you quiz Chuck and Snoop: we've already got videos from a veritable posse of hip-hoppers and other notables who took time out to share their thoughts on how these two influenced their lives in music or politics. The Living Legends channel contains moving testimonials from Black Thought of the Roots, Afrika Bambaataa, Boots Riley from the Coup, as well as political activists like Fred Hampton Jr. and congresswoman Maxine Waters from L.A. There are also insider tales from David Aaron, Snoop's engineer, and Darryl Brooks, a concert promoter who booked Public Enemy on their very first tour. Take a peek:



So, at long last, it's time to "Bring the Noise" AND "Drop it like it's Hot" – all in the same spot. Upload your question(s) for Chuck and Snoop here and/or share your own inspirational story about how these two (or hip-hop in general) touched your life by uploading a video response to the testimonial you like most.

Holla!
The YouTube Team

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You asked the questions, the YouTube community voted for their favourites and now Prime Minister Gordon Brown has responded. The first instalment of Ask The PM is complete, so head to the Downing Street channel to view the results.

Of the 300 videos submitted, eight rose to the head of the poll, resulting in the PM addressing issues spanning taxation, crime, the environment and civil liberties. He also fielded a request from 14-year-old Adam Kaye who, far from exhibiting apathy, is keen to get involved in the political process as soon as possible:





The PM enjoyed the process so much that the Downing Street channel is already accepting a second round of questions – this time focusing on the 60th Anniversary of the founding of the NHS and its future role in British life. But be quick – voting is set to begin on July 14.



To anyone who submitted a question that wasn’t answered, bad luck but have another crack at engaging Gordon Brown. To those whose queries were put to the PM – congratulations.

Have fun,
The YouTube Team

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It's been two weeks since the launch of The YouTube Screening Room, and that can only mean one thing: a fresh batch of short films for your viewing pleasure.

For those of you who missed the initial announcement, The YouTube Screening Room is our new platform to help top films from around the world find the audiences they deserve. So far, hundreds of thousands of YouTubers have checked out the films, and thousands more have left comments.



We hope you'll enjoy the second round of films as much as you enjoyed the first. "The Clap," from the UK, tells the comic story of a music aficionado who finds a unique way to celebrate his favorite performer. "The Big Empty," from the US, stars Selma Blair as a young woman searching for a cure to her inner ache. "I Met the Walrus," from Canada, is the beautiful animated tale of a 14-year-old Beatle fan's real-life encounter with John Lennon. Finally, "School of Life," from the UK, follows a schoolboy as he learns life's most important lesson.



Stay tuned for our third round of films, debuting in two weeks on July 18.

Finally, for those of you interested in being featured in the YouTube Screening Room, email ytscreeningroom@youtube.com.

Happy viewing,

YouTube Film

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As you may have seen in the news, YouTube received a court order to produce viewing data from our database, including usernames and IP addresses. In order to protect our community's privacy, we strongly opposed this motion when Viacom and others filed it.

The court felt differently and ordered us to produce the data. Viacom said that they need general viewing information to determine the proportion of views on YouTube of copyright infringing content vs. non-infringing content.

Of course, we have to follow legal process. But since IP addresses and usernames aren't necessary to determine general viewing practices, our lawyers have asked their lawyers to let us remove that information before we hand over the data they're seeking. (You should know, IP addresses identify a computer, not the person using it. It's not possible to determine your identity solely based on your IP address. Rather, an IP address can reveal what geographic area you're connecting from, or which Internet service provider you're using.)

Why do we keep this information in the first place? It helps us personalize the YouTube experience, getting you closer to the videos you most want to watch. We have many features on the site that help users discover and share compelling content, and we're improving the video experience through recommendations, related videos, and personalized directories that help you find meaningful videos.

We'll continue to fight for your right to share and broadcast your work. The court did impose some encouraging limits -- they agreed with us that Viacom should not have access to private videos or our search technology. Also, the information we provide will be designated highly confidential under court order and only Viacom's outside counsel and experts will have access to it.

Legal matters aside, our focus remains on providing you with the best possible YouTube experience and we continue to be committed to protecting your privacy. Every day, millions of creative people from around the world are posting new, original content. You, our community, are creating the YouTube experience now and tomorrow.

Sincerely,
The YouTube Team

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They asked you to cover their tracks. You obliged. This is the result: Fratellis Weekend on YouTube UK.

More than 100 versions of the Glasgow three-piece’s output were submitted for the band’s perusal, and – after some typically rock ‘n’ roll delays (which we are going to put down to their current tour) – a winner, a runner-up and eight honourable mentions were selected by the men themselves.



So, let’s congratulate OMGMhazzRocks on her victory, clink glasses with the MannyNH players (who managed to pick a tune Jon Fratelli had forgotten he’d written) and reward everyone else by watching their efforts on the homepage along with some live footage of the “real” Fratellis playing Camden Crawl.

Huge thanks (and no little respect) to everyone who took part.

Have fun,
The YouTube Team

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The new features included in our most recent site update are geared toward a more personalised experience for you. Here is a quick rundown...

NEW PERSONALISED HOMEPAGE

Our goal is to give a simple answer to the question, "What should I watch today?" with a personalised, customisable homepage that makes it easy to find the videos and the people that you care about. After reviewing results from our beta test and feedback from the community, we're happy to now release the new personalised homepage to all logged-in users. Since launching the beta version in February, data has shown an increase in the number of users visiting the homepage, the frequency of visits and the number of subscriptions users make over time. So, this optimised version of the homepage not only means a customisable experience for you, but more exposure for your YouTube videos and channels (Note: if you are logged out or do not have an account, you won't be able to access personalised homepage and will default to our former incarnation).

IMPROVED EMAIL NOTIFICATIONS

The email messages you receive from YouTube have been updated with a new layout. In addition to a streamlined design and many wording changes, any comments or messages are now included directly within the body of the email, helping you keep track of your conversations over time.

We're eager to hear your feedback, so please let us know what you think of this latest round of updates.

The YouTube Team

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Today, we're pleased to announce the launch of the YouTube Screening Room, a platform for films from around the world to find the audiences they deserve.

Every year, tens of thousands of films are produced, but many of them never get a chance to be seen by a wide audience. Until now.

The YouTube Screening Room will connect films and audiences in the world's largest theatre, not only providing filmmakers with a much-needed showcase, but also helping you find new high-quality content every two weeks.

While some of these films have played at film festivals around the world, others will be showing to a wide audience for the first time.

Our debut shorts include an Academy Award nominee from the United States, an Academy Award winner from Norway, the world's first animated opera from Sweden, and a poignant short from indie favourites Miguel Arteta and Miranda July, also from the United States.



In the next few months, you'll see films from the UK, Canada, Germany, Ireland, Australia, Austria, France, Kenya and more. Every Screening Room film is displayed in our High Quality player, and has been posted with the filmmaker's involvement. So be sure to rate, share and leave comments. This is your chance to not only watch great films from all corners of the globe, but also to converse with the filmmakers behind them.

And if you're a filmmaker interested in playing in the YouTube Screening Room, send an email about your film to ytscreeningroom@youtube.com. We look forward to hearing from you!

The future of film on YouTube starts now,

Sara P.
YouTube Film

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