2008 to me was the year video exploded on the web. After finally taking the plunge and cutting off my cable television lifeline I was forced to consume video over the internet. I must say, video on the web has came a long way. I’m conviced.

But there’s another reason I’m blogging about video on the web. I, along with the apps team, New Media department, and a big cross-departmental collection of individuals have been pouring our blood sweat and tears into a project which will bring high quality art video to you via the web. It seems like it has been a long journey, and we are on the cusp of launching this website in a matter of days. If you want a super sneak peek you can come to The Davis Lab, which will be opening this Saturday. Come check it out!

After watching the video below, you might want to consider abandoning the television set all-together. Btw, is this real?

Since video has become more accessible, new players are emerging beyond youtube. Now it’s a matter of focusing video content so you know where to go to get what you want. Take news websites for instance. Cnn.com and msnbc.com are streaming video like it’s nobody’s business and the quality is superb. Don’t even get me started on digital video delivery on hand-held devices such as the iPhone. All I’m saying is… Hulu/Apple, if you ever need a beta tester hit me up!

It wouldn’t be a post from me unless I dropped a load of links in it so in no particular order, these are some of my favorite video related sites: – Hulu, Youtube (duh!), Ted, Cnn, MSNBC, Vimeo, Viddler, Funny or Die, Adult Swim, FWA Theater, Current TV, and Vidlivery (A blog about video on the web). I know I’ve forgot some other great ones, but there is an inauguration streaming on our Mac so I’ll stop… please forgive me, and feel free to add your favorites via comments.

But please don’t misunderstand…it is not that we aren’t excited. We are. We just have to get excited months before most people outside the museum know a show is coming. We start planning projects like the BTM site really far out so that we can be ready with cool stuff to keep you engaged as the buzz for a show starts building. For BTM we wanted to be innovative in how we presented info, give you some streaming video and create a unique feature for Project IMA, a special fashion event.

New Media still has a few BTM projects to finish. There will be a video trailer coming soon and we are working on video loops that will run in the galleries. But by the time the show opens we will be on to other things, like a documentary about Maya Lin’s work, the new series, In the Factory (look for this in March) and some other super secret stuff we can’t yet mention.

In terms of web projects, we learned some very valuable lessons in this development process that will inform what you will see in future projects. Look for us to keep innovating our presentation of video and we will strive to make every web project engaging and interactive. So take a look at BTM and tell us what you think. We’ll keep it in mind as we continue working on the To Live Forever web site (the show that opens in July)!