YouTube has become the go-to space for video. We have famous video creators that earn a good living doing so. And then, we have Vimeo, the professionally orientated video-sharing platform that many professionals use to host their projects and productions in the best quality possible online.
Vimeo has also made some changes under the hood to facilitate the professionals uploading and sharing it with clients or embedding it on their websites. They added a feature where it's possible for a client to give feedback on a per-second basis which is similar to what Frame.io does as their only product offering.
Now they've added the ability to add effects, titles, transitions, and more by using one of the templates they've created. And the effects the video they've made to introduce the features, looks promising. If these same effects had to be done manually in Premiere Pro and After Effects, it would've taken some time.
This is currently in beta, and it seems like these features are for social videos. So it's not for the professional productions, because those videos needs the professional flare of the motion graphic artists and editors. And on that note, what videos online are not uploaded to be social, or if all goes well, become viral?
Read more about it on their blog.
Vimeo are seriously shooting themselves in the foot with their interface. Go to their URL, whats the first thing on screen? A 'Choose A Plan' screen asking you to pay and subscribe, covered by a splash screen asking you to log in. For any first time visitor it just makes it look like the site isn't for you. No thumbnails of videos to watch, no search bar. It's like the opposite of YouTube.
Its definitely NOT a Youtube replacement, if that's what you were thinking.
I have a business account with Vimeo, and have been completely happy with it for what I use it for.
It is a service that I use to handle video projects, work with a team or collaboration, allow clients to review and make comments on project videos, and to allow client downloads.
It has the ability to magically imbed videos into my website very simply and automatic.
It also allows a search function to find and watch other professional videos that are typically not geared to the Youtube shenanigans and "self-serving" fluff.
Don't get me wrong, I spend a lot of time watching Youtube, Vimeo is just not that.
No, it's not at all and I totally appreciate that Vimeo is definitely more of a tool used by professionals.... However. If they made the interface a LITTLE more welcoming they'd catch a lot more passing traffic, and more professionals work would get seen. It's not their intention to drive away casual viewers is it? Because it actually feels that way.