Vimeo Review

Full review

With YouTube being such a popular destination for online video, it must feel like an uphill struggle for rival video sharing websites to compete. But one name that has emerged in recent years is Vimeo. We take a closer look to see why this particular website has been making a name for itself.

Sign up

Sign up for a Vimeo account in order to upload videos, although you can view videos without signing up. The Basic account is free and allows you to upload 500mb per week, and one HD video a week.

Viewing features

There is a new iPhone app available that lets you watch and edit movies. The app is currently free.

Videos are bunched into sections so you can more easily find what you’re looking for. The themed sections are good for people seeking a bit of video inspiration. The categories are always changing and new top videos are highlighted throughout the day.

Producer features

All content on the website must be created by the user. Commercial videos and pornography are not allowed. Vimeo accepts all kinds of file formats and there’s a desktop uploader tool to help put all your work on the site. To give non-commercial work a wider audience and display it in an easy-to-use setting, users create channels where people can watch all the videos from a certain user.

It certainly pays be become involved in the community. You’ll receive exposure for your creations, as well as hints and tips on how to improve your work. You can also network through the community for paid jobs.

Professional account - Called 'Vimeo Plus', the professional account offers more features and tools than the standard free Vimeo account. You can upload 5GB of video content a week. HD uploads are unlimited and you can embed HD into your own website. The most important benefit is no banner ads displayed on your page. So if you’re a professional video producer this upgrade may well be worth it. It costs $59.95 for a year’s usage or $9.95 a month.

Safety

Because Vimeo is so strongly aligned with ideals of respect and community between video makers and viewers, there is quite a strict set of guidelines for behavior when commenting on others’ work. You are expected to abide by the idea of supporting and encouraging other users in a meaningful way, and making use of the ability to disagree without resorting to name calling. People are removed from the forums if they can’t meet these requirements.

For privacy concerning your own content, you can set your privacy controls in order to restrict who can see your videos.

Features

Vimeo has always been a leader - it was the first video sharing website to support HD video. Vimeo annually hosts its own video awards ceremony.

One of the fun and useful features on Vimeo is the Vimeo Video School, where you can watch online tutorials, take lessons and work on different aspects of the video making process and how to make better videos. The tutorials are well-made with an emphasis on light-hearted learning and sharing ideas. You don’t need to be signed up to the site to look at the tutorials.

Ease of use

Simple to use, well-defined sections and clear graphics help users navigate around the site with ease. The features are easy to use and to set up.

Help & support

There is a help center that offers FAQs, a Help Forum and a Community Forum. The FAQ section is great, because it covers so many topics. There is a vibrant community forum with clear community rules that keeps everything well ordered. There is a 'wanted and offered' forum - so if you’re looking for a bit of extra work, you might just be able to find something. Vimeo doesn’t exactly encourage you to contact them personally, but if you can’t find the answers anywhere else you can email. Business hours are Monday through Friday in the daytime.

Overall

Vimeo was created by a bunch of filmmakers who wanted to profile their own work. Building on strong principles and a desire for creating and viewing the best independent film making, Vimeo provides an interesting, creative and original video sharing space on the internet.