Back in about 2001 or 2002, I remember looking for a video version of PhotographyREVIEW.com. I wanted a community Web site where passionate people were sharing their camcorder and digital video experience. I never did find a site like that and I’m not sure one existed at the time. I wasn’t making any video back then, anyway. I’m no video expert now, either. But I’ve got a digital SLR that shoots HD and I’m interested in learning to make better videos. Chances are, you’re probably a lot like me – just getting your feet wet with a new video-enabled HD DSLR camera. We know enough to make crappy videos but we’re confused by the new jargon, tools and software and want to learn more. So where should we look for video guidance and inspiration?
Vimeo is one of the many online video-sharing sites flourishing on the Web right now. If you’re like me, you watch tons of videos on YouTube as well as the occasional video on Vimeo and you wonder why someone would choose Vimeo over YouTube. A few weeks ago I had a conference call with Blake Whitman, Director Of Communities at Vimeo. Vimeo provided me with a Pro account and I’ve been exploring the site, checking out the videos, updating my profile, and generally getting an idea of what it’s all about.
The Vimeo experience is very different from YouTube. YouTube is like your junior high school cafeteria – it’s a big, messy slice of life. Yes, it’s diverse and there’s good stuff to be found. But the general quality of content is pretty poor and occasionally you’re going to get hit by some flying food in the form of stupid comments or someone’s cute kitten videos. Vimeo is more like your college art or photography class. People are there because they want to be there – not because it’s the biggest video hosting site on the Web. Vimeo “was created by by filmmakers and video creators” and that’s reflected in the community and content on the site. Vimeo members want to learn and share and they’re passionate about video – both the technical and the artistic aspects of it. It’s not about pumping out any silly crap that will get attention for your product or drive traffic to your Web site. People join Vimeo because they want to watch and create better videos. Some members, like me, are video beginners. Others, like Phillip Bloom and Vincent Laforet, are masters of the art. But everyone is there because they want to be immersed in a truly creative, educational and inspirational environment.
Vimeo launched in 2004 and in 2007 they were the first online video service to provide full HD video streaming. The new high-def capacity attracted Canon EOS 5D Mark II and Nikon D90 HD DSLR early adopters and Vimeo’s membership blew up. With over 3.5 million registered members and 15,000 new videos uploaded every day, Vimeo is now the premiere online video and filmmaker community. They’re currently working on an embeddable HTML5 video player that will improve performance, eliminate some compatibility issues and make it easier to share your Vimeo videos. Right now, most video players use Flash coding, which won’t play on most mobile devices – most notably, the iPhone and iPad. A beta version of Vimeo’s HTML5 player was launched in January. Recent forum posts indicate they still haven’t worked out all the bugs but when they do it will be a lot easier to share Vimeo videos.
 Vimeo Groups |
 Vimeo Channels |
With over 35,000 “groups” for specific cameras, subjects and techniques, the Vimeo community and content is deep, rich and committed. I’m a member of six groups – Canon EOS 7D, E-PEN DIGITAL, VeloVimeo, action sports, Canon HD video and Canon 5D MKII. For those who are familiar with Flickr, the Vimeo groups are similar to those on Flickr. Any member can create one and then other members can join and share. It’s an organic way for people who share similar cameras or interests to find each other, share their work and learn from each other. Actually, the Flickr comparison is a good one as Vimeo could aptly be described as Flickr for video. There are also channels, which Vimeo describes as, “a user-curated destination to watch videos.” Like groups, any member can create a channel. But channels are more about watching videos on a certain subject than they are about sharing and learning video technique. However, if you’re interested in learning and making video, it’s hard to look at anything on Vimeo without an eye to learning from it and incorporating it into your own video work. I am subscribed to three channels, Teton Gravity Research, DSLR Support Channel and HD Skiing.
Another thing Vimeo is doing to cultivate creative video, is hosting video contests. Canon’s “The Story Beyond The Still” collaborative video contest encourages traditional photographers to explore the video capabilities of their HD DSLR cameras. It started with one still image given to Vincent Laforet. He made a video in response to that photo and ended with a still image of his own. To participate, entrants were asked to respond to Vincent Laforet’s final still with their own video and photo. There are seven “chapters” to “The Story Beyond The Still” contest, each with a winner – and chapter 5 starts this week. This coming fall in New York, Vimeo will host the Vimeo Festival & Awards international competition. Complete details for this event are yet to be determined. But it’s another example of Vimeo’s commitment to the art of filmmaking.
I’ve been making videos for a couple of years – mostly camera intro and unboxing videos that I shoot on a tripod in my little studio. My videos aren’t very sophisticated or creative, although my learning curve has been steep. All of those videos get posted on the PhotographyREVIEW.com YouTube Channel because that’s where the most people will see them. They also have obvious PhotographyREVIEW.com branding, which is against the non-commercial ethos of Vimeo. In fact, the first video I uploaded to Vimeo was promptly deleted because of the PhotographyREVIEW.com title frames at beginning and end. So now I’m using Vimeo for more personal videos and to experiment a bit – stuff that doesn’t belong on the PhotographyREVIEW.com YouTube Channel, anyway. So far I’ve only uploaded three very amateur videos – a cooking video, a short mountain biking video and a video of Easter Sunday at a Utah ski resort. But I feel like I’ve found a safe place for me to learn and share and there’s no shortage of inspiration to be found among the other members’ videos. I’m especially psyched about all the awesome HD ski footage and I’m just starting to discover all the knowledge to be found in the forums.
The hardest part of writing this article was trying to get a grip on all the different stuff that Vimeo has to offer. Being a pretty raw beginner as far as video goes, I’ve been careful not to put my virtual foot in my mouth. The main thing to know about Vimeo is that it’s one of the best places on the Web to immerse yourself in true video passion and creativity. It’s not the only place, of course. But Vimeo is designed to inspire and cultivate creativity. And that’s what makes it special. I’m not going to start putting the PhotographyREVIEW.com box-opening and camera tours on Vimeo. But I now have a suitable place to share my mountain bike, ski and other video experiments. Hopefully, I’ll manage to learn a little bit along the way.
Related Content:
PhotographyREVIEW.com Videos
Digital Video Forum
More Video News
Vimeo Web Site
John,
That’s a good take on vimeo. I don’t use it, but I should. I have a channel with 1 video from like 3 years ago, and just never settled in with there service. I use blip.tv but the quality of the player and the no-ads on vimeo looks to be a better choice, plus the migration from flash. Good write-up Dude.
Asta
Thanks John for this nice article. We really like the Vimeo video/movie maker community a lot. You get amazing help, see great work and get the feedback to improve your work.
While we (Bettina and I) are professional photographers we have so much to learn in making videos. But we are at a level where we enjoy creating short videos and try to get feedback at Vimeo. Here are some videos we made over the last 11 months:
http://vimeo.com/busteinmueller/videos