More than a few of you have probably heard of Vimeo, the video sharing site that caters to artists and creatives (and also runs a film festival). For the most part, it's the anti-YouTube, with minimal advertising (none if you're a Plus user). YouTube doesn't always play nice with video files, and I've found that videos uploaded to Vimeo tend to look better. Unfortunately, actually uploading a video can be hit or miss at times (again, even if you're a Plus member), so Vimeo is introducing a few new features -- like Dropbox integration -- to make getting your videos online easier and more reliable. You can watch their video introducing the features below.

Here is a little more on the Dropbox connectivity:

  • If you depend on Dropbox for syncing and storing all your videos files, you don’t have to visit Vimeo to upload them again. One less step!
  • Auto-upload any video you save to Dropbox. Just choose your auto-upload folder, save a video there and we’ll handle the rest.
  • When uploading from Dropbox, you can leave the browser window as soon as you start uploading. No need to babysit a progress bar.

Obviously these are welcome features, and for anyone who has had downloads go to 99% and crash -- or simply not work at all -- creating additional ways to reliably get your videos online is quite a relief. More than the Dropbox integration, I actually really like that they've added a "pause upload" feature. I really could have used that when I had spotty internet connections at NAB this year. As far as the thumbnail selector, it will certainly save time by allowing you to select a frame right from the video online.

Vimeo is a great service, and the fact that they can store your original uploaded file (and allow others to download it) is a huge positive over YouTube. If you want to read more about Dropbox integration as well as the thumbnail selector, click on the links below.

Links:

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Distribution & Marketing