Vimeo Launches PRO Service

[Josh Dahlberg]

2011 Showcase

Took me a couple of hours to get a basic reel site up and running with a custom url, logo etc, and no Vimeo branding whatsoever. Very handy.

The interface for customising the site/arranging the video etc is super easy. I have no coding knowledge - this is great for guys like me who just want to pop stuff up quickly and get onto the next shoot. It will also be great for my clients.

There are a couple of things I'd like to see updated: you're stuck with whatever font size each of the 9 templates defaults to (you can change the font, but not the size); and you can only select from a few arbitrary thumbnails Vimeo allocates for each video, rather than scrubbing to the ideal frame.

Also, although there is a triangular button that should take the viewer to the next set of videos (I have uploaded 9 so far, with the first 6 viewable on the mainpage), this doesn't seem to function.

But overall, soooo easy.

[Chris Hurd]

That looks great, Josh -- well done!

[Roger Van Duyn]

Ditto for what Chris said. Wow!

[Josh Dahlberg]

Thanks guys... kind of you to say.

Actually I've been working on a replacement for my existing site (which is in dire need of an update) for a year now - something with a very "boutique" feel that will work in with agencies.

However, I have to rely on others for coding, and getting everything "just so" is taking forever.

That will still happen, but what's great about the Vimeo thing (which I will use as a separate, portfolio site) is the speed. Today I've popped back in the office to put up a first cut for a client - there is a nice "review" feature automatically enabled when you upload, meaning the video by default is not public, but a link is provided that you can pass on to clients. Then, if desired, you can make it public and arrange it on the page. Very handy.

Edit: and I've just found you can very simply password protect the review video, giving clients peace of mind. Nice.

[Chris Hurd]

Sure appreciate your testing of the Vimeo PRO waters, Josh... I think I'm sold on it, thanks to your feedback.

[Josh Dahlberg]

Thanks Chris,

Another tick for Vimeo Pro:

I reported my bug on their pro support forum yesterday (ie: the page 2 button of my chosen template wasn't functioning on my site). I received feedback from two Vimeo staff and they had the issue fixed within hours, and thanked me for reporting it. Good stuff.

[Doug Tessler]

Looks great can you go full screen with the videos on your website because I noticed you framed them or added a skin. I would like to have the ability to also go full screen if that is possible

Thanks and Good Luck

Doug

[Robin Davies-Rollinson]

You can indeed go Full Screen.
Having just upgraded to Vimeo Pro, I can honestly say that it is worth every Pound/Dollar/Euro...
To be able to get ones videos hosted either singly or as part of a showreel is a real boon.

[Josh Dahlberg]

Originally Posted by Doug Tessler

Looks great can you go full screen with the videos on your website because I noticed you framed them or added a skin. I would like to have the ability to also go full screen if that is possible

Hi Doug. I've deliberately removed the HD option for now: because there's a mix of DSLR, HDV and Canon XF footage, keeping it SD suits my purpose, ie: it all looks sharp.

It's very easy to customise the player. You can tick on/off what you want: logo, volume, playbar, scaling option, fullscreen option etc. It's really very easy.

[Eric Stemen]

Can you make it so people can't copy the embed code?

[Jon Fairhurst]

FWIW, Vimeo (not just the PRO Service) is now available on the AppleTV...

AppleTV update adds TV show buying, Vimeo | Apple Talk - CNET News

[Josh Dahlberg]

Originally Posted by Eric Stemen

Can you make it so people can't copy the embed code?

Yes, you have the option of everyone can embed, only certain sites can embed, or no one can embed.

You can also have multiple portfolios, each with discrete domain names... you can then assign particular videos to particular/multiple portfolios, very simply. I've set up a few now.

[Eric Stemen]

Thank you for the information!

[Steve Kalle]

Hi Josh,

Nice, simple and elegant site.

I watched a few of your videos and in the '100 Years of Annotating' video, most of their skin is very red and/or purplish. Even on my Dell Ultrasharp, which is slightly more blue than my broadcast monitors in my studio, their skin is way too red.

Please don't take this the wrong way. I am just saying what I see due to a recent experience with my Eizo CG243W. For about a week, I was color correcting and grading with the wrong color space thanks to my assistant accidentally changing the calibrations in the monitor. After a producer complained several times about people looking orange, I re-calibrated my LCD and then noticed that the calibration had been changed. For certain projects, I now use 3 LCDs to triple-check color and aliasing. (the Eizo, Sony HDTV & Pann 1710w broadcast monitor via HD-SDI and composite for aliasing)

[Josh Dahlberg]

Hi Steve,

Funny you should mention that (blush), colour correcting the video in question is on my list of things to do. A couple of the speakers do have very red faces indeed!!

Something odd happened along the way (it's an old video, my editor at the time worked on it): at least the DVD version the client received doesn't look like that.

But yes, as soon as I get the chance I will correct the issue. Incidentally, Vimeo Pro allows you to replace the source file without affecting other details (analytics, tags, descriptions etc). Quite handy.