marcushackler.com

I’m sort of excited about this because better quality content will be on Youtube, but now that I’ve gone through the process of uploading and embedding HD quality video with Youtube, I’m not sure it’s worth the hassle to switch services. Here is what I’m talking about:

First here is our latest series opener for comparison. Keep in mind that unless you have a Plus account throught Vimeo you can’t embed HD.

Here is the Do series intro on Vimeo in standard definition (make sure the button on the right of the video says “HD off”):

Do Series Open - Fine Cut from Marcus Hackler on Vimeo.

And here is the same video on Youtube in standard definition:

Here it is from Vimeo embedded in in HD (make sure button on the right of the video says “HD on”):

Do Series Open - Fine Cut from Marcus Hackler on Vimeo.

And embedded in “High Quality” (HD) from Youtube:

Now here’s what I’ve learned.

User Interface

Youtube hasn’t changed that much as far as a user interface. Since I’ve been using Vimeo I’ve grown accustomed to the clean easy user interface and how easy it is to do what I’m looking to do.

HD embedding and limits

Vimeo does have a 500MB per week limit, which can be increased to 2GB (1GB file upload) by paying for their Plus membership which is $59.95 per year. Also included with Plus is the ability to embed in HD, player customization (including removing playbar, portraits, bylines…everything), no banner ads, unlimited HD uploads (wihin the quota)… you get the idea. Youtube doesn’t offer a premium service, but they appear to not have a weekly limit and you can upload files as large as 1GB. They don’t have an option for embedding in high quality, but I found a code hack to make it possible.

Social Media

Vimeo has also done a better job in the social networking realm and they’ve done this by targeting the creative class. They are vigilant in making sure copyrighted content doesn’t make it up, they’ve created simple tools for commenting, groups, albums, channels, ratings, and connecting with other artists. Youtube’s audience still appears to the be everyday creator rather than the creative class, but with their move toward high quality support, they appear to be trying to change that.

Speed

Finally Youtube’s uploading and conversion process isn’t great. There’s no way to tell when your video will become available. I found this particularly frustrating as a content creator because I was always tweaking my compression settings to get the best looking video. Vimeo is clear - it gives you a status bar on uploads, tells you how long you video is in the conversion que, and emails you when your video is available. In addition, Vimeo’s help community is amazing with people from all skill levels that can diagnose whatever problem you are having.

So how does it break down?

Youtube Pros:
- Unlimited Uploads
- 1GB File size
- Wider audience

Youtube Cons:
- Standard definition videos are crap
- User interface clunky
- HD embedding has to be hacked to work
- Wider audience = lots of noise

Vimeo Pros:
- Great standard definition quality
- HD embedding (Plus)
- Easy user interface
- Easy community connective tools
- Highly customizable player

Vimeo Cons:
- Weekly limits (500MB for free, 2GB for Plus)
- Narrower Audience = less exposure

Suffice it to say that it matters what is important to the user. I’ve decided to stick with Vimeo - I’ve kind of carved out a place there and I love the look of the embedded content. Plus, standard definition looks great, and I still upload a lot of content that size. For all you editors out there, I hope that my little analysis will help you decide what works best for you.

If I were to sum it all up in one statement, it would be this:

Vimeo = Mac, Youtube = PC

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 11th, 2008 at 4:00 am and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.