Staff Blog

Vimeo respects your videos and your right to decide who watches them. Vimeo stands for a higher level of quality — both in the site's content, and the platform itself. We pride ourselves on seeing the world a bit differently. Together, Vimeo and its users (you guys) have spent considerable time trying to construct a community around those values.

Some videos truly capture nature's beauty or the producer's creativity. Some videos should be viewed in their original high-quality format — in High Definition (HD).

And so, we are very pleased to announce that Vimeo is the first site to allow content creators to present their personal videos in native 720p (1280x720) resolution. Thanks to Canon and the Vimeo team, if you can shoot in HD, you can share in HD!

Supporting HD requires significant storage and bandwidth resources. Fortunately, Canon has graciously agreed to help subsidize the costs for the remainder of 2007.

We are also increasing the dimensions of non-HD videos from 460 to 506 pixels, and the bitrate from 400 kb/s to 500 kb/s (both of which will increase video playback quality).

We want everyone to be able to try HD. So, for the rest of the year, everyone's weekly upload quota will increase from 250 MB to 500 MB, which can be used for multiple videos, or just a big one — standard or high definition. The higher quota will probably require a subscription fee in 2008, but for now, it is free! No strings attached.

If you are curious about HD, consider reading the primer that Justin prepared:

http://vimeo.com/help/hd

We have also created an HD video showcase using our new Channels platform:

http://vimeo.com/hd

Enjoy. And, share some fantastically pristine videos with the Vimeo Community.

The day has come. Videos you upload yourself and videos that you have credit in, are now separate on your video page (Sigh of relief). Simply go to *my videos* and you will see toggle links in the sort bar that allow you to switch between Uploaded only/All.

We understand this feature was missing for a while and we're glad its back. Just thought you all would want to know.

Good afternoon. Our designers and engineers finished the new video page. Take a look at Remyyy's video Break Time to see it in action.

I think it is a huge improvement over the previous version. Here's what's new:

- Bigger video: 506 pixels wide instead of 460.
- Better quality video: 500kbps, instead of 400kbps (Down the road, we will convert your old videos to higher quality automatically; if you want it now, you can Replace the video)
- Better video player: faster, you can Share, Embed, or Like it from anywhere you can watch it (Albums, Channels, or on external sites).
- There's now a separate Settings page for each video. This means no more clumsy in-line editing.
- New upload page: It's actually built-in to the settings page. So you can upload and edit clips in the same way, instead of having two separate interfaces. The uploading process is more stable and responsive.
- Easier, faster friend finder for cast and privacy. It shows your contacts, by default, instead of any random users who match your search text.
- The Share and Embed popups are much easier now; try them!
- If the video belongs to a Channel or Album, you will see it prominently next to the video. This will help you discover other related videos, but tastefully, ie, instead of plastering "Related Videos" thumbnails everywhere.

Coming soon:

- "My Videos" will only be videos you uploaded (ie, back to normal!). You will still be able to browse all videos you have a credit for, but they won't be "your" videos.
- New home page, making it easier to discover new videos and to manage your inbox. We're simplifying things.
- iPhone integration. Not really but I wish; the YouTube app on there sure does suck. "Oh, hey, I can watch 'The Evolution of Dance' again, great." Apple, what's going on? How about allying yourself with a company that complements, not contradicts, your philosophies?

As usual, post your comments and questions below for personal responses.

Until very recently, Vimeo had a big problem. Although it was easy to upload video, there was no way to organize your videos. Now, with two new features, we have solved that problem.

The first is Channels. When you create a Channel, you are creating a new video-based website. The subject of your Channel can be anything: base it around a band, a family, a style of filmmaking, or just show off your best stuff. If you want a friend to help you out, you can co-moderate with them. As moderators, only you can post to the Channel, so it's not a free-for-all like tag-based projects.

On the side of each Channel are a few boxes, which you can fully customize. Observe the personal touch that annatruus achieved by customizing the colors and language of her Channel, Photomotion.

Anyone can subscribe to your Channel, so when you post a new video, it will appear in their Inbox on the home page. dalas made a tour of Channels; take a watch!



You can find new Channels here, or by clicking on the box in the upper-right corner of the Vimeo homepage.

The other new feature is Albums, which launched yesterday. An Album is simply a group of your videos. For example, I made one for my best lip dubbing videos. Like Channels, a video can be added to an Album from the video's page, or when you upload. Watch the video below for a tour!



If you would like to know what we're working on next, it's a new home page (one that shows you videos right away, like the old v4 homepage), a fix for the "My Videos" issue (finally), and a new video page. We have smaller projects underway, as well, but these are the most-demanded changes.

We hate it when Vimeo doesn't work correctly. So last week here at Vimeo was the much needed "Bug Week". Team Vimeo worked overtime to make sure we address and fix the little pesky annoyances that have plagued Vimeo for a while, and we're happy to announce a supreme victory over many of those evil Buggers. Although there are really too many fixes to list here, I will just address a few of the major ones, as well as a few new features we implemented last week.

BUGS

*Lots of back-end work to improve the speed at which you view Vimeo... prepare for ludicrous speed!
*Subscriptions have been overhauled and you should no longer receive duplicate videos or insane ordering in your inbox. You never get duplicate letters from people in the mail, so why should you get duplicate Videos?!
*Thumbnails have been fixed and should always show up when you load a page.
*Tags should now display accurate counts. Now you can see how many "mint" tags 3d60 has bestowed upon users' videos.
*Play stats should no longer fluctuate from day to day. We like accuracy, and we know you do too.
*'Likes' are now ordered by date liked, rather than clip upload date. Here you go Posalootly!
*You should no longer see the dreaded "Stream not found" message when trying to play a video.

Fun New Features

*My personal favorite new feature is what we're calling Timeline Jumping. When you write a specific time in the comments of a Video, that time (eg 1:09) links you to that specific moment in the Video when you click on it. Remember, the video must load first for it to work. Try it! Its awesome....
*Users can now delete contacts straight from their contact page by clicking on the red X next to the contact. No more need to go to their profile page to do it.
*The top Navigation bars now display the counts of how many clips, contacts, and likes you have.

Of course its hard to catch all the bugs, so if you find any, let us know in the BUGS forum. Enjoy the fixes and new features and stay tuned for some exciting new BIG features that we plan on launching very soon!

A much-requested feature has returned. You will find the password option in the same area as the rest of the privacy settings.

Our designers and engineers completed a beautiful new project today: the Widget page at

vimeo.com/widget

You have to see the Hubnut. You embed it in MySpace or your blog, just like any other video.

But when the first video ends, the next one begins! And you can click to jump forwards and backwards. It's like watching TV in the future, but a realistically creative future, not a bogus Jetsons-style space age makeover.

If you want to discuss the Widget page or the Hubnut, I created a forum topic for you.

By the way, it's called Hubnut.

Open only to people who hate their jobs. Make a video of yourself demonstrating why your job is an insult to your intelligence and a squandering of your abilities. We teamed up with your ego to bring out some incredible prizes. Everyone whose job ends as a result of this contest will receive the self-dignity which comes from saying "I won't take this anymore", as well as a phone call from me reassuring you that everything will be ok. See Adam Holwerda's video for inspiration.