OT: Vimeo Update

MUTTLEY wrote on 8/7/2010, 10:51 AM
I should have mentioned this a couple weeks back but as most of ya know I've been using and loving Vimeo for sometime now. One thing I wasn't particularly a fan of was how they managed HD Embeds, as a Pro Member you were only allotted a designated amount of Embeded HD plays, once those ran out they would be SD (which I must admit still looked pretty frikkin good) or you had to buy more. For me when they had this I restricted HD embedding only to my site and a few select clients. Even though I never came anywhere close to using all of the plays that came with the Pro account it was still a drag knowing there was a ceiling. Upshot is that they recently changed it to unlimited HD embedding on Pro accounts and I no longer have to worry about and can let anyone/everyone that wants to embed my vids in HD. Here's the announcement:

Vimeo - Global Settings and Unlimited HD Embedding

Anyway, just thought I'd pass on the info. If you're happy with where ya are no worries, even though YouTube has come a long way in quality I still hate their branding and site. Ive also long loved the fact that Vimeo allows me to swap out a vid as opposed to YouTube where if I make a change I cant replace it, I can only delete it and reupload it again which would kill any embeds. I always upload to Vimeo and promote/embed from there and then a couple weeks later post my vids (if their short enough) to YouTube just for the YouTube folks that don't explore as much elsewhere.

Here's my page if anyones interested:

Vimeo - Underground Planet

Happy posting!

- Ray
Underground Planet

Comments

Earl_J wrote on 8/7/2010, 1:38 PM
Hello Ray,
that is good news ... might be the straw that broke the camel's back to get me to sign up for the Plus ... well, that and the waiting in line for video conversion once it's uploaded... (sigh)

Until that time ... Earl J.
Randy Brown wrote on 8/7/2010, 1:58 PM
Hey Ray,
I've always really liked your work but this looks awesome!
Thanks for bringing this up... I am in the process of having someone give my website a LONG overdue facelift and was thinking I would need to pay much more for a bigger, faster server but this may just be the answer...very economical!
Thanks,
Randy
BTW did you lose weight recently ...you look thinner...something else I could use advice on : (
MUTTLEY wrote on 8/7/2010, 2:38 PM

Cool Beans Earl, I do all the embedding on my main Underground Planet site from there and have been for forever, I love that you can remove the branding. I remember back in the day when I would convert all my vid's myself with Sorenson Squeeze to four different versions, a large and small wmv and a small and a large mov and then building a page for each version, embedding, uploading, blah! Don't miss that at all. Never used YouTube cuz it looked so bad. After wmv's and mov's was an early adopter in Flash Video but hadto buy a special plugin for Dreamweaver and still hadta convert with Sorenson for a large and small and still hadta make pages, embed, upload, don't miss that at all!

Randy, gladta hear it. As for the weight, I may have, not really sure but after a week in Utah with Spot and Mannie and then four days visiting my parents in AZ I'm sure I've put anything I may have lost back on and then some!

- Ray
Underground Planet

TeetimeNC wrote on 8/8/2010, 4:51 AM
Ray, I have considered upgrading to pro but couldn't find any specific information regarding control over the player. I understand you can remove branding from the player. I have two additional requirements, and maybe you can tell me if you can do this with the player:

1. I would like to be able to have a video autostart in the player - this would be for use on a homepage.

2. I would like to be able to have a video loop in the player.

Can you do eithe of these with the Vimeo player?

/jerry
MUTTLEY wrote on 8/8/2010, 10:46 AM

Hey TeeTime, I have answers for both, links below. Not that ya asked but just my two cents, I personally am not a fan of either options. When I go to a site I'm more than willing to press play, thats usually why I'm there in the first place. When sites have auto-play on music and vids a lot of time it catches me off guard, more often than not the volume is just a little too loud and its jarring if not startling. On my site I trust that people are there to see my work and if not just seeing all the video's will get their curiosity enough to press play.

The same goes for looping, not so much as the startling/jarring but if I want to watch something again cuz I like it I'm more than happy to press play on my own. All that said you can do whatever ya want!!! And here's how:

Autoplay & Looping Videos

Hope that helps;

- Ray
Underground Planet
DGates wrote on 8/8/2010, 1:11 PM
On our pro accounts, I wish we could select a dark gray background for our pages, like you see on Vimeo's groups.
MUTTLEY wrote on 8/8/2010, 5:17 PM

I agree with ya on that one D, actually suggested and lobbied for that years ago on their forums, they very kindly told me "no". Don't agree with their reasoning but as I embed to my site which does indeed have a dark background it's not a deal breaker. Compared to YouTube's cluster *truck* of ads and links/thumbnails of other vids it's still a million times better!!!

- Ray
Underground Planet
DGates wrote on 8/8/2010, 9:22 PM
That's true.
MUTTLEY wrote on 8/18/2010, 10:36 AM

Hey TeeTime, looks like among the other things they added in the new update today with their Universal Player they listened to you:

"How do I set videos to autoplay or loop when I embed them?

When choosing to embed a video from the site, click the blue text link in the lower half of the lightbox that says "Customize Embed Options". Then simply check the boxes to either loop the video, autoplay, or both."

Now all ya gotta do is click the checkbox. =)

You can read more about their Universal player and other announcments here:
Three New Features: Universal Player, Watch Later and Roku

- Ray
Underground Planet

TeetimeNC wrote on 8/18/2010, 1:53 PM
Excellent. Thanks Ray.