By: Nick Gambino
It’s been a long time coming but Vimeo has finally added support for 360-degree videos allowing us yet another platform to watch VR on.
YouTube and Facebook have been in the VR business for quite a while now so Vimeo is a bit late to the party. Luckily there’s plenty of room at the table.
Vimeo doesn’t necessarily cater to the same audience. Sure there’s spillover but Vimeo mainly caters to indie filmmakers and other creative types. You don’t necessarily go to Vimeo to watch a cat video unless that cat is smoking a cigarette against a black and white, bleak landscape with a ponderous voiceover contemplating the meaning of life.
This opens up a whole new avenue to creative filmmakers who want to try their hand in the medium and put it out for the masses to ingest.
“We want all creators to feel empowered, start experimenting with new 360 techniques, and begin sharing insights,” the blog announcement states. “The more we can delve into your wondrous videos, the more we can all find inspiration, and usher in the new standard for incredible storytelling.”
Control and quality is the name of the game in Vimeo 360. You can upload in 8K and set customized video settings. For instance you can decide what field of view you want and what position you want the video to start in.
They include a 360 Video School with lessons that teach you all about the VR world and how to make videos from a technical standpoint.
Now it doesn’t fully support every VR headset just yet. You can of course view the 360 videos without a headset (but why would you?) through the mobile app on both iOS and Android devices. Samsung Gear VR and Google Daydream are both supported with HTC Vive and Oculus Rift support coming soon.
There is a dedicated channel for 360 videos for you to explore while there’s also a marketplace where VR videos can be sold, rented or subscribed to.
What do you think of Vimeo adding VR support on their platform? Can they carve out their own corner of the market or are they too late? Discuss it in the comments below!
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