Video hosting, Vimeo pro vs Amazon S3

12 years ago

My money is on amazon. My site is 100% video based membership with alot of 20-30mb videos. I got NO TIME for a small time operation to fold up. Vimeo may be large, but they are NOT amazon. What is it worth to you?

Thanks

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Eduard Stinga

12 years ago

Guys, I can't believe you're actually saying that Vimeo might shut down, LOL!

Vimeo is the 2nd biggest online video streaming site, right after YouTube.

Do you see YouTube charging anything to host your videos there? No. Will it shut down any time soon? No. Neither will Vimeo.

I would personally say go with Vimeo, because it's much more professional - most of the film industry professionals use Vimeo for their demo reels and short films

Also, about streaming from Amazon, I'm not sure if you put the file directly on your FTP and it streams it just like that or not - but for example, if you host a video on YouTube or Vimeo, it gets processed and converted into another format, so the filesize gets smaller, while the quality remains the same (technically it changes, but it's not noticeable by the average user).

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WillR 10 years ago

Originally Posted by Eduard Stinga

Guys, I can't believe you're actually saying that Vimeo might shut down, LOL!

Yeah, and back in the day you would have probably said MySpace was going nowhere either. Look what happened to that. Nothing is guaranteed in this business.

Amazon S3 for me all the way! You want to be in control of as much of your business as possible. Besides, Amazon S3 is dirt cheap for what it is.
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- OnlineStoreHelp 10 years ago
  
  I used Amazon S3 on my last course and I liked it but given so many people are using tablets to watch their courses, I am going to a hybrid model for my courses this year.
  
  Wistia for my sales letters - I want to see the analytics on the sales letter, if they are dropping off for example. I like Wistia but their prices are a bit rich to do full courses on.
  Vimeo for behind the paywall. Platform independent and you can restrict streaming to your domain. With S3 I have to use a third party tool to obviscate the bucket URL and when I do that it only seems to work on flash devices so no watching on iPad. And I can't justify $300 for easy video suite at this time.
  S3 for miscellaneous items like actual downloads (files, work papers, etc.)
  
  I have been taking some more premium courses and those guys all seem to use Vimeo. In addition, using Screenflow (and I think Camtasia) you can upload your edited files directly to them.
  
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yerrato

12 years ago

I currently use zencoder to compress my videos

Thanks

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Thumoney

11 years ago

Just wanted to open a new thread about Vimeo Pro vs. Amazon S3 Video Hosting for Membership Sites / Launches.

What are your current opinions on that? Those 2 options seem to be the best at the moment, right? Which would you prefer and why?

Thanks

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Workman

11 years ago

A couple of significant differences between the two:
Vimeo

Includes transcoding your video to a web-friendly format (H264)
Hosts the resulting files
Provides an embedded, cross-browser player

Amazon S3

File storage only
You still need to transcode your video using handbrake or an online video transcoding service like Zencoder, Sovee Encodr, panda stream, others..
You have to configure and maintain your own player (and ensure it works on all devices including mobile)

How Vimeo can compete on costs:

Vimeo has highly-optimized transcoding configurations and only offer high bitrate videos when it makes sense. Overall resulting in smaller files served to visitors.
Vimeo operates on economies of scale and pushes out a lot of video daily. (Consider how the cost of bandwidth drops to .02/GB from .12/GB on S3 when you push out +5pb/data a month using Cloudfront)

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vtotheyouknow

11 years ago

They're both excellent options. With Vimeo, you'll obviously have less headaches in terms of converting, embedding, etc.

You might also want to look into EasyVideoSuite, which handles conversion into a web-optimal format/size, utilizes CloudFront (true streaming) and gives you some in-video marketing tools. It's expensive ($297) but just a one-off payment - plus your CloudFront fees of course.

Also the thing to know about CloudFront (RTMP setting NOT progressive download) is you only pay for what gets watched so you never pay for a video that loads to the end while your viewer only watches the first minute or two.

There's also Wistia, which looks really nice and professional but is pretty pricey.

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Workman 11 years ago

Originally Posted by vtotheyouknow

There's also Wistia, which looks really nice and professional but is pretty pricey.

I actually really like them. If you're wondering where your viewers are dropping off in your pitch, Wistia's analytics are invaluable.
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- notacode 11 years ago
  
  hi, so its good solution for a v.o.d portal?
  
  Thanks
  
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Thumoney

11 years ago

So it looks like Vimeo Pro is really the best option to go since it's much easier and cheaper. THere isn't really much more to say ?!

Thanks
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TomC

11 years ago

Is this about hosting?

If so ....you want to compare Amazon with Akaimi as that is who Vimeo buy their hosting off

Infrastructure wise.. Amazon is pulling ahead

http://www.akamai.com/html/about/facts_figures.html

How Big is AWS? Netcraft Finds 158,000 Servers | Data Center Knowledge

But there's also Google, Microsoft, Rackspace and... soon...Apple

------------

Is it about running costs?

Amazon s3 is just a host and so you get the bandwidth at the best price

Vimeo resells the bandwidth bought in from Akaimi

Vimeo Pro offers 250,000 max views for the initial $199 with a storage ceiling of 50 gig
Per Annum

Amazon s3 would only cost $1.14 for 50gig storage for the year

Assuming all 50gig of video was being viewed every month for the year - $72

------------

Is it about getting a video distribution platform?

Where you can make players to match your site design, set the playback rules, get viewer, play on phones and tablets and macs, give you analytics etc etc

Then you have to compare alternatives to Vimeo
(Wistia, Brightcove, Bitsontherun)

They are also be buying in bandwidth and reselling it from Amazon, Rackspace, Akaimi etc

And they make their margin on the unused bandwidth paid for by members

Taking the Vimeo example.. every customer that doesn't upload 50 gigs and doesn't have 250,000 views.. that unused-but-paid-for resource is pure profit...

Anyone that goes over their 50 gig limit.. or is unlucky enough to get 250,001 views... gets to overpay at the next level... sweet!

----------

Is it about business video - building lists, getting sales, engaging viewers?

Then watch out...

Vimeo doesn't offer a means to grow a list and they prohibit it in their TOS:
Code of Conduct Vimeo

And so....

You don't want your business shut down

Help, I've been marked as a spammer on Vimeo

----------

I think the future is about independence - swapping Amazon for Google for Apple, when the price is right...

No one wants to be 'locked in'

That's why we are introducing a new service

TomC

[ 1 ] Thanks
1 reply

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Zbackman

10 years ago

Originally Posted by TomC

Is this about hosting?

If so ....you want to compare Amazon with Akaimi as that is who Vimeo buy their hosting off

Infrastructure wise.. Amazon is pulling ahead

http://www.akamai.com/html/about/facts_figures.html

How Big is AWS? Netcraft Finds 158,000 Servers | Data Center Knowledge

But there's also Google, Microsoft, Rackspace and... soon...Apple

------------

Is it about running costs?

Amazon s3 is just a host and so you get the bandwidth at the best price

Vimeo resells the bandwidth bought in from Akaimi

Vimeo Pro offers 250,000 max views for the initial $199 with a storage ceiling of 50 gig
Per Annum

Amazon s3 would only cost $1.14 for 50gig storage for the year

Assuming all 50gig of video was being viewed every month for the year - $72

Vimeo doesn't offer a means to grow a list and they prohibit it in their TOS:
Code of Conduct Vimeo

And so....

You don't want your business shut down

Help, I've been marked as a spammer on Vimeo

----------

I think the future is about independence - swapping Amazon for Google for Apple, when the price is right...

No one wants to be 'locked in'

That's why we are introducing a new service

TomC

Tom, some interesting points. I am handicapped by being a long term Mac user, so reading manuals and techno speak is beyond me.

Now, what happens if I have 5 GB of video and one million customers who are watching say 200 mb a day?

When I get on AWS and read all the different bt vs GB I feel a bit like someone dropped my brain in a blender

Any advice on how to measure this? Someone got a nice Excel sheet?

The once a wiz

Thanks
1 reply

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vtotheyouknow

10 years ago

Originally Posted by Zbackman

Now, what happens if I have 5 GB of video and one million customers who are watching say 200 mb a day?

A more realistic scenario is that you have say 5 GB of video and 300 customers who are watching an average of 200mb a day EACH, then you'll probably pay a few hundred bucks.

I may be way off because I'm basing my estimate on one of my sites that doesn't do quite so much volume. But then again, if you have 300 paying customers, that probably won't be a big deal.

Amazon is very cheap assuming a few things:

1) You compress your videos properly so that they're small and load quickly

2) You're using CloudFront and RTMP streaming and not *just* S3. This means you only pay for bits of video that actually get watched.

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SunnyDelight

10 years ago

Originally Posted by vtotheyouknow

A more realistic scenario is that you have say 5 GB of video and 300 customers who are watching an average of 200mb a day EACH, then you'll probably pay a few hundred bucks.

I may be way off because I'm basing my estimate on one of my sites that doesn't do quite so much volume. But then again, if you have 300 paying customers, that probably won't be a big deal.

Amazon is very cheap assuming a few things:

1) You compress your videos properly so that they're small and load quickly

2) You're using CloudFront and RTMP streaming and not *just* S3. This means you only pay for bits of video that actually get watched.

Great tips you provided here my friend! Thank you

Thanks

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magentawave

10 years ago

Vic, I used the settings on your compress videos page, and wow, the first video I compressed went from 150mb to only 26mb!

Its been a couple years since I looked but isn't there another hosting company that does the same thing as S3 but is a lot cheaper? I can't find it now but I think it was called CDN or something??

Originally Posted by vtotheyouknow

A more realistic scenario is that you have say 5 GB of video and 300 customers who are watching an average of 200mb a day EACH, then you'll probably pay a few hundred bucks.

I may be way off because I'm basing my estimate on one of my sites that doesn't do quite so much volume. But then again, if you have 300 paying customers, that probably won't be a big deal.

Amazon is very cheap assuming a few things:

1) You compress your videos properly so that they're small and load quickly

2) You're using CloudFront and RTMP streaming and not *just* S3. This means you only pay for bits of video that actually get watched.

Thanks
1 reply

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Joe the goat farmer

10 years ago

Cloudfront + Amazon S3 with EVS

EVS Takes care of ALL analytics for you and compression as well as responsive videos
Cloudfront - Only pay for amount watched and not the entire video
S3 - Fast and cheap and will never go away

I have a ton of stuff out there and don't even notice Amazon's bill it is so cheap and having S3 makes it nice so I can also add an occasional pdf or important graphic instead of having it on my website. Also when I set up a caching plugin, I just plug in my S3 API and my site is rocket fast.

Who wants to be locked into a $200 a year program?

So if you are scared of S3 complication and cost, invest in EVS and you will have everything you need.

Thanks
1 reply

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magentawave

10 years ago

I'm still using the predecessor to EVS which is EVP2 and I'm using S3.

Is there any downside to using Cloudfront over S3? And since I'm using S3 already, how do I turn on Cloudfront?

Originally Posted by mobisocialjobs

Cloudfront + Amazon S3 with EVS

EVS Takes care of ALL analytics for you and compression as well as responsive videos
Cloudfront - Only pay for amount watched and not the entire video
S3 - Fast and cheap and will never go away

I have a ton of stuff out there and don't even notice Amazon's bill it is so cheap and having S3 makes it nice so I can also add an occasional pdf or important graphic instead of having it on my website. Also when I set up a caching plugin, I just plug in my S3 API and my site is rocket fast.

Who wants to be locked into a $200 a year program?

So if you are scared of S3 complication and cost, invest in EVS and you will have everything you need.

Thanks

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seobro

10 years ago

I prefer vimeo pro. Frankly, amazon is a pain. They make me jump. Well, I am paying em. Like what is their problem any way. Put your money on vimeo pro. This is what I have to say on amazon. I wanna throw the book at em.

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behnampmdg3

9 years ago

Vimeo 100%

I wasted so much time and money setting up S3 and Cloud Front.
Vimoe Pro is MUCH faster, secure and less hassle free.

What took me 1 month with Cloud Front and S3, took 20 minutes with Vimeo.

Try them both, Amazon is for webmasters.

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Video hosting, Vimeo pro vs Amazon S3

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