We took a look at some of the top video platform competitors for amateurs and professionals. Here are some of the best options if you’re breaking with YouTube:

The Story of Vimeo from Vimeo Brand Partnerships on Vimeo.

1. Vimeo – While YouTube can have anything from cat videos shot on a cell phone in 2006 to full length movies, Vimeo is the go-to for many professional and artistic videographers. Vimeo receives 170 million unique visitors per month and simply cannot be ignored. If a video uploaded to Vimeo is of high enough quality, it can be promoted to the front page and receive a gigantic audience. If you’re trying to decide whether or not your content will be successful on Vimeo, check out some of the popular videos on the front page and around the web so you can see if your tone fits with what is working on the site. Even if your videos aren’t super artistic or you’re not a professional, Vimeo is definitely the best alternative to YouTube in terms of platform support, audience, and metrics.

2. Facebook – The social media giant is seriously gunning to become more than just the place where your friends post too many baby or vacation pictures or a place you scroll through when you’re bored. They’ve made several big improvements to their video platform, including sharing ad revenue with video creators, putting their video platform in direct competition with YouTube. If you’re looking for a platform with a large audience base, Facebook will definitely work well for you (when a near quarter of the world’s population is on the platform, audience is the last thing you need to worry about). But if you’re looking for longevity you might be better off with Vimeo, once a video passes out of users’ newsfeeds, it tends to drop significantly in its engagement – something Facebook will need to figure out if they want to be a serious contender in the video hosting world.

3. Video Monetization Sites – If you’re more interested in monetizing your videos rather than having lots of people view them, you may want to consider one of the many platforms for video monetization. These sites are as far from YouTube as you can get, but if you’re serious about licensing your video content, and have a pretty solid list of customers interested in doing it, this might be a good option for you. Typically these sites will allow you to have  personally branded page that hosts only your content that you can drive potential customers to so they can view and license your content. Some companies that you may want to consider if you go this route: Brightcove, MediaShowroom, or Kaltura are good options depending on what you want out of your video management platforms.

No matter what platform you end up choosing to go with – even if you’re sticking with YouTube, you need a simple and effective way to move your videos around. Wispeo helps you share videos that aren’t for the masses, simply and effectively. Plus, Wispeo is now mobile! You can easily share long videos from your phone with anyone who wants to see them – or just send them to yourself so you can easily edit them on a desktop computer. Get the easiest way to share videos and photos from your phone in the App Store or from Google Play.

The post Life Outside YouTube: Other Places to Host Your Videos appeared first on Wispeo.

But if you want to learn more about Wispeo for mobile, you can stick around.

Wispeo allows you to easily send full-length, high resolution videos and photos from your iPhone to anyone with an email address. Ideal for ANYONE that shoots video on their phone – from parents recording a child’s game, performance, or birthday party to videographers shooting mobile video for clients. Share and gather video from events, projects, and memories. Here are just a few of the ways Wispeo has been used already, how will you use it?

• The parents in the front row (and therefore the best view/video) used Wispeo to share a video of a child’s ballet performance with the parents in the back row (who may or may not have been a bit late)
• WEDDING GUESTS used Wispeo to send videos of the big day and well wishes for the bride and groom
• Loads of people have used Wispeo to share long video clips from their phone that were too big to email and got super compressed through text messaging
• Other have used Wispeo to share awesome videos from a concert for the friend who couldn’t make it
• The MARKETING DEPARTMENT at work used Wispeo to share a video project they’re working on together.
• A college student used Wispeo to share (and ultimately submit to the professor) a large and visually intense POWERPOINT PRESENTATION with each other so they can collaborate on a group project
• VIDEOGRAPHERS have used Wispeo to share drafts and the final version of a video for a client
• Other video professionals have used Wispeo to submit videos to contests because they were too big for WeTransfer
• Professional photographers use Wispeo to send large batches of HI-RES PHOTOS without zipping them or adding them to a new folder
• I have used Wispeo to get an awesome photo off my computer and onto my phone so I could easily post it to Instagram (while Wispeo was a lifesaver here, this is my desperate plea to Instagram: Please let us post directly from our desktops!!! Not all shareable pictures are taken on a phone!)

For those that are new to Wispeo, here’s how the app works:

1. Use the Wispeo app to access your phone’s photo roll and contact list.
2. From here out it’s kind of obvious, but we’ll still detail it. Select which videos and photos you’d like to send
3. Choose the email address you’d like to be notified at when the files have been delivered (this can be saved for the future)
4. Choose what email address or addresses you’d like to send files to (you can wisp files to up to 50 people)
5. Choose what formats (if any) you’d like your video files to be converted into (you don’t have to convert your files, but if you want to optimize your video for an iPad or large computer screen, or other device, this is where you can do the free video conversion)
6. Share a message, if you’d like, for your friends to see when they get their files (ie. “Yo dawg, this vid rocks” … is dawg still a word people use or have I just dated myself?)
7. Once you hit “SEND” we’ll wisp the files and let you know via email when they’ve been delivered

Wispeo is hitting the market at the right time. We’ve been trained to shorten, condense, or delete our videos – from 6-second Vine clips on Twitter to only shooting short videos on our phones so they won’t get compressed when we text them to deleting a couple videos that seem less important to open up some space in our Dropbox or iCloud accounts. Wispeo allows you to once again share the WHOLE VIDEO – the whole story – with the people you want to see it. You can get your videos off your phone – easily and wirelessly – and shared with everyone that can enjoy them instead of languishing in a cloud storage folder somewhere or at the back of your photo roll.

And with Apple’s new announcement about 4k video capability on their new iPhone, those massive files will not be easy to share. Wispeo is needed now more than ever.

Final thought: I touched on this a bit earlier, but Wispeo also works as a FREE VIDEO CONVERTER, allowing you to share your videos in a format that will work best for the person you’re sending it to. Whether you need your video optimized for smartphones, tablets, or higher-resolution screens, you can choose what format you want to convert your video to and Wispeo will transcode it for you.

So go ahead and install Wispeo today from the App Store or Google Play.

The post Wispeo is Now Mobile! appeared first on Wispeo.

So we thought we’d talk about how to best utilize the convenient camera, especially when shooting video. The folks over at Wistia posted a blog about the best ways to capture video on an iPhone, and we were so impressed by their tips, that we thought we’d share some of our favorites and talk a little bit more about how these tips can be adapted in the wild (outside of the office).

Keep scrolling to see a few ways that you can maximize the quality of your iPhone video:

First off,  people frequently make their first mistake before they even start filming: They don’t use a tripod. Instead, they opt for a simpler method like holding their hands really still.

Nobody can hold as still as a tripod (so don’t even try). The only time a tripod may not be better than just holding your iPhone is maybe if you’re on a boat and the ground the tripod is on is moving, but other than that, always shoot with a tripod.

Tripods are also great for shooting video on an iPhone, because they also allow for horizontal filming – a much better option than vertical. Vertical video will leave bars on the side when shown on TVs, computers, and most screens outside of a phone. So if you want your video to have life outside of a phone, make sure you shoot it horizontally.

The built in flash may also seem tempting, but only use it if studio light or natural light is unavailable. The exposure lock feature helps create constant lighting for the video. Make sure the exposure is locked. If it’s not, the iPhone will change focus and increase exposure throughout the filming process, which creates jumpy looking video.

When focusing your video, avoid the zoom feature. The zoom on the iPhone is digital – not optical. So zooming in will only result in a pixilated video. Any zooming or editing should be done after the video is shot. There are some great editing apps available for iOS, but for the best possible quality, a computer is your best bet.

After you’ve finished editing, you’re ready to share your awesome video with the world. And that’s where Wispeo comes in. Visit our site to send your high quality iPhone video for free.

Wispeo is now mobile! Get the easiest way to share videos and photos from your phone in the App Store or from Google Play.

The post How to: Shoot Video on an iPhone appeared first on Wispeo.

In September school is still full of the promise of all the things you’ll learn, how you’ll be way more responsible with your time and not procrastinate this year, and all of the awesome fun memories you’ll make that will help you get through your 30s.

While you’re still high on school and how you’re really going to rock it this year, we wanted to tell you about a few ways you can use Wispeo to really make school (and your social life) work for you this year.

1. Use Wispeo to share your summer videos with all your friends. Sure, you probably made some awesome memories with your favorite friends from college, but there were a lot of times you had the camera rolling when not all of your friends were there and you have to share it with them too. Texting and Facebook compress the video sometimes beyond recognition, fix this just by using Wispeo to share all of your videos longer than a minute with your friends. It’s a simple, one-shot way to get your video out to all of your friends. Letting your friends know what an awesome summer you had is an important part of making sure back to school rocks.
2. Use Wispeo to share large files. “Large file transfer” is not a very sexy way to describe your product, but when you have a file that’s too large for email and you’re about resort to knocking doors to find a thumb drive big enough to store your project on, “large file transfer” starts sounding like the most beautiful thing in the world. Throw out all those old flash drives (at least the ones you haven’t lost already) and let Wispeo deliver your large files to classmates and professors.
3. Use Wispeo to make group projects slightly easier. I’m not sure very many people like group projects. It takes a lot to make schedules work and there’s always that one procrastinator that makes you end up doing twice the work and it’s frustrating. Plus, coordinating getting all the versions of whatever the project is to everyone can be a hassle. Sure, Google docs work for a short paper, but what about when you’re trying to create a group video? Or build an image heavy design document? Or when you need to share a mobile app you’re building? Using Wispeo to help coordinate all of your projects with your whole team will help the whole project run more smoothly.
4. Use Wispeo to convert videos into other formats. Speaking of those group video projects, use Wispeo to convert videos filmed on your phone into formats that play nicely with ALL other devices (even PCs). Having a tool with free video conversion already on your phone is a nice way to look really tech savvy.
5. Use Wispeo to share future memories you make. Back to school means a lot of work, but it’s also a lot of fun. You can use Wispeo to share videos with friends and family back home of the campus events, sports games, and fun times you and your friends have outside of the classroom.

We hope you weren’t using this article to procrastinate a homework assignment so early in the school year. But once you start to double down and get working on those projects, let Wispeo help you make at least one aspect of them a little bit easier.

Wispeo is now mobile! Get the easiest way to share videos and photos from your phone in the App Store or from Google Play.

The post 5 Reasons Wispeo Makes Back To School Awesome appeared first on Wispeo.

While your wedding videographer and photographer are going to get amazing shots of the bride and groom, do you really think they’re going to capture the best images of your guests really celebrating your day? Not everyone in the wedding party will be happy about standing in the sun doing the awkward Pinterest poses.

That’s not news. Most people know this which is why many weddings post a wedding hashtag at events for Instagram goodness. But even then, are you really getting the best photos and videos of the day? Your wedding guests, no matter how many great videos they take wishing you the best in your new life, will be limited by both resolution and time limits sharing to social media (and maybe not wanting to overwhelm their followers’ feeds with pictures from your wedding).

Enter Wispeo. Your guests and friends can take as many high resolution, longer than 30 seconds videos of them enjoying your big day as they want and can easily wisp ALL of their photos and videos to you in one fell swoop. They get to make sure you know how awesome the whole day was and you get to see your friends celebrating you from every angle.

Why wouldn’t you want to use Wispeo to make your wedding better?

Our mobile apps will be available soon (for both Android and iOS), so start planning how you’re going to let your friends, family, and guests know that the easiest way to save the memories from your special day is to use Wispeo.

Wispeo is now mobile! Get the easiest way to share videos and photos from your phone in the App Store or from Google Play.

The post Why Wispeo Should Be In Your Wedding appeared first on Wispeo.

Since Wispeo is so new (beta for desktop available here, mobile app soon available), we wanted to show you how Wispeo compares to some other more and less well known ways to share photos and videos out there in the wild.

When we first started to see a need for Wispeo, we asked people how they usually shared video files. From professional videographers to stay-at-home moms, they gave us several different ways they’ve cobbled together a solution to send video – though no one solution worked for them every time, they basically boiled down to a couple options: cloud storage (like Dropbox accounts), large file transfer sites (like WeTransfer), uploading a video to YouTube and downloading it in a new format (seriously, it’s a thing), text message, social media, a flash drive (do people still have those?), and – last but not least – email.

All of these are options we’ve used more than once ourselves, but none of these options do everything we frequently need them to in order to get high resolution video off our phones or desktops into a usable format on another device. And most of them are a real pain most of the time.

Enter Wispeo. Here’s a little visual representation of where Wispeo fits into the market. Click to see full size.

A couple clarifications. When we talk about how Wispeo compares to social media as a whole we’re mostly thinking about the bigger photo and video sharing platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Vine, and Snapchat.

When we compare Wispeo to cloud storage options we’re thinking mostly of DropBox since it’s what we’re most familiar with (and most of the other 400 million Dropbox users probably are too). We know, we know, iCloud and Google Drive are also cloud storage options, but they don’t have quite the same features that Dropbox does that make it easier to share video, but you could probably insert either one into the matrix above and it would still be true.

Also, we only compared Wispeo to WeTransfer and not other large file transfer sites since other sites don’t have quite the robust user and feature base they do. And when we shrug at WeTransfer’s app, it’s not that the app features don’t get the job done, it’s just that the app crashes A LOT when we try to use it and it takes an awfully long time.

So what do you think? How does Wispeo stack up against what’s out there? (Obvious answer: it is AWESOME. Do you see all those green check marks?!)

Use Wispeo to send your large files of all types to anyone, anywhere through your computer. Our mobile app will be available soon on both iOS and Android.

So tell us, how will you use Wispeo?

Wispeo is now mobile! Get the easiest way to share videos and photos from your phone in the App Store or from Google Play.

The post Why Wispeo is Better than Dropbox, WeTransfer, and Texting appeared first on Wispeo.

A brief overview on how Wispeo works: send your large files (video or anything else) to one or many people with just a few taps on your phone or computer. Wispeo sends the large files quickly and can even work as a free video converter – getting your videos into formats that work best on your big screen, computer, or smartphone. Whoever you send your videos to gets a link so they can easily download the full resolution video onto their device.

We put together a few ways we’ve used Wispeo to share our video below. See if any of the problems we faced hit close to home for you. All are true stories.

First, I’ll start with why I like Wispeo. I just had my first baby. Before I wasn’t very good at taking pictures or video, but now I realize the absolute importance of recording every single laugh, smile, and messy meal. And sharing it with my family is so important. But texting a video longer than 1 minute means that it gets compressed and the video is grainy and gross. Wispeo made getting the HD video easy to and from my phone and my family’s.

Eric – a fan of Wispeo – worked at a physical therapy clinic. The company wanted to put a video on loop showing the staff doing some fun things and talking about health so patients could get to know the staff better. Eric shot a super sweet video on his iPhone of him doing some high-powered basketball dunks. But when he sent the video to his coworker, it wasn’t compatible with the program she was using. He tried everything and eventually created an account on and uploaded the video to YouTube where he could then download it in the right format. It was a long and painful process. When he had to send an additional video, he just used Wispeo, it converted the video into the right format while he was sending his coworker the video – no more late-night YouTube pain.

When Jessica got married, her florist wanted her to send him pictures of how the arrangements turned out on the big day. She had a ton of awesome pictures that were way too big for email. She tried WeTransfer, but it didn’t work – and he lived too far out of her way for her to drop off a flash drive. Three years after her wedding, she was finally able to wisp him her pictures … and we’re sure everyone is living happily every after.

Sarah works as a freelance book designer. One of her clients (admittedly low tech) dropped off a book project and asked Sarah to physically mail the completed digital version to her on a flash drive. Sarah (admittedly too reliant on her computer sometimes) wasn’t entirely sure she knew where to buy stamps, so she wisped the large PDF and InDesign files to her client for far less than the postage would have cost (Wispeo was free). Both Sarah and the client were happy.

Some of the videographers and photographers we’ve featured on Wispeo had some great things to say about it too:

“Very impressed with simplicity and ease of using the Wispeo GUI – excellent. I feel really honoured to be on Wispeo and will be using it and spreading the word on how good and fast it is.” Gary Bird

“I loved using Wispeo! it was incredibly simple to use and I will most definitely be using it again in the future. I usually send photos to clients via flash drives, but if Wispeo is free [ed. note: it is] I would absolutely switch over.” Heather Burris

“I liked how fast and convenient it was sending my videos through Wispeo.” Madison Pratt

“Loved the beta version for getting my photos to you. It was simple and fast! #easyphotoshare #simple.” Ryan Allred

“I’m sending the photos through Wispeo (it’s cool, they’re uploading now and I’m excited to see how it works!).” Clara Sumsion

Those are just a few of the stories of how we’ve made Wispeo work for us. We use it all the time at work, in fact, we’ve probably used it every day since the beta version came out. We use it to collaborate on our marketing videos and share rough cuts, drafts, and finished products with our entire team. It’s made our video creation process run much better now that we don’t all have to gather around one computer to watch it, or do a complex game of share-the-flash-drive around the office.

We love Wispeo, and think you’ll love it too. Check out how simple Wispeo is to use at wispeo.com.

Wispeo is now mobile! Get the easiest way to share videos and photos from your phone in the App Store or from Google Play.

The post Why We Love Wispeo appeared first on Wispeo.

There are several rules we’ve relied on as we’ve constructed our brand message here at Wispeo. We wanted to write about our experience with a few of these tried and tested tips… and we also want to talk about all the times we’ve broken the standard rules and gotten even better results.

Know Your Brand
All good marketers know the importance of understanding their company’s brand and its assets. In most cases, a company’s real assets remain the same no matter what strategies content marketers employ to increase user engagement and public awareness. Knowing what your company has to offer is the first step towards an effective marketing strategy.

Our company makes it really easy to send big files – securely, easily, and in the highest quality. You can send any kind of attachment on wispeo.com, but there are special features on the site that were designed specifically to make sending large video files really easy. Some of Wispeo’s biggest perks are its video transcoding options. With Wispeo, you can make sure that your video gets to your recipient in the highest quality and in the correct format.

So we began marketing Wispeo with our unique brand assets in mind. We wanted to take a step away from the techie jargon and help our users understand that “file transfer” is a lot easier than it sounds.

That’s what we’re about. Making things easy.

…But Don’t be Scared to Modify it
One of the best parts about marketing for a startup? You have some time to figure out your brand. There is some leeway. Don’t expect your first idea to work. You might understand your company assets, but it does takes a little bit of testing to find out where your brand has room to grow, or change. (If you haven’t yet, take a look at Telegraph’s article featuring how 20 popular websites looked when they first launched.)

When we started talking about our company brand, we were sure about one thing – none of us knew what it would look like a decade from now.

Stay Loyal to Your Target Audience…But First, Find it
No matter what your brand message is, you need to know who will be using your product – especially if you want to make sure that the people who need your company know it exists.

Like we mentioned before, Wispeo is the ideal way to send files of any kind. But what makes it particularly unique is its ability to send large video files in high quality. It’s the perfect tool for videographers who want to switch files between devices, send video to clients, or collaborate with colleagues. In fact, it’s pretty dang useful for videographers and photographers alike… If you’re a photographer, we bet you’ve ran into issues  sending RAW images via email at some point. Wispeo makes it pretty easy to get around the waiting and speed up your workflow.

Go Cross-Channel…and Don’t be Scared of Your Online Voice
What you’re creating a brand message, its important that you make sure you’re covered on multiple platforms. First, you need to determine what platforms are going to be the most useful for your company.

In case you didn’t know already, we manage a blog. But we’re also on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. We like to focus on every platform when we market, which is why whenever we publish a blog post, we advertise the post on other social media channels too. We like to keep our voice consistent with our brand message – but we aren’t scared to change it up a bit depending on which platform we use. (Meaning we turn up the humor on our Twitter feed.)

Wispeo is now mobile! Get the easiest way to share videos and photos from your phone in the App Store or from Google Play.

The post Marketing Tips For Startups (Or What We’ve Learned So Far) appeared first on Wispeo.

Several apps and solutions have been created to address this problem specifically. iPhone users can use Airdrop to transfer files from an iPhone to a Mac, or between iPhones. Similar services like Pushbullet’s Portal app and Filedrop make it easy to share files as long as you have a wifi connection.

Other apps are focusing on re-sizing images to make it easier to send them via email or SMS. JPEGmini is an app that re-compresses JPEG files up to 80 percent. Today TechRadar published a feature on the app, which is supposed to make it easier for photographers to compress images and retain image quality. It’s no secret that smaller image sizes make it easier to transfer and share images between devices, (not to mention epitomize the editing process.) The JPEGmini premium app is available on iTunes, and costs $19.99. Users can download the free version, but are only allowed to re-size up to 20 images a day at no cost.

The file transfer solutions mentioned above make it easier to move media, but most of them come with a catch. Airdrop, Portal, and Filedrop work best with a wifi connection, and are mostly designed for sharing smaller-sized files. If you need to re-size more than 20 images a day, JPEGmini is an expensive option. Also, the app only works with photos. So, if video is your thing, you’ll need to find another way to transfer your files while retaining quality.

Wispeo combines the best features from every file sharing solution.

You can use Wispeo for free, and you can transfer as many files as you need to at any give time. You really don’t need to resize your photos to make them easier to transfer, either. If you use Wispeo, you can send large files in their original format. In fact, you can send up to 3GB of files at a time, and they’ll reach their destination in the highest quality regardless of their size.

Want to see for yourself? Give it a try at wispeo.com.

Wispeo is now mobile! Get the easiest way to share videos and photos from your phone in the App Store or from Google Play.

The post How We’re Making “File Transfer” Far Less Complicated appeared first on Wispeo.

You are definitely not alone. 2015 is supposed to be the year of the drone, and the Consumer Electronics Association expects sales to pass the $100 million mark this year. Drone maker DJI is on pace to do $1 billion in sales this year alone.

Because there are so many drones out on the market, it may be hard to know what you’re looking for your first time out. We’re here to help you with some tips and advice for videographers and cinematographers looking to get started in the aerial videography field.

First off, when you’re looking at any drone, there are a couple features to look for to help you capture good aerial footage:

• Livestream footage to the pilot – also known as FPV (first person view). While you can plan really well and throw a drone up there to get a shot, having FPV will help you actually frame your footage.
• Image stabilization. Most of the new drones coming out have a 3-axis gimbal, so this tip may not be very relevant in the future – but make sure if you’re looking at an older model you find one that can stabilize on all 3 axes (pitch, yaw, roll).
• Camera. Definitely look at resolution on your drone’s built-in camera – or how much camera weight a drone can hold if you’re looking to attach your own GoPro or something similar. Another thing to think about with a camera is its ability to tilt and reframe the shot during flight.
• Application information available. Most drones have an accompanying iOS or Android app that allows you to use the FPV and gives you information about your flight. Not all apps are equal and each one has different information they share. At minimum, make sure you have one that shows flight height and battery life remaining.
• Battery life. For short flights over a single building or to catch a specific scene, a battery flight time of 7 or 8 minutes could be fine. But if you are working to frame a shot and testing different angles, you’ll probably want to look for a drone with a battery life at least in the teens, if not higher.
• Range. You’ll need to know what kind of footage you want to get and the range you’ll need to get it. A lot of drones are limited to 150 feet from the controller, others can go much, much farther.
• Portability. Whether you plan on hiking up into the back country or travel around the city for some urban aerial shots, you’ll want to make sure you can port your drone around relatively easily. Find one that lets you easily take the rotors off, without a wrench or other tools, so you don’t have to pack extra gear if you are taking it into the back country. Many drones have rotors that can spin right off.

Here are a couple additional tips we found helpful: get a cheap practice drone and learn how to fly and crash it well. Really. That way you’re not throwing away $1,200 your second time out (and it’s not an exaggeration. Our second time out with the Phantom a technical malfunction meant we nearly got it hit by two vans and came close to clipping the top of a bus … another tip, don’t fly the drone near a busy road your second time out). Spending $1,290 to get a nice drone and a practice drone is better than spending $1,200 on a nice drone and then $500 two weeks later on repairs.

It’s also important to know what the airspace laws are in your neck of the woods. For right now in the US, drones can legally go up to 400 feet without running afoul of the FAA suggestions. You also can’t fly a drone within 2 miles of the White House, within five miles of an airport without permission, or in national parks. Outside of those regulations, flying a drone for personal or recreational use is largely unregulated. If you want to fly it commercially you need to get an exemption request from the FAA and a pilot’s license.

Wispeo is now mobile! Get the easiest way to share videos and photos from your phone in the App Store or from Google Play.

The post Tips for Entry-Level Drone Videography appeared first on Wispeo.