Vimeo is a video sharing site that is a great alternative to YouTube. It has a huge user base, most of whom are associated with film-making and art. It is a great site to host and share content, which is often noir, indie or avante garde in nature. It is also much easier to upload content here. Vimeo and YouTube apply different business models for sharing videos. While YouTube does not at all allow users to download videos directly from its site, Vimeo gives the option of doing so if the uploader of the video so chooses.
Also, YouTube earns money via ads, while Vimeo does so by charging users for uploading videos as well as making some videos available on a pay-per-view basis, known as Vimeo on Demand or VoD. Thus, content on Vimeo is much more refined and of better quality. Vimeo videos made available for download by uploaders can be downloaded directly from the app or site, but for others, one of the following methods must be followed:
- Online Video Downloader – Many video downloader websites are available online that you can use to download Vimeo videos. For this, copy the video link by clicking on the “Share”(paper plane) icon that appears on hovering the mouse pointer over the video, and copy the link in the new pane that appears. In a smartphone, click on the vertical ellipsis on the top-right of the video, click on “Share” and then, “Copy to clipboard”. Now, open a New Tab in your browser and open the video downloader. Paste the link in the search bar, press Enter or Search, choose one of the quality and format options that appear and click on “Download”.
- Video Downloader Application – This works pretty much the same way as an online downloader, but one has to download and install the application. After that, copy the video link in Vimeo as before and open the software. Paste the link in its search bar, press Enter or Search, choose the desired download option and click on “Download”.
- Extension – This makes video downloading automatic. In computers, they may either detect videos on the page and automatically load the download links, or you may have to copy the video link for the downloader to detect and load it. In the mobile, the pop-up that appears on clicking “Share” will have the option for the app, pressing which will lead you to the download page. In each case, choose the required download option and press “Download” to start the process.
There is of course always the option of using a screen recorder to record the video as it plays on the screen of either PC or smartphone, but that often destroys video and audio quality and is also quite cumbersome. For quick and free download that requires no installation, you can use Video Downloadr. Not just Vimeo, it also contains YouTube video downloader, Facebook video downloader and many other services for most of the popular video sharing sites.
