Potential users often ask me what advantage ScreenLight has over public video sharing applications like Vimeo. The fact is, there are several advantages. Here's the top 5:
Sharing Videos in ScreenLight is private by default.
Vimeo is a "public" video sharing application, while ScreenLight positions itself as a "private" video sharing application. Not so, you say: Vimeo Plus (the paid version) does offer privacy controls for your videos. While that is true, Vimeo Plus always defaults to making your uploaded videos public - it's up to you to go into the settings and fine tune the privacy controls. As an editor, I am often asked to sign non-disclosure agreements when working on sensitive internal corporate videos for large brands. If were to upload a first cut of a video to Vimeo Plus and send to the client for review, they probably wouldn't be a client for much longer, regardless of how much I assured them that the video has been made private and only they are able to watch it. Putting their video on Vimeo would just make them too nervous when what you really want to instill in them is confidence. ScreenLight, on the other hand, is 100% private: password protection and privacy controls ensure that clients will only see what you want them to.
The workflow in ScreenLight is designed for video production
The ScreenLight interface is clean - some would say spartan - and of all the positive feedback we get from subscribers, this often comes in at the top of the list. The clean interface has been designed with the workflow of production companies and agencies in mind.
With ScreenLight, there are a minimum number of steps to get things done (this is a productivity tool after all).
With Vimeo, there may be plenty of options to share videos privately: Albums, Groups, Channels. However, too many choices is not always a good thing. It's a lot of work to figure out how to make them work in the context of a video production project. ScreenLight organizes all videos by project, which means all of the videos for project are grouped together.
There are no distractions for people that are asked to review and approve videos
When you invite people to join Vimeo to review videos (something that must be done before someone can comment on a private video), there are numerous distractions. For example, the first thing they are asked to do upon joining is invite all their friends and family to create an account. This helps spread the word about Vimeo, but it doesn't help your business or your client get down to the task at hand. With ScreenLight, new users are brought immediately to your videos.
Ad free environment
Vimeo is an ad-supported site. True, if you have a paid Vimeo Plus account, you will not see any adds. But keep in mind that your clients may not have a paid account - if so, they will see advertisements when they visit your Vimeo pages.
Again, this is a distraction and can reflect poorly on your brand. With ScreenLight, there are never any advertisements. We aren't trying to pry money out of your client's pockets - we'll leave that up to you.
ScreenLight puts your brand forward
Which brings me to the next advantage of ScreenLight – the ability to brand the client “screening room” with your own corporate identity. Upload your logo, change the header colors, and it looks to your client like their videos are coming from you on your company’s own private site. Although the pro version of Vimeo lets you create “channels” where you can upload your logo and customize the theme of the page, the Vimeo logo always stays at the top of the page – so even though you are able to customize your Vimeo page, it is always presented within the context of the Vimeo brand. This ability to theme your ScreenLight account with your company’s branding offers the additional advantage of presenting a more professional image. No matter how small your production shop or agency, ScreenLight will show your client’s you have your act together.
ScreenLight sample: Your brand (header color & logo) make it clear the videos are from your company:
Vimeo sample: Even when you customize, the Vimeo logo remains in the page header:
Bottom Line
While Vimeo is an all purpose video sharing site that potentially allows the user to conform it to their needs, ScreenLight is designed by editors, and is intended for a specific purpose: to allow users to easily and privately share videos with their clients to get projects approved.
