Vimeo redesigns its video-editing iOS app, Cameo

Today Vimeo is launching the second generation of its video creation iOS app, Cameo.

Vimeo hopes the app’s fresh design will boost engagement and sharing on its video platform.

The redesigned app lets people upload video clips from their phone’s camera roll and weave them into cool video stories, complete with music and filters. Videos can then be directly published Vimeo and shared on social media.

“As a business, we really operate from a product perspective. Vimeo is known for the quality. If we can give people a tool to make quality content, then it ups the potential for people to share video on Vimeo,” says Andy Pile, the chief technology officer at Vimeo.

Vimeo acquired Cameo last winter.

In this latest version, Vimeo has done away with time constraints. For instance, there are no longer limitations on the number and length of clips you could use, as there were in the first version. (In the original version clips couldn’t be longer than six seconds and finished pieces maxed out at two minutes.)

In addition to time limits, Cameo cut a few other features from its original app. There’s no longer an option to shoot video directly from the Cameo app; you have to upload clips. However, you can use use high quality 1080p clips.

Another component of the app that’s missing is its social feed. When it started out, Cameo was a platform for both creating video and sharing it. Now that it’s a part of Vimeo, which has its own social dimension, it no longer needs that social function.

The video editing tools got a slight upgrade that allows for more refined clip making. Rendering is also done locally now, so you can edit and playback your video unabated.

The new Cameo features eight filters, called “themes,” to give your video that polished Vimeo look. Plus you can add captions to all your clips with a choice of fonts designated by the theme.

There’s also a music library, which Vimeo has put quite a bit of energy into. The library connects video makers with off-the-radar musicians and includes song info and links to the artist’s website. Musicians will be attributed to in your video credits.

Once you finish creating your story, Cameo offers you the opportunity to upload the video directly to Vimeo.

The emphasis in this update is on quality. Vimeo has based its brand around quality content, which makes it a more niche platform than say, YouTube. Where YouTube has a billion monthly viewers, Vimeo gets 170 million.

The new Cameo is all about letting people know that anyone can create beautiful video, not just film nerds. More than anything, the new Cameo can serve to draw new users and more engagement to Vimeo’s social video sharing platform.