Our favorite video-streaming website, Vimeo, has just launched a massively updated video player.

On top of speed improvements, a user interface update, and easier-to-customize sharing options, the biggest change involves how the player itself works:  in short, the player is now HTML5 enabled, which basically means the videos can be embedded and played from just about anywhere, on any website.

Neat, huh!  But why should you care?

Because Vimeo is the provider we use to save and share all our video footage! From the showcase on our website, to promos and special content that are displayed on the plasma screens around the building, it’s all powered by Vimeo.  Vimeo is simply the best video service for filmmakers, allowing you to monetize your content more flexibly than YouTube, to maintain better control over where your content can be displayed, and connecting talented artists together through its robust social networking.

The changes will be invisible to you; there’s no need to update or install anything.  But, you can rest assured, that everyone who visits us wanting to see your unique content, is going to find that content in more places, faster, and looking better than ever.  We get about 30,000 hits each year on our video content, so the better the user experience is, the more likely you are to be seen.  It’s win-win!  (Except for YouTube).

If you haven’t yet, now is a great time to check out our public Vimeo page, and to add yourself to the Dodge College of Film and Media Arts Film Student & Alumni group, a great place for current students and alumni to collaborate, look for advice, and share projects.  It’s free, of course, so join up now!

For more details on the update, check out this TechCrunch article, and Vimeo’s spiffy new site for the spiffy new player.