Instagram Video vs Vine

So Instagram recently released a new Vine like feature to its app, the ability to record short videos as well as post photos. I for one welcomed this new addition to what is one of my favourite apps, but it sort of upset me that people were angry with Instagram for introducing this feature and that short videos belonged to Vine. Now I like Vine also, but I do believe that Instagram did do videos better, and in this rather serious and informative blog post I'll talk about why I like Instagram video better, but also why I'll still use Vine.

The main differences between Instavideo (which is what I'll call it) and Vine are that Instavideo is longer. You can record up to 15 seconds of video clips, whereas Vine only allows up to 10 (though I think it's actually less than that) In my opinion, this makes Instavideo better as I can include more into the video, even if it's still short and to the point. 10 seconds seems a bit too short and means that a lot of the time you have to make very short clips and sometimes you can't get the full idea of what you were trying to film.

Vine video length (above) vs Instavideo length (below)

The clips used in this post are all my own, there's better ones out there I'm sure

Instavideo also makes use of filters. To be honest I hardly ever use filters on Instagram, if I edit my photos in anyway I usually do it via other photo apps. And to be honest, I've hardly used filters with Instavideo either. And really, there's only one of them I really like, I forget it's name. So filters are pretty much useless to me. However for some people, they like the use of filters to give a different effect to their photos and videos, so it's personal taste really. I'll be honest, it takes away most of the photo or video quality, so I avoid them usually.

Another really good feature of Instavideo is the ability to delete clips during filming. There's been many a time while making a Vine video, where I've messed up on something, and had to re-film the entire thing. With Instavideo, you can delete a clip you've just filmed and re-film it instantly. What's also good is that when you've filmed your video you're taken to the filter choosing page, you can watch your video, and if you messed up a part you can go back to filming again, without losing the entire thing. Good.

One thing I really like about Instavideo is that you can choose a 'cover photo' for the video. So you can choose a particular shot of your video that will entice people to watch, and have that as it's thumbnail. Another thing which Vine can't do, meaning you get videos which have an odd thumbnail, and you don't know what the video is about.

Another thing that was brought in for Instavideo is something they call Cinema. To me it sounds pretentious, but it actually works. It's basically a shake reducer, so if you film a shaky video, it corrects it. Now mostly these sorts of things are terrible (Youtube's version for example, ugh) but this actually works pretty well. It can cut off the very edges of your videos, so you have to make sure to keep everything in the centre of the frame, but it's surprisingly good.

The promotional video for Cinema, does what it says on the tin really

One last thing I'll say about Instavideo, is that I have just over 1100 followers on Instagram, and around 30 on Vine. Guess which one gives my videos more exposure. Yup, that's right, I get more views/comments/likes on my Instagram than Vine.

That won't stop me from using Vine though.

Vine is a lot less laggy when recording video. Often Instavideo will cut off fractions of a second when recording clips, meaning sentences can get cut off, whereas Vine is a lot better at not doing that. Therefore it makes a very good platform for recording stop motion videos.

A good example of where Instavideo cuts off words

A 'stop motion' ish video from Vine

Vine is also easier to record with. You only have to press and hold the screen, unlike Instavideo where you have to press a button, which is a lot smaller than the video screen and if you're recording in a hurry or trying to do it with one hand you might miss the record button. It's a lot easier to film things with one hand with Vine.

With Vine, the videos loop and play continuously. This means you can make cool videos what never seem to end if you get the loop right. With Instavideo the video stops playing after it's been played. It depends what kind of video you want to make as to which one you prefer, but for slightly more 'arty farty' videos, I'll make them with Vine.

It works better when looped, honestly

That's about all I really need to say about Vine and Instagram video, if you like you can check out my videos on Instagram (@frainyxo) or Vine (@frainy) and see for yourself what you think.

Bonus

Some of my favourite Vine/Instagram videos I've made, enjoy