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Cloud storage startup Wipster goes unlimited, videographers weigh in

Wellington-based online video storage company Wipster has announced the end of limits to storage capacity at a price of $15 per month, so StopPress asked Wipster why they made the changes and asked a few Wellington-based videographers what they thought of the move.

The move was announced in a fun video released by Wipster featuring staff from the Wellington-based company riding four-person crocodile cycles around Wellington’s Oriental Bay. Wipster CEO and founder Rollo Wenlock says although 85 percent of his customers are in the United States, he wanted to highlight Wipster as a Wellington company.

Wenlock says customers are attracted to a company when it has a genuine personality.

“If your software can have a personality, people can buy into that.”

The video was shot and edited by the team at Stem Creative (who recently also shot the Trade Me recruitment video).

Wipster lets users collaborate on production videos in real time with other team members at anytime and allow those team members to offer feedback by posting comments onto the video itself. And Wenlock says removing storage limits for use of the Wipster service was in response to the frustrations of customers.

“What we found is we had a tonne of customers saying ‘it disrupts my workflow’.”

Wellington-based videographer and tutor of digital film making at Yoobee school of design, William Corcoran, says he has used Wipster in the past and was pleased about the end of limits to storage. 

Corcoran says a tutor recommended Wipster to him when he was a student.

“It turned out to be quite useful and [although]it was in its early stages, I could see the potential to provide a platform between me and a customer,” Corcoran said.

“It’s a great way for me to show them the video and let them provide feedback.”

Corcoran found 15 minutes a good amount but it “ran out pretty damn quick”.

“Now that it’s unlimited, I might use it a bit more.”

Wipster’s direct competitor Vimeo is cheaper at $60 US ($91 NZ) a year for five gigabytes each week for Vimeo plus (which stores about 20-30 minutes of video) and Corcoran seems pretty happy with their service so the $15 a month price point for Wipster might not convert him.

Flying Saucer productions director, Hamish Johnson says he has known about Wipster for a long time but didn’t use the service and preferred Vimeo.

Johnson says for a video production company like his, the function allowing real time feedback from clients was not likely to convert him away from Vimeo.

“The way we work with our clients is they will either be sitting in a room with us and we can make changes on the spot or they will be taking it to a bunch of other people to review anyway.”

Johnson says multiple people from the client’s side usually review the video at different times during the day so the real time online feedback function is not something that is necessary for Flying Saucer.

“So people end up reviewing it on their own terms and getting back to you at the end of the day. Having that real time aspect online is not a huge benefit to us.”

The unlimited storage Wipster is now offering doesn’t convince Johnson either because Vimeo offers a large amount of data but the price of $15 per month does make them more competitive.

In response to questions about the pricing, Wenlock says Wipster operates within a niche market and it would be harder to make the business work with a lower price.

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