Where to Find Free Images and Video Footage and How to Use it.
If it’s Free, it’s For Me.
Some of my favorite finds on the web are sites that offer stuff I’m interested in at no cost whatsoever. Truly free video footage sites can be difficult to find as many claim to be free but dig just below the topsoil and you often find there’s a grub. Or a rub. It may be that the good stuff costs money or perhaps requires some sort of advertising or attribution. And that’s ok. Since we all own or work for businesses that need cash to stay alive, we understand the need to charge a fair price for our offerings. So it’s a bonus when you find a site that truly gives all the good stuff away for free and with no unreasonable fine print.
As the founder of iPlayerHD, over the last nine years I’ve seen a lot of video content uploaded to our video hosting platform. Some of the content is original and created entirely by our customers using their own in-house talent. In other cases, they worked with an outside resource such as a professional video content creator with a team of talented editors and script writers and actors. In both cases, it’s not uncommon to learn that some or all of the video clips were purchased from a site that sells content that can be used by anyone that pays the fee to use it. Sites like Getty Images, Adobe, Shutterstock and many others, all charge fees to download their royalty-free footage. It’s certainly a convenient and often economical source of video content.
Did I Say Free?
Then there are the free sites. The truly free sites. While their content may not be as extensive as the paid sites, they do have very good content. And they are quickly catching up to the paid sites and are worth investigating if you are on the hunt for video clips for your project. Oh, it’s not just video clips – many also have volumes of motion graphics which can be very useful.
The content is typically licensed under Creative Commons, protecting you and your organization from copyright issues though you would be wise to study the source site’s specific license agreements. I found this page by pixabay to be particularly useful in understanding how free content may be used.
The Truly Free Video Footage Sites.
These sites all offer free video clips, animations, and motion graphics –
It is becoming increasingly popular for organizations to have a motion home page. This site is dedicated to homepage motion videos:
You’ll find more sites in this blog post from Hongkiat.
Amos Struck wrote a very good piece The Complete List of Stock Photo Free Trials. Packed with useful sites and information.
Finally, Danny Greer at PremiumBeat offers a few suggested sites.
If you found this information useful (or not), email me at wes@iplayerhd.com.
Looking for royalty free music? Try Natentine Royalty Free Music.
Cheers!
Wes (if it’s free, it’s for me).