Top 15 Resources for Free Stock Video Footage
Video editors, content creators, designers, and other creative artists can oftentimes find themselves in a pit where time is of the essence, and spending hundreds, even thousands, of dollars on a few seconds of good footage is not an option, but thanks to an ever growing community of videographers, free video stock footage has become more accessible, so much so that more than a dozen sites are frequently updating their directory of free stock video footage to serve its visitors and communities.
Whether it’s a small YouTube reel we want to make, or a clip we want to insert in one of our movies, perhaps we just want to experiment with creating movies from scratch, if our plan is to use our created footage and publish it, we should always look into free footage options, because otherwise we risk running into problems with copyright infringement and while that doesn’t always mean going to the court, it will oftentimes mean that our video will be quickly removed from online sources, leaving us feeling like we have wasted our time.
And on top of that, even if we do operate our own camera and have good enough equipment to shoot videos, we may be restricted in terms of resources to process the videos ourselves, or there is the limitation of being able to shoot the kind of scenery and setting that we need for our project, which is what makes stock footage sites so reliable, and awesome of course!
Videvo
Videvo has really evolved as a stock footage platform in the recent years, thousands of stock videos have been uploaded to Videvo thanks to its generous community members who are freelancers, videographers, and generally nice people. Apart from free video footage, Videvo also offers free motion graphics resources; hundreds of them. You can choose between two licenses, the Videvo License, and Creative Commons 3.0 — the former will let you use the video in any way you like, without giving any credit to the author, but you will not be able to upload or share the video online, whilst CC 3.0 requires of you to credit the author that you have taken the video from, which is also why so many authors and creatives find it reliable to share their stock footage on Videvo — it gives them free exposure!
Pexels
Pexels Videos offers completely free videos. All videos are licensed under the Creative Commons Zero (CC0) license. This means you can edit or change the videos and use them free for personal and even for commercial projects. All without asking for permission or setting a link to the source. So that attribution is not required. The kind of videos that you can find on Pexels will ensure that you are covered when it comes to footage for promotions, website introductions, project demos, or simple and relaxing footage to use for your latest YouTube videos. Most popular categories are Nature, Technology, People and Cities.
Bottled Video
Those who have been browsing stock footage for the last couple of years might remember a household name ‘Wrightwood’, a creative group that was very much into sharing professional and inspiring stock footage at affordable prices. Today, the successor for Wrightwood is Bottled Video, with a wide range of choices when it comes to sleek and modern stock footage that will compliment a vast amount of project types.
Videezy
Videezy is part of the Eezy Inc. family! If you are looking for free and modern stock videos, some of which are shot in 4K resolution, then Videezy is worth taking a second look at. Video categories like nature, urban, ocean, sky, and city are amongst the favorite attractions for those who need category specific footage. A lot of the content on the site is more than one minute long, giving you the freedom to further edit the video footage to better suit your project needs.
XStockVideo
More than 60,000+ members are enjoying 600+ stock videos that range from simple timelapses to sophisticated science reaction videos that will surely spark inspiration in a variety of directions. All footage is free to use, however if you wish to use it for commercial purposes you will need to purchase a license for a tiny fee; this same fee is also what covers the costs to maintain the site, and employ people who share more free stock videos. You yourself can become a paid contributor by applying through the official form that you can find on the homepage of the website.
Pond5
Pond5 is one of the largest creative media sites on the planet, with more than 70+ employees; Pond5 focuses on providing exceptional content for those who need footage, music, sound effects, after effects, images, and 3D models for their projects. Anyone with creative aspirations is able to become a paid member of the site and share their work in exchange for 50/50 split at all earnings made. You provide the content, Pond5 provides the buyers! All footage comes in several formats, including standard SD, a flexible HD option, and 4K option for those who are really into crafting and editing videos. And there are so many categories to choose from.
Dissolve
Dissolve provides high-quality footage for use in advertising, broadcast productions, web entertainment, and corporate videos. Editors, filmmakers, and producers can use Dissolve stock footage to augment and enhance their custom-shot work, or even build stories around the footage used. With more than 900,000+ stock videos to choose from, you are bound to find the kind of content that will reflect your ideas and aspirations. Just enter a simple keyword and watch tens of thousands of videos unfold before you; each complimented with a concise description explaining the scenery and place where the video was shot.
VideoBlocks
VideoBlocks is home to more than 100,000+ stock videos, many of which are now in full High Definition and 4K resolution. The signup price for a whole year is $99, but this gives you the ability to have unlimited downloads potential, and all new content that’s being added to the site is automatically going to be available for instant download. VideoBlocks has definitely got one of the most appealing stock footage offers on the market.
Distill
Distill is still a work in progress project, but the idea is to provide subscribers with 10 full-HD stock footage videos every 10 days. If you have been browsing the web for long enough, you will know there are several photography stock sites that are based upon the same idea, so it’s nice to see the concept evolve, and who knows — it might just take off eventually. You can browse existing videos from within the homepage itself, to check quality and general area of exposure.
OrangeHD
OrangeHD has not been the most updated site on the planet, but it is home to a dozen of good stock footage videos, and you never know — they might just have what you need, without having you look elsewhere. The best way to browse the site these days is through the blog, where there are nearly 20 pages of video content available for download.
VidsPlay
VidsPlay focuses on providing its users easy to download, easy to navigate, and most importantly — easy to view stock videos. The database is updated on weekly basis, and there are more than 50 great videos available for download already.
Footage Crate
Footage Crate is perhaps the only site on our list today that heavily focuses on providing stock videos in the FX category. Anyone who is creating movies and short clips and need some special effects added to them will greatly benefit of the kind of content that Footage Crate brings to the table. All the available FX effects are full HD!
Mazwai
Mazwai is a straightforward stock footage site that provides more than 200+ clips that you can browse and view directly from within the homepage. Just roll over any of the clips and they will begin to play, and in order to explore more clips, just start scrolling down and see how more clips become available. Some really great footage can be found on this site, and a lot of it is more than 2-3 minutes long, giving you a ton of content to work with.
Artbeats
Artbeats is another huge library (directory) of stock footage that offers content in formats such as NTSC, PAL, Hi-Definition, and RED Hi-Res clips. You can type in any keyword imaginable and you are guaranteed to find tens if not hundreds of results for what you’re looking for. After a closer inspection, it seems that Artbeats also likes to provide and offer videos that are great in their length: 5minutes up to 15minutes are very common lengths that you can find within the Artbeats database, some even go for as long as an hour or two. Might just be the long-length video resource you were looking for.
CuteStockFootage
Cutestockfootage.com main idea is to deliver video/sound/photo material for any video/sound/photo enthusiast, profesional and amateur filmmaker, video editor, 3d artist, musician, mixer, sampler for free or for a small fee. Here you can find a lot of material for your video/sound projects, just explore the website and download as much as you want. Who doesn’t want to incorporate a little bit of cute stock footage into their projects, right?
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I found this channel on youtube that has lots of free stock footage https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVW7o-laq0KgYH0mVxhH-UQ