On our previous blog post, 27 Sites for Awesome Free Stock Photos, we talked about the importance of carefully choosing the images for your marketing material.
Stock Photography has always been an integral part of web design. Companies and bloggers have always used them to add compelling content and visual creativity to their websites. However, we have become accustomed to seeing usual images of men in suits shaking hands or the typical picture of a group working on their MacBook Pro at a coffee shop.
Now that websites are implementing stock videos in their design, which medium do you think makes for a better first impression if executed properly?
Whether you want to use stock videos for personal or commercial use, here are 15 sites where you can find high quality footage:
The Unsplash for video, Distill offers curated HD videos FREE of charge for your personal and commercial use. They post 10 HD videos every 10 days. You can also be a part of Distill by submitting your own video and creating an account. Videos are then curated by their creators to allow only the best of HD video.
Distill was also voted Best in Beta by Killer Startups. Make sure to check them out.
Creative Commons Zero: All videos uploaded on Distill are under the Creative Commons Zero license which makes the vidoes available for commercial use. Vidoes do not require attribution to the videographer, but a link back is always nice. Videos can be modified as well.
Mazwai is similar to Distill in the sense that it offers free HD stock video that’s been curated by it’s creator. Though how often it’s content is updated is unknown.
Creative Commons 3.0: You are free to: 1.) Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format. 2.) Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially.
The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you follow the license terms. You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
Story and Heart focuses on providing beautiful and unique content from a curated set of videographers. They are one part collaborative filmmaking community and one part story-driven video licensing platform.
Licensing: There are two types of licenses. Both are single use, worldwide, and perpetual license for License Work which can and cannot be sold or accessed via paid services depending on your license type.
One of the best places to download free HD stock video footage and animated backgrounds. All the clips are completely free to use and can be downloaded by simply right-clicking and saving.
Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License: You can copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format. You can also remix, transform, and build on the material for any purpose, even commercially. You do have to give appropriate credit to the videographer; provide a link and you’ll be fine. You should also indicate if changes were made.
You can find many HD videos on Vimeo, one of the most widely known video platforms. Just do an advanced search and you’ll find plenty. You can also look for groups like the one I listed above.
Creative Commons: Here the CC license will differ depending on each video. What you’ll have to do is click on the video and you should see the license next to the date the video was published (right below the video).
Videezy has a good resource of 720p and 1080p video. They also have a wide selection of content types to choose from. Just enter a keyword and I’m sure you’ll find what you’re looking for.
Creative Commons: Videezy doesn’t tell us exactly which license type their videos are under just that they’re either part of the Creative Commons license or the Public Domain.
Find an extensive amount of videos on Open Footage. Most videos consist of smoke and landscape footage.
Creative Commons: Videos are under the CC Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International license. You’re able to copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format. Remix, transform, and build upon the material. You must credit the videographer and provide a link. You also need to indicate if any changes were made. There's one catch: You CAN NOT use the these videos for commercial purposes.
By far the best free stock video resource in the market. Dissolve focuses on having better stock footage for today’s visual storyteller. They provide high-quality footage for use in professional television and web-based advertising work, brand and corporate videos, editorial and documentary settings, interactive websites, video games and mobile applications. With 150,000 clips to choose from, I’m sure you’ll find what you’re looking for.
Licensing: Licensing depends on the video you choose but videos that are royalty-free license are cleared for commercial and editorial use. Which means the video can be used for an unlimited number of projects and mediums, for unlimited duration, worldwide.
Shutterstock provides royalty free images, stock photos, and stock photography for print or web design with rates depending on video resolution.
Licensing: Licensing depends on the video you choose.
Pond5: Marketplace for Creativity
Pond5 offers stock video, music, photos and special effects with a pricing rate starting at only $5.
Licensing: Licensing depends on the video you choose.
VideoBlocks.com is a subscription-based site that provides members with unlimited downloads of stock video, after effects templates, and motion backgrounds.
Licensing: Licensing depends on the video you choose.
123RF is a royalty-free digital media library that offers a variety of budget-friendly commercial and editorial video footage.
Licensing: Licensing depends on the video you choose.
Their footage in web resolution 960x540 is free to download and free to use in a 'Free to view video project' but if you want to use the footage for commercial purposes you can buy an extended License.
Licensing: Licensing depends on the video you choose.
Getty Images includes both editorial and standard stock video (also has sections for stock photos and music).
Licensing: Licensing depends on the video you choose.
RevoStock has a curated library of stock footage, after effects templates and audio at an affordable price.
Licensing: Licensing depends on the video you choose.
I hope you found this post useful for your website and remember to always capture the attention of your audience.
Have fun looking through all the videos!
Feel free to comment below if you know of other great resources I did not mention.
Written by Leilani Estrada
