Hey guys,
I was wondering about stock footage. Can you make good money shooting stock footage? What should a videographer shoot? Is there an ideal format to shoot, forexample, 1080p, since it's a large resolution and progressive scanning. How would he or she go about selling it?
I really want to become a wildlife videographer. Could I shoot stock footage of this to gain some experience, but also try to sell it? Who would I sell it too? And to who?
This area interests me because I'm a student who wants to improve shooting skills and in the future become a wildlife videographer. It's my greatest interest in the whole industry.
Thank you for any help.
Rob G.
I don't know about good money - and, who's to say I'll probably start a lovely debate - but if you're wanting to see whether or not it's something you feel okay about, take a look at some of the microstock sites. They used to be geared more to photographers, but a lot are now taking video footage as well.
shoot some good wildlife stock footage and I might buy it! When you need royalty free footage, you just need it. I shoot lots of "B" roll all the time and save it to a library of disks "just in case" I should need it later. (but then again, I save nails and screws - just in case I'll need them later) I think there is a market for decent stock footage. I say make a disk or two and then put them up on ebay. See where it goes. I just might join you in this.
Later days,
Trey
I have been shooting stock footage for about a year, and just recently tried selling on eBay. I haven't had any success yet, but I'm still trying. If you are going to shoot wildlife or nature, you definitely would want a very high quality tripod. Most people really appreciate stock footage with a little movement in it (like smooth pans and tilts). If you have a crane, use that. I just shot some awesome stock footage yesterday using the ProAm DVC200 crane. I would highly recommend it to anyone. I can't help much with the selling part because I'm still stuck there myself. Hope this helps a little.
Jeremy
Selling footage on eBay is a great option, but it isn't for everyone; I'd agree with the above posters - take a chance on it and see if it works out for you.
You can also go to sites like RevoStock, iStockfootage, and many others. They evaluate your video and take care of selling & collecting the money. It isn't a way to make a living for a beginning videographer, but you can get exposure & experience in creating a commercially viable product. And from my experience, good wildlife footage sells fairly well and is difficult to get. If you can learn the techniques (like, finding spots where animals relax and using blinds to hide) you can move into the professional field very soon.
As far as technical standards, each site takes great care to specify what they expect and what formats sell best.
If you have trouble finding a site, let me know and I can look up the exact web address of the sites I belong to.
Shutterstock does footage as well as photos, but I'd suggest checking out their guidelines to see if it's the right spot for you
StockXpert, another micropayment site - also accepts footage. www.stockxpert.com.
You can find their guidelines here: http://www.stockxpert.com/info.phtml?f=help&s=5
Their payout is 40% - without being exclusive.
Pond5.com gives 50%
A podcast with the founder is here as he answers many of your questions
http://www.thedvshow.com/podcasts
There is also a June 2 and 9 podcast with stock footage topics
http://www.thedvshow.com/podcasts
Have you had experience with Pond5?
I had this idea of trying to set up some sort of network videographers could join and share footage. They could trade with each other and have a file transfer site to share the clips. Never did anything about it though, it's just an idea.
J.
There's Vimeo groups like this, search around and you'll find em
I personally have not tried Pond5 but after speaking with them I'm ready to upload some underwater video footage
Pond5 is ok. You can choose the price you like to have for your footage and they pay the producer 50%. Everything is fine.
www.wildlife-stockfootage.de
www.wildlife-stockfootage.com
It's interesting that all the traffic on this thread was five years ago! I wonder what success the original posters have experienced in the mean time?? Rick Crampton
Has anyone actually sold footage on a site like pond5?
Demetrius, i've sold some footage at pond5.
It's great website and i strongly suggest you to join it and try selling throght it.
http://www.revostock.com/SellYourVideo-Empty.html
start here.You have to go through a basic skill test and tell them what kind of equipment you have,but if you know your stuff it is pretty easy.
I think this queries you have will require you to adjust your lifestyle. Since you are student i think you need this one, however if you don't want to study why not learn from the pro and be their assistant and learn from. Experience is the best teacher.. good luck to your endeavors!!!
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Yea, he was a student FIVE years ago :)
LOL
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► http://vegasaur.com
Get in touch with me and I can help you out ( I run a stock video website), email me via the site. We can buy your clips or host them under your name to generate you exposure ( if they are good )
We will have a premium section in due course.
Free Stock Footage