For videographers with unused footage or those seeking new revenue streams, selling stock video involves licensing clips to businesses, filmmakers, and marketers. This practice gives your footage a longer lifespan and generates income with minimal ongoing effort after the initial upload.
Identifying Marketable Video Concepts
Broad, evergreen categories are consistently in high demand for stock footage. These include dynamic scenes from business and corporate settings, depictions of technology in use, and healthcare environments. Lifestyle moments featuring families and friends, along with authentic portrayals of diversity, are also sought after. Buyers often seek footage that feels genuine rather than overly staged.
Beyond thematic categories, certain types of shots have wide applicability. Establishing shots of cities and recognizable landmarks are popular, as are aerial and drone perspectives that offer a unique view. Abstract clips, such as slow-motion water droplets or light flares, can serve as versatile background elements in various productions.
Preparing Your Footage for Submission
Video clips must meet the technical standards of stock footage platforms. High-resolution footage is the baseline, with 4K (3840×2160 pixels) as the industry expectation. While high definition is possible, 4K content is more future-proof and commands higher prices. Common frame rates are 24, 30, and 60 fps, and most platforms accept .MOV and .MP4 files.
The visual quality of your submission is important. All footage should be smooth and stable, requiring a tripod or gimbal. Subjects must be well-lit and visually clear, avoiding harsh shadows or underexposed conditions. A clean color grade can enhance a clip’s appeal, but avoid overly stylized looks that limit its use.
Before submitting, review footage to remove elements that restrict usability. This includes scrubbing any copyrighted logos, brand names, or recognizable artwork. Any non-essential audio, such as background conversations or copyrighted music, should also be removed. Most stock footage is sold without audio.
Understanding Legal Requirements
You must understand when legal documentation is required. If your video features a recognizable person, you must obtain a signed model release from them. This document grants permission to use their likeness for commercial purposes. Without this release, the footage is restricted to editorial use only.
A similar requirement applies to recognizable private property. A property release is a legal agreement from the owner of a house, business, or unique location in your footage. This release is necessary for the clip to be licensed for commercial use. Public landmarks often do not require releases, but restrictions can vary by location.
These releases directly impact how your footage is licensed. Clips with all necessary releases can be sold under a commercial license for advertising and other for-profit ventures. Footage without releases is categorized for editorial use, restricting it to news reporting and documentaries. Correctly categorizing your submissions is necessary to avoid legal issues.
Choosing the Right Stock Footage Platforms
Selecting the right marketplaces is the next step. Each platform has a different audience, commission structure, and submission process. Many creators upload their work to several non-exclusive sites to maximize visibility.
Adobe Stock
Integrated into the Adobe Creative Cloud suite, Adobe Stock offers creators high visibility. This integration is convenient for buyers using software like Premiere Pro. Adobe offers a competitive royalty rate and strong search performance.
Shutterstock
Shutterstock is one of the most recognized names in stock media, with a massive customer base. Contributor earnings are based on levels that increase as more content is downloaded, rewarding consistent sellers.
Pond5
Pond5 offers contributors significant control, allowing filmmakers to set their own prices for clips. This differs from the fixed royalty structures on many other sites. Pond5 also provides tools to help creators track sales and manage their portfolios.
Blackbox
Blackbox acts as a distribution service rather than a single marketplace. You upload footage and metadata once, and Blackbox distributes it to several major stock agencies. This streamlines the upload process for creators on multiple platforms.
Getty Images
Positioned at the premium end of the market, Getty Images (and its iStock branch) is known for high-end, exclusive content. Getting accepted can be more challenging, and they often seek exclusive rights. The per-sale prices on Getty are typically higher than on other microstock sites.
Mastering the Submission and Keywording Process
A video will not sell if buyers cannot find it, so metadata is important. The title should be clear and concise, summarizing the clip’s content. The description can expand on this, providing more context about the action, location, and mood.
Keywords are a primary tool for discoverability. Aim to attach 25 to 50 relevant keywords to each clip. A good keyword strategy moves from the literal to the conceptual. Start by describing concrete elements like “man” or “laptop,” then add keywords for actions and concepts like “typing” or “business.”
For example, a clip of a woman laughing with a friend over coffee could be poorly keyworded as “people, drink, table.” A much better approach would include: “friends, women, coffee shop, laughing, conversation, happiness, leisure, urban, lifestyle, two people, smiling, daytime, restaurant.” This detailed keywording makes the clip searchable to a wider range of buyers.
Strategies to Maximize Your Earnings
One effective strategy is to shoot clips in a series. Instead of one shot, record multiple angles, shot sizes, and variations of the action. This gives buyers a complete set to work with for their project, increasing the chance of multiple sales from a single shoot.
Finding a specific niche can also lead to success. Specializing in a less saturated area, like a specific industry or scientific process, can make your portfolio stand out. Analyze your sales data to identify which clips perform well and use this feedback to guide what you shoot next.
Consistency is a factor in portfolio performance. Algorithms tend to favor contributors who upload fresh content regularly. Maintaining a steady stream of new clips keeps your portfolio visible and shows buyers that you are an active and reliable creator.