Month: July 2016

Using Cheap Stock Footage Effectively in your Online Content

If you are working on an online video content, you have two choices: shoot the video yourself or purchase cheap stock footage. Shooting your own video requires more time, money and talent. You have to prepare for travel, equipment, and your crew. That’s why stock video becomes an affordable option. A lot of stock media agencies have a premium video collection, so you have plenty of alternatives. Just choose whichever suits your needs and budget.

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Location, Location, Location

Purchasing a cheap stock footage makes more sense financially compared to going out and shooting it yourself. You do not have to travel to actual locations, set up your equipment and pay for your crew. You also do not have to worry about shooting permits, which are both expensive and difficult to get. You can easily visit a stock media site, browse through its collection, and collect the clips you need to complete your story.

Expressing Concepts Visually

You can also use cheap stock footage to express a spoken concept – especially with videos that rely on too much narration. You can express the intangible concepts visually by getting footage from stock media agencies. All footage is tagged with keywords to help you find what you are looking for fast and easy. Just make sure that you get the clip that best represents the narration to make your story stronger.

Sites that Offer Cheap Stock Footage
Many stock media sites offer footage, but not all of them are affordable. If you have little budget for your online video content, here are some of the websites you should check out.

  • iStock. iStock offers affordable stock footage that you can use with your project. Using credits, you can purchase high quality video clips from the Essentials and Signature collections. The stock site provides the best value for your budget. One video clip from the Essentials collection costs 6 credits, while one from the Signature collection costs 18 credits. If you want a footage that is not available in other stock sites, go for the latter.
  • Shutterstock. Shutterstock has over 4 million high quality videos in its library. Its archive is easy to navigate and its rates are affordable. Prices are determined by the resolution of the videos or by their purpose. For online video content, you can get one clip for as low $19 each. You can also save more by purchasing a pack.
  • Pond5. With a library containing millions of stock assets, you will have a number of options to complete your creative online project. The stock site also has a huge pricing range starting at $5 for one royalty-free footage.

Using cheap stock footage for your online content is a great alternative to shooting the videos yourself. You will be able to save more time and money, which you can use to make your creative project more amazing.