Why Stock Footage Is Such A Popular Choice?

You are making a documentary on a subject really close to your heart. However, you are tied down by budgetary constraints. It now seems impossible to get those footages which would give your documentary the much needed appeal. Then, stock footages could be of great help to you. Read this article to find out about stock footages and why they are so popular.

Making a wildlife documentary can be a daunting task. Filming animals in their natural settings and getting the right footage is not that easy. It could take months to come up with something substantial. This not only needs a lot of patience but money as well. So, how does one get that desired footage while adhering to the budget? One simple way to do it is to use stock footage. Stock footage are commonly used from news to commercials, films to television programs, they are used everywhere in the media because they are absolutely cost-effective. Stock Footage are usually categorized by different genres, e.g. animals, landscapes, people, business, food, sports, time lapse, technology, medical, landmarks, background, elements, visual effects and 3D animation just to name a few.

It could take anywhere from weeks to years to accumulate enough footage of film needed to complete a documentary. The unpredictable nature of weather, nature and the animals themselves should be kept in consideration before one decides to make a wildlife documentary. Thus, by using HD nature footage to supplement the new footage, the time to complete the documentary can be drastically reduced. The readily available stock footage is just needed to be inserted at the right places of the documentary so as to make it look appealing. This eliminates a lot of time that would go into capturing the required shot. Since the footage is already been recorded and edited, one spends lesser time editing the video.

Another way stock footage is useful is that it reduces the production cost. The traveling cost, fees of guides and porters gets ruled-out in case of wildlife photography. There is no need for a production staff such as photographers, editors, directors and producers. Stock footage eliminates the need for costly camera and other production equipment as well.

Stock footage these days are available in high definition. Thus, the footage is a treat for the eyes because of its amazing high-quality picture and with technological advancement; one can get the footage online today. Increased broadband speed has enabled people across the world to upload their own stock footage online via niche websites that offer to keep individual videos into a huge stock footage library. These online stock footage libraries can be easily browsed through. They offer excellent payment options and also include a digital download delivery back-end.

Another important aspect of stock footage is that by purchasing copyrighted footage, it can be a fairly cheaper and more convenient option as compared to hiring a crew and cast to obtain the required shots. However, the royalty-free stock footage are based on an even more competitive pricing business model, making them fantastic viable options for cost-constrained projects.

Since, the Internet is flooded with many stock video contributors; there is a great diversity in levels of professionalism and skill. Video producers are therefore required to decide on the quality of the shot, based on information and previews provided by the website, reputation of the website to properly screen footage before accepting them and the reputation of the stock footage providers. Once, this is done one could take the plunge into the vast library of stock footage and get the footage desired.

This article has been written by an expert working with Mr. Footage, a leading online distributor of stock footage including that of animals, people, great historical moments, nature & landscape footage and many more.