Top Stock Footage Web Sites

At Getty Images you can find royalty free stock footage clips starting at $49. There are numerous clips available for purchase, covering topics such as travel, economic issues, sports and much more. You will need QuickTime to preview video clips on this site. To get exact pricing information you will need to register as a user, and the cost will vary depending on what type of footage you are purchasing, and on your licensing needs.

Historic Films is a great site for historical stock footage at a reasonable price for professionals. You will find all sorts of video covering news and politics, variety shows, music, history, black culture and more. To preview the video content available you will need Windows Media Player whether you have a Mac or a PC (you can download Windows Media Player directly from Historic Films web site). For clips from historic films you will pay about $125 for research purposes, a minimum fee of $500 for licensing (this may be higher depending on your licensing needs), and if you want any mastering done you will pay between $125 to $155.

ITN Source is a good site for getting your stock footage. To preview clips on this site you will need Flash and QuickTime, and to view the British Pathe clips you will need Windows Media Player (you can download any of these software versions directly from the ITN web site). Pricing for clips from ITN vary depending on your needs and use of footage. The cost for downloading is £0, but if you want the clip on Mini DV PAL you will pay £10. You will also have to pay a licensing fee; the price for licensing depends on several factors: a) how will the footage be used b)the countries in which the production/product will be shown c)the duration of the license d)how much footage is being used.

At Shutterstock Footage you will find over 122,000 royalty-free stock footage clips. There are a wide variety of clips available covering numerous categories, such as animals and wildlife, nature, holidays, religion, transportation and much more. You will have to become a member of Shutterstock in order to download clips. You can purchase footage on a per clip basis (starting at $10.00 per clip) or purchase a subscription (prices range from $49.00 per year to $1,999.00 per year depending on your needs).

At Thought Equity Motion you will find stock footage covering a wide range of topics, such as technology, National Geographic footage, NCAA highlights and much more. Royalty free footage begins at $599.00 and royalty free music begins at $29.00. And, as usual, you will need to pay a licensing fee. For clips that are not royalty free you will need to register as a member to get pricing information.

iStockphoto offers all sorts of royalty free photos, illustrations, video and audio footage. To purchase you must become an iStock member (membership is free). Then choose the plan that works for you. The Pay-as-you-go plan allows you to purchase “credits” as you need them. Pricing for the Pay-as-you-go plan starts at $18.00. There is also a subscription plan which allows you to purchase daily credits for use within a 3, 6 or 12 month plan. Prices for the subscription plan range from $979.00 up to $46,146.00. Finally there are the corporate accounts: The Corporate Pay-as-you-go plan allows you to purchase credits for 95 cents per credit, or the Corporate Subscription plan allows you to purchase credits for 24 cents per credit.

Revostock offers royalty free video footage, music, sound and After Effects for all your needs, and at reasonable prices. You can purchase SD and HD footage for $15-$45, music starting at $10, and sound effects starting at $3. Professional After Effects Projects range from $15-$100. Before purchasing from Revostock you will need to set up your free account. Once you have set up your account you can “purchase credits” (1 credit equals $1.00, unless you purchase in bulk and then you will receive some free credits).