Sometimes, your screencast demo video will not send a clear message until you splice it up with either an illustration or a real life video. Getting someone to do motion graphics or cartoon illustrations can either be costly(if you are a start up) or time consuming -if you are working on tight deadline.
This applies mostly to short promo videos of 30-90 seconds that appear on the landing pages of a website or mobile app stores. In most cases, the number of videos you may need incorporated into your demo range from 5-10.
This is dependent on the number of words in the script and the speed at which it’s shown on the screen. i.e If the software or application is for use in office, then, you might need videos of people working in the office or wearing office etiquette.
Now, if you need extremely unique videos in 4k quality, then you might be forced to purchase from places like instockphoto or dissolve. But if that is not the case, then you may want to explore FREE videos available for use online.
It’s worth noting that most of the sites listed here make regular updates and now upload free 4K videos as well.
Here are 5 sites that I found useful and recommend.
www.pexels.com
This site stands out because they offer both videos and images collected across the world. Pexels.com offers completely free videos and photos but has fewer categories. With its swiftly growing database of videos, you are guaranteed to find the perfect footage for your website header, product promotion, or anything else.
On top of this, WordPress now allows bloggers to embed images from pexels to their blogposts. This is really cool considering you do not have to worry about the rights’ attribution.
All videos are licensed under the Creative Commons Zero (CC0) license. This means you can edit or change the videos and use them free for personal and even for commercial projects. All without asking for permission or setting a link to the source. So that means attribution is not required.
www.videvo.net
This is one of my favorites when it comes to getting free motion graphics videos. Though some Video clips here carry the Creative Commons 3.0 license which must be attributed the original author, it’s has a wide range of videos.
The videos range from animals, industry, food and drink and more. Just click on the category you want and you will be presented with several videos that you can choose from. You can also easily switch between motion graphics and Footage on the site.
www.pixabay.com
Pixabay is a vibrant community of creatives, sharing copyright free images and videos. All content here is released under Creative Commons zero, which makes them safe to use without asking for permission or giving credit to the artist – even for commercial purposes. Unlike other free video sites, Pixabay offers vector graphics, photos and illustrations. Just type in the video you are searching for on the search button here. Most videos on Pixabay are hosted on Vimeo.
www.vidsplay.com
This site only has free unique videos that you can download in HD. Vidsplay is currently adding new video footage on a weekly basis. You are granted non-exclusive rights to use and download the video material without the need to pay royalties for each use. Make sure you read the Terms page for further information regarding usage.
www.pikwizard.com
Besides a stunning library of over 1 million stock images and videos, Pikwizard is a unique site in it’s own way. Unlike the sites I have reviewed above, Pikwizard have gone a notch higher and developed image editor and video editing design wizard. This means you get everything in one place. I am yet to try their photo and video editing wizard😉 and I hope for the best.
So next time when planning to produce a promotional demo video for your software or application, take a moment to go through these sites and find the best fit footage to splice it up. Demo videos looks more professional and appealing when footages of real people is incorporated.
If you need help with either scripting or sifting through thousands of these videos and adding them to your videos, let me know from the contacts us page and request a free quote here.
Otherwise, if you know of other resourceful places to get royalty free videos, let me know from the comments below.
Until next time, bye bye and take care.
Also, follow me on twitter @cheptiony
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