MicrostockGroup

I haven't had a rejection yet from pond5.  I don't mind them letting the buyers decide if a clip is what they want.  It's like the alamy of the footage sites.  Had a few rejections from istock but they are fairly lenient.  The problem with them is that it can take a month to get a review and some clips haven't uploaded properly.  Shutterstock went through a bad spell with rejections for silly reasons that didn't apply but they seem better now.  Revostock have been good and review faster than most of the sites.  Canstock are good too.

Thank you MicrostockExp and sharpshot  for your replies

Im only posting this as im starting to buy more than I sell on these stock sites and have been selling for a few years now and can see why the choice is so limited on a lot of sections because of non existing rules in the real world outside of the stock site bubble

Its not because of a bad rejection that got me on the rant in the first place but because I just couldn't find a decent shot for a piece I was doing and Knowing a lot of the shots on here would be instantly rejected by quality control at TV stations and laughed out of the production room eg if I put a shot of times square in that was so defocused nothing could be recognized anymore within the blurred out fog .. or a location shot that looks like a ghost town because couldn't have a person in view for a rule that I have never seen imposed anywhere at any station I have worked for ...

I can see why they thought these rules apply as the sites selling stills probably sell a lot to advertising agencies ..  and aplied the same rules to video footage but its not just advertising agencies buying footage .. but real Production companies / producers / editors who don't have these set of rules in place and other sites setting up base there business model on established sites and follow the same rules as if they are real

Then to see Free clips in the clip of the week on some stock sites with people in that when downloaded never come with a model release .. Yet I have had shots rejected .. for a figure so far in the distance because of no model release .. even if it came with a model release I wouldn't know who to hand it to the producer would say the same as me .. what do you want me to do with this ... its never been needed before outside the Stock Site World and its only them who seem to find this a necessity

And is restricting them selling a lot more and buyers from having more choice ... if they are so worried add an editorial section then everybody's happy the buyer and the seller .. as Pond 5 Have  

The people who are buying footage have editing facilities on whatever level otherwise they wouldn't buy the shot and if the legal department of the company decides a shot shouldn't have a logo or a face in it .. then they can blur it out themselves ... rather than restricting the seller selling some good shots and the buyer from buying a better variety of footage  

I agree MicrostockExp I think the Quality should be a bit tighter on Pond 5 .. thats what the Footage Stock Sites should be concentrating on .... real shots for real TV Companies to use .. all the sites have some quality shots .. so don't want to offend anybody .. Ive bought some quality 3D footage that must have took days to do for only $50 bargain .. couldn't have made it for that and saved my Promo etc but could have a lot more ... without silly restrictions and Reviewers who have probably never set foot in a TV station

And also agree Isyndica is very good .. should drop the price a bit .. credits can be used up very quickly when uploading a series of shots to various sites .. and should also offer more storage Space with there Credit plans as again Video files are big and its not the old days when Storage Space is expensive but good Idea

I was quite excited about the whole stock photo business until i hit this forum and started reading up abit on how it all works.  It quickly set in that the whole segment is just flooded with everyone wanting to make a buck and because of that the quality of work has been diluted not to mention the value placed on them.  Is there any agency left anymore that deals with higher quality of work?

I then read further down to find you guys in the stock video section, and that gave me a vigor of hope as I do abit of video too.  I too could not get my head around the whole release forms use applying to video and I am glad i came across this thread, particularly from the view of a buyer.  Judging by istock they seem more stringent as most of their videos are just windmills...lol. 

Can someone explain to me in simple terms how iSyndica works?  is it a broker in a sense for your work or just a place to store your work as it asks for an annual fee.

cheers.

You upload your files to iSyndica once.  They turn around and upload your files to all of the agencies you support.  Essentially saving you the time/effort of having to upload each file to each agency you support.  For stills it's not that big of a deal, but footage files can be so large it's a HUGE time saver.

In addition, they track your downloads/sales on many sites and give you one-stop reporting.  A very handy feature.

Thanks for your input. I Shoot video for iStock video and am exclusive. I love pond5 but they need to up their quality some and offer different sizes for web use then they would be perfect! Your input is helpful to me as a shooter. Trust me I hate to blur but sometimes forced to do it.

Does one need to do blanket censorship for Pond5 also?  This is my main query, there has to be some sort of agency out there that just deals with higher quality work.

Must be quite cool being able to get in the hospital like you do in some of your works =)  If you don't mind me asking are you getting consistent sales from your work on istock video being exclusive?  you don't have to divulge if you don't want to.

cheers.

does your profile pic suggest something thomas?...lol 

looks good. bookmarked it.  how long has this been around for?

Hi out there,

yes - we`re really brand new (started in April this year). Our focus is on stock footage shot on RED One (R3D, HD and SD) and other upcoming HighEnd Formats. But if the scene looks fine (even if it`s not RED Footage) we`ll be glad to here from you. You`re royalities would be 40%.

Cheers

Thomas.