MicrostockGroup
Agency Based Discussion => iStockPhoto.com => Topic started by: adijr on October 03, 2011, 16:12
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I really apologize if this was discussed, but i haven't been around here for a while and haven't seen anything about this via searching.
I was thinking of adding some vids from a recent experiment to my port, and decided to gauge the time i'd have to wait for approval decision. I looked at the 'recent uploads' at istock and found that video exclusive files getting accepted now (Oct 3rd) were uploaded at the end of June - i.e. over a 3 month wait for exclusives. Am I understanding something wrong? I haven't uploaded something recently, but it used to be ~2-3 weeks for exclusives last I uploaded anything...
Images also seem extremely slow (most exclusive images are from july/august)
http://www.istockphoto.com/browse/latest/video/ (http://www.istockphoto.com/browse/latest/video/)
- adijr
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Yes, it is very, very slow, even for exclusives. Seems to be 2-3 months at the moment. You can read more in the istockvideoforum.
I am still a newbie, just started to upload more and I am very, very frustrated by these long waiting times.
I sincerly hope they invest more money into video and hire more people. If the competition can accept videos in 2-3 weeks and has no upload limits - why not istock?
Isnīt istock/getty a much, much bigger agency with more resources?
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I think Pond5 is bigger with footage. I gave up with istock. It was really tedious and time consuming getting a clip on the site. The web page upload was glitchy and I saw lots of complaints about FTP. The really long review times and a 15% commission took away all my motivation.
Pond5 are taking several weeks to review clips at the moment but they have cut that to less than a week several times. I don't spend an hour uploading there only to find something has gone wrong, their upload is almost error free. Most importantly, they have lots of buyers and 50% commission.
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Thanks for the info.
What's the procedure for getting into pond5 as a contributor? I can't find a page talking about this. Do we need to submit a few clips before we get 'accepted', etc?
Thanks,
- adijr
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The wait times on IS annoyed me to the point where I don't shoot video at all. If I were to start shooting video again, I'd probably turn non-exclusive and submit to the other sites.
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Thanks for the info.
What's the procedure for getting into pond5 as a contributor? I can't find a page talking about this. Do we need to submit a few clips before we get 'accepted', etc?
Thanks,
- adijr
I think you just sign up for an account and submit. It's a long time since I joined.
The sign up page is here
http://www.pond5.com/new_user.html (http://www.pond5.com/new_user.html)
Just found the contributors FAQ
http://www.pond5.com/document/sellerFAQ.html (http://www.pond5.com/document/sellerFAQ.html)
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even at pond5, it seems to me some people wait for several weeks, others wait a couple of days. Is there a preferred submitters' group or something?
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I've just started submitting video - my initial thinking was that I'd go exclusive on IS, but in practice its not possible until you have an accepted video online, and that will take about 3 months to get reviewed. In the meantime I'm uploading to Pond5 and SS which both accept editorial video as well and are much faster at reviewing.
The upload process that denies FTP access to non-exclusives is really frustrating, especially if you're on a slow connection - so far I've only been able to upload 2 videos with about 4 attempts each - so I'm actually using 4 times more bandwidth than necessary. The whole process doesn't inspire confidence that video exclusivity is the right choice.
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The only (theoretically) attractive thing to become exclusive video submitter on IS at the moment is the mirroring in Getty website. But seeing that the mirroring of images takes ages and they haven't started with the process yet I think being non exclusive is better. I had recently become exclusive video contributor as well but I think I will cancel my exclusivity after a batch of inspections of my uploads are completed. Very very frustrating.
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I share your frustration. I was enthusiastic when they announced duplication in Getty but the endless wait is becoming too much. Unless they announce a serious intention to become the best Video Site with the quickest approval system, I will be forced to move on. As a photographer I can never upload enough to move up in the RC System.
I am holding on until end of the year, but unless inspections can be done in a month...I hate the idea of going elsewhere, I really do. I hope they can convince me and many others to stay.
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hmm... to all of you talking about shutterstock footage - can you apply to shutterstock just for footage? Also, I've heard that they are not too good just yet at footage sales?
Thx!
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I already had my shutterstock stills account and just had to upload clips. Not sure if they do a test for clips now, like they have with stills. Might be worth asking in their footage forum.
Sales there haven't been great for me. They don't seem to have as many footage buyers as Pond5. It's strange because they do very well with stills and I expected more from them.
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I think Pond5 is bigger with footage. I gave up with istock. It was really tedious and time consuming getting a clip on the site. The web page upload was glitchy and I saw lots of complaints about FTP. The really long review times and a 15% commission took away all my motivation.
Pond5 are taking several weeks to review clips at the moment but they have cut that to less than a week several times. I don't spend an hour uploading there only to find something has gone wrong, their upload is almost error free. Most importantly, they have lots of buyers and 50% commission.
+1