Best Practices
When looking for video to include in a multimedia project, it is important to be aware of how resolution and compression can impact the aesthetic of your piece. Resolution is the number of pixels running horizontally and vertically in your image.
The standard resolution for a project that combines video, image and audio elements is HD (1920x1080). If you don't want your video to have artifacts, make sure the files you download are at least 1920 pixels x 1080 pixels. You can check your files resolution by opening in a media player or video application and checking the properties of the video.
Some websites that allow download of videos also give the option for different formats. Since these files are usually heavily compressed, downloading the larger file type typically (not always) means it will be less compressed.
Finding Video
- PixabayFind free-to-use videos and images.
- Pexels VideosFree, public domain stock footage
- VidsplayStock video available for use, with attribution. Downside: Ads and search interface isn't great.
- Prelinger Archivecollection of home movies, amateur films, and important films made by or produced for US corporations, nonprofit organizations, community interest groups, educational institutions and more.
- National Parks ServiceB-roll available for download of National Parks
- National Marine Sanctuaries Media LibrarySelect video clips and high-resolution still images from America's underwater treasures.
- Yellowstone National Park Video Librarylibrary of public domain video available for download from Yellowstone National Park
- The Open Video ProjectDeveoped by UNC-Chapel Hill, Open-Video is a repository of digitized video content intended for multimedia retrieval, digital library, and other research communities.
- Library of CongressMaterial in the Library’s National Screening room collection available for download
