New completely free 4K stock video website: Dareful.com

[joelholland3]

Hello VideoHelp Community! I just launched a new website offering completely free 4K stock video clips and would love to know what you think:

https://www.dareful.com

Everything on the site is free to download and use in all types of projects (including commercial), royalty-free, worldwide, forever. No credit card required.

There is a mix of aerial (helicopter and drone), RED and Canon--all 4K.

All of the content comes from my personal collection (been shooting for 17 years), and I'll be adding more each week. Why is it free? Because I love giving back to the creative community and I like seeing my work enjoyed. Don't worry, this isn't going to hurt the paid stock video world--just putting up a few clips every now and then as a fun passion project. ☺

Enjoy and let me know what you think! Maybe I'll see you at NAB next week.

- Joel

[sophisticles]

Sorry, but the way your site is set up it looks like it's designed as an email address farming operation, i.e. it's meant to get people's email addresses. Why email the download links to people and not just have the download links right on the site?

No thanks.

[joelholland3]

Sorry, but the way your site is set up it looks like it's designed as an email address farming operation, i.e. it's meant to get people's email addresses. Why email the download links to people and not just have the download links right on the site?

No thanks.

That's a fair complaint, Sophisticles. I guess I'm concerned that if I just provided unprotected links they would be copied and shared all over the internet, and my goal is to build a community. I worked really hard to create this footage, and I'm hoping people are willing to create a free account in order to enjoy it. My intent is never to spam anyone, but I do want people to have some skin in the game in order to get the free clips. Does this make sense?

[ron spencer]

Sorry, but the way your site is set up it looks like it's designed as an email address farming operation, i.e. it's meant to get people's email addresses. Why email the download links to people and not just have the download links right on the site?

No thanks.

That's a fair complaint, Sophisticles. I guess I'm concerned that if I just provided unprotected links they would be copied and shared all over the internet, and my goal is to build a community. I worked really hard to create this footage, and I'm hoping people are willing to create a free account in order to enjoy it. My intent is never to spam anyone, but I do want people to have some skin in the game in order to get the free clips. Does this make sense?

Some skin??? Free is free, no need for email. Besides, anyone can use a fake email.

[godai]

omg i need ride my 1080 bravia, but i feel imposible to sell it :/

i want a 4k

[joelholland3]

Sorry, but the way your site is set up it looks like it's designed as an email address farming operation, i.e. it's meant to get people's email addresses. Why email the download links to people and not just have the download links right on the site?

No thanks.

That's a fair complaint, Sophisticles. I guess I'm concerned that if I just provided unprotected links they would be copied and shared all over the internet, and my goal is to build a community. I worked really hard to create this footage, and I'm hoping people are willing to create a free account in order to enjoy it. My intent is never to spam anyone, but I do want people to have some skin in the game in order to get the free clips. Does this make sense?

Some skin??? Free is free, no need for email. Besides, anyone can use a fake email.

Well I promise it is all completely free! Unfortunately I do have to pay for the bandwidth. So I only want serious video editors downloading the files, which are kind of large. If it isn't worth an email address, then I guess a person doesn't need it that much. Fair enough.

[sophisticles]

Like I thought, it's a scam, pure and simple! I created a throwaway gmail accountjust to try it out and he doesn't email you any links, he just sends a page that says "your downloads are almost ready" with 2 options, one to view your purchases and one to return to his online store.

Mods, please ban this account and ip address, just another scammer.

[joelholland3]

Like I thought, it's a scam, pure and simple! I created a throwaway gmail accountjust to try it out and he doesn't email you any links, he just sends a page that says "your downloads are almost ready" with 2 options, one to view your purchases and one to return to his online store.

Mods, please ban this account and ip address, just another scammer.

sophisticles - Definitely not a scam, and if you received the other emails then you should also have received one with the download links. Please check your social or promotions folder if you are using gmail. And let me know what you think of the clips!

[sophisticles]

Alright, so there evidently was a delay between the emails that are sent. here are my thoughts:

I love the website layout, IF it was designed as a way of selling video, the set up is perfect for that type of business.

IF you're goal is really to offer 100% free clips, then it's a fail, major pain in the ass, makes you jump through hoops, you could just have the download links on your site.

As for the content, it sucks big time. You are obviously proud of the clips, as evidenced by the way you present them but the way they are shot and the encode quality is subpar. The Christmas one in particular has these artifacts which are unforgivable, especially when you consider how much bit rate you used with x264+medium, really, really poor quality.

I just don't get it, clips shot with Red, from helicopters, with drones, you've obviously taken the time to edit them so that they are stable and graded, then you encode them poorly and only offer a 10-20 second clip?

What exactly is the purpose, do you just have a bunch of free time on your hands and want to waste ours?

Maybe someone else can appreciate what you are offering but not for me.

Sorry.

[joelholland3]

Alright, so there evidently was a delay between the emails that are sent. here are my thoughts:

I love the website layout, IF it was designed as a way of selling video, the set up is perfect for that type of business.

IF you're goal is really to offer 100% free clips, then it's a fail, major pain in the ass, makes you jump through hoops, you could just have the download links on your site.

As for the content, it sucks big time. You are obviously proud of the clips, as evidenced by the way you present them but the way they are shot and the encode quality is subpar. The Christmas one in particular has these artifacts which are unforgivable, especially when you consider how much bit rate you used with x264+medium, really, really poor quality.

I just don't get it, clips shot with Red, from helicopters, with drones, you've obviously taken the time to edit them so that they are stable and graded, then you encode them poorly and only offer a 10-20 second clip?

What exactly is the purpose, do you just have a bunch of free time on your hands and want to waste ours?

Maybe someone else can appreciate what you are offering but not for me.

Sorry.

Haha, you are a tough cookie sophisticles! I recommend you drink more red wine--it will put a smile on your face, I promise.

A couple follow up questions for you: Using the Christmas scene as an example, this was shot on RED so the source file is a .R3D file that most can't use, and it is 3 gigs. After color grading, exporting a 10-20 second clip (which is standard for stock video) is 2 gigs if I kick it out to QT Photo-JPEG. This is great quality, but the file size is way too large to distribute. So I'm using the industry standard H264 at a high bitrate to capture as much quality as possible while keeping the file size reasonable. How would you do this encode process differently?

[MISS CHIEVOUS]

. . . I'm concerned that if I just provided unprotected links they would be copied and shared all over the internet, and my goal is to build a community.

And breaching the privacy of your users — before you've established, and earned, their trust — is the tactic by which you expect to build a community? Here's your solution.

[joelholland3]

. . . I'm concerned that if I just provided unprotected links they would be copied and shared all over the internet, and my goal is to build a community.

And breaching the privacy of your users — before you've established, and earned, their trust — is the tactic by which you expect to build a community? Here's your solution.

I don't think asking people to create a free account on a website is a breach of privacy. If that's the case, are you upset that VideoHelp required you to create an account? This site is free, but they require a signup. I didn't feel violated.

Also, I'm a fan of DeviantArt, but confused by their signup form being a solution. In addition to name and email address, they require birthdate and gender--that's a lot.

[sophisticles]

A couple follow up questions for you: Using the Christmas scene as an example, this was shot on RED so the source file is a .R3D file that most can't use, and it is 3 gigs. After color grading, exporting a 10-20 second clip (which is standard for stock video) is 2 gigs if I kick it out to QT Photo-JPEG. This is great quality, but the file size is way too large to distribute. So I'm using the industry standard H264 at a high bitrate to capture as much quality as possible while keeping the file size reasonable. How would you do this encode process differently?

I am really confused, you have access to a RED, know how to frame, stabilize and grade video but you think exporting to QT Photo-JPEG is a good idea? And you have a problem offering a 2-3gig file because you can't afford the bandwidth? But you can afford to rent a RED? OK.

Regardless, since you obviously use a Mac for editing, I would export to ProRes and offer that for download or if you absolutely must use delivery format, I would use ATEME's HEVC or VP9, 10 bit in both cases. But that's just me.

[DB83]

I haver read this topic with mild interest.

Mild since I have no use for any 4K footage whether it is 'stock' or not.

As for the delivery via an email generated link, I have no issues with that since many a commercial organisation do that. Yet I have also seen those self-same organisations echoing the download links in a member's profile so one could re-download it at a later date or simply should the 'member' not see the original email.

Yet I always question the motive when I see the word 'free' since nothing in totally free in this day and age. Even that adage 'Buy one get one free' has a payload attached to it in some way.

Could it be that this is merely an subtle way to get subscriptions to the 'parent' site ?

More so. If you wet yourself over the bandwidth costs of providing the downloads, I question whether you should even be providing them in the first place.

No offence intended. These are just my thoughts.