Pond5 Buyer Frequently Asked Questions |
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| General | Buying | Downloading | Other Questions. |
General Questions
What is Pond5?
How Do I Create An Account?
I've Forgotten My Login Information
What Do You Mean by Royalty-Free?
How Do I Find Clips?
Do You Have Any Tips for Searching?
I Have A Specific Footage Request For Something I Couldn't Locate On Your Site.
How Do I Test Out Clips Before I Buy?
Buying Files
How Do I Purchase Clips?
Do You Offer Pre-Paid Credit Packages?
Do You Offer Subscription Plans or Packages?
Can You Supply Me With a Researcher to Help Me Find Footage?
Can I Pay via Purchase Order?
Our Legal Department Will Not Approve Your License Agreement, Can We Get a Custom One?
Are All of the Files on Your Site Fully Cleared for Creative Use?
How Can I Tell If a File Has a Model/Property Release On File?
Can We Get the Full Text of the Model/Property Release for a Particular File?
How Do I Know if I Will be Able to Use the Footage I Purchase on Pond5.com With My Editing System?
Downloading Files
How Will My Footage Be Delivered?
On the Download Page It Says My File is a PhotoJPEG. I Wanted to Download a Video File, What Gives?
How Do I Download My Clip?
My Download Did Not Complete, How Do I Redownload the File?
I Tried to Download my File But...
...When I Click on the "Download" Link It Plays in a Separate Window
...When I Right-click on the "Download" Link I Get a Tiny Gif File Instead of My Video
...The Download Stalled Halfway Through
I Was Able to Download My File But...
...When I Open It on My Computer It's Just a Plain White Screen
...When I Try to Render in Final Cut I Get a "General Error"
...When I Try to Embed the Clip on my Website, It Doesn't Work.
...When I Try to Embed the Clip in my PowerPoint/Pinnacle/Windows Movie Maker Project It's Not Working.
...When I Try to Play the Clip in my Pinnacle/Windows Movie Maker/Etc Project It's Not Playing Smoothly.
Other Questions
What are Media Bins?
Do You Offer Video Format Conversion Services?
I Purchased a High Resolution Photo, but Downloaded an EPS File I Cannot Open, What's Wrong?
How Do I Convert a File in Mpeg Streamclip?
It's Been More Than Two Weeks Since I Purchased My Files and They Seem to Have Expired. Why?
Can I Use One Of Your Files as a Moving Desktop Background or As a Screensaver on My PC?
My Question Wasn’t Answered Here, Where Can I Go?
What is Pond5?
Pond5.com is a web-based stock footage marketplace and community of filmmakers, stock videographers, musicians and audio professionals. It’s a great place to find and license stock footage or audio for use in your productions, or to upload and market your own work for use by others. All of our clips are downloadable and available immediately under a royalty-free licensing agreement.
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How Do I Create An Account?
Creating an account on Pond5 is fast and free. All you need to do is fill out the information on the registration page . You will then receive an email to verify your registration. If you do not receive a confirmation email, please contact us.
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I've Forgotten My Login Information
Send us an from the address you used to register your account and we can give you your username. If you've forgotten your password, you can retrieve it by clicking on this link.
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What Do You Mean by Royalty-Free?
Our industry-standard royalty-free license agreement allows buyers to use footage in a wide variety of ways in their own work, across multiple projects, for a one-time licensing fee. Basically, you're granted non-exclusive perpetual use of the footage across a wide array of media, worldwide. Most uses of our footage are acceptable under our license agreement, but we suggest reading the full text to make sure.
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How Do I Find Clips?
To search for clips, simply enter a search term in the Search field (or, to see all clips, leave the field blank). If a clip interests you, you can add it to your cart by clicking on the cart icon or adding it to a Media Bin. You can also sort clips by price, number of sales, and a number of other different parameters on the search results page.
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Do You Have Any Tips for Searching?
When looking for something specific, try using every synonymous search term you can think of. Everyone keywords their footage differently and so one person's "big snake" is another person's "anaconda" is another person's "Eunectes murinus"
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I Have A Specific Footage Request For Something I Couldn't Locate On Your Site
If you can't find something you're looking for on the site, you can always ask our users on the Footage Request section of our Forum, to see if one of our users can whip something up for you. You must create an account and sign in before you can post.
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How Do I Test Out Clips Before I Buy?
To download a low-res watermarked preview file, go to your clip's "clip info" page and look directly below the preview window on the left . There is a button there that says "download a low-res comp", simply right-click and "save link as" or "save linked file" and you'll have a preview for client approval.
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How Do I Purchase Clips?
Once your clips have been selected and added to the cart, simply log into your account and click "checkout" and check out like you would for any online purchase, using paypal or a credit card. Our system is pay-as-you-go - you only need to purchase the clips you want, and will not be required to pay for additional credits, or a subscription package.
If your company does not support paypal or credit card systems, you can start the process for setting up a Purchase Order system by sending us an .
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Do You Offer Pre-Paid Credit Packages?
Yes, you can purchase pre-paid credits directly from the Checkout Page. Just enter the amount in credit that you want to purchase, and click on "add to cart". All credits will be good for a year after purchase, and can be used at any time to purchase content from Pond5, without having to pull out your credit card.
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Do You Offer Subscription Plans or Packages?
We do not currently offer any subscriptions, all clips are sold on an individual basis.
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Can You Supply Me With a Researcher to Help Me Find Footage?
We do not have researchers on staff. All of our footage is present on the site, and should be easy to find with a search or two, if we have it.
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How Will My Footage Be Delivered?
Once you buy your clips you will be able to access the file - in full resolution and non-watermarked - by going to My Pond>Downloads. From there you can download the file and import it into your project. We do not supply physical tapes or screeners.
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On the Download Page It Says My File is a PhotoJPEG. I Wanted to Download a Video File, What Gives?
PhotoJPEG is a high-quality, low-impact video codec for .mov files, and many of our clips are uploaded with it. If you'd like more information, please read this.
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Can I Pay via Purchase Order?
We can set up a monthly billing system for you. Just send us a note to start the process. Please note that this system sometimes take a few days to set up, so make sure to set one up before you get to your deadline.
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Our Legal Department Will Not Approve Your License Agreement, Can We Get a Custom One?
Rarely, we are able to allow our clips to be used under a modified license agreement, but this is significantly more expensive than buying clips under our standard license. If you think you would need a custom license agreement to use our clips, send us a note to start the process.
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Are All of the Files on Your Site Fully Cleared for Commercial Use?
No. We sell both commercial use and editorial-only footage. Editorial footage will be clearly marked with a disclaimer.
Even though this seller doesn't have a model release on file for President Obama, the footage can still be used in a news or editorial context. If you'd like to limit your search to only model released content, you can select the "model release" option in the search filter. |
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How Can I Tell If a File Has a Model/Property Release On File?
If there is a model or property release on file with us for a particular clip, it will be clearly marked on the clip info page. You can also limit your search to only model released footage.
This artist has uploaded a release signed by his model, so this clip is cleared for full creative use. |
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Can We Get the Full Text of the Model/Property Release for a Particular File?
We can provide you with a .pdf of any model or property release on the site for a fee of $75/release. The release will have signatures and identifying information about the models, artist, and witnesses obscured, but you'll be able to see the full text of the agreement to see if it fits your needs.
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How Do I Know if I Will be Able to Use the Footage I Purchase on Pond5.com With My Editing System?
On the "clip info" page for each clip, you will find technical details about the footage. Mouse over the "i" next to each avaliable format for more detailed information including file extension, format, codec and frame rate information. Before you purchase a clip, please check this information carefully and make sure that you will be able to work with the footage being offered.
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How Do I Download My Clip?
Once you purchase your file you will be automatically redirected to the download page. You can also access your downloads for 7 days after purchase by going to My Pond>Downloads.
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My Download Did Not Complete, How Do I Redownload the File?
To redownload a file you've bought from the site, go to My Pond>Downloads. If your clip is in the "active" section, then you will be able to download the file immediately. If your file is in the "expired" section, then you will need to contact us to reactivate the download link for you.
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I Tried to Download my File But When I Click on the "Download" Link It Plays in a Separate Window
This is a quirk with certain browsers. Go back to the Downloads page and right-click (control+click on a mac) on the "download" link. A context menu should appear. Choose "save as", "save target as", "download linked file" or a similar option (it varies across browsers), and click. This should start your download.
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I Tried to Download My File But When I Right-click on the "Download" Link I Get a Tiny Gif File Instead of My Video
Choose "save target" or "save file" instead of "save image" (it varies across browsers) from the context menu and click. This should start your download.
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I Tried to Download My File But The Download Stalled Halfway Through
This could have happend for several reasons. First, check your computer and make sure that you have enough space to download the file on your hard drive. Then, make sure that you are wired into your internet connection - WiFi can be a bit too glitchy for large downloads such as HD video files. Plug your computer into your ethernet connection directly and try downloading the file again. If you're still having problems, do a speed test to check your download speed and if it looks low, consider downloading the file from another site with a better internet connection, such as a closed, password-protected network or an internet cafe.
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I Was Able to Download My File but When I Open It on My Computer It's Just a Plain White Screen
This means your file was probably uploaded in the HDV/mpeg2 codec, or another format which is not supported on all editing systems. If you run into this issue, we'd be happy to provide you with a free conversion. Please for a free conversion to a more universal format.
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I Was Able to Download My File But When I Try to Render in Final Cut I Get a "General Error"
This is a very rare issue that comes up with .mov files from time to time. If you encounter a file with this issue, please for a conversion or a full refund.
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I Was Able to Download My File But When I Try to Embed the Clip on my Website, It Doesn't Work.
Our files are provided in a high-quality format that is not appropriate for web delivery without being converted first. Unless you have extensive knowledge of HTML, Flash, or other internet coding programs, we strongly discourage trying to embed a full-quality HD or SD file on your website yourself. We suggest you use a program like Mpeg Streamclip to convert your file to a web-friendly format, or hire a freelancer in your area to encode and place the files for you.
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I Was Able to Download My File But When I Try to Embed the Clip in my PowerPoint/Pinnacle/Windows Movie Maker Project It's Not Working.
Many programs can't handle .mov files natively, so if you're running into issues with importing your file, run a google search for what format your program can ingest and use Mpeg Streamclip to convert your file.
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I Was Able to Download My File But When I Try to Play the Clip in my Pinnacle/Windows Movie Maker/Etc Project It's Not Playing Smoothly.
Many consumer-level editing programs cannot handle broadcast-quality HD files, so if you are trying to play them in your system and they are stuttering and not playing smoothly then your best bet would be to down-res the file to something your system can handle, or to edit as-is and export the file (even if your system can't play the file smoothly it should still be able to export your project into a playable file.)
We also suggest you run a google search for what format and size your program can ingest and use Mpeg Streamclip to convert your file.
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What are Media Bins?
A Media Bin is a place to store and organize clips that interest you for easy reference later. You can create multiple Media Bins for different projects or topics, and add clips to them as you browse the site. For example, if you're looking for clips of polar bears, you can save your favorite clips for client approval or for testing in your project by making a clipbin like this. To purchase clips that are in your Media Bins, you will first need to add them to your cart.
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Do You Offer Video Format Conversion Services?
In cases where there is major incompatibility, we can generally supply you with a high-quality format conversion free of charge. Please for details. For conversions from .mov to other standard formats, we strongly suggest using a free program such as Mpeg Streamclip to convert the file to your liking.
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I Purchased a High Resolution Photo, but Downloaded an EPS File I Cannot Open, What's Wrong?
The highest-resolution version of that file happens to be a vector file, and if you do not have a professional photo editing program to manipulate it with, you may not be able to use it. Please to receive a refund so you can purchase the lower-resolution version of the file.
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How Do I Convert a File in Mpeg Streamclip?
First, download Mpeg Streamclip, then locate your file and drag it to the converter window. Then, go to the File tab and choose your compression, then follow the on-screen prompts.
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It's Been More Than Two Weeks Since I Purchased My Files and They Seem to Have Expired. Why?
In order to preserve bandwidth, transactions expire after 14 days. To have any transaction you've made reactivated, simply email us with the transaction ID Number (transit) and we'll reactivate it for you for another seven days.
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Can I Use Your File As a Moving Desktop Background or As a Screensaver on My PC?
Probably not without converting it to an appropriate format. Do some research on the effect this will have on your RAM and processor speed before buying a full-quality HD or SD file for this kind of use.
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My Question Wasn’t Answered Here, Where Can I Go?
You can always reach us using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of every page, or by clicking here. If you're looking for questions about selling media on Pond5, click here.
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