Getting your Footage Ready for Upload
Aerial Stock Media Guidelines
Drone by Nature recommends footage originating from high-quality cameras, including
- ○ Professional cameras
- ○ Prosumer cameras
- ○ 3CCD consumer cameras
- ○ Smartphones with a minimum 1080p basic resolution
- ○ Wearable cameras, GoPro, or equivalent
- ○ Drones with a minimum 1080p resolution
General Guidelines
Accurate focus and exposure, proper camera settings, and stable camera movements are crucial for quality footage. Using a stabilizer is encouraged when creating stock video.
Drone by Nature recommends clips with no edits.
Moderate colour correction and effects could still be sellable, however it is important to remember that buyers may modify the footage after purchase. Therefore, high-quality, minimally manipulated, or RAW images are preferred.
Audio
Drone by Nature recommends audio to be removed before uploading. Exceptions include Editorial content or footage where audio is crucial to usage.
If the audio could be useful to buyers, is free of copyrighted material, and lacks recognizable voices (requiring a model release), include it with the clip.
The audio should only be recorded with high-quality microphone. Sound from in-camera mics is unlikely to be good enough. The audio quality is as important as the video quality. if you encounter audio quality issues, you should consider disabling it on your camera.
Recommended Duration
Ensure that your clips fall within the 3 to 60 seconds range.
Recommended File Size
- ○ HD clips or lower: up to 3GB
- ○ 4K/5K/6K clips: up to 5GB
- ○ 8K clips: up to 6GB
- ○ R3D (zip with .mov): up to 6GB
- ○ Vertical footage: up to 3GB
Recommended Frame Rate
23.98, 24, 25, 29.97, 30, 47.95, 47.96, 48, 50, 59.94, 60
Recommended Resolutions
HD and 4K resolutions are preferred, but we generally accept any type of resolution.
See our recommended guidelines:
8K
8192×4320 7680×4320 8192 x 4320
6K
6144×3160 6144×3072
5K
5120×2880 5120×2700 4800×2700
4K
4096×2160 4096×2304 3840×2160
2K
2048×1080 2048×1152
HD
1920×1080 1280×720 1440×1080
SD
640×480 720×480 720×486 720×576
Drone by Nature recommends footage in the following codecs, listed in order of preference:
- ○ Unmodified camera-native codecs, including R3D (refer to details below), AVCHD, PRORES, DNxHD, DNxHR, M2TS, XDCam, MXF, HDV, DV, DVCProHD
- ○ ProRes RAW / ProRes 422 / 422 LT / 422 HQ / 4444
- ○ Avid native DNxHD / DNxHR
- ○ H.264 / H.265 (HEVC)
- ○ Photo JPEG
- ○ Animation or PNG (only for clips with embedded alpha channels/transparency).
We do not recommend footage in the following codecs:
- ○ Motion JPEG
- ○ AVI
- ○ Non-native MP4
Drone by Nature recommends to prepare all videos in either MOV or MP4 format. If your footage is in a different format, such as AVI, kindly convert it to MOV or MP4 before initiating the upload.
Given that compression can lead to banding and artifacting, it is advisable to minimize compression whenever possible. Exporting at the native resolution, aspect ratio, and frame rate is preferred. Prior to uploading, please thoroughly review your exported files to ensure they meet the required high-quality standards.
Ensure that your file names exclude any special characters or accents. This includes, but is not limited to, symbols such as &, å, ñ, é, ß, ®, ©, §, ç, ä, ø, ü, quote marks (“ ” or ‘ ’), and commas (,). Additionally, spaces and dashes are not permitted.
Drone by Nature recommends the following guidelines when uploading your 360 files:
- ○ your video should be a minimum of 45 seconds in duration.
- ○ 360 clips with a maximum duration of 119 seconds.
- ○ Upload items in a 2:1 aspect ratio.
- ○ Prefer 4K files over 1080HD.
- ○ Exclude audio from your videos.
- ○ Apply 360 metadata to your video content (details below).
- ○ Tag your uploads with keywords like “VR360,” “VR,” and “360VR.”
Adding 360 Metadata
To ensure our player recognizes your files as 360 videos, please add 360 metadata before uploading. You can use Google’s metadata tool for this purpose.
After stitching your video and applying 360 metadata, Drone by Nature recommends that you review thoroughly your file in a 360-media player of your choice (e.g., Kolor, YouTube, or Facebook) to ensure proper playback.
R3D files should be provided in a ZIP file, comprising:
- ○ Raw .r3d file (mandatory)
- ○ Identical .mov file (mandatory)
- ○ .rmd file (optional)
When uploading R3D files, ensure the ZIP file includes the R3D file and a colour-corrected or original version of the MOV preview file, with a minimum resolution of 1080P (1920X1080). If the preview clip is colour graded, you may include an RMD (colour-grading info) file.
Upon upload, you can individually price/sell the video file or offer it in conjunction with the R3D file bundle. The included video file should be in MOV format with a ProRes 422 (or HQ), Photo JPEG, or H264 codec. The ZIP file size must not exceed 6GB.
Note that each ZIP should contain only one clip. If you have a different version of the same clip, please submit it as a separate ZIP file.
Drone by Nature suggests uploading footage with an alpha layer by employing an embedded alpha channel, using either the Animation, PNG, or ProRes 4444 codecs.
All downsized items are provided in H.264, .MOV, and ProRes 422 .MOV formats upon download.
Please note that if your original upload includes an Alpha channel, the downsized versions with the Alpha channel are preserved and also provided in PNG.mov format for buyers.
In order to offer media files for sale at Drone by Nature, it is essential to consent to all the terms specified in our Terms of Use. Take the time to carefully read and understand your rights and responsibilities before moving forward.
As the copyright owner, it is crucial that you have exclusive rights to any image you wish to license on Drone by Nature. Generally, if you created the footage, you possess the copyright and are authorized to upload and promote your work. If there is any uncertainty regarding your status as the legal copyright holder of a clip, it is advisable to refrain from uploading it.
For further assistance, feel free to contact our Customer Support at support@dronebynature.com.
