Contributor FAQs
General
What is stock footage and photography?
Stock footage is video content produced for commercial and editorial licensing that is typically made available to customers by online stock libraries such as Dissolve. Stock photography is photo content produced for the same purposes.
Customers license stock footage for marketing and promotional videos, TV programs, advertising, and films as a convenient alternative to producing custom footage themselves.
What are footage clips?
Stock footage clips are the individual items of content that people license on Dissolve. Clips are short edits of about 5 to 20 seconds in length that capture a theme or moment. Customers use these clips to help tell their stories.
Examples of clips are an aerial shot of New York City, a couple walking on a beach at sunset, a person’s hands working on a pottery wheel, or an abstract graphic background.
What is a Dissolve Contributor?
Dissolve Contributors are the creative individuals that produce the high-quality, curated stock found in our library. Anyone can apply through our simple application process which our curators overview. We look for exceptional, inspiring and diverse pieces that match the quality found in our current footage and photography collections. Take a look at some of our photo and video galleries to get a feel for what we look for.
By becoming a contributor, you have the opportunity to get your stock content licensed by Dissolve’s network of clients- ranging from top branding agencies to Hollywood movie productions.
Find out more about becoming a Contributor and applying here.
What is the benefit of becoming a contributor?
Becoming a Dissolve Contributor means becoming part of the Dissolve brand. You make Dissolve what it is! On top of this, you have the opportunity to showcase your talents to world renowned production houses, marketing agencies and other creatives, while earning royalties for your work. We do the marketing, sales, and the dirty work for you - all you need to do is shoot and submit and let your content speak for itself.
For more information and application process view here.
How are footage royalties calculated?
For footage sales contributor royalties are calculated as a percentage of the license selling price, less the Dissolve indemnification and service fees (if there is an extended/premium/custom license purchased).
Can I still use my footage even though I'm working with Dissolve?
Dissolve does not own your footage — you do. It's your footage. When you work with Dissolve, you are sub-licensing your footage to us, which allows us to license clips on your behalf through our site. You can still use your footage for your own projects — whether they’re personal, commercial, or portfolio in nature. And if you’re working with Dissolve on a non-exclusive basis, you may also license your footage through other stock websites.
If I’m an exclusive contributor with Dissolve, can I license my footage to customers who approach me directly?
No, contributors cannot license exclusive content directly to customers. For exclusive content, contributor may promote or document contributor services or content, including on a website owned and operated by contributor, or in a portfolio where contributor shall include a link on such a system or a notation to the Dissolve website to indicate that content is only available for licensing through Dissolve.
How much money will I make with stock?
The success of a stock collection depends on many factors: collection size, quality of the footage and its metadata, and the variation of the collection. Whether you’re shooting stock on a full-time or part-time basis also has an effect.
The stock world can be quite profitable for a producer. It takes time and work to build up a large and strong collection, but we’re here to ensure you have the best chance for success.
Do you offer exclusive licenses/buyouts/market-freezes?
On occasion, a client will reach out asking about obtaining the exclusive rights on a clip or photo for a select period of time. We will reach out to the contributor who submitted that content to get the cost for the removal of that item from any other stock service that is currently hosting it for the duration of the exclusive license. When discussing these rates, we will always be working with the amount the contributor will receive in royalties from these licenses. After these rates have been agreed by both the contributor and the client, we will send out documents for the contributor to sign to finalize the exclusive license.
Application Process
How do I become a contributor for Dissolve?
It's easy to apply to become a contributor for Dissolve. You can get started by simply visiting our contributor home page and clicking "Apply now". Your application will be reviewed and replied to in 1 to 3 weeks.
What is the difference between an exclusive and a non-exclusive agreement?
Exclusive contributors with Dissolve receive access to the following:
- Marketing perks:
- You’re part of an awesome brand that we promote with videos, catalogs, unique print pieces and anything else the crazy minds of the creative team come up with.
- We tend to feature exclusive contributors on our site.
- You’ll have the opportunity to have a Featured Contributor page and a Contributor Spotlight on our blog.
- Additional perks:
- Unlimited monthly file uploads
- A preferred royalty rate
- Faster upload times, front of the queue
- Insights:
- Shoot list/customer requests
- What’s selling/what’s popular
- One-on-one assistance with everything from uploading to advice on building a strong stock collection every step of the way
Types of contributor agreements
- Fully exclusive:
- Your entire library on Dissolve is exclusive. You aren't able to submit content to other stock agencies. You’ll receive all of the benefits listed above for being fully exclusive.
- Select exclusive:
- Select items of your library on Dissolve can be exclusive. You are able to submit your non-exclusive content to other platforms. Your exclusive content will received the benefits listed.
- Non-exclusive:
- Your entire library on Dissolve is non-exclusive. You are able to submit your library to other platforms.
Common questions while filling out the tax detail form during the application process:
What type of income do I select for part 7?
Select the first option "Interest, dividends, and/or royalties" for part 7.
Beside my signature, what do I put as my title?
Common titles are: Photographer, Filmmaker, Owner, Director, etc. Don't forget to add your signature!
Download this file as an example template.
Technical
What kind of files should I submit?
File format
Footage:
Our preferred file format is QuickTime .mov, but we also accept .mp4 and .mpg.
Photography:
We accept .JPG files, only. Please send us your content in the highest resolution available, larger than 5MB is preferred. We accept submissions which have been formatted in sRGB, or AdobeRGB, depending on your workflow, and all color and retouching must be done by the contributor prior to uploading.
Codecs
We support unmodified camera-native codecs, Apple ProRes, DNxHD, DV100, H.264, MPEG2, Photo-Jpeg, Uncompressed, and XDCAM. Currently, REDCODE camera-native codec is not supported.
Resolution and frame rates
Our preferred resolutions are 4K and HD 1080p (1920x1080). We also accept 720p (1280x720) on special occasions, such as when footage on DSLR has been shot at 60fps for slow-motion purposes or for timelapse photography.
Frame rates
Supported frame rates are 23.976, 25, 29.97, 60.
Duration and file size
Clips should be between 5 and 20 seconds in length, but we will accept longer clips. If the length adds value, include it. If the length brings with it variety in subject, angles, etc., we suggest you separate it into two or more clips.
Clips should have no edits. If you have a file with several clips edited together, please separate them as individual files.
Audio in video files
Clips should not include audio. On the very rare occasion where the audio adds value to the visuals or is ambient and does not include any copyrighted material (such as music and voices), include it.
Upload speed
Upload speed will be dependent on your internet service provider. To check your maximum upload, use a broadband speed test to check.
Should I color grade or leave the clips as log gamma?
You can definitely choose a distinct look for your footage, but keep in mind that the majority of customers buy stock footage to fill gaps in their projects, and many are not familiar with the process of color correction. If you submit clips that have been color corrected to an extreme level, they may not fit the overall look of the customer’s project. Conversely, if you leave clips too flat, they may only have a niche audience who knows how to color correct them.
We recommend that your clips fall somewhere in between these two extremes and that you do basic color correction.
Can I select my own thumbnails for my clips?
Our ingestion process currently does not allow for this type of customization.
I have a question or suggestion for a new feature — who do I contact?
Our development team is constantly looking for ways to improve the contributor experience; if you have specific concerns or ideas for new features, please send them to contributors@dissolve.com.
Submitting Footage
How can I ensure my submission is live as soon as possible?
To avoid unnecessary delays in the processing of your submission, follow these guidelines:
- Keep all footage from the same shoot in the same batch. Don’t spread it across multiple batches.
- Be comprehensive in describing the content of your footage, but don’t spam with your keywords — less is more. Please follow our metadata guidelines.
- If your work includes recognizable people or properties, you must have the proper release form. To determine if a release is necessary, see Do I need releases? To find out how to submit the releases, see How do I submit model and property releases?
- You don’t need to wait for one batch to be processed before submitting another. We process batches as we get them, so keep them coming!
What is an upload limit?
Upon acceptance, non-exclusive contributors are assigned a limit on the amount of content they may upload per month. This limit is based on the quality and performance potential of your work. By default, exclusive contributors may upload an unlimited number of files.
You will be notified of your upload level in your acceptance email, and can always see your limit, and how many files you’ve uploaded in a month, on the contributor upload site.
How do I upload clips?
Once you’ve signed up as a Dissolve contributor, you’ll be granted access to the Dissolve contributor upload site. There, you can submit your clips and metadata.
How do I submit model and property releases?
If your work includes recognizable people or property, you must submit model and property releases. For more information, see Do I need releases? You should have received sample release forms when you signed up as a contributor. They are also included below, under “Attachments.” For a mobile solution, we recommend Easy Release. This app is available for iPhone, iPad, and Android and costs $9.99 for the base product.
On the upload site, after you’ve uploaded content files, you will move to the step where you can upload model and property releases for the current batch.
If your batch requires releases, once you’re done uploading the content and releases, you will move to the final step, metadata. There, either use the Metadata Editor or export the Excel spreadsheet and follow these steps:
- Indicate whether there is a model and property release for each clip or photo in the batch by selecting “yes” or “no” in the Model Release and Property Release columns.
- If you are using an exported Excel spreadsheet, in the Release Filenames column, enter a comma-delimited list of model and property release filenames, including extensions (PDF, JPG, or PNG) for each model or property. Then import it back to the upload site.
- If you are using the Metadata Editor, choose the relevant releases from the Associated Releases dropdown, or simply start typing the release names.
- We encourage you to name each release using this format and save it as a PDF, JPG, or PNG file:
Model release: firstname_lastname_MR (where first and last names are the model’s)
Property relase: nameofproperty_PR - Your batch is not completed until all necessary information is provided.
If this information isn’t filled out accurately and completely, the processing of your submission will be delayed, and could even be rejected.
Attachments
How long does it take for my clips to go live once I've submitted them?
Normally, it takes 6 to 8 weeks to process a submission.
Where can I see the status of my batches?
You can check the status of your submissions by signing in to the Dissolve contributor upload site.
Can I modify batches or their keywords?
As long as you haven’t submitted a batch, you can make changes to it, including its keywords. However, once a batch is submitted, you can’t modify it. If there are errors in the metadata, please email contributors@dissolve.com.
Do I set the prices on my clips?
For exclusive collections, we work closely with contributors to find an appropriate price tier for their collections, considering overall quality and contributor goals.
For non-exclusive collections, we must match the lowest price found among other agencies that license your footage.
How do I delete my clips once uploaded?
Currently, we do not allow contributors to delete clips they have uploaded. If there are issues with the footage (e.g., no releases where the presence of them is indicated, loss of rights to license content as stock), please contact us at contributors@dissolve.com.
Do you accept content submitted via FTP or on hard drives?
Dissolve does not currently accept submissions through FTP file transfers, or physical hard drives. Please use the upload site to create batches and submit like content.
Metadata
What is metadata?
To find out more about writing great descriptions and keywords, visit our metadata guide.
Metadata is the information related to the content of each clip, such as its description and keywords. The data “about” your video clips helps people and systems process, administer, and, ultimately, discover the content you create.
Good metadata is critical to ensuring your clips are licensed correctly and easily found by customers. As such, concise, accurate descriptions, and straightforward keyword sets are crucial. Every customer should be able to find the right clip for them, and every clip should be able to be found by its customer.
Can I submit .csv files for my metadata?
We do not accept .csv metadata files. We provide an .xlsx template spreadsheet through the contributor upload site, which you may fill out before making submissions. Alternatively, the contributor site features a metadata editor that can be used to provide metadata for your clips.
How long should a clip description be?
A good starting point is 50 to 75 characters, but you may find you need more to cover all aspects of a good description. At the most, Tweet-length (140 characters) should be adequate to describe your clip. Less is more. Be direct and to the point, and refrain from including information that is irrelevant to the clip (e.g., your professional name).
How many keywords should I include for a clip?
Aim to be as exhaustive as possible, but also specific. The less specific your keywords are, the poorer your clips will perform in search. We recommend including between 20-40 keywords per clip/ photo.
Should I include my Dissolve contributor name in my descriptions?
No. Each clip’s page on dissolve.com includes a linked reference to your contributor name, and a gallery of your related content displays below the clip. You need only describe the clip itself.
Can I use a public-domain definition of the subject of my clip or photo as a description? Can I copy and paste from Wikipedia?
No, you should provide your own original description. Repeating your own descriptions is okay if the clips or photos are very similar, but copying very general descriptions or definitions will not best reflect your work. Besides, that’s plagiarism.
Should I suggest clip usage in my description?
No. Descriptions should reference what is depicted in the clip. Relevant genre or concept terms may be added as keywords, but suggesting usage is not necessary.
I can’t remember where I shot my clips, can I give location keywords that refer to some place similar?
No. If you can remember a more general location (e.g., Germany instead of Munich), by all means include it, but inaccurate or conflicting locations will confuse customers and significantly reduce the likelihood of your clips being licensed.
Do I need to include video dimensions (e.g., 1920x1080) in my keywords?
No. This information is automatically generated when we ingest your clip.
Legal
Do I need releases?
Model releases are required for commercial use. If there are recognizable people in your clips and you want to license your clips for advertising, marketing, or promotional uses, they must sign a model release.
A model release is an agreement between the footage producer (you) and your models. By signing a release, the model grants permission for the stock footage in which they appear to be commercially licensed for any and all uses that are available to customers via the distributor’s end user agreement.
Editorial licenses (non-commercial, news) do not require a model release, but because editorial licenses represent only a portion of stock footage sales, we recommend that you always get people in your clips to sign a release to maximize your sales opportunities. This also ensures that you and your models have a mutual legal understanding of how the footage can be used.
Property releases are similar to model releases. They provide permission for recognizable property to appear in your stock footage.
It is the contributor's responsibility to see that all the appropriate licenses and permits are obtained in order for us to accept photos and footage obtained in National, State, or Provincial parks.
For details on how to submit your releases, see How do I submit model and property releases?
Do I need to check for trademarked brands myself?
If your shots include a business name, logo or any associated branding you will need to submit a Brand and Trademark release in addition to a Property Release.
When is a model release required?
A model release should be submitted for every person that is visible in your clips. There are limited exceptions for crowd shots, which are considered case-by-case.
We do not make exceptions for shots where the person's face is obscured, they are at a distance, have been partially cropped, or are wearing costumes or masks. Every person you film must sign a model release or we will not accept the footage for commercial use.
Royalties and Taxes
What are Dissolve’s royalty rates?
For non-exclusive contributors, our standard royalty rate is 30% of the net selling price. This is the amount you will receive from each purchase of your content. Exclusive contributors receive a higher royalty rate — contact us for more details.
When do I get a royalty report and when do I get paid?
Within 30 days of the end of every reporting month, you’ll receive a report and payment for sales made during that month.
If no sales were accumulated during the reporting month, no sales report will be sent.
Can I view my day-to-day sales?
Not yet, but we’re working on it. In the meantime, you will receive a weekly report that shows the activity on your clips. The information in this report includes top keywords for your most-downloaded clips and how many of your clips have been added to dissolve.com, saved to folders, added to carts, and downloaded.
The report provides a week-by-week look at this activity as well as a snapshot of current status. It is an interim report — for final sales, check your monthly royalty report.
If you prefer not to receive this email, you can unsubscribe using the link at the bottom of it. You’ll continue to receive the monthly royalty report.
What do the terms on the weekly activity report mean?
The table in the activity report shows both the activity on your clips and photos in the preceding week as well as a snapshot of their current status.
Saved to folder: A customer has saved a clip or photo to a folder. Customers can create folders for different projects and save items to them for future reference or to share with others. If the number of clips/photos or folders in the “Currently” column has decreased, it means customers have removed items from folders or moved them to their cart and/or downloaded them.
Added to cart: A customer has added a clip or photo to its shopping cart. Items added to the cart are saved, so when the customer is ready to license, they are there for them. If the number of items or carts in the “Currently” column has decreased, it means customers have removed them from their cart or downloaded them.
Downloaded: When a customer licenses a clip or photo. On rare occasion this action may be reversed, so check your monthly royalty report for an accurate representation of how many items have been licensed during the month.
If you have any questions or concerns about your reports, contact our contributor support team.
Do you withhold taxes on my sales?
No, we don't withhold taxes from your royalties. Dissolve assumes you will take care of your claims and taxes on your own.
If you are a non-resident of Canada and your clips have been used in productions or advertisements shown on Canadian television (other than those used solely for new programs), we are required by Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) to withhold up to 25% of the royalty amount paid. Depending on where you live, and based on the bilateral tax treaty between Canada and your country of residence, this rate may be reduced.We remit these amounts to CRA on monthly basis.
For more information, please refer to the CRA website and this PDF, Non-resident Tax Withholding, Remitting, and Reporting.