01
What are stock videos and photos?
Stock content consists of existing, individual recordings that buyers license for use in their own projects. A company may need a harbour shot for a film, a municipality an area overview, or a designer an aerial photo for a website. You supply useful building blocks, not a finished promotional film.
- Editors need usable video segments; designers need strong photos, sometimes with space for text.
- You remain the creator. Use depends on the selected licence; acceptance and publication never guarantee sales.
02
Select like a buyer
Ask what the subject is, what the image communicates and why a buyer would choose it. Recognisable waterways, neighbourhoods, landscapes and business parks can be valuable. You do not need to upload an entire flight.
- Choose the best take per viewpoint. Series are welcome when direction, distance, composition, season or timing genuinely differ.
- Keep your originals. Watch each video all the way through and inspect photos at full size. Omit near-identical attempts.
03
Video: one clip is one shot
A three-minute flight with turns, searching for the subject and gimbal corrections is not a ready-to-use stock clip. Trim out the smooth, usable parts and export each shot separately. Prefer 10–30 seconds of useful footage; this is guidance, not a strict maximum.
Avoid this
An entire flight · 3 minutes
Do this
Separate clips · preferably 10–30 sec
- Use one smooth movement: approach, sideways tracking, rising, reveal, top-down or a consistent orbit. Start and finish calmly; remove searching and corrections.
- Both landscape (16:9) and portrait (9:16) videos are accepted. Deliver at least 4K in MP4 or MOV. Preserve a natural frame rate and good export quality; do not upscale low-resolution footage.
- No compilations, transitions, music, speed ramps, heavy filters or added text. Keep the horizon, exposure and white balance stable; avoid shake and propellers.
Create strong, usable drone shots
A good stock shot gives editors freedom. Fly smoothly, keep one clear movement and deliver each recording as a separate clip.
Never join different flight recordings, viewpoints or movements together in one file.
03.1
One clip, one shot
Buyers want to choose where a shot starts and ends. Deliver one uninterrupted camera movement per file, without editing different shots together.
Avoid thisAn overview followed by a hard cut to a top-down view and then an orbit in the same video file.
Avoid thisAdding transitions, fades, speed ramps, slow motion, music, titles or your own logo.
Do thisA separate, smooth recording with one subject and one clear movement, leaving calm space at the beginning and end.
Record generously. Hold still or continue smoothly for a few seconds before and after the usable movement. This lets an editor choose a clean start and finish.
03.2
Smooth flight is almost always stronger
Calm does not mean boring. A constant, predictable movement looks professional and is much easier to edit.
Flight movement
Keep speed, height and direction as constant as possible. Correct your flight path before the usable recording starts.
Gimbal movement
Choose your angle in advance. If the gimbal must move, do so slowly and evenly without sudden stops or bouncing back.
Avoid thisTurning abruptly halfway through, correcting altitude or moving the gimbal quickly up and down.
Avoid thisFlying, turning, rising and tilting at once without one clear primary movement.
Do thisA simple movement performed consistently from the first to the last usable frame.
03.3
Useful drone shot types
Not every subject needs a complex movement. Choose the shot that shows the location or action most clearly.
Establishing shot
A calm overview that clearly introduces the location and its surroundings.
Approach
Fly evenly towards the subject without suddenly accelerating or correcting direction.
Reveal
Let a subject appear gradually from behind a building, tree or landscape feature.
Sideways tracking
Move parallel to a subject, keeping distance, height and speed constant.
Orbit
Move smoothly around one clear subject with a constant radius and gimbal angle.
Top-down
Look straight down for patterns, infrastructure or landscapes with a strong shape.
Do not automatically orbit every subject. A calm overview or simple sideways movement is often more useful.
03.4
Give the image space and direction
A clear subject
Show immediately what the shot is about. Avoid images in which everything competes for attention.
Space around the subject
Do not unintentionally cut off buildings, ships or landscape features. Leave space ahead of a moving subject.
A level horizon
Check the horizon, gimbal and lens before each recording. A tilted horizon makes even a smooth flight look unprofessional.
Foreground and depth
A suitable foreground can add depth, provided it supports the main subject and does not rush distractingly through the frame.
03.5
Light and technical quality
- Choose light that makes the subject clear. Watch for blown-out clouds and blocked-up shadows.
- Use a fixed white balance during the shot so colours do not change halfway through.
- Check the lens for dust, moisture, flare and lack of sharpness before take-off.
- Avoid visible propellers, wind-induced jolts and automatic exposure jumps.
- Deliver a clean source file without creative LUTs, extreme sharpening or heavy noise reduction.
03.6
Series of the same subject
Multiple photos and videos of the same subject are welcome if every asset adds something clearly different: composition, angle, distance, movement, perspective or situation.
Do not upload near-identical images. Choose the strongest, most commercially useful versions from similar recordings. This keeps your portfolio clear and professional and shows potential buyers your best work immediately.
Avoid thisUploading multiple photos or clips with almost the same height, crop and viewing direction.
Avoid thisAdding a weaker version when an almost identical, stronger image is already in the series.
Do thisAn overview, a medium shot and a detail from clearly different angles, each serving its own purpose.
Ask yourself for each asset: what does this photo or video add to the rest of the series?
Calm flight creates freedom in the edit.
A simple shot that is technically sound and consistent is worth more than a complex movement with visible corrections.
04
Photos: choose a strong original image
Select sharp photos with a clear subject, calm composition and natural colour. Check noise, tilted horizons, motion blur and blown highlights. A different crop alone does not make a near-duplicate valuable.
- Supply high-quality JPG/JPEG, TIFF/TIF or DNG. Keep the original and avoid repeated lossy exports or artificial enlargement.
- Inspect the edges for distractions. Do not add frames, signatures, watermarks or promotional text.
05
Logos, people and permission
For our commercial selection, supply content without visible brand logos, readable registration plates or recognisable people without appropriate permission. Prefer another viewpoint or recording. Never add your own logo or watermark.
- Branding on buildings, vehicles or clothing can also limit commercial use. If rights or permission are unclear, ask us before submitting.
- Upload only your own material with the necessary rights, permissions and flight permits. Visibility from public space does not automatically mean unrestricted use.
- DroneStock may watermark the sales preview; do not watermark your source file.
06
Uploading is only the start
Open your creator dashboard and choose selected photos or individual clips. Complete your creator profile. Include the matching original SRT with video when available; photos do not need SRT.
- Previews and AI suggestions are processed after upload. You can return later; do not upload again just because processing is ongoing.
- Check the batch result. If an upload failed, first check whether the file appears in your overview; retry only the missing or failed file.
- Uploading is not submitting. Open each asset still awaiting your metadata and location checks.
07
Metadata: check the AI suggestions
Open the asset and watch its preview. AI provides a draft, not guaranteed facts. Check the title, description, category, tags and available capture details against the content and your local knowledge.
- Use a short factual title stating what and where, for example ‘Cargo vessel on the Zaan near Zaandam’. Describe visible content and action without sales language or repeated keywords.
- Choose a relevant category and up to eight specific tags. Check the capture date and season where available.
- Correct errors before saving. You do not need to write eight translations yourself; carefully check the source text you submit.
08
Location: check the text and map
Enter the correct place, municipality and other requested location fields. Then check the capture location on the map. GPS data and place suggestions are starting points; a town centre is not necessarily the exact location.
- Zoom in and position the marker at the correct capture location, not your home or the previous upload’s location.
- Check that the subject, place name and marker agree, then choose ‘Confirm this location’.
- Do this for each file, even within a batch. Confirming another asset does not confirm this one.
09
Save and submit for review
Save your changes, then choose ‘Submit for review’. The button remains unavailable while required fields, location confirmation or necessary processing are incomplete. Read the message and complete what is missing.
- After submitting, check that the status says submitted or awaiting review. A saved draft or metadata-check status does not mean it is in review.
- DroneStock reviews quality, content and usefulness. Publication follows approval and completion of the required processing.
- If processing appears stuck, send support the filename and error message instead of repeatedly uploading the same file.
10
Responding to feedback
Read the reason attached to your asset. This handbook explains the general process; your review feedback explains the specific issue. Better metadata may be enough, or a shorter or different source file may be needed.
- For requested changes, improve the stated issues and resubmit through the available option. Do not change factual metadata to disguise a technical problem.
- A final rejection is not an invitation to upload the same file again. Select a genuinely different suitable recording or ask for clarification.
- Before submitting again, check: a usable shot or strong photo, sound technique, no distracting logos, correct rights, reviewed metadata and confirmed location.
Check your selection
Before submitting again, check: a usable shot or strong photo, sound technique, no distracting logos, correct rights, reviewed metadata and confirmed location.