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An indie short needs establishing shots, inserts and cutaways it cannot afford to shoot. Here is where stock footage still wins, where AI b-roll wins, and how to mix both without the seams showing.

Most sites promising free stock footage watermark it, ask for a credit or bury it under paid results. Which libraries are genuinely free, and what free costs you.

Cropping landscape b-roll to 9:16 throws away two thirds of the frame. Where to find vertical b-roll shot that way, when a crop is fine, and what works in short form.

Free is not safe and paid is not immune. What triggers a copyright claim on YouTube, whether a stock footage channel gets monetised, and which licence terms matter.

Most guides just list b-roll footage sites. That is not the problem. How editors find b-roll faster, the licence traps to watch, and what to do when the shot is missing.