Stock footage is a type of footage that has been recorded and kept in a database for later use.
There are companies all over the world who specialise in providing footage to highlight any kind of event or activity.
There are also reels and reels of footage which show historical news events, sporting events and other such information.
You might be forgiven for thinking that there are only a few types of footage that could be useful.
The truth is there are so many different types of stock footage, which include: Footage for news programs: This can either be current footage of a recent world event that can be accessed and used or it can be historical footage.
Often news programmes need to use footage from around the world as they do not have their own cameras in place to record events.
Footage for wildlife programs: As you would think this is a massive area and there are literally thousands of stock videos filmed all over the world that show the flora and fauna of the area.
These can be used for a multitude of different purposes.
Footage of disasters: This might not be a very pleasant type of footage that is kept in stock but it is very important.
Footage like this can be used after a disaster to determine if anything could be done differently.
It can also be used to educate people about natural disasters and how they can affect different parts of the world.
Footage to demonstrate activities: Everything from sporting activities to wellness and safety activities can be covered by these types of clips It can be used in schools, workplaces and so on to demonstrate how or how not to do something.
Often many health and safety at work presentations will show stock footage of people having accidents to highlight how grievous certain areas are.
General HD stock footage: Sometimes television program makers need to use footage of an everyday street or a shopping mall for example.
These do not need to be specific so any street or shopping mall will do.
Footage like this is often used with a voice-over so that the television programme makers can get a certain point across.
Specific footage: This is footage of a particular event or situation that has been filmed.
Sporting matches that show a team getting an important winning point may be recorded and used as stock footage in the future.
In many circumstances this type of footage is used when another important game for a sporting team is coming up.