Adobe just launched a brand new stock footage platform – simply called “Stock” – that’s fully integrated with their Creative Cloud software and looks very promising. The idea behind the service is to provide filmmakers, designers, and any other creative using their software with direct access to high quality stock footage from right inside their apps.
Right now the service is only offering photos, illustrations and vectors, but it will very likely feature video content in the near future.
Before I jump into a few of my thoughts on Stock, here are a few highlights from the press release:
- Easily manage, work with and purchase stock content. Designers can launch Adobe Stock directly within CC desktop software, add watermarked images to Creative Cloud Libraries and then access and work with images across multiple desktop and mobile tools. When creatives are ready to license the image for finished work, they can do it directly within the CC desktop software application. Designers can also edit a watermarked image in an application like Photoshop CC and, when licensed, these edits are automatically applied to the purchased full-resolution image.
- High-impact creative content for print, web or mobile app projects. Adobe Stock is an extensive marketplace of over 40 million photos, illustrations and graphics, covering virtually every subject. Whether it’s finding a standout image of a Scottish castle for a tourist brochure; a beach volleyball game for a sports web site; or an illustration of a restaurant menu for a mobile app, Adobe Stock has a huge selection of possibilities. Adobe also plans to add new stock content categories in the coming months, leveraging Adobe customers’ unrivalled reach and experience across creative fields.
- Simple and flexible pricing plans. Flexible purchase options enable creatives and marketers to buy single images, as they need them, or purchase a monthly plan. Saving up to 40 percent, Creative Cloud members get the best value when they add an Adobe Stock annual plan option to their Creative Cloud membership. A first for the stock image industry, creatives who sign up for a 10-images-per-month plan can “rollover” unused images for up to a year (most month-to-month stock subscription plans require creatives to use all images each month or lose them). For customers who are not Creative Cloud members, a standalone Adobe Stock service offers single-image pricing, as well as month-to-month and annual membership plans.
Right off the bat this new platform looks pretty awesome. The library of content is huge, the integration with CC is seemingly fantastic, and the hybrid subscription/a la carte pricing structure is ideal.
If you are a power user, you can download 750 images a month for $200 which is quite good in my opinion. You also can buy a package of 10 images for $50 a month, or simply buy images individually with no subscription at $10 a pop. These prices are more or less on par with other stock sites, but the fact that the images are always at your fingertips makes it worth searching through Adobe’s library before anywhere else.
The Future Of Stock
I can only speculate as to where Adobe may take Stock in the future and who will find it to be the most useful, as it’s such a new platform. That said, I would imagine after adding video content to their library Adobe may also add stock audio too, such as music cues or background tracks.
For most filmmakers, having access to stock video and music would be a dream. The stock photos are nice to have, but they have a pretty limited use for your average editor… Some specific types of post-pro’s (such as motion graphics artists) will likely take to it right away, but until video is integrated it won’t be as enticing for the average editor. Once it’s out there though, it could be huge.
Reality and lifestyle editors would likely benefit most from an easily accessible video/audio library… Not only because they use such a high volume of stock material, but also because they require such a fast turnaround. Possibly the best thing about Stock is the speed at which it will allow you to work on stock footage heavy projects.
The one question I have moving forward is what the stock video and/or audio pricing is going to look like. Videos are typically much higher cost to license than photos (especially when you get into 4K material), and audio can be all over the map. I think a huge part of the success of the platform for video editors will ultimately rely on the pricing model… At the end of the day no matter how great it is, the price still needs to work for a wide variety of filmmakers.
For more info on Abobe Stock, check out: stock.adobe.com
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2 Comments
Nation Morin
atLooks great, but my real question is how does the platform work for those that want to sell stock photos, footage, etc. ?
Noam Kroll
atGreat question… I don’t know how that will work yet, but would love to find out as well.