# Free city footage: streets, skylines, timelapses

> Free city stock video: skylines, busy streets, traffic and night lights, plus timelapses of cities and skies, with resolution, length and licence on every clip.

Cities say 'modern', 'busy' or 'business' in a second, which is why skylines and street scenes open so many explainers and promos. These collections bring together free city footage and timelapses from the sources searched directly, with links to the stock sites that can't be. Street footage is also where licences meet people and brands, so each clip shows whether it is cleared for commercial use and flags editorial-only footage.

Updated 2026-10-28.

## Collections

- [Free city footage: skylines, streets and traffic](https://video.shep.bot/footage/free-city-footage.md): 6 clips from 1 sources. Free city stock video: skylines, streets, traffic and night lights from open archives, with editorial flags where people and brands appear without releases.
- [Free timelapse videos: cities, skies and nature](https://video.shep.bot/footage/free-timelapse-videos.md): 28 clips from 2 sources. Free timelapse stock video: city lights, traffic trails, clouds, stars and nature compressed into seconds, with frame rate, resolution and licence.

## People, signs and logos in street footage

A crowded street contains people who never signed a release, shop signs and branded cars. For news, documentary and education that is normal; for an ad or a product video it can be a problem, because a recognisable face or logo can suggest endorsement. Prefer wide shots, night shots and timelapses where nobody is identifiable, or check the clip's editorial flag and the source page.

## Timelapses and hyperlapses

A timelapse compresses minutes or hours into seconds: traffic becomes light trails, clouds stream over towers. They make strong openers and transitions and rarely show identifiable people. Many are long enough to cut several shots from; check the frame rate, since a 24 fps timelapse in a 30 fps edit will need conforming.

## Questions

**Can I use street footage with people in it for a commercial?**

Only if the people aren't identifiable or have signed releases. A free licence covers the copyright in the footage, not the rights of the people in it. Use such clips for editorial work, or pick shots where faces can't be made out.

**Why are there fewer free city clips than nature clips?**

Public-domain and Creative Commons archives lean towards science, nature and history. Modern city footage is the speciality of free stock sites like Pexels and Pixabay, which every search links to.

## Guides

- [Free stock footage for commercial use: what the licences mean](https://video.shep.bot/guides/free-stock-footage-commercial-use.md): Which free stock video you can use in ads, client work and monetised videos: CC0, public domain, CC BY, share-alike, NC, NASA and editorial footage.
- [Editorial vs commercial: model releases and logos in stock footage](https://video.shep.bot/guides/editorial-vs-commercial-footage.md): Why a free clip can still be editorial-only: model releases, property releases, logos and insignia, and how to tell if footage is safe for an ad.
- [Build a b-roll sequence from a shot list (OTIO, ffmpeg, Remotion)](https://video.shep.bot/guides/b-roll-sequence-from-shot-list.md): Turn a shot list into a cut b-roll sequence with free stock footage: pick the frame, review the picks, export to DaVinci Resolve, ffmpeg or Remotion.

## Other kinds

- [Free nature footage: oceans, skies and aerials](https://video.shep.bot/footage/nature.md)
- [Free space footage: launches, Earth and NASA](https://video.shep.bot/footage/space.md)
- [Free archive footage and public-domain films](https://video.shep.bot/footage/archive.md)
- [Free motion backgrounds and abstract loops](https://video.shep.bot/footage/backgrounds.md)
- [Free vertical video for Reels, TikTok and Shorts](https://video.shep.bot/footage/vertical.md)

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Source: https://video.shep.bot/footage/cities