# Free nature footage: oceans, skies and aerials > Free nature stock video: ocean waves, clouds and sunsets, forests, mountains and drone shots, from public-domain and Creative Commons archives. Nature is the most used b-roll there is: waves under an intro, clouds racing behind a title, a slow aerial over hills while someone talks. These collections group free nature footage by what it shows, from NASA, Wikimedia Commons and the Internet Archive, with deep links into Pexels, Pixabay and the paid libraries for anything they don't have. Every card shows its resolution, shape and length, plays a preview when you hover it, and says whether you can use it in a commercial video. Updated 2026-10-28. ## Collections - [Free 4K nature footage: landscapes and skies](https://video.shep.bot/footage/free-4k-nature-footage.md): 28 clips from 2 sources. Free 4K nature stock video only: landscapes, skies, oceans, forests and Earth from orbit at 2160p or more, with direct downloads and licence verdicts. - [Free cloud timelapses: skies, storms and sunsets](https://video.shep.bot/footage/free-cloud-timelapses.md): 14 clips from 1 sources. Free cloud and sky timelapse videos: racing clouds, sunsets, storms and fog for intros, transitions and backgrounds, with resolution and licence. - [Free drone footage: aerials of land and cities](https://video.shep.bot/footage/free-drone-footage.md): 14 clips from 1 sources. Free aerial and drone stock video: flyovers of coastlines, forests, mountains and cities, and views from aircraft, with resolution and licence verdicts. - [Free ocean footage: waves, beaches and seas](https://video.shep.bot/footage/free-ocean-footage.md): 20 clips from 3 sources. Free ocean stock video: breaking waves, beaches, coastlines and open sea, plus ocean science from NASA, with resolution, length and licence on every clip. ## Choosing nature b-roll Match the energy of the edit: slow, wide shots (a calm sea, drifting clouds) sit under voice-over without competing; close, fast shots (breaking waves, a timelapse storm) work as transitions and openers. Keep the light consistent across a sequence: golden-hour shots next to midday ones look stitched together. Shoot or pick wider than you need, since a 4K source lets you reframe and punch in on a 1080p timeline. ## Where free nature footage comes from Wikimedia Commons holds hundreds of thousands of freely licensed videos, many of them nature and timelapse clips, each with its licence recorded per file. NASA's libraries add Earth seen from orbit and its weather. The Internet Archive's public-domain films include mid-century nature and travel reels. Free stock sites such as Pexels and Pixabay have large modern nature libraries too; they can't be searched automatically, so each search links straight to the same query there. ## Licences for nature footage Landscapes rarely need releases, which makes nature one of the safest kinds of stock to use commercially. Check the licence itself: CC0 and public-domain clips need nothing, CC BY needs a credit line, and CC BY-SA would require your whole video to be released under the same licence. Recognisable private property and people in frame can still need releases for ads. ## Questions **Is nature footage safe to use in ads?** Usually, if the licence allows commercial use: landscapes, skies and seas don't need model releases. Watch for people, logos or private buildings in frame, which can need a release for advertising. **What resolution should nature b-roll be?** At least the resolution of your timeline. A 4K clip in a 1080p edit leaves room to crop, stabilise or slowly zoom without losing sharpness, which nature shots often benefit from. ## 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. - [How to credit CC BY video in your own videos](https://video.shep.bot/guides/credit-cc-by-video.md): The credit line a CC BY clip needs (title, author, source, licence, changes) and where to put it on YouTube, social posts and client work, with examples. - [4K, 1080p, codecs and containers: picking the right stock video file](https://video.shep.bot/guides/video-resolution-codecs-containers.md): Which rendition to download: resolution tiers, frame rates, H.264 vs VP9, MP4 vs WebM, file sizes, and why the master isn't always the best choice. ## Other kinds - [Free city footage: streets, skylines, timelapses](https://video.shep.bot/footage/cities.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) --- Source: https://video.shep.bot/footage/nature