search tips

Overview

The screen is divided into two window panes. The area on the left is the search results window. To the right of the vertical divider is the clip bin.

Above the search results window and the clip bin is the search bar. In the search bar, you can initiate new searches, search within existing results, open advanced search boxes and redo past searches.

Above the search bar, there are two navigation tabs to return to search results and clip bins when the main window is displaying something else.

At the very top, there are site information links for 'login', 'registration', 'about us', 'contact', 'partners', 'search tips' and 'terms'.

How Do I resize windows?

One of the powerful benefits of StockMotionFinder.com is the ability to make both the search results window and the clip bin larger or smaller to suit your needs. This is done by clicking on the vertical bar that divides the two halves and dragging that divider to the left or the right. You'll notice that the keyframes tile (to shift from line to line as needed) to best fit the window size, enabling you to set up the most convenient workflow on your computer. You'll never again have to waste time scrolling horizontally.

How do I search?

It's simple. Enter words in the search box and click either the "new search" button (to begin a new search) or the "search in results" button to further refine an existing search that you have already made. Or, use one of the easy tools to facilitate other types of searches as shown in this table below.

search methods	how to search
new search	To initiate a search for the first time, enter one word, a series of words or a phrase wrapped in double quotes ("phrase here") in the search box and click the "new search" button.
search in results	"search in results" is especially useful because it enables you to keep refining your search until you have the footage you want. After each search, replace the word in the search box and click "search in results" to find a limited search from within the records that were previously found. You can repeat the process, to search within the previous search results, as often as you need. In this way, you can quickly reduce a lot of footage to the best few for your purposes.
recent searches	To the right of the search box is a pulldown menu that displays a continually updated list of the most recent searches that you have done. Select from this list to revisit a previous search result.
similars search	Under each frame is the similars search icon (a squiggly equals sign). Clicking this icon will initiate a search for footage in the database that is similar to this clip. Clients use this feature to display a prioritized group of clips, sorted by their similarity to the one selected.
advanced +	By clicking the "advanced +" link to the right of the search box, a new level of search is revealed which assists in constructing Boolean logic searches. Multiple search boxes are separated by "AND" or "NOT". Enter a word in one or more boxes, reserving the last box that follows "NOT" for subjects you want to exclude rather than include. Then click the "new search" or "search in results" button to activate the search request.

Search Tips:

Use a space between words to mean AND. So, entering MIAMI BEACH is the same as entering MIAMI AND BEACH in the search box. If you want to search for a phrase, instead of using the space to mean AND, wrap the search phrase in double quotes. So, "MIAMI BEACH" will find the city name Miami Beach, whereas entering MIAMI BEACH with no quotes will find beaches that also have the keyword Miami. Another alternative is to use the word NOT to exclude clips of whatever follows the word NOT. So, BEACH NOT MIAMI will likely find clips of every beach except that in Miami.

How does the clip bin work?

To make it as easy as possible for you, note that you do NOT need to log in to use the clip bin function. By using cookies, StockMotionFinder saves your clip bins and user experience at that one computer. To enable access to your clip bins from many computers (perhaps at home and at the office), you must register and login.

Click the clip bin tab to display or hide the clip bins in the right window pane.

Click the square with the plus sign ("+") under each frame in the left pane to add that clip to the current clip bin which is displayed on the right side.

In the clip bin that is on the right side, click the square with the minus sign ("-") under the frame to remove it from the current clip bin.

(Note that clip bins at StockMotionFinder.com function as universal gathering points that can include clips from all the stock footage web sites that are searched by this engine.

How do I contact the footage supplier?

Click the frame to view the preview page from the website of the rights holder of that clip. This preview page will contain the necessary guidance to login, make contact and license the use of that clip.

Alternatively, click the at sign ("@") which appears beneath each frame. By clicking it, you will view a special "contact page" or" about us" page from the rights holder or authorized agent that describes the preferred method for you to contact them about licensing the footage you seek. Preview pages might also contain local navigation for that particular web site.

It is important to note that clicking the frame or the at sign ("@") delivers you directly to the separate web site of that particular footage provider. You can proceed deeper into their web site for search and licensing, or return to using the global tools of StockMotionFinder.com that are displayed at the top of the page.