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Where to find free videos
by Dean Mortlock
09.01.07 |
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If you’re an American fifth-generation iPod owner, then you are fully entitled to that smug look of self-satisfaction. After all, you have enough TV shows and movies on the iTunes Store to fill up your iPod several times over. But do spare a thought for the rest of the world because, at the time of writing, all we can purchase are music videos and Pixar short films.
That’s all expected to change in 2007 though, when the movies section of the store get opened up to the world. Until then though, you need to rely on us to guide you to the very best free video content on the Internet. There’s no shortage of it and it’s growing literally by the day, but we believe that the following sites offer some of the best free videos around…
APPLE MOVIE TRAILERS
As good a place to start as any, the Apple site (image 1) has a wide range of trailers to view and download (most of films that offer trailers also offer a trailer to download for iPod). The page is broken down rather neatly into sections for the latest trailers, a range of Hi-Def ones and if you look closely, you should spot a box down the right side of the page that features the latest iPod trailers to download. If you’re a fan of movies and like the thought of having hundreds of trailers on your iPod, then the Apple site won’t disappoint you.
ATOM FILMS
One of the first sites to offer free video content, Atom Films has been hosting excellent short movies since 1999. There’s plenty of video footage that you can watch through streaming video, but they also have a sub-section of the site called To Go and it’s here that you’ll find around 10 short movies that you can download and put straight onto your iPod.
iPODARCHIVE.COM
To be honest, this is a website that makes us scratch our heads slightly (image 2). We stumbled upon it by accident and it almost seems to be true, as it features hundreds of short films, clips, trailers, cartoons and commercials. Oddly, it also contains several TV shows, including episodes of South Park and The Office. While we’d dispute the legality of some of them and can’t believe they’ve been able to host them for so long, there’s more than enough free and legal iPod video content here to make it worth a visit.
SOME COOL MOVIES
Cool is one word for it. If you’re an Apple fan, then this is close to Nirvana, as this site’s compiled practically every Mac and iPod advert made over the last 10 or so years. And they’re all saved as either MOV or MP4 files, so they’ll go straight on your iPod without having to be converted.
FLIXPO
We finish this video round-up with another fine collection of oddities (image 3). Like most online video sites, there’s a wide selection of the usual suspects (trailers, ‘funny’ clips and independent movies), but there’s just enough decent content to make it worth checking out. And, once again, this site has the advantage of offering video files in the iPod format.
VIDEO PODCASTS
Of course, the easiest way to get loads of free iPod-ready videos is to sign up to a load of video podcasts. To find out more, either go to the Podcast section of the iTunes Store or head to the Directory, where we have an area devoted to video podcasts.
The purpose of this Masterclass was to whet your appetite for iPod video, in the hope that once your interest had been raised you’d be inspired to search out videos yourself. To be fair though, finding the best stuff does take quite some time, but if you’re willing to put the time in, then you will uncover some gems. Try typing ‘iPod free video’ into Google and see where it takes you. And speaking of Google, don’t forget that a lot of the files in Google Video can be downloaded in iPod format.
Finally, if you need a bit more convincing that the Internet is awash with amazing free video content, then remember to keep an eye on our Free Video links, which are updated regularly. We also feature many more video sites in our God Pod section of the Directory, too.
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1. If a video file you find doesn’t seem to work, then you might have to convert it – either through iTunes, iMovie or a dedicated piece of shareware such as iSquint. |
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2. If a site offering video content also supplies it through a regular podcast, then we recommend signing up for that. That way, the files will be transferred automatically for you though iTunes. |
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