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Who doesn't love free stuff?

Here at FILM CRUX, our ultimate goal is to help close the gap between indie filmmakers and Hollywood, so that your only limits are your imagination and creativity.

What better way to start than by sharing a collection of all the best free resources for filmmakers that we've come across over the years?

Below you'll find a massive list of the best free LUTs, light leaks, presets, plugins, film blogs, YouTube channels and more.

Make sure to bookmark this page because we'll be consistently updating it with new resources as we discover them...

...and when you can, buy from these awesome creators. Many of them offer a lot of great paid products as well, and supporting the indie filmmaking community goes both ways...

...like your first girlfriend from college.

Just kidding. We know you never had a girlfriend.

LUTs

Transitions

Premiere Pro Presets

After Effects Presets & Plugins

After Effects Templates

Letterbox Templates

Light Leaks

Film Grains

Sound Effects

Music

Stock Footage

Stock Images

3D Models

VFX Resources

Blogs

YouTube Channels

Miscellaneous

Music

NoCopyrightSounds - A record label with tons amazing free songs available for use in any user generated content by independent creators, as long as the artist, track and NCS are credited, and a link back to the original NCS upload is given.

YouTube Audio Library - A huge library of free music you can sort by attribution or non-attribution.

Soundcloud - Search for anything you're looking for like "chill music". Select "Tracks" in the sidebar. Then go down to "Filter Results" on the sidebar and click the little copyright symbol beside "to listen to" to unfold a dropdown menu. Then select "to use commercially". This will now filter your results to show you only songs that are available for free commercial use.

Free Music Archive - A large library of free music hand-picked by established audio curators. It's all available for instant download under a myriad of different licenses. To see what the license is for a song, just click on the song title. The license information will be available in the sidebar on the right side of the page. More information on the different licenses is available on their FAQ page.

digccmixter - A massive music library with almost 4,000 songs available for free commercial use with attribution. They also have songs under attribution non-commercial and paid licenses so make sure to click on a songs title and look at the license info on the right-hand side.

Incompetech - A library of free-to-use music available for instant download as long as the creator, Kevin MacLeod, is credited in the project.

Stock Footage

Pexels - The best free stock footage online, hands down! No attribution required.

Pixabay - An awesome free stock website with tons of free stock footage, as well as photos, vector graphics and more.

Coverr - An outstanding free stock footage site filled with beautiful videos you can use however you'd like.

videvo - A large library of free stock footage all under 3 different types of free licenses.

Videezy - A large, free stock footage website with clips available under different free licenses.

Stock Images

Unsplash - The best free stock photo website, period. Unlimited downloads. No account necessary.

Pexels - A free stock photo video and website with a huge collection of high quality images.

Pixabay - A massive library of free photos, videos, vector graphics, illustrations and more.

Blogs

FILM CRUX - We're totally biased.

No Film School - The world's premier film blog... for now.

Artlist Blog - A great blog from Artlist on film and video post-production.

Video Copilot - THE best place to learn VFX.

The Blast - An outstanding blog on filmmaking from Rocketstock.

The Beat - A great blog full of tutorials and filmmaking advice from PremiumBeat.

VashiVisuals - A great blog on filmmaking from professional editor Vashi Nedomansky.

Philip Bloom - Wonderful reviews on film equipment from professional filmmaker Philip Bloom.

Art of VFX - Everything you could ever want to know about VFX, including breakdowns, interviews and more.

On Animation - A great little blog on animation occasionally featuring other film info as well.

BJKProductions - Tons of free resources and tutorials for filmmakers from professional editor and content creator BJK.

Premiere Bro - All the resources and information you need for Premiere Pro because what else would you be using to edit?

Filmmaking Lifestyle - An awesome filmmaking blog focused on helping you set up and grow your own successful video production business.

Amy Clarke Films - This unique and refreshing blog by Amy Clarke focuses on working within the film industry and features practical advice and resources for filmmakers.

YouTube Channels

The Nerdwriter - The best video essays in the business by Evan Puschak. Lots on film, but other interesting topics are covered as well.

Lessons from the Screenplay - Essential for every filmmaker, Michael Tucker analyzes movie scripts to give us refreshing insight into telling better stories.

Every Frame a Painting - Tony Zhou's beautiful video essays will make you fall in love with film all over again, and teach you a few things on the way.

Yellow King Film Boy - A collection of interviews with the world's greatest filmmakers, as well as breakdowns and opinion pieces on film.

Peter McKinnon - A photographer/videographer with some kickass tutorials, reviews and advice.

Austin Newman - Fantastic tutorials, advice and filmmaking resources (including a lot of free ones on this list).

YCImaging - A dope music video director with amazing tutorials and advice on shooting music videos and filmmaking in general.

Max Novak - A music video director with an eye for the wild offering up unique tutorials, and resources for filmmakers.

Daniel Schiffer - A professional filmmaker making outstanding tutorials and product reviews.

Notes on a Scene - This is actually just a playlist from Vanity Fair of the world's greatest filmmakers breaking down scenes from the popular movies and shows they worked on.

FILM CRUX - Beautiful tutorials and video essays designed to help you become a better filmmaker.

Collative Learning - Ridiculously detailed film analysis from the unparalleled Rob Ager.

CineFix - A pop destination known for their lists and comparisons that's a great channel for both movie buffs and filmmakers alike.

wolfcrow - A great YouTube channel filled with amazing video essays and tutorials with a focus on cinematography.

INDEPTH Sound Design - Sound design techniques and philosophies featuring deconstructions from actual films, as well as commentary from the professional sound designers who created them.

Miscellaneous

Shutterstock's Video Editor Toolkit - Over 220 free LUTs, light leaks, transitions, animations and more.

Motion Array Free Downloads - 100s of free downloads including light leaks, transitions, music, After Effects templates, sound effects, Premiere Pro presets and more.

40+ Free 4K Effects Kits by Rampant Design - Free with email sign-up.

Grainzilla Free Downloads - Free 35mm digital film grain, VHS Bad Noise, War Film Look and 4K Letterbox Frames.

Detonate by PremiumBeat - 15 free explosion VFX elements and 25 explosive sound effects.

30 Free Film Burns and Transitions from Spoon Graphics - Free download of 30 colorful transitions, light leaks and film burns.

Leave your favorite free resources down in the comments and if we love them too, we'll add them to the list!

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