How to bulk upload Shutterstock videos

The numbers that shape a bulk upload

Uploading one clip and uploading three hundred follow the same steps on Shutterstock. What changes is that several published limits start to collide. Read them together before you start an FTPS transfer that runs overnight.

Each clip must also meet the file rules: .mov or .mp4, 5 to 60 seconds, 10 GB at most. In a batch of hundreds, one clip exported with the wrong settings is easy to miss. Run the shoot through the free video spec checker first.

Order of operations for a large batch

Most bulk upload problems on Shutterstock come from doing the right steps in the wrong order. This sequence follows the help center articles listed at the bottom of the page.

1. Rename the files. Only a-z, A-Z, 0-9 and the underscore. Rename before the upload, because the CSV has to match the uploaded names. Conventions that scale are in stock footage file names.
2. Pick the clips for this week. Up to 100, the strongest first.
3. Upload them by FTPS (or in rounds of 100 in the browser).
4. Wait until all of them appear under the Not submitted tab of your video portfolio. Allow up to 72 hours for FTPS.
5. Build the CSV with this batch only, then add it with the CSV button on the Submit page.
6. Check the clips in the editor and attach releases where needed.
7. Click Submit once and wait for processing to finish.

The same steps for a handful of clips, with screenshots of each field, are in how to upload video to Shutterstock.

Batch upload Shutterstock videos by FTPS

Shutterstock calls FTPS "a great way to transfer a large number of video clips at one time" and names three free clients. The server is the same in all of them; only the label of the encryption setting changes.

Once connected, drag the clips into the remote window and let the transfer run. Footage sent by FTP lands in your video portfolio, which you reach from below the Upload Images tab of the dashboard, and it can take up to 72 hours to appear. Footage goes up by FTPS or the web page only: the contributor mobile app is not an option for video.

One CSV for the whole batch

Shutterstock offers the CSV "for larger submissions": one row per clip with its description, keywords and categories. Three rules from its CSV article matter more as the batch grows:

• Clips first, CSV last. A CSV uploaded before its clips may return "File Not Found".
• Only the current batch. CSVs with hundreds or thousands of unrelated rows take much longer to process and may delay or block the submission. Do not reuse last month's file without cleaning it.
• One click on Submit. Repeated clicks can create duplicate requests.

The column names, a template for video and the categories open to footage are in the Shutterstock CSV guide. After the CSV, you can still edit in bulk: select up to 100 clips with Select page and give them the same keywords and categories.

Planning a shoot larger than 100 clips

The weekly cap and the 21-day window work against each other. The window starts at upload; the cap counts submissions over a rolling 7 days, so a clip submitted on a Tuesday frees its place the following Tuesday.

Take a hypothetical shoot of 350 clips, uploaded all at once by FTPS on day 1. If they take the full 72 hours to appear, you submit 100 on day 4, 100 on day 11 and 100 on day 18. The next free slot is day 25, after the 21-day window has closed: Shutterstock has already deleted the last 50, and you upload them again. Uploading 100 clips a week, the week you plan to submit them, avoids this and keeps each CSV small.

Shutterstock, Adobe Stock and Pond5 count differently, so a shoot sent to all three needs three plans. The figures side by side are in upload limits by agency.

Common bulk upload errors

Releases do not scale through the CSV: each recognizable person needs a separate model release, attached during submission, and a release that runs over several pages goes up as one JPEG.

Where RushPilot fits

In a large Shutterstock batch, the slow part is writing a description and keywords for every clip. RushPilot is a desktop app that reads a few frames of each clip, writes an English description and keywords to Shutterstock's rules, checks common rejection reasons (resolution, duration, logos, upscaling), waits for you to approve the batch, then uploads it to Shutterstock, and to Adobe Stock and Pond5 if you choose.

It does not change Shutterstock's rules. The 100-clip weekly cap and the 21-day window apply whatever tool uploads the clips, and the reviewer still decides on each one. RushPilot is in private beta: you can join the waiting list, and new accounts get 25 clips free.