Learn — By WATMM Desk —
Recipe: make a lyric video on a zero budget
A step-by-step plan for a lyric video for your own song using free tools, with the time each step takes, what it costs, and how the free footage and font licences actually work. Checked on 28 Oct 2026.
Key facts
- DaVinci Resolve has a free version that handles 8-bit formats up to 60fps at Ultra HD 3840 x 2160; Studio was listed at \$236 on 28 Oct 2026.
- Pexels says all its photos and videos are free to use and attribution is not required, but identifiable people may not appear in a bad light.
- The OFL FAQ lists video titling as a permitted use, does not require attribution, and says artwork made with an OFL font is not itself under the OFL.
What you get: a 1080p or 4K lyric video for your own song, ready to upload, made in one long day.
What it costs: ₹0 / $0, if you use the free tools below and your own song. Your time is the real cost: about 6 to 9 hours the first time.
The one rule that matters: every piece you put on screen, footage and font, needs a licence that covers video. Both free sources below do; plenty of "free" sites don't.
The steps
- Write a clean lyric sheet (30 minutes, free). One line per screen, no more than about seven words a line. Mark where each line starts while listening. This sheet is your edit plan.
- Install the editor (30 minutes, free). DaVinci Resolve has a free version that, Blackmagic says, works with virtually all 8-bit formats at up to 60fps and up to Ultra HD 3840 x 2160. That covers a lyric video. The paid Studio version was listed at $236 on 28 Oct 2026; you don't need it for this.
- Collect background footage (1 to 2 hours, free). Pexels says all its photos and videos are free to use, attribution is not required, and you can modify them. Its limits: identifiable people may not appear in a bad light or in an offensive way, and you can't imply that people or brands in the footage endorse you. Slow, abstract or out-of-focus clips work best behind text; avoid clips where a recognisable face sits next to a dark lyric.
- Pick a font (15 minutes, free). Choose one under the SIL Open Font License. The OFL FAQ lists video titling among permitted uses, says attribution is not required, and says artwork made with an OFL font does not itself fall under the OFL. A font downloaded from a random "free fonts" site often has a personal-use-only licence, which a monetised YouTube video can break.
- Lay out and time the text (2 to 4 hours, free). Drop the song on the timeline, cut footage to sections, then add one text layer per lyric line from your sheet. Keep text large and high-contrast; most views are on a phone.
- Export (30 minutes, free). Export at the same frame rate you edited at, 1080p if your footage is 1080p.
- Credit and upload (30 minutes, free). Credits aren't required by either licence, but a line in the description naming the font and footage source costs nothing and helps the next artist.
Total: about 6 to 9 hours, ₹0 / $0.
What we think
A lyric video is the cheapest video an independent artist can release, and the risk in it is not the software, it is licensing. Pexels and OFL fonts are good defaults because their terms are short and clear, and both say plainly that no credit is needed. The trap is the rest of the "free" internet: footage and fonts that are free for personal use only. If you can't find the licence page in under a minute, don't use the file.
The other choice we'd make: spend the time on timing, not effects. Words landing on the beat do more for a lyric video than any transition, and they cost nothing.
Sources
- DaVinci Resolve, Blackmagic Design (primary source). Accessed 28 Oct 2026.
- Pexels license, Pexels (primary source). Accessed 28 Oct 2026.
- OFL FAQ, SIL Open Font License (primary source). Accessed 28 Oct 2026.
Researched with AI assistance, written and checked by WATMM Desk.