Royalty-free stock footage solves many headaches for producers. One company that saves video makers from concerns regarding licence-related exhibition and broadcast restrictions is Myrtle Creek, OR-based Artbeats, whose digital library includes motion picture, DV and Beta SP-originated clips in aerial, animal, establishments, nature and lifestyle categories.

Footage can be delivered in D1 and high-definition formats. Taking advantage of the storage possibilities of the digital domain, Artbeats allows its registered users to store and organize their clips in its site’s clip bin.

Artbeats clients include CBC, BBC, CBS, CNN and ESPN.

Some stock footage companies offer a wide range of materials, while others try to carve out a very specific niche in the marketplace. A perfect example of the latter is StormStock, from Prairie Pictures out of Arlington, TX. As its name would suggest, StormStock deals in footage of tornadoes, hurricanes and thunderstorms on high-end formats including 35mm.

Like those wacky storm chasers in Twister, StormStock cinematographers follow violent weather in search of eye-popping clips.

The company’s clients have included feature films (Spy Kids, What Women Want), TV commercials and broadcast documentaries for Discovery Channel and National Geographic Channel. *

-www.artbeats.com

-www.stormstock.com