| Page (1) of 1 - 04/26/06 |
 email article |
 print
page |
|
Artbeats, a provider of royalty-free stock footage, has announced the availability of Asian Cities, Crowds, Streets of New York, City Rush 2, Nightsky, Glass Illusions and Chromatica at the National Association of Broadcasters Convention.
One of the most dramatic series in the new collection of offerings is the High Voltage collection that is broken up over five different titles. Tesla coils, Jacob?s Ladders, electric arcs and lightning bolts are only a sample of the types of effects in this collection.
I spoke with Phil Bates, president of Artbeats, who served as director of the shoot. Produced in partnership with kVA Effects, the five day shoot utilized some of the largest Tesla coils in the world. While Faraday cages protected the crew, there were only a few slight problems the crew encountered including one computer that would shut down intermittently, and a light panel in the studio next door that couldn?t take the charges being fired off.
Using an Arri 435 film camera (35mm), the Sony F900 HD camera, and a NAC EffectsCam (1280 x 1024 CMOS), which is a prototype digital camera capable high speed captures up to 5000fps. According to Bates, all three cameras were operated simultaneously and worked flawlessly throughout the shoot. Being able to slow down certain clips creates dramatic strikes that are jaw dropping. Over 150 shots can be found in the five disc collection.
?We did much more than capture electric arcs against black,? says Bates. ?We brought props to strike, like a telephone pole, satellite dish, glass plates, towers, and even a stuntman (protected with a chain-mail suit). We combined nitrogen and CO2 clouds with the lightning for added realism, and did a host of other tricks like ?lightning from the fingertips?. Additional kVA Effects equipment provided other effects including Jacob?s Ladder, tube coil (a plasma generator producing a much smaller sword-like electrical arcs), and explosive sparks.?
Other collections announced this week include:
Asian Cities allows viewers to travel into the heart of such spectacular cities as Tokyo, Bangkok, Singapore, Hong Kong and more. Towering skyscrapers, bustling city streets, stunning Asian architecture, busy waterways, stunning shots of city skylines at sunset and bridges illuminated with brilliant color are featured in this collection.
Crowds are the focus of this new title. From bustling city streets and crowded marketplaces in various cities and towns across the globe, to rural celebrations and massive concerts teeming with spectators, it?s easy to get caught up in the action.
Streets of New York features the Big Apple at its best. Hustle and bustle of the city from the sky and the ground, crowds of people, traffic and hordes of taxis as they make their way through the metropolis are some of the exciting footage found in this collection.
I inquired if stock footage of people, crowds, and cities lose their appeal after a short period of time due to trends. Bates replied that their Faces of the World collection (released last year) have a much longer shelf life than those in the US, but also commented sales have been very solid over this last year. The only reason Artbeats has the crowds and cities collections available are because the crews happened to be at the right place at the right time.
Artbeats also has two new collections of time lapse footage.
City Rush 2 has been over two years in the making. One of Artbeats? most popular themes, City Rush 2 includes fascinating time lapse footage of cityscapes, traffic, people and waterways from major cities including New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland, Ore. and more.
Nightsky boasts beautiful dusk-to-dawn time lapse footage. Particularly challenging to shoot in the cold Northern latitudes, this new collection features rare aurora borealis and some of the best celestial time lapse footage available as royalty-free stock footage. The Earth?s rotation is dramatically visible as the camera is either locked to the horizon, or is rotating with the stars.
A few days ago, on one of the many mailing lists I frequent had an announcements that one of the members? time lapse shots had been selected to be part of the City Rush 2 collection. During the feedback, the artist commented that he used the Canon 20D camera to obtain the shots. During our conversation, Bates commented that still cameras are used for some of their shoots, but one has to be careful when using digital cameras because the results often flicker from frame to frame, and getting the proper blur is an issue. While he didn?t give away all his secrets, Bates did say opening the aperture and slowing the shutter speed would solve most of these problems.
Later this year, Artbeats will release Grow a collection of time lapse plant growth shots. These were playing throughout the booth and look really amazing. From growing grass, to blooming flowers, many editors will find these shots useful in their projects.
The final two new collections that debuted at the show are:
Glass Illusions includes refractions, reflections and transparencies. These soft and subtle backgrounds can be used for a variety of applications and are incredibly useful without taking away from the foreground message.
Chromatica features multilayered backgrounds that are edgy and hip. Many have high complexity, yet are still very usable in different scenarios. The NTSC and PAL versions also include The Artbeats Blender, a background creation tool for Adobe After Effects users who want to create their own version of Chromatica backgrounds.
But what about the future? One of the most exciting projects Bates will be working on is a series called Canyon Aerials. Beginning Thursday evening immediately after the NAB convention ends, Bates and crew will board a helicopter and spend five days doing flyovers and fly-throughs of several great locations.
Grand Canyon shots will not be included due to FAA restrictions of the space, however, the Little Colorado River, which feeds the Grand Canyon will. According to Bates, this is the first time any aerial photography of this region has been allowed due to regulations. The Navajo Nation, who owns the land, helped the crew obtain the permits.
In addition to the Little Colorado River, Artbeats will also shoot in Monument Valley and the Lake Powell area. The collection should be available in three to four months.
Also releasing this year will be New York City Aerials. Unlike the canyon collection obtaining permits to shoot through and over New York was not a problem as FAA approval was given on the spot whenever they needed to get to a new location.
One of the other collections showing at the booth is the Space and Planets collection. This is a CG collection that contains both abstract and real renderings of planets, asteroids and other stellar bodies.
Pricing and Availability
Artbeats' footage is available in HD-1920x1080, D1 NTSC-720 x 486 or D1 PAL-720 x 576 resolutions. Pricing for Artbeats? HD collections range from USD $799-$899; SD collections range from USD $399-$699. Customers may also purchase royalty-free single clips from these collections; HD clips are USD $300 and NTSC/PAL clips are USD $199. Artbeats will also offer special discount pricing on select collections exclusively for NAB attendees.
Page: 1
Related Sites: Digital Producer , Hollywood Industry , Digital Video Editing , Digital Animators , Animation Artist , Audio Video Producer , Corporate Media News , Digital Post Production , Film Imaging , Oceania , BN - NAB
Related Newsletter: DMN Newsletter , Timeline Newsletter , Renders , Digital Media Net , DMNForums , Review Seeker
Vegas Pro 8 + Free Vegas Seminar Series
