| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Stock footage |
| Headquarters | Mobile, AL, USA |
| Website | http://www.AlwaysHD.com |
AlwaysHD is an online, royalty free and rights managed, international stock footage company that sells downloadable, professional HD (High Definition), 2K, and 4K content. AlwaysHD aggregates clips as submitted by its contributing cinematographers and CG artists, sharing with them a percentage of every license sold.[1]
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AlwaysHD was originally created in 2004 as a digital asset management system for MudBrick Media, an educational production company. The primary goal was to offer a centralized repository for all of MudBrick’s high definition master footage that could be catalogued, searched, and accessed from anywhere in the world via web interface. In 2006 the AlwaysHD library was made available to the public and began accepting footage from outside cinematographers, focusing exclusively in professionally shot HD video. In 2007 the library expanded to include computer-generated clips. In December 2008, AlwaysHD split from Mudbrick Media and became AlwaysHD, Inc.
Stock footage is a resource utilized by advertising agencies, broadcast and cinema production, educational production, government and industrial "corporate videos," museum exhibits, and web development. Stock Footage is most often used in video productions when it is determined that the shot needed is either too costly or too difficult to produce internally.[2] For example, the History Channel's "Life After People" licensed footage of global landmarks through AlwaysHD. as shooting such would be proven to be beyond budget. Sometimes stock footage is used when time constraints prevent the production company from shooting it themselves, such as seasonal shots of cities or landmarks. Stock Footage thus provides video production companies a means to locate and acquire footage both quickly and inexpensively, from around the world, for any given season.
AlwaysHD is in function comparable to, and competes with, stock footage libraries such as Corbis, Thought Equity Motion, and Getty Images. The footage is offered in two pricing models: Per-Clip and Per-Collection. And while similar in pricing and model to microstock footage companies, AlwaysHD has established itself as “quality assured” by its system of footage review and approval.[3]
All footage is, by default, available for download as full resolution Apple Quicktime .MOV files in either the Photo-JPG codec (progressive) or Motion-JPEG codec (interlaced). The clips are delivered in the frame rate at which the footage was imported by the cinematographer. The buyer can request different codecs, such as ProRes422, DNxHD, Animation, and Uncompressed as well as different formats (NTSC / PAL), frame rates (23.98, 24, 25, 29.97), and frame sizes.
Contributing Cinematographers and CG artists apply upon registration (by specifying camera or CG equipment) before they are given the ability to upload footage. The criterion for camera type and model sets a minimum bar for acceptance as a contributor by largely rejecting consumer-grade equipment. Once approved, the cinematographer or CG artist can begin uploading. All uploads are then screened and reviewed for quality and composition. Finally the clips are given keywords and made available for licensing and download.
Contributors earn money by sharing a percentage of the licensing fee charged for every one of their clips sold. The accumulated credit is then paid out every month. Most clips are priced between $25 and $200, a function of the uniqueness, camera used, and contributor’s suggested pricing.