For New & Unique Videos (www.newuniquevideos.com) in San Diego the offering is fast research of its own inventory and, if the demanded footage isn't in stock, research of other libraries. "If we don't have the shot, we'll find it or shoot it," says president Mark Schulze.  He also has a production company, Crystal Pyramid Productions, which represents about 80 percent of the total effort. He adds, "Sometimes, even if we have the shot, if they also want something that's not available, it's cheaper and easier for us to shoot everything."

One cost-saving factor is that there are no licensing fees. Half-day rates are as low as $550 for Betacam SP, and Crystal Pyramid will rent HD or PAL camearas, if necessary. Other formats are covered in-house.

"Once our customers buy the footage, they own it," Schulze comments. "They can even resell it." In most instances, his company can resell the same footage to other clients. He labels this a "win-win" situation.

Schulze says his approach is preferable to buyout situations.  First, he contends that the quality of buyout images may suffice for corporate videos but generally isn't that good. He also states that his library can offer economic advantages. He points to an instance where a customer bought 25 clips of the Los Angeles area from another library for $600 when it onoly needed three of these buyout clips. The client also bought four clips of Chicago landmarks from New & Unique Videos at $75 each.

"The clips they bought from us were exactly what they wanted," 'he notes. "for the same $600, they could have gotten both the LA and Chicago clips from us."