Action Essentials and ActionVFX offer the best pre-keyed Visual Effects stock footage elements for professional visual effects compositing.
Both Action Essentials and ActionVFX are quite popular among the visual effects community. Why? Because these two offer top-of-the-line Visual Effects elements for professional artists and filmmakers.
Action Essentials and ActionVFX pack contain action-related high-definition and pre-keyed (transparent) stock video clips.
With the exciting evolution of visual effects in the industry, we have seen the rise of companies that offer great VFX quality.
As an example, the appearance of a renowned game VFX animation company has revolutionized the way game movies and CGI trailers are visualized and perceived. Their mastery of realistic and cartoon-stylized animation can be compared to the amazing stock footage offered by Action Essentials and ActionVFX.
Both Action Essentials and ActionVFX stock footage packs offer elements from various categories:
- Explosions
- Guns Muzzle Flashes
- Blood and Gore
- Bullet Hits
- Smoke
- Dirt, Debris
- Shell Casings and more.
With such VFX assets, filmmakers can create impossible-to-shoot movie scenes which otherwise would have not been possible.
Back in the early days of filmmaking, it was not possible to get such good VFX results in today’s modern films. That is because of the lack of technology and computing power.
But as the years go by, filmmakers took the modern approach of adapting Computer Generating Imagery (CGI) combined with Live Action Imagery.
Things are so easy now that you can create photorealistic explosions in 3D software programs and composite them over live-action videos with compositing software like Adobe After Effects, HitFilm, or Nuke.
And products like Action Essentials and ActionVFX are a step forward toward creating life-like VFX shots without spending a lot of time and money.
Action Essentials VS. ActionVFX – A Direct Comparison
Before getting into the in-depth details of Action Essentials and ActionVFX, I have created a small yet useful direct comparison between both the stock footage packs.
Take a look:
ACTION ESSENTIALS 2 ACTIONVFX 20 categories of VFX elements – Atmospheres, Blood, Charges, Couch-Hits, Debris, Dirt Charges, Dust Elements, Explosions, Fire, Glass, Muzzle Flashes, Particle Hits, Smoke, Sparks, Wall Hits, Shells, water, and Textures like bullet holes, burn marks, cracks, ground holes, etc. 10 categories of VFX elements – Blood & Gore like bleeding wounds and blood hits, Debris & Impact, Explosions, Fire like ground and ceiling fire, Guns which include Muzzle Flashes and Bullet Hits, Particles, Smoke, Water Slashes, Weather, Sound FX, and a lot of free elements as well. 500 Elements 3400+ Elements Available in 2K and 720p resolutions. Available in 4K and 2K resolutions. Compatible with MAC & PC. Compatible with MAC & PC. Software Compatibility – After Effects CS6 & above versions, Final Cut Studio, Premiere Pro, Vegas Video, and other QuickTime-based video compositing software. Software Compatibility – After Effects, Foundry’s Nuke, Premiere Pro, HitFilm, Final Cut Pro, Avid Media Composer, Vegas Pro 15, Blackmagic Design Fusion. 60 minutes of training videos included that cover topics like how to use the elements, compositing muzzle flashes with shell casing, street explosion with fireball, glass and dust elements, building collapse with debris and sparks, and much more. Tutorials can be found on ActionVFX’s official blog page. Topics covered are compositing burn wounds, compositing muzzle flashes and other gun effects, bullet shell ejections, compositing ground crack elements, adding explosions, and much more. Price – $249.95 USD for a complete Action Essentials 2 pack. Price – Different pricing options based on bundles.
Which Visual Effects Stock Footage Pack Is Better?
A quick look at the direct comparison table in the previous section gives you a basic insight into the two visual effects of stock footage packs.
But to decide which one of the two is better, we need a much broader view. Therefore to reach a conclusion, let’s take a look at both packs individually.
Video Copilot Action Essentials 2
Video Copilot is known for its amazing work in the Visual Effects industry. Their Action Essentials 1 and 2 are the widely used VFX stock footage packs in both film and tv.
Action Essentials 2 features 20 categories of effects and 500 pre-keyed high-definition elements.
With built-in alpha channels, it offers faster compositing.
You can lay any element on your footage as the background has built-in transparency.
In addition to 20 action sound effects and detailed video thumbnails, Action Essentials 2 features over 90% live-action footage.
It also comes with a special After Effects CS3 project file that enables you to downscale 2K files to 720p to use as proxies.
The Action Essentials 2 comes with training videos (60 min) hosted by Andrew Kramer himself. He is the founder of Video Copilot.
The training covers topics such as using the stock elements in After Effects, Premiere Pro, and Vegas.
Compositing muzzle flashes with shell casing, building collapse scene with sparks and debris, and street explosion with a fireball, glass, and dust elements.
Action Essentials 2 Pricing
There are 2 versions of Action Essentials available, both have the same number of elements, and the same content but different resolutions.
Action Essentials 720p version is available for $99.95 USD and the 2K version is for $297.45 USD.
ActionVFX
ActionVFX started as a Kickstarter campaign. It was funded by 446 artists from all around the world to build the undisputed best and largest VFX assets.
The number of categories is less in ActionVFX in comparison to Action Essentials but it has more elements per category.
A total of 3400+ elements from categories such as:
- Blood & Gore – Includes blood hits, wounds, splatter, mist, and more.
- Debris & Impact – Includes dust waves, exploding debris, bullet hits, ground cracks, and much more.
- Energy FX – This category of VFX assets includes Energy balls, Energy Vortex, Energy Bursts, Shockwaves, Portals, and more.
- Explosions – Contains Gas explosions, Dust Explosions, Dirt Explosions, Aerial Explosions, Spark Explosions, and more.
- Fire – Includes Windows, Walls, and Ceiling Fire. Also contains Fire Lens Flares, Fireballs, Fire Trails, and more.
- Glass – Includes breaking glass and other glassware elements.
- Gun FX – Muzzle Flashes, Bullet Hits, Gun Smoke, Canon Blasts, Bullet Shells, and more.
- Particles – Contains Dust Particles, Spark Hits, Fire Embers, Electrical Sparks, and other particle elements.
- People & Crowds – Contains real-world people & crowds plates for sports and concert audiences.
- Smokes – Atmospheric Smoke, Smoke Plumes, Smoke & Fog, and steam jets.
- Space – Includes Meteors, Sci-Fi Planets, Stars & Nebulas, and Solar System Planets.
- Water – Water Splashes and Water Blasts.
- Weather – Includes Storm Clouds, Windy Snow, Falling Snow, and Lightning.
- Sound FX – Gun, Explosions, Fire, Bullet Hits, and Water Sound FX.
Above all, ActionVFX assets are shot on the latest cinema cameras and are available in multiple formats such as PRORES, MXF, R3D, etc.
What I like the most about ActionVFX is you can purchase individual elements for as low as $15 USD.
Buy what you need instead of the entire pack.
ActionVFX Pricing
You can opt-in for ActionVFX Subscription Plans, starting at only $14.99 per month, or purchase individual files for as low as $15 USD.
Use our exclusive coupon code ‘EDITINGCORP‘ to get 10% OFF on any ActionVFX product.
Other bundles are also available, visit ActionVFX’s official product page for full pricing info.
Conclusion
Now that you are familiar with both Action Essentials and ActionVFX stock footage packs, you must be wondering which one to go for.
I have been using Action Essentials 2 for a very long time. And it’s great.
Both packs are made for completely different types of users.
What I feel is that the Action Essentials pack is for those who have started learning to composite. For just $99 USD, you can get the entire collection of 500+ elements.
For more serious filmmakers, editors and compositors, I highly recommend ActionVFX.
Why?
Because the overall quality of their stock elements is high. There are more assets per category thus making a total of 3400+ files. They even update their library from time to time with new elements.
There are various purchase options – Bundles, Individual assets, or the ActionVFX monthly or annual subscription plans.
“ActionVFX elements are the best in the industry, combining significant dynamic range, high resolution, and frame rates.” – says Colin Feist – VFX Supervisor/Compositor at Zoic Studios.