CASCOM (partially found stock footage from American-Australian company; 1980s-early 2000s)

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Cascom logo.png

Cascom logo, as seen in the beginning of "old car footage".

Status: Partially Found

Cascom was a American-Australian stock footage company. They were popular for their Select Effects Library library which consisted computer animated effects that were sometimes used in television and other media in the 1980s and 1990s.

In early 2000s, Cascom went bankrupt, and all of their footage was moved to a company called "Blackstone Stock Footage" founded by one of Cascom's former workers, who got permission to take the footage to her company. Blackstone Stock Footage doesn't exist anymore due to too high prices to rent the warehouse space. Computer digitization of these tapes was also too expensive at the time. It's possible, that there was over 100000 cassetes with different footage.

A company Spectrum Research made a software named "CASCOM 5000+", that was a library of about 5000 screen captured images from the footage, that could be searched with keywords. It contained one or two screen-captured screenshots from every stock footage, and 10 full-motion footages from the Select Effects Library.

The original footage was supposedly destroyed due to lack of funds to warehouse it, but it isn't confirmed.

Currently, only two previews (one with watermark, and another one with timer) of their libraries, uploaded on YouTube, and one set of footages on digital.hagley.org are available.[1]

There are two previews of the select effect library (one with watermark, and another one with timer), and "old car footage". They are the only remaining Cascom's stock footages that aren't lost.

Their Select Effects Library is a gold mine of nice visuals, and still have some potential, despite being very old and outdated.

The only videos related to Cascom other than logos and idents using their footage, that are available.

Gallery

Watermarked preview.

With timer.

Reference